downtown austin

Two Rainey District Towers Getting New Restaurant Concepts

AG | May 18, 2015 |

There’s always tons of activity in the downtown Austin restaurant scene, but we’re particularly excited about new restaurants in the Rainey Street District since this area of downtown is changing and maturing more quickly than other parts of downtown.

With the residential that already exists in the district, and more coming online like Millennium Rainey Apartments, 70 Rainey, and the proposed Waller Park Place, expanded commercial options for this downtown Austin area were imminent, and we’re now seeing day spas, salons, a dry cleaner (!), and more eating options pop up in Rainey.

Skyhouse Apartments is filling a corner on the ground floor with a fun looking concept called Emmer and Rye. We’ve reached out, but don’t know a ton about it (there appears to have been a restaurant in Seattle with the same name that closed a couple years back, but we’re unsure if it’s related). The only online marketing they seem to currently have is their Instagram account. We did find some great renderings online from their architect, Kevin Stewart, though:

Additionally, the Hotel Van Zandt, a boutique hotel concept opening right next to The Shore Condos this summer, is opening a very smartly named Geraldine’s restaurant concept, which will boast undoubtedly stunning lake views as well as good food and fun.

Check out their website (it’s just a landing page, right now) here, and sign up for updates.

Also, check out updated Hotel Van Zandt interior renderings at the Austin Business Journal.

These concepts will join existing Rainey dining options No Va, El Naranjo, G’raj Mahal, Bangers, Javelina, Salvation Pizza, and Royal Blue Grocery.

Things to do in Downtown Austin – Austin Panic Room

AG | May 7, 2015 |

Are you itching for something a little different – a little outside of the normal weekend routine of brunch, shopping, frisbee golf in Zilker, etc?

Well, have I got a recommendation for you – Austin Panic Room.

It’s one of the funnest group activities that I’ve done in a very long time, and they have recently relocated from East Austin into downtown Austin at 1205 Rio Grande, near ACC and Pease Elementary.

Here’s the scoop: Austin Panic Room is basically just a big puzzle you solve with your friends (and maybe some strangers) in about an hour.

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.

91 Red River Moving, To Be Preserved

AG | April 17, 2015 |

Update: Whelp, we’re not sure what happened, but we noticed the home was actually demolished, and not moved, like we had been previously been told by a source close to the property.

New signals of an inevitable redevelopment of the northeastern corner of Davis Street and Red River. We noticed yesterday that there was drilling outside of the home and we asked about it. We were told by a reliable source that the home, constructed in the early 1900’s, is being relocated to a retirement couple in Thorndale, possibly as part of a larger retirement community of historic homes.

Back in August of 2014, 91 and 91 1/2 Red River received demo permits from the City. As the Rainey Street district continues to evolve, we are glad to see these homes preserved.

Bare-ly Believable La Bare Building

AG | April 2, 2015 |

Remember La Bare on Riverside? Yeah, you do.

If you’re new to Austin, La Bare was a “ladies club” located at 110 E Riverside Drive that advertised male dancer entertainment. From the get-go, the business was troubled due to an incompatible use with the surrounding neighborhood (even then, when it wasn’t as densely populated with residential developments like The Crescent and others) and eventually re-opened on I-35, where it commenced to unwind.

That first part of that story sounds familiar, as a strip club was recently proposed and faces opposition at 422 Congress.

Just as fascinating as its salacious past are the future possibilities for the site, which is now being listed by commercial brokers Avison Young.

The fact that it’s been vacant for yeeeeaaaaaarssss seems nuts given it’s HIGHLY desirable location (again, a familiar theme in recent news). Why? We can only speculate, but it likely had to do with figuring out how the adjacent TxDot property will develop.

With a large landowner controlling several adjacent lots in one of the most desirable areas of Austin, we expect that once the planets align we’re going to see a master plan for all of these sites.

Down the street, CWS is mid-construction on a 260-unit luxury apartment complex.