Rainey Street District

Rainey Street District Welcomes Salvation Pizza… and More

AG | February 20, 2015 |

The Rainey Street District continues to evolve, most recently with the opening of Salvation Pizza at the base the Skyhouse Apartments, and across from Milago condos. And another pizza is apparently underway just down the block at 78 Rainey.

When Skyhouse apartments opened last year, their first retail tenant was the enormously popular Royal Blue Grocery. For months a TABC permit application donned the window and residents wondered when Salvation Pizza would finally open.

Jude and I stopped in the other day and enjoyed a white pizza and it was very, very [Read more…] about Rainey Street District Welcomes Salvation Pizza… and More

Some Downtown Austin Events – Family Friendly

AG | October 22, 2014 |

Three family-friendly downtown Austin events happening next week, in no particular order….

Event 1

Trick or Treating with DANA at The Shore Condos, Thursday, 10/30/2014 – 5:30-7pm

Pretty self-explanatory. This event is restricted to downtown residents and their children (or grand-children, etc) and should be absolute cute overload. RSVP required. Click link above for details and RSVP. Here are some pics from last year’s event:

Post by DANA – Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association.

Event 2

DANA Garden Day, Near Pfluger Bridge, Saturday, 11/1/2014 – 9am

Calling all city dwellers! You may no longer have a garden to tend, but come get your hands dirty and meet your neighbors as we beautify part of the hike and bike trail near the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. DANA adopted a garden on Lady Bird Lake (Cesar Chavez side of Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge). It’s a busy spot on the trail and will be enjoyed by all that pass by.

If you are interested in volunteering, please just email DANA at info@downtownaustin.org so they can send you additional information if necessary.

DANA Garden Day
Saturday, November 1, 2014, 9am-12noon
About 999 W Cesar Chavez
map transit

Event 3

Movies in the Park in Wooldridge Square – Beetlejuice, 10/29/2014 @ 7pm

The 2014 Fall Movies in the Park series continues on Wednesday, October 29 with Beetlejuice at 7:00 p.m. This week is sponsored by the Downtown Austin Alliance and will change things up by moving to Wooldridge Square.

Movies in the Park is a series of free films brought to you by the Austin Parks Foundation, and presented by the Alamo Drafthouse. The 2014 Movies in the Park theme celebrates the Alamo 100 – a list of 100 movies deemed essential by our beloved Alamo Drafthouse. The last movie of the season will be The Dark Night on November 13 at 6:15 p.m. in Republic Square.

Dogs, picnics, and lawn chairs are welcome. Alcoholic beverages, glass, and styrofoam are not permitted in the park. Recycling bins are provided, but we ask that you help us out by packing out all of your own trash. Smoking is also prohibited in the park, per city law. In case of rain, please visit http://austinparks.org/moviesinthepark.html for updates.

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 Goes For The Goal – and the Gold!

Fred Schmidt | March 28, 2014 |

If you haven’t yet read this week’s edition of The Austin Chronicle – and seen the amazing front page photo/rendering – please check it out at once here! Stupendous reporting by Senior News Editor, Michael King, of breaking news regarding a multi-billion dollar plan to build a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium in the middle of Lady Bird Lake, coupled with the new Light Rail line running straight through the center of the stadium as the train crosses the river.

Downtown Austin Round Up: Fairmont, Waller, Trinity, Oh my

Jude Galligan | March 28, 2014 |

Have you experienced the phenomena that BIG things seem to happen when you’re on vacation? This past week, while we attempted to cruise, there were multiple status report updates about three tall projects in downtown Austin.

99 Trinity Tower Announces $100mm, 39 Story Apartment Highrise

Back in November, DAB broke the news about Trinity Tower. Located just east of the Four Seasons Residences, and north of Lakeside apartments. This will become a very dense intersection. We have big expectations that this highrise will fill the perceptive gap between the Rainey Street neighborhood and the rest of downtown Austin. We’re thrilled that they are aiming high with a 39 story tower, which would be the tallest apartment building in Austin. Demolition of the warehouse should commence soon. (Statesman)

Waller Park Place Closes On Land

The Sutton Company closed on their deal to buy Perry Lorenz’s incredible 3-acre assemblage along Waller Creek. What Sutton is proposing is nothing short of the largest private development in the history of downtown Austin. Three towers in the Rainey Street district, including significant Waller Creek enhancements, stretching from Cesar Chavez to Davis Street. (Statesman)

Fairmont Selects Builder

This was significant because half of the people I talk with have begun to think this project is vapor-ware. The project was planned to break ground a while back. The Fairmont website is showing delivery in “2016+”, and the sign pictured above says “Opening Fall 2017”. We hope this is a reliable signal that the project will break ground soon. (Statesman)

-Jude