April eNewsletter

The Rise of Single Family for Rent

BY CHRIS JONES

Through most of my professional career, I have considered myself a big picture designer. I never really dove into the weeds of design, but instead focused on the overall vision and concept of a project. That is, until we hit the great recession from 2007-2009. Coming out of the recession, infill developments were first to the market. Of these infill projects came a new product: the Nexmetro model of a single family built for rent (SFBR). This new product inspired me to come out of the clouds at 35,000 feet and dive into the details of design and landscape architecture. Now, as we face another economic shift and potential change in attitude towards housing, I believe single family for rent may be poised for even greater popularity.

RVi Selected to Design New Greenway Initiative

BY BARBARA AUSTIN

Earlier this month, RVi was awarded the Gilleland Creek Greenway Improvements, Section 1 project by Travis County. Utilizing voter approved funding from the 2017 bond election, the project entails design through construction documentation of the first section a new 19-mile greenway connecting Pflugerville’s Northeast Metro Park to the Colorado River along Gilleland Creek. For Section 1 specifically, the project will link Northeast Metro Park towards Ben E. Fisher Park via a 15-foot wide concrete hike and bike trail. At RVi, we are passionate about park and trail design and are excited to be working with Travis County on this greenway project!

Happy Hour with a Twist: Chris Crawford Hosts Virtual Watercolor Painting Class for RViers

At RVi we have our own version of Bob Ross…and his name is Chris Crawford. A couple of weeks ago Chris surprised each of us with the delivery of a watercolor paint set to our homes. An invitation to Watercolor Painting Virtual Happy Hour followed, and we were all intrigued.

Drink in one hand and paintbrush in the other, we were led through a surprisingly fast-paced session where we captured (some more effectively than others) a live Texas sunset. Although the subject matter was in Texas, RViers from across the Lone Star State and Arizona joined in the fun. We learned the difference between wet-on-dry and wet-on-wet watercolor techniques, as well as how to mix colors to achieve our desired effect. Most importantly, we enjoyed hanging out together and learning a new skill from our Commander-in-Chief, who has been painting watercolor himself for many years. This new twist on virtual happy hour was a huge hit, and we are already planning the next one!

Click here to view some of the finished artworks!

In Other News