The developer of Heirloom Georgetown, a planned 3,600-unit development near Williams Drive and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, requested adjustments to its public infrastructure financing at a July 28 City Council workshop.

The 620-acre mixed-use development will feature residential and commercial components as well as a future Georgetown ISD school site.

The request: Logan Kimble, vice president of land operations at developer Columnar Investments, outlined the requested changes to the development plan, which include expanding the upfront funding from $11.6 million to $16.5 million.

This funding would help Heirloom fund the construction of:

• The original 2-mile collector road
• Water and wastewater lines
• Public trails in a future city-owned park
• Two stormwater quality ponds

Me Land Georgetown, an indoor playground, opened its expanded play area in late July.

Learn more: The expansion includes a minitown play area geared toward younger children, a representative with Me Land said. Children are able to dress up as princesses and doctors, scan imitation grocery items and more in the new addition.

What they offer: Me Land Georgetown has individual play packages and group packages for birthday parties, events and more.

• 610 N. Austin Ave., Ste. 120, Georgetown

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects

I-35 at Inner Loop Interchange

Project: The project includes the design and construction of improvements to the interchange between SE Inner Loop and I-35 in Georgetown.

Update: All work for the project has been put on hold pending TxDOT advancing the design of I-35.

• Timeline: TBD

• Cost: TBD

• Funding source: Williamson County 2023 road bond

Ongoing projects

Oak Hill Parkway

Project: The Texas Department of Transportation is currently reconstructing Hwy. 290 in Oak Hill, transforming the existing four-lane, undivided roadway to a six-lane divided highway with new frontage roads and 14 miles of shared-use paths.

Update: As of July, drivers can now travel on newly opened mainlanes, frontage roads and ramps. Drivers can expect ongoing painting, landscaping, asphalt paving, striping and shared-use path improvements to cause lane closures.

• Timeline: 2022-26 (total project)

• Cost: $677 million allocated for the entire project

• Funding source: TxDOT

Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects until state regulators can audit all data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 3.

The overview: The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct “a comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center applicants “before any additional data centers are approved to move forward.” 

Data center regulation has emerged as a bipartisan issue in recent months, and the move comes amid both growing public criticism of Texas’ booming data center industry and recent political pressure for Abbott to respond.

Zooming in: Abbott asked the PUC and ERCOT to collect information about the tax exemptions each data center is collecting; details about each project's anticipated water and electricity usage; and how data center developers will work to limit noise, light pollution and other impacts on local communities.

Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.