Downtown Austin Blog wishes our readers a Happy Thanksgiving!
And by the way, this turkey guinea fowl really has been running around Rainey Street for quite awhile. I hope whoever is keeping it doesn’t plan to eat it. 🙁
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Quarter-Billion Dollar Street
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
Carrob’s Cafe – Breakfast All Day Long on E.6th!
Thanks to pal and Downtown commercial Realtor, Carl Daywood, I had opportunity to discover a terrific new little eatery in the Sixth Street Historic-Entertainment District. It’s called Carrob’s Cafe on Sabine, between 6th and 7th, essentially behind The Boiling Pot, where the former Texas Picnic Company was housed.
The name Carrob is derived from a combination of the owner’s first names, Carol Mitchell and Robert Barnes, a delightful couple who welcome guests with relaxed down-home friendliness, Austin style. It’s a bright and cheerful space with large windows looking out to both Sabine and Waller Creek.
The menu is basically all-breakfast all-the-time! And since that’s my favorite meal I couldn’t wait to dive in for a sampling. I had a couple of excellent breakfast tacos that were served in toasted tortillas and packed with my choice of 3 ingredients from among 21 selections offered — for only $1.99 each no less! Other options include egg platters, omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy and some killer-sounding breakfast burgers and club combinations.
In the drinks department, my iced mocha latte was also delicious and nicely made. The menu has all sorts of yummy coffees, teas, lemonade and sodas.
The full menu can be viewed here with an extra click-through: Carrob’s Menu.
For now, they are only open daytimes, 6 days a week: 7-5 Mon-Fri and 9-5 Sat; closed Sundays. Hopefully Carrob’s will quickly build enough traffic to warrant opening on Sundays too. And they would probably do well from midnight to 4am on Saturday and Sunday mornings if they actively promoted their existence up and down Sixth to the bar crowd to sober up before heading to their cars.
Stop by and check ’em out with a warm welcome to the neighborhood. I’ll add a photo or two as soon as I make it back by (which will be soon!) and remember to bring along my phone/camera.
DAB Spotlight: Live Oak Pharmacy
There’s a new pharmacy in town… And it’s not your typical “over-the-counter” experience.
“We are a firm believer in the body-mind connection,” said Scot Maitland, co-owner of Live Oak Pharmacy. “If you feel good you are gonna be good and healthy and well. So, to be able to provide people with a unique surprise when they walk in the door, that it’s not business as usual at Live Oak Pharmacy, it’s about you.”
Live Oak Pharmacy – located on West 5th street – opened its doors in April. Maitland says it’s not just about counting pills…. It’s about being rooted in the community.
“We’ve really kind of integrated ourselves in the community because we live here; we live downtown and our customers are our neighbors,” Maitland said.
The pharmacy hosts monthly health and wellness education programs and also supports local events such as the Mamma Jamma Ride and the AIDS Walk. But what really makes the pharmacy unique are its services.
Staff at Like Oak mix medicine – also known as compounding – in order to fit the unique needs of each patient.
“Not everything works for everybody,” Maitland said. “We live in a very customized world. You can customize your own car. You can customize your home. Why not customize your medications.”
Patients might request compounding to convert solid pills into liquid form or just to add a dose of their favorite flavor.
Live Oak also has a medication take back program. Customers can bring unused medicine to be disposed of in a safe way. Since the start of the program in April, Live Oak has collected more than 275 pounds of pills.
“We’ve been big advocates of collecting those unused medications that would have otherwise gone into our water supply or into a dumpster somewhere or worse yet into the hands of the hands of our youth,” Maitland said.
At Live Oak, wellness isn’t just about your health… it’s about the wellness of the community.
Three New Building Permit Requests On Rainey Street
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.
