Rainey Street District

Should The City Allow New Surface Parking On Rainey Street?

Jude Galligan | January 27, 2011 |

It was the Downtown Austin Convention Center Overlay combined with a down market and CBD zoning that created a perfect environment for the bungalow-to-bar renovation boom on Rainey Street. Now, to spur new infrastructure and a better mix of retail uses, allowing surface level parking in Rainey Street neighborhood is worthy of reexamination.

Some of my highly informed friends in downtown Austin, whose opinions I greatly respect, will disagree with me. And, in general, I would discourage new downtown surface level parking in most circumstances. Short of incentives to develop structured shared parking [underground!], we need to take a pragmatic look at how to deal with the Rainey Street neighborhood in the short-run.

CBD + OMV = Doh!

Jude Galligan | January 13, 2011 |

CBD zoning was required to create the giant residential tax base we now have in downtown Austin. CBD zoning also enables bars to easily obtain OMV permits. These are good examples of the power of CBD zoning. However, there is a legacy problem surfacing in CBD zoned non-entertainment districts of downtown Austin: compatibility.

The surge in new OMV permits issued outside of the established entertainment districts in downtown Austin has generated a response from the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association. DANA has issued a position letter (pdf) that suggests procedural, enforcement, and compatibility improvements to be applied outside of E. 6th Street and the Warehouse District.

BTW, the local news media is going to generate plenty of hyperbole and “show down” sensationalism. I choose to ignore it. The solution to compatibility problems boils down to common sense and compromise. [Read more…] about CBD + OMV = Doh!

Spotted: New Bar Coming to Rainey Street Neighborhood

Jude Galligan | December 31, 2010 |

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

The Quarter-Billion Dollar Street

Jude Galligan | November 18, 2010 |

View Rainey Street District in a larger map

At last night’s Downtown Commission, the commissioners heard from representatives of Rainey Street’s high-rise HOA boards. The most salient concerns were: 1) pedestrian safety (there’s no sidewalks), 2) outdoor music venue permits (compatibility), and 3) parking (there’s not much) in the burgeoning Rainey Street District.

In seven years, the city has generated nearly a quarter-BILLION dollars in tax basis through the upzoning of Rainey Street. Andre Suissa with American Realty Corp helped me assemble some interesting data.

Rainey Street Facts:
Number of Residential High Rises = 5
Number of Residential High Rise Doors = 857
Total Value of Residential High Rise (aka. ‘condos’) Tax Base = $238,586,516 (!!!)
Total Value of Other Privately Owned Property = $56,831,501
Total Value of City Owned Property = $70,111,541
Total Tax Base of Rainey Street District = $365,529,558

The most recent draft of the Downtown Austin Plan(released yesterday) devotes two pages to priority uses for the district. While it is brief, the message is clear and on-the-money. Rainey Street is not one of downtown’s two entertainment districts. Two highlights of the DAP as it pertains to RSD: 1) Encourage new residential uses that can complement the existing, quiet neighborhood character. 2) Limit the number of cocktail uses allowed.

I’ve been devoting a lot of blog space to RSD, and there’s good reason: No other area in Austin parallels Rainey Street’s activity, specifically the type of growth we’re observing. It’s the wild west with big CBD zoning guns, feral cats, no plan, and few laws in place to keep things orderly.

Lax parking requirements for bars in CBD are precisely why you are seeing a surge in bars in RSD over other commercial uses. [The same is true for “bar creep” we’re seeing on Congress Ave] . There was a lengthy discussion on the DC about replacing parking from the west side of Rainey Street with a pedestrian/bike safety zone. Currently, arriving and departing customers are literally forced to walk in the middle of the street where it is a foregone conclusion that someone is going to get hurt. Seems like a pedestrian/bicycle/handicap refuge is good idea.

-Jude

Three New Building Permit Requests On Rainey Street

Jude Galligan | November 10, 2010 |

I love this.

On my desk sits three simultaneous requests, from different owner/operators, for building permits on Rainey Street.

Since Rainey Street is a National Registered Historic District any improvements must pass through the Historic Landmark Commission. We knew about 86 Rainey St. That will become The Blackheart. 69 Rainey Street, according to applicant Rick McMinn, will be a food concept to serve patrons at the bars located mid-block. 92 Rainey Street is expected to become a bar, but we haven’t been able to confirm if they will also serve food or if they will operate with daytime hours.

92 rainey street austin texas 78701 — 86 Rainey St

69 rainey street austin texas 78701 — 69 Rainey St