AG

Free Dance Classes in Downtown Austin This Weekend (Sunday)

AG | August 24, 2013 |

I’ve been taking dance and fitness classes as Ballet Austin for a while (read my review of my first class here) and I love it! My absolute favorite class is the Cardio Blast, but I take several classes there. And I found out the other day that they are doing an ENTIRE DAY of FREE CLASSES this Sunday, August 25, 2013!

If you are looking to spice up your workout routine, or just looking for something free and fun to do this weekend in downtown Austin – I definitely suggest checking this out. Here are the deets:

When: Sunday, August 25, 2013, 1pm-5pm. Schedule of classes HERE (scroll down). Each class is 40 minutes long with a 20 minute transition time between classes.

Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey

AG | August 23, 2013 |

If you are looking for a new downtown apartment to rent come late November 2013, Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey Street across from the Milago Condos may be a viable option.

They’ve been on our radar lately, most notably because of the recent announcement confirming that Royal Blue Grocery will be occupying a large part of the ground floor frontage, which will be a HUGE add to the Rainey Street District (we’re excited about the Salvage Pizza, too!).

Post by Downtown Austin Blog.

I personally also think this is an interesting apartment development because Novare and Batson-Cook are building / have built, for all intents and purposes, the EXACT same building (the footprints of the units are a little smaller in the Austin iteration) in two other major southern cities that I’ve lived in – Houston and Atlanta.

Prices for the Skyhouse Austin [Read more…] about Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey

9th Annual Downtown Living Tour – May 19th, 2013 – Reserve Your Tickets

AG | May 5, 2013 |

The 9th Annual Downtown Living Tour is a couple of weeks away. Produced by the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA), the tour is a great way to tour downtown living, at your own pace, all in one day!

[standout-css3-button cssclass=”button-tangerine” href=”https://dana.ticketbud.com/2013-downtown-living-tour-shuttles-and-champagne”]Get your DLT tickets now[/standout-css3-button]

This year, although the tour will still be self-guided, the tour will also have shuttle service to facilitate access to each tour stop (nice!), and will showcase the following buildings:

The Whitley Apartments
The Shore Condos
Park West Residences
360 Condos
Avenue Lofts (one of the few Art Deco buildings downtown)
The Four Seasons Residences -RECEPTION – (VIP only, and only open from 4pm-5pm)
Brazos Lofts (check out the history, formerly Capital Chevrolet)
Towers of Town Lake (Penthouse, VIP only, only open from 1-4pm)
Capital Studios (to-be-built Foundations Communities project designed by Dick Clark Architecture)
LBJ’s apartment at JJ Pickle Building (VIP only, only open from 1-4pm)
More stops to be announced!

There are some stops of particular note, primarily the official office suite of President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the JJ Pickle Building, an office suite he used during his presidency and the site of such landmark meetings as the Cold War discussions on December 6, 1966, which culminated in the first agreement with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons, known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).

The JJ Pickle building itself is part of a two-block complex of Federal Buildings in downtown Austin, and was designed by Texas Firms Page-Southerland-Page and Brooks & Barr, and is textbook 1960s high-rise design.

Here are a few exclusive pictures of the interior of the office suite, which is remarkably intact.

The LBJ Suite is only open to VIP ticket holders, and there a very limited amount of VIP tickets – so we would recommend…

[standout-css3-button cssclass=”button-tangerine” href=”https://dana.ticketbud.com/2013-downtown-living-tour-shuttles-and-champagne”]Get your DLT tickets now[/standout-css3-button]

FLOR coming to Downtown Austin’s 2nd Street District March 7, 2013.

AG | February 11, 2013 |

Looks like FLOR will be opening in downtown Austin’s 2nd Street District (209 W 2nd to be exact, where Mercury Design Studio was – they’ve now moved 2 doors down).

They’ll be opening a day before SXSW 2013 starts, just in time for the crazy crowds. We suspect they’ll do well in the area with DWR and Mercury Design Studio nearby – as well as several high-end downtown austin condos and apartment buildings, and look forward to doing a little shopping there ourselves.

Brass House to Open in Downtown Austin Convention Center District This Friday

AG | February 6, 2013 |

The little 100 block of San Jacinto has seen a little turn-over recently. Hank’s Garage, which had been vacant for some time, was recently taken over by a concept called El Ceviche Grill, and the bar that was Skinny’s Ballroom – which closed not too long ago (and we here at DAB were pretty sad, we had been rooting for them) – has a new concept coming in called Brass House (website looks to be in progress).

I’ve been surprised at the lack of success at some of the places in the general area, considering the hotel & convention traffic coupled with nearby high-rises such as The Four Season’s Residences, The Austonian, and the Rainey Trio of The Shore Condos, The Milago, and Towers of Town Lake. Perhaps sky-high rent and massive competition have been too much for many of these small operators.

Either way, I’m intrigued by Brass House. Describing itself on its Facebook page as a Jazz House, Wine Bar, and Gastropub concept, the finish-out looks in keeping with catering to a higher-end clientele and they are touting that food such as “Dolmas, hummus, pickles, paninis, salads, charcuterie boards” will be “All made from scratch in house or bought from a local family owned source….”.

Here’s a picture of some of the decor that captures the general vibe of the place.

Brass House is supposed to open this Friday, February 8, at 4pm. I’ll likely walk by to check it out and I’ll be sure to update this post with my thoughts!