austin history

A Drive Through Austin – June 1996

Jude Galligan | June 6, 2016 |

This is an amazing time capsule of a video.

Twenty years ago this video was shot by Pete Reid and his buddy, Brian. Pete was a visiting student from Scotland at UT.

The video takes us from UT, down the Drag, along Guadalupe into downtown Austin. The video quality isn’t great, but it is good enough for some good nostalgia to kick in. From Pete’s Youtube description:

“We drove down the Drag passing the Hole in the Wall, Tower Records, some drag rats, and Miami Subs. Then down Guadalupe passed the Dog and Duck, Liberty Lunch, an empty Austin skyline, and hardly any traffic. “

It starts off with shots of the Drag. For me the most interesting part is about five minutes in when you can catch glimpses of how downtown Austin has evolved. Notably:

0:44 – Tower Records on the Drag

5:24 – on the left, Guadalupe @ 5th, that parking lot is where Plaza Lofts is now.

5:52 – on the left, Guadalupe @ 2nd, that white building is now where Austin City Hall is located. The camera pans to the right to show Liberty Lunch.

6:27 – approaching and crossing Cesar Chavez

7:01 – shots of downtown Austin from 1st Street Bridge

Thanks to Pete Reid for sharing this on Youtube, and to Chris James putting it on my radar.

~ Jude

L’Estelle and Rainey’s Evolution

AG | January 19, 2016 |

As far as Rainey bars go, I really like The Drafting Room at 88 1/2 Rainey. Located on a plot of land right behind The Shore Condos in downtown Austin‘s Rainey Street District, and owned by inveterate downtown-er and Architect Craig Nasso since 1994 (read: WAY before Rainey Street was “cool”), the lot has evolved with the neighborhood and transformed what was an already a lovely home and office into two delightful, separate but intertwined (both are owned by Craig and Holly), pursuits of food and drink.

L’Estelle’s story on it’s website is actually much more eloquently written – check it out here.

If you don’t have time to read it all, here’s my favorite excerpt:

The architect of L’Estelle, then 26 years old, drove down Rainey Street in 1994 and spotted a little piece of “half-lot” that was merely a patch of dirt. The fact that this lot was on a street named Rainey was especially of interest since his mother’s maiden name was Estele Rainey. He bought it, nurtured it, planted every tree and bush and designed a plan for a long life on this little lot. Twenty years ago, he built the back house as a live work office and decided to wait to build a front house when he could design it with a wife if he got married one day.

The architect eventually got married, but during that period, Rainey Street changed from a residential historic neighborhood into a bustling night life district. So the architect changed plans but held sensitively to his dream. He designed and built a front house with his wife which would serve as a kitchen for the people and he converted his office into a quaint beer and wine bar – now the Drafting Room. Together, they open their yard and their hospitality to all who enter, offering a real and authentic connection to the district, its history, and the comfort casual style of gathering under the stars with good drinks, food, and folks. L’Estelle pays respect to their mother, Estele Rainey, the best cook in the family who serves as the advisor and contributor of many homestyle recipes for the preserves and sweets offered in the kitchen.

The Drafting Room

There’s truly a lot to love when it comes to what Craig and his wife Holly have carefully, tenderly created. Their story is unique and their tie to the neighborhood is genuine; the architecture (and, hence, the vibe) is elegant, modern and comfortable; but, most importantly, the wine is great and the food is TO DIE FOR.

Le Burger

Bottom line: Go there. You won’t regret it. And say hi to Holly and Craig when you visit; they are almost always there making sure things are running right.

p.s. – They are open for Sunday Brunch, too! Starts at 11am…

Drafting Room Facebook | L’estelle Facebook

Want a trip down memory lane? Check out our 2012 Mega Post on Rainey with pics of what the street looked like not but 5 years ago…

Newest Installation of Public Art Project at 2nd and Guadalupe

AG | April 22, 2015 |

The Second Street Public Art Master Plan (part of Great Streets), in coordination with the City’s Art in Public Places program, has methodically been placing art in around the district since the mid-2000s, when 7 sidewalk enhancements were commissioned at district intersections to reflect a unified theme.

The City of Austin has a 2% for art ordinance that was established in 1985. Art in Public Places (AIPP) is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year and Austin was the first municipal public art program in the state of Texas. Under the ordinance, 2% of eligible capital improvement project budgets are allocated for the commission of public art for that site. The projects in The Second Street Public Art Master Plan are under that envelope of funding.

How Much Convention Center Is Too Much Convention Center?

Jude Galligan | November 19, 2014 |

Block 8 sits in the southern shadow of the Four Seasons Residences, just west of the Austin Convention Center. There are signals that the City of Austin is posturing for another Convention Center eminent domain battle (à la the Whittington Saga Part 1 & Part 2, which we wrote about in 2008).

City Staff recently recommended that the City acquire the southern tracts of what’s known as Block 8 to be part of an expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the first step in a larger proposed expansion.

The Convention Center currently sprawls over six city blocks, and hosts 881,400 square feet of space. The City Memo states that there is “solid evidence” for expansion and is wanting up to 305,000 in additional square feet! No doubt the abundance of downtown hotel rooms recently built, and under-construction is part of that “evidence”.

You can view the memo in a recent report from the Austin Monitor, though talks about this have been going on behind closed doors for a while before this.

block-8-tcad-parcels — Plat map of the southern half of Block 8

Below is the breakdown of current ownership of the southern half of Block 8 that the city is intending to initially acquire:

101 E Cesar Chavez / 302 E Cesar Chavez – this is one of the most awkward buildings in downtown Austin. The tenant, Casa Chapala, recently closed its doors. Public records show the lot to be owned by Bloctavo Holdings LLC / John Calhoun Miller, a real estate attorney in Texas. May be a registered agent.

304 & 306 Cesar Chavez – downtown’s purveyor of Aprilias and Vespas, AF1 seems to hide in plain sight. Owned by Bandy Real Estate LLC, a family operated LLC located in Kingsland, TX.

316 & 316 1/2 Cesar Chavez – A lovely surface parking lot (sarcasm), adjacent to the Christian Science Reading Room. Public records indicated this is owned by Bloctavo Holdings / John Calhoun Miller, a real estate attorney in Texas. May be a registered agent.

the view of the lot looking to the north

102 / 104 Trinity – The Christian Science Reading Room, owned by the First Church of Christian Science.

front exterior of the Christian Science Reading Room

Southwest Strategies has been marketing the assemblage of the southern half of Block 8, hoping to get a developer to build with a long-term ground lease.

They describe Block 8 as follows:

The Block 8 Tracts are an assemblage of 4 smaller tracts. Currently, the western portion of the property along San Jacinto is improved with a two story building containing 6,103 sq. ft. currently leased to a restaurant on a short term basis. The central part of the assemblage is improved with a one story building containing 5,320 sq. ft. Tenant is on a month-to-month lease. The eastern portion of the assemblage consists of a paved parking lot utilized for contract parking and an owner occupied one story building consisting of 4,161 sq. ft.

It’s true that the block sits on a prime redevelopment location. It’s near the convention center, has CBD zoning, and “is unencumbered by any Capitol View Corridors.”

Per the Austin Business Journal, “City officials invested about $110 million to expand the convention center in 2002 by several city blocks.”

In their memo, the City states that it has already sent what’s called a Letter of Intent to Acquire to the property owners, and is also already throwing around eminent domain references (though the memo does state that the City will make a good faith attempt to acquire the properties at market value).

The above lots are just the first part of the plan. From the Austin Monitor: “Rizer suggests the city will need to acquire ‘the equivalent of three to four City blocks‘ to accumulate enough room for the additional space.”

As a resident of downtown, the prospect that an additional three to four blocks of CBD zoned downtown Austin land, currently occupied by thriving businesses, would be annexed by a sprawling Convention Center is alarming. This would divide downtown Austin using brute force malaise-era design principals. The City should instead be investing in sustainable design that enhances the preciously compact pedestrian experience our downtown currently affords to residents and visitors.

I call BS on the dogma that Convention Centers can only expand horizontally. City leadership should invite world class designers to show us a better path to expand vertically on the already significant Convention Center footprint.

-Jude

The Rainey Street House

AG | October 15, 2014 |

It looks like Rainey Street District will be getting a history center! The big question is: where will it go?

On June 12, 2014, Councilman Mike Martinez made a motion, which was amended by Councilman Chris Riley and passed a council vote to essentially read as follows:

Directs the City Manager to accept the donation of the structure formerly located at 93 Rainey St. from Austin Rainey St. D/E/P, LLC, a Delaware, LLC., for use as the Rainey Street History Center.

Here’s the house at 93 Rainey in 2012 (taken from my MEGA Rainey post from 2012) – standing on one of the sites where Dinerstein is building the Millenium Apartments.

The ~1600sf structure as it stands today:

This structure, which will be refurbished using funds from the Rainey Street District Fund, will be placed on a TBD location within the next 180 days.

Currently, these three locations are being considered:

64 Rainey, 700 Cummings, and East Avenue – all pictured below:

64 Rainey

700 Cummings

East Avenue Site

There are pros and cons to each of these sites, and the Rainey Neighbors Association will be discussing all the issues, and likely selecting the location THEY endorse (several other stakeholders may need to agree, including the MACC and the Waller Creek Conservancy) on 10/21 at 6:30pm at the Towers of Town Lake Library. If you are an RNA member – you’re welcome to come to the meeting! Otherwise, submit your thoughts on these sites in the comments below!

For more information, download the attached presentation by Austin Parks and Rec: Rainey-Street-House

Downtown Austin Voting Guide

AG | October 13, 2014 |

We know you’ve heard this a bajillion-million times, but this year’s election on November 4, 2014, is VERY important. Particularly for Downtown Austin, as the new 10-1 district system has the potential to really adversely affect policies that support a vibrant and growing downtown.

First things first – when, where, and how to vote:

When

The actual election is November 4, 2014, but EARLY VOTING starts Monday, October 20, 2014, (prompting some discussion between Jude and I as to what the real difference is between early voting and just regular voting). Early voting runs through Halloween this year.

Where

Early Voting Locations: Oddly, there are no stations officially defined as “Early Voting” stations in downtown proper (weird, huh?) – but there are some MOBILE Voting locations downtown for Early Voting (sheesh – confusing, I know) – here are a few:

Mon 10/20/14 THROUGH Fri 10/31/14, 8am-7pm: Mobile Voting Station at ACC Rio Grande (1212 Rio Grande) – no voting station on Sun 10/26, and hours are 9am-6pm on Sat 10/25
Tues 10/21/14, 1pm-3pm: Mobile Voting station at Lakeside Senior Center (85 Trinity)
Mon 10/27/14 THROUGH Fri 10/31/14, 7am-7pm: Mobile Voting station at Austin City Hall (301 W 2nd)
Tues 10/28/14, 8am-5pm: Mobile Voting station at Travis County Commissioner’s Court (700 Lavaca)
Wed, 10/29/14 & Thurs 10/30/14, 8am-5pm: Mobile Voting station at HM Sweatt Travis County Courthouse (1000 Guadalupe)
Fri, 10/31/14, 8am-5pm: Mobile Voting station at the Sam Houston Building (201 E 14th St)

On November 4th:

Austin City Hall (301 W 2nd) – 7am-7pm
ACC Rio Grande (1212 Rio Grande) – 7am-7pm

Here’s a LIST of all the mobile voting locations, sorted by date. For a comprehensive map of ALL Early Voting, Mobile Voting, and Election Day Voting locations – click here.

How

Now, as to the ballot itself – we won’t go into every race, in the interest of everyone’s sanity, but, we will give an overview to a couple of the downtown-related / pertinent issues:

There’s the General Gubernatorial ballot which has things like US Representatives, State Representatives, Judges, and County offices….

Then, there’s the CITY Ballot which will have some very important races for Downtown on it:

For District 9 (the district which includes downtown Austin), we personally support Chris Riley. The Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association also supports this candidate.
For Proposition 1 (the “rail bond”), while there is quite a bit of debate about this bond, we think it’s important to note that the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association has given $4,000 in funds to the Let’s Go Austin political action committee, who has campaigned to support the bond. The Downtown Austin Alliance and the Austin American Statesman also support Prop 1.

Also, here’s a handy dandy tool you can use to remind your friends to Go Vote!

-A

Public Art and Austin Floods

AG | September 3, 2013 |

I recently wrote a little blurb on The People’s Gallery, a project that’s part of the Art in Public Places program by the City of Austin’s Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services department. I’m a fan of the program, and think these types of City projects and programs help to make our city great!

That’s why I’d like to continue, from time to time, highlighting these little gems of public works in Downtown Austin. Today’s piece, I’m embarrassed to say, just came into my purview, even though I’m an almost daily runner of Lady Bird Lake’s 3 mile loop.

I happened to notice it the other day, and thought I’d share some shots of the work, particularly since they highlight some history of the lake and Austin. The piece is done by Deborah Mersky and is called [Read more…] about Public Art and Austin Floods

Judges Hill Neighborhood in Downtown Austin Applies to Become Local Historic District

AG | August 28, 2013 |

We recently received notice that the Judges Hill Neighborhood Association, representing the area of downtown Austin between W 15th and W 18th and West Avenue and San Gabriel has applied for a rezoning to a Local Historic District.

Per the notice:

Local historic districts were created by the City Council as a tool to preserve the historic character of the city’s older neighborhoods by introducing design standards for additions and changes to existing buildings and for new construction within the district. Designation of a neighborhood as a local historic district helps ensure that new construction within the district is compatible with the character of the area. Local historic district designation does not prohibit change or new construction, but rather sets design parameters based upon historical precedents while encouraging conservation and energy efficiency.

Here’s a link to the notice, in its entirety. (note, in the second to last paragraph on the first page, it mentions “Hyde Park Local Historic District.” We are assuming this is a typo and that the Hyde Park notice was used as a template for this notice).

A Local Historic District is not to be confused with a National Register Historic District:

If everything goes as planned, Judges Hill Historic District will join Castle Hill, Harthan Street, and Hyde Park as LHD’s.

If you live in Judges Hill and want more info – we came across this website that has a PLETHORA of info (we’re not sure how often it’s updated, though – so read with caution).

The Travis House Ghost Door

Jude Galligan | July 16, 2013 |

Have you seen the mysterious Travis House monument door at 18^th and Guadalupe downtown?

From the look of it, the former Travis House site is in total stasis, but the sidewalk has been given the Great Streets treatment, even if for just half a block.

A little history: the Travis House was building constructed in 1945 as a 30-unit multi-family building, among whose tenants included a secretary for then-Congressman Lyndon Johnson. Within five years of being built, the building was converted into a hotel, named Hotel Guadalupe. In 1956, it was purchased by the YWCA and became one of the few places where black UT students were allowed to rent rooms while going to school on campus, according to city records.

Fast forward to the 1990s, and the YWCA chapter fell into bankruptcy and lost the building, at which point the Travis County Justice System converted the building into a halfway house for recently released prisoners. Predictably, that sparked a public safety outcry, due to the proximity to young UT students, which led to a period of limbo and vacancy for the Travis House. There were a series of low-profile, unsolved arsons in the building while it was generally used as a flop house by the homeless, amid growing clamors to destroy the building. Finally, in 2010 one of the fires found fuel and resulted in a two-alarm fire and the building was taken down.

As a testament to that thrilling history, the door reconstruction stands there now, with the original carvings above the entrance and reclaimed bricks from the demolition. A fairly large plaque is posted on the south side.

The historical significance of the building is debatable; however, the aesthetic effect of the monument, especially at night, is undoubtedly intriguing.

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…

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