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Art House Movie Theater Coming To 2nd Street District.

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The Violet Crown art house theater is under construction, opening in December

At the west end of the 2nd Street District, directly above the soon-to-open How Do You Roll sushi restaurant, will soon be downtown Austin’s latest cinema – The Violet Crown. We reported back in January that 2nd Street District was getting a new movie theater. The Statesman’s Chris Garcia gets the latest info on The Violet Crown. Scheduled to have four screens, with bar/lounge, and opening in December.

The construction will actually expand the mezzanine level by a couple of feet over the sidewalk.

The Violet Crown should make a great addition to the district. At first glance it would appear they are taking on the Alamo Drafthouse head on. However, the Violet Crown might take on a more refined lounge-like experience, trading high ball glasses for buckets of beer.

The removal of the W Hotel’s street barricades this summer will unclog the pedestrian experience in the 2nd Street District, but will be especially welcome to the 400 block that includes BoConcept and La Condessa.

W Hotel Residences Sneak Peek

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from the vantage point of the pool deck

Members of the DANA were provided with a backstage pass to downtown Austin’s W Hotel Residences. We’ve always admired the sleek monolithic design of the building, and even through the construction dust you can envision the interior will make a similar impact.

DANA members on the 37th floor of W Hotel Residences

The contractor is expected to hand the keys over to the hotel portion in September/October. The doors won’t be open, but that should be the time when the hotel can begin to furnish everything. The Austin City Limits venue and residential condos will be ready in Q1 of 2011.

The most significant milestone will be the removal of the street barriers mid-summer! This is great news for any resident or retailer in the 2nd Street District.

Flickr Slideshow

mezzanine level seating for the Austin City Limits venue

Copa on Congress – Downtown Austin Restaurant and Dance Club

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Copa - 217 Congress Street, 78701

Part-time Salsa dance club, part-time tex-mex dining establishment, Copa (@ 217 Congress Avenue) moves to the beat of many a drummer.  Since my dancing skills are reminiscent of Elaine Benes at a company party (“like a fully body dry heave set to music”), I chose to visit Copa at lunch, lest I be tempted by Salsa rhythms, thereby making the other patrons lose their collective appetite.

And it was pretty decent, if I do say so myself.   I walked in to a warm, cozy environment where brick walls and arches dominate the scene. There’s three areas downstairs: the front area which seems dedicated to dining, the middle bar area, and a third, large and mirrored room with a small stage that’s dedicated to dancing. There’s also an upstairs and a small patio (of which I did not get any pictures – sorry)  Here are some photos:

The architecture is well-done in my opinion, but I’m a sucker for free chips and salsa, and Copa “brings the pain” so to speak, in that department.  My waitress was prompt with hot tortilla chips and mild salsa, and the refills didn’t stop throughout the meal. Yum!  And, my meal was easy to choose because the menu is only a one-pager of reasonably priced food.  I ended up ordering the fish tacos, which my server, Joanna, explained was her favorite item on the menu. At $8.95, they were a pretty good deal – deliciously seasoned and generously portioned:


As I mentioned, Copa also hosts Salsa lessons.  Not having taken lessons there, I can’t speak to the quality of them, but the reviews of the lessons from other folks are generally pretty good, though there seems to be a widespread disdain regarding the fact that they do charge a cover for these lessons.

If any of our readers have been, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!

Overall, I’d recommend giving Copa a try (at least for lunch or dinner)!

217 Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 479-5002
http://www.rania.us/copabarandgrill/index.html
www.copabarandgrill.com

New Discoveries

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83 Rainey Street – “Icenhauers”

Rainey Street continues to sprout interesting uses of dilapidated bungalow houses. Chris Howle helped us spot the new TABC permit application sign in the window of 83 Rainey Street, right next door to El Naranjo. The applicant reads “Icenhauers” and they are applying for mixed-bev late night service. Another bar is not ideal for a district yearning for more uses, though good concept execution can go a long way.

C’est la vie.

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Pecan Street Cafe

We love the new location of Pecan Street Cafe. The 504 Trinity Street location is close enough to “Pecan” Street to keep the name, and it is more inviting than the old location.

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Chain Drive

Maybe not new, but we stumbled across a bar kept on the extreme DL. Located on Willow Street, behind the pedi-cab headquarters, it doesn’t look like it’s still open.

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Waller Creek Wow

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We had a great turn out at last night’s Waller Creek District Town Hall. A packed house of ~150 people were in attendance to learn about McCann Adams Studio’s (formerly ROMA Austin) final draft of the Waller Creek District Master Plan (“the plan”). The plan consists of recommendations on infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle use, and appropriate development standards. These recommendations will guide the design of surface level improvements for the nearly 25 acres of downtown land that runs adjacent to Waller Creek.

This was the third town hall for the WCD Master Plan, and the audience had the opportunity to solicit questions of the members of the Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee. The comments will be attached to the final draft as it begins to make the rounds through boards and commissions.

It’s unclear how the recommended improvements will be funded. One or two of the sub-projects could be included in the upcoming $100MM mobility bond package. Most likely we will see improvements paid for on an ad-hoc basis by private development, once the tunnel is complete.

In June, the WCD Master Plan is expected to reach city council for adoption and be incorporated into the much larger Downtown Austin Plan.

Upcoming Review Process

April 12th – Waterfront Planning & Parks Board: Land & Facilities Committee
April 21st – Downtown Commission & Planning Commission’s Neighborhood Planning Subcommittee
April 26th – Design Commission
April 27th – Parks Board
May 4th – City Council’s Comprehensive Planning & Transportation Cmte.
May 5th – Environmental Board
May 11th – Planning Commission
June 10th – City Council briefing
June 24th – City Council action

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