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Tesla HQ follows Elon Musk in officially moving to Austin ahead of Giga Texas completion
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would relocate its headquarters from California to Austin.
Just days after rumors swirled about the tech company's relocation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the company would follow its billionaire leader and move its headquarters to Austin.
Musk, who has had a long history of run-ins and complaints about the company's former home state of California, said in Tesla's third quarterly meeting that the company would switch HQ's from Palo Alto to Austin. The annual shareholders meeting was held at Austin's Giga Texas plant rather than its usual Bay Area location, leading some to believe that the move was imminent.
According to Musk, the company will still continue to ramp up operations by as much as 50% in its Fremont, California location—but Texas allows the company more space to grow.
"You go to our Fremont factory, it is jammed," Musk said. "We're like spam in a can."
Musk has previously called new tech hub Austin a "Little California" and joins Oracle, Hewlett-Packard and dozens of smaller tech startups in making the shift to the "Silicon Hills."
Musk moved to Austin in December 2020 and has flip-flopped between Austin and his 375-square-foot primary residence in South Texas as he monitors the production of Tesla's Giga Texas factory and SpaceX's rocket prototypes.
Austin's Giga Texas plant will begin producing Cybertruck models at the end of 2022 and will begin "volume production" by 2023, Musk said in the meeting. Musk said supply chain shortages are the culprit for the Cybertruck's multiple delays.
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(Moriah Wilson/Instagram)
Austin police have charged Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, a local cyclist, for the murder of Moriah "Mo" Wilson.
Wilson, a rising star in the gravel and mountain bike community, was found dead with gunshot wounds inside an East Austin home on the night of May 11 when she was in town for the weekend Gravel Locos race in Hico, Texas.
Police believe Wilson was having a relationship with a man Armstrong was also in a relationship with. The man, another gravel cyclist, Colin Strickland, has since issued a statement on the murder.
In his statement, he said he had a brief romantic relationship with Wilson in October 2021 before he resumed his relationship with Armstrong, but that he remained friends with Wilson. "There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime. I am sorry, and I simply cannot make sense of this unfathomable tragedy.
NEW: Austin professional cyclist Colin Strickland has just released a statement about the murder of cyclist Moriah Wilson, clarifying his relationship with her and expressing “torture about my proximity to this horrible crime.” pic.twitter.com/KnIna3mWrE
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) May 20, 2022
Wilson, a 25-year-old Vermont native living in Colorado, had won a slew of races becoming a fan favorite. She had just become a full-time racer this year.
Anyone with information on this crime can contact Austin police at 512-974-TIPS or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 512-472-8477.
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Kelly said the planned homeless housing hotel suffered months of damage. (Mackenzie Kelly)
Austin has added 24-hour security to the city-owned Pecan Gardens property, which will be converted into supportive housing for people exiting homelessness, after the former hotel was found with months of damage and vandalism May 5.
The building, which was broken into and stripped of copper and had people illegally sleeping inside of it, has been secured, Kelly said in a Friday press conference. Kelly said the city confirmed a measure to implement 24-hour security, including updates every 60 days until the property opens up as supportive housing.
"We cannot let this happen to any vacant city-owned property ever again," Kelly said. "This blatant act of disregard and criminal behavior will not be tolerated in our community."
The city bought the former hotel in August 2021 for $9.5 million with plans to renovate the property into a 78-unit supportive housing property. Those 55 or older that are experiencing chronic homelessness can qualify to live at the site once it is completed in late 2022-early 2023.
While the council was set to discuss a $4 million deal with Family Eldercare to begin converting the property Thursday, Kelly pulled the item for a later executive session due to security concerns. But the council did approve an item to authorize city leaders to begin negotiating other renovation contracts.
"I want to thank my colleagues for pumping the brakes on this contract and realizing that we owe the community not only an apology, but reassurance that the protection of the assets the city owns is vital to the success of achieving our intended goals," Kelly said.
When the building was found vandalized May 5, Kelly, who presides over the district containing the property, said damage included:
- Damage spanning all three floors of the building and is in nearly every room.
- The entire hotel was stripped of copper.
- Destroyed washers, dryers, air conditioners and electrical wiring.
- People sleeping at the hotel without permission.
On Tuesday, Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Gray apologized and said there was no security due to a delay in processing the request.
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