{"id":398395,"date":"2026-08-05T15:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398395\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:10:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:10:34","slug":"nearly-half-of-texans-are-paying-too-much-rent-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398395\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly half of Texans are paying too much rent, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 10 years ago, Highland Mall languished as a \u201ccavernous 700,000-square-foot shell\u201d near I-35 and U.S. Highway 290 East, as architecture firm Perkins&Will puts it<\/a>. Things have taken a turn in 2026 as the same property celebrates a major architecture award.<\/p>\n

Built in 1971, Austin\u2019s first enclosed mall closed in 2015 to make way<\/a> for the main campus of Austin Community College, along with apartments, stores, restaurants, and offices.<\/p>\n

A highlight of the mall\u2019s transformation into an 81-acre, 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use development was the second phase of the ACC campus, which just captured a prestigious award from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).<\/p>\n

The second-phase project is one of nine recipients of the 2026 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence<\/a>. A 15-member panel of judges chose the nine honorees based on factors such as design, planning, technology, amenities, economic impact, innovation, and sustainability.<\/p>\n

For the second phase of ACC Highland, Perkins&Will and BGK Architects designed a nearly $153 million conversion of the middle of the former mall into business incubators, a health sciences and STEM center, a multimedia art gallery, and a culinary arts center, among other spaces. This hub serves ACC students pursuing careers in areas like culinary arts, nursing, health sciences, filmmaking, architecture, engineering, music production, and sound design.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ Photo courtesy of Austin Community College<\/p>\n

To overcome the former mall\u2019s \u201cbarriers to connectivity,\u201d the design included a public walkway to tie the campus to the surrounding community, ULI says. The walkway features art installations.<\/p>\n

ULI says winning projects like the second phase of ACC Highland \u201crepresent the highest standards of achievement in the development industry \u2014 standards that ULI members deem worthy of attainment in their professional endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The institute notes that ACC\u2019s winning 420,000-square-foot project incorporated salvaged building components, including structural steel.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ Photo courtesy of Austin Community College<\/p>\n

Aziz Hussaini, ACC\u2019s associate vice chancellor of campus planning, construction and sustainability, said receiving the ULI award is \u201ca testament to the shared vision and dedication of everyone involved\u201d in the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin Community College set out to create more than a campus expansion. We sought to establish a vibrant, inclusive destination that advances education, workforce development, and community connection,\u201d Hussaini added. \u201cThis recognition underscores the transformative impact that thoughtful design and strong partnerships can have in creating places that serve both current and future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 10 years ago, Highland Mall languished as a \u201ccavernous 700,000-square-foot shell\u201d near I-35 and U.S. Highway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[21886,132,134,133,24454,18345],"class_list":["post-398395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-apartments","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-rent-prices","tag-report"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}