The Lake Travis View came out today and had some interesting things that I want to highlight for anyone in the area or considering a move to the area. I also have information here about the recent Lake Travis High School Awards Ceremony.

First, the subdivision of Falconhead and city of Bee Cave are about to learn which resort hotel will be built in Falconhead. What has been rumored for a couple of years was a Hilton resort. Now the finalists are Hilton and Starwood, the latter of which I have not heard of before. The hotel is supposed to be the center of a resort that will include a lazy river and convention center. The only hotels in the Bee Cave and Lakeway area so far are the Lakeway Spa and Resort and the Mountain Star Lodge. A Hampton Inn is under construction in Lakeway, so this new resort will be a nice addition.

The city of Lakeway has approved the extension of Serene Hills to Highway 71, giving Lakeway its only access to 71. Where the road will intersect the highway, retail development and housing are planned. The city also approved an additional turn lane from Lakeway Blvd. to 620. The Serene Hills extention will allow a short-cut so people don’t have to go through the 71/620 intersection in Bee Cave, which has become very busy. The new turn lane from Lakeway Blvd. will be a nice addition as traffic stacks up there pretty badly at times.

On to school news… A team of four Lake Travis High School (LTHS) students competed in a state-wide UIL science competition and took third place overall. Only one school in the state turned in better performances. The students took individual places of 4th, 10th, 15th and 26th. That tells you a lot about the caliber of the high school science department.

I had the honor of being at the LTHS Awards Ceremony yesterday to present the recipients of the Lakeway-Lake Travis Rotary Club scholarships. Rotary awarded $38,000 in scholarships to 18 graduating seniors. The Awards Ceremony was amazing, with a huge number of seniors being recognized for awards and scholarships. Out of 393 graduating seniors, 110 received scholarships, 33 were UIL Scholars, there was 1 National Merit Scholar, 160 UIL State Qualifiers, 14 received GT Recognition, there were 2 National Merit Finalists, 4 National Merit Commended and 1 National Hispanic Scholar.

As for scholarship recipients, there were four students awarded over $225,000 in scholarships including one with $614,000 and one appointed to the United States Air Force Academy. There were so many awards and scholarships to present that it took two hours to get it all done.

Sam Chapman is an Austin REALTOR who is a guest blogger on Eric’s Austin real estate blog. Sam specializes in Lakeway homes and Lake Travis real estate as well as working with buyers who are moving to Texas from other parts of the country.

The market is still holding strong.  The median sales price is slightly up, and the average sales price is slightly down.  The # of homes sold is down roughly 14% from April 2007.  Again, we’re not setting records this year, but the market is doing fine.  In my opinion, the average sales price dip is due to the difficult jumbo market, and the glut of luxury homes (14 month+ inventory) currently on the market.  Definitely a good time to get a steal on a luxury property.

First, we have the wonderfully ridiculous Point of Sale Energy Efficiency Requirement proposal, and now we have new Mandatory Visitability proposal.  Perhaps the city of Austin would like a new nickname - “Daddy State?”

The city has always required that homes built using public funds adhere to these guidelines, but the city council passed a resolution to initiate code amendments to all new homes.  The proposed amendments include ground floor or ramp entry, doors at least 32 inches wide, hallways at least 36 inches wide, and first floor bathrooms w/ walls capable of supporting grab rails.

I have real issues w/ the city’s over the top attitude regarding building code & retroactive code.  Extending the visitability standards to all new homes is fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.  As it stands, it’s fairly easy to retroactively modify current homes for the disabled.  Requiring that all homes meet these requirements will become overly costly in comparison with the relatively few modifications to existing homes for the disabled.

Austin police headquarters could be moving from its current location on 8th & I-35.  The headquarters has been at its current location since 1981, and Austin has more than doubled in size in that time.

Why do we care?  Because the real estate it sits on is going to be VERY desirable, and APD headquarters is friggin’ ugly!  It backs to Waller Creek, which is slated to be Austin’s next river walk.

Here’s a screenshot: