Core Report

Around the table sat three representatives from Downtown Austin Alliance — director Charles Betts, associate director Molly Alexander and communications expert Lacy LaBorde — as well as 6th Street Austin’s Josh Allen and Alamo Drafthouse’s Tim League.

To my relief, the meeting was not confrontational. They agreed wholeheartedly with my recommendations. Which allowed us to dig into a hundred or so questions I had about their strategies for preserving and improving this vital social gem.
The main eye-opener: Although work on the the Waller Creek Tunnel will begin in January, it will take four years to complete. If businesses decide to improve their properties along the creek’s banks in the interim, they’ve rolling the dice that a major flood could wash away some amenities.
As it stands, downtown’s northeast sector, split by Waller Creek, remains something of a blank slate. Positive developments include full apartments across the street from Club de Ville and Mohawk, a planned national Episcopal archive on Seventh Street and a youth center/parking garage for the First Baptist Church uphill of the archives. That leaves too many blocks fallow. But gives developers time to consider much-needed affordable housing. (The type of development that has lifted the southwest sector is hampered by terrain and Capitol view corridors).
Even blocks away, this makes an impact on East Sixth Street, as does the campus for the homeless on East Seventh Street. City leaders are looking into a comprehensive strategy for the homeless on the model of San Antonio’s Haven for Hope. But it’s not likely to land elsewhere, given the city’s rampant NIMBY-ism. Improved order — along with consistent, disciplined empathy from all of us — seems the only answer.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

What about the seemingly abandoned business sites, like the burned out Black Cat club? Turns out rebuilding is often hampered by overlapping building code requirements in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. The Black Cat, for instance, needs a larger water pipe for a new sprinkler system. The good news here is that the current City of Austin administration gets good marks for coordinating such needs across government departments.
All agreed the East Sixth Street sidewalks require complete replacement — wider, better designed and easier to clean. (One can’t spray down often vile East Sixth Street weekend mornings because of environmental concerns. That and the poorly chosen sandstone sidewalk pavers would erode almost immediately.)
Among the positive gains for these groups pushing downtown improvements is the addition of traditional retail — groceries, apparel, etc. — to complement the glut of restaurants and bars. I’m not sure how well shops such as Patagonia, St. Bernard Sports and The Texas Clothier are doing, but the real test will come when the new residential and hotel towers come completely online.
What could really help East Sixth Street and downtown as a whole: The same thing that could help the country— liquidity and credit. Key projects like the planned Marriott complex on Congress Avenue have been sidelined because even the highest-rated developers can’t raise the money.
East Sixth and surrounding areas will still be plagued by low-impact storefronts — like the Texas Lottery offices at Sixth and Red River streets — and warehoused land, such as big swaths of East Fifth Street. You can’t force landlords serve the greater good in a strong property-rights state.
Still, I’m delighted to know that nonprofits like 6th Street Austin and Downtown Austin Alliance — as well as business leaders like League — are working quietly, diligently to make East Sixth Street and the rest of the urban core welcoming for everybody.