Giant Companies Moving to Austin

Tesla

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the Tesla manufacturing plant being built near Austin will hire more than 10,000 people through 2022. Construction is proceeding rapidly on the company's newest manufacturing facility, which Musk first announced in July." Tesla also recently announced that their headquarters will move here as well.

Google

"Google has announced it plans to invest $50 million in Texas this year in office space and data center sites, the company confirmed to KVUE. The investment comes as part of an overall plan to spend $7 billion and create 10,000 new full-time jobs throughout the U.S. in 2021."

Amazon

"The world's largest online retailer also announced a swath of jobs for the Austin metro this year. Amazon.com Inc. in July confirmed plans to construct a 3.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Pflugerville that will bring 1,000 jobs to the region."

SpaceX 

"The company SpaceX is breaking ground on a “new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” in Austin. The company's founder Elon Musk has increasingly moved his business ventures and his personal life, to the Lone Star State."

Apple

"Apple says employees will move to its $1 billion campus in north Austin next year. In a news release Monday, the tech giant said it's investing $430 billion across the country and adding 20,000 jobs nationwide over the next five years."

Facebook

"Facebook Inc. is planning to expand even further in Central Texas, according to a report from the Austin Business Journal. Multiple sources told the Austin Business Journal that Facebook is in the market for 1 million square feet, on top of the numerous offices the company already has in Austin."

Canva

"Canva, an Australian startup with online design tools, said it has raised $60 million at a $6 billion valuation, and it's opening its first U.S. office here in Austin. The company, founded in 2013, provides 60,000-plus free templates and has millions of images for use in creative design environments."

Oracle

"On December 11, 2020, Oracle, the world's largest database company, announced it was moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin. The announcement, coupled with major expansions underway by Apple, Facebook, Tesla, and others, is a feather in the cap of local business boosters."

If you've followed local news in Austin, Prop B that recently passed was about selling off a 9-acre Central Maintenance Facility located off Townlake at 2525 Lakeshore Blvd. In exchange, the city would receive a 48-acre parcel of "waterfront land contiguous to an existing city park," on top of funding or construction of a replacement facility and the removal of an existing maintenance building at Festival Beach.

The Grow Austin Parks PAC received a $250,000 contribution from Oracle. This proposition takes away the last potential parkland access to Townlake and views of Townlake from IH 35 to Pleasant Valley Rd, from southeast Austin. That is if Oracle succeeds in privatizing all roads to Townlake.

The city has made east Austinites believe that this is the only way it can afford the parkland they want, ignoring the Parkland Reserve Fund (2018 bonds) that this May and June spent $6 million for additions to Barton Creek Habitat Preserve and to Bull Creek Greenbelt.

Oracle and other private interests have already privatized most streets to Lakeshore Drive and with this last acquisition, they will be cutting off public access to the southeastern shores.

So, not all change is good change if Oracle restricts access to Townlake to the public with the passage of Prop B.

Austin, Texas continues to be the #1 destination to move to, both residents and businesses continue in massive influxes to come to ATX.

What do you think about these big companies moving to Austin? Comment below.

-Trevor