Smarter Homes of Austin relocated from Lakeway to a new location in West Lake Hills in early December, celebrating 20 years of service in the Austin area.

The gist: The luxury smart home business specializes in customized, intelligent panelized lighting systems, built-in motorized shades, whole-home music and wifi services, high-end security and AI-access controls.

The backstory: Smarter Homes first opened in Northwest Austin in 2005 and moved to Lakeway in 2012, founder Peter Sandford said.

• 5524 Bee Caves Road, Unit J8, West Lake Hills

Mid-January campaign finance reports offer an early look at Austin's 2026 City Council races, as candidates for five seats raised almost $140,000 and had nearly $800,000 on hand heading into the new year.

The details: The local November ballot will feature elections for half of Austin's geographic council districts, including districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9. The District 1 seat will be open for the first time in eight years due to council member Natasha Harper-Madison reaching her term limit, while the other four races are expected to include incumbent council candidates facing any challengers.

This month's semiannual campaign reports cover financial activity from the second half of 2025, and two incumbents—District 3's José Velásquez and District 9's Zo Qadri—led fundraising through that period with each drawing more than $27,000. Qadri was also the top political spender to end last year. And he, District 5 council member Ryan Alter, District 5 challenger David Weinberg and District 8 council member Paige Ellis were the only candidates with more than $100,000 available heading into 2026.

An electric vehicle sales center and a new residential building are among the newest projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Here are five of the most expensive projects filed with the TDLR in the Austin metro this week.

1. Gunter Street residential building: A five-story, multifamily building with a five-story parking garage is planned near the East Seventh Street H-E-B.

• Location: 1135 Gunter St., Austin
• Estimated timeline: May 1, 2026-Aug. 1, 2028
• Estimated cost: $80 million

• Location: Kelly Lane, from Moorlynch Avenue to Weiss Lane, Pflugerville
• Estimated timeline: Oct. 1, 2026-March 31, 2030
• Estimated cost: $40 million

Three Democratic candidates are running to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate during the upcoming March 3 primary election.

The overview: Jasmine Crockett, Ahmad R. Hassan and James Talarico are competing for the Democratic nomination for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

The details: Each state has two U.S. senators, with Ted Cruz and John Cornyn currently representing Texas. Cornyn, whose seat is up for election, is running for reelection in an eight-way Republican primary.

The winning Democratic candidate will face the winner of the Republican nomination in November; the winner of that election will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate in January 2027.

Eight Republican candidates are running to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate during the upcoming March 3 primary election.

The big picture: Republican incumbent John Cornyn is seeking a fifth term as Texas' senior senator. Each state has two U.S. senators—Cornyn currently serves alongside Republican Ted Cruz.

Seven Republican candidates are challenging Cornyn for the Republican nomination: John O. Adefope, Anna Bender, Virgil John Bierschwale, Sara Canady, Wesley Hunt, Gulrez “Gus” Khan and Ken Paxton.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the Republican primary, a runoff election will be held between the two top vote-getters on May 26.

Looking ahead: The winning Republican candidate will face the winner of the Democratic nomination in November; the winner of that election will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate in January 2027.