Downtown Austin Blog

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Archives for 2010

Spotted: New Bar Coming to Rainey Street Neighborhood

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No, not that one.  Or that one.  Not these, either.  Another one…

East Avenue Lounge, located along frontage road at 90 N IH-35 (aka East Ave), has posted their TABC application notice.  This is an interesting property.  It faces I-35. It has an upper and lower porch. In fact, it’s the only legacy two story structure in the area – a defining characteristic that hopefully will be embraced with creative uses and design. The proprietors will likely benefit from lots of “on the way home” traffic.  While inside the boundaries of downtown Austin’s Rainey Street neighborhood, this structure is located outside of the Rainey Street Historic District.



View Rainey Street District in a larger map

Live, Work, Play Downtown Austin: A Sonnet

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So, I asked a poet to write something to commemorate the launch of DAB Realty.  I think she nailed it!

“Keep Austin weird!” Is what the locals say,
And it’s clear that there’s something special here:
From the hottest live music every day
To great cafes and restaurants e’er near.

In my historic Austin loft I’m close
To the capital’s vibrant urban core,
True, downtown Austin condos make the most
Of the city – you couldn’t ask for more.

From the Austonian, to Four Seasons,
W Hotel Residences too,
There are limitless places and reasons
To make downtown Austin the home for you.

Looking for Austin life and real estate?
Then to this Downtown Austin Blog relate!

Downtown Austin’s W Hotel Trace MENU & La Condesa New Lunch Menu Items

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The W's Restaurant "Trace"

Just a week or so ago, The W Austin Hotel in downtown Austin held it’s grand opening.  Boy, that place is nice.  Jude and I visited the lounge areas and had dinner at Trace (link to Yelp reviews) on our visit.  The decor is swank, and the menu is trendy.  The dinner menu is separated into five categories: foraged, farmed, crafted, hunted, or shared, and the hotel restaurant has even hired an official forager, Valerie Broussard, to select local produce for the plates.

A little pricey for some plates and a little small on the portion sizes (which, honestly – is to be expected, this is a *fancy* hotel restaurant, after all), but delicious overall.  I had the Winter’s Garden salad, the Pumpkin Agnolotti, a basket of fries (from the bar menu – which I don’t have), and a glass of Merlot, all wonderful – the cost was about $35 + tip.  Here are the menus – breakfast, lunch, and dinner (they apparently change fairly frequently, maybe seasonally?,  – but this should give an idea on food type and price range) To enlarge each image, click once on the image to get to the image page, then click the image again.  More after the jump.

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Lost Parrot – Reward, No Questions Asked

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Pets are family members.  A family at 360 condos has lost their African Grey Parrot, Mino, which recently flew out of their 14th story window.  According to owner, William Zhang, “Greys mostly tend to stay within a 1 mile radius of the area, so it’s likely he’s still in the downtown area. When they eventually get hungry enough, they will come down to people for food.”

We’re not used to seeing parrots in downtown Austin.  So, if you do see one, please give these people a call.

[Read more…] about Lost Parrot – Reward, No Questions Asked

Choice Downtown Austin Block Purchased For $21.75MM

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Travis County will purchase a tract of downtown Austin land owned by the Austin Museum of Art for $21.75MM, according to InFactDaily.  Located directly south of Republic Square Park, it is certainly a choice piece of dirt. Currently a surface level parking lot, this land has everything going for it, most importantly it is not subject to a Capitol View Corridor. [Read more…] about Choice Downtown Austin Block Purchased For $21.75MM