Changes coming to W. 6th St.

Effort aims to attract upscale demographic and area investment

Bobby Longoria

Daily Texan Staff

Jacqueline Gilles/The Daily Texan

Two people walk by Mother Egan’s Irish Pub on West Sixth Street on Monday afternoon. A new bar and hotel are planned as renovations to the neighborhood get under way.

The West Sixth Street district will undergo renovations during 2010 that will add to and transform aspects of the area’s character and commercial viability.

Plans to renovate the area will include building redevelopment, as well as the reconceptualization of the area to attract a more mature and affluent demographic. Bars undergoing renovation projects include Star Bar, Hi-Lo bar and Mother Egan’s Irish Pub. Also, a new bar, the Kung-Fu Saloon, and a hotel will be added to the district in the near future.

Mother Egan’s will undergo extensive renovations, which will include a complete tear-down of the building’s interior. General manager Grant McMichael said the bar established in 2000 will lose its lease in May 2010 to the Womack brothers, who own the Chuggin’ Monkey and recently began running the Molotov Lounge.

“The character of West Sixth Street has become very different than what it was when Mother Egan’s opened,” McMichael said. “These other bars popped up, and they have been changing the dynamic to a more upscale expensive attire — more like Dallas.”

Stratford Property Group President Chris Horne is a developer for the new hotel project and a managing partner with Nick Adams on the development of the Kung-Fu Saloon.

The hotel will have 16 suite-style rooms and the property will be a mixed-use project encompassing a cocktail lounge open to the public, a street-side coffee house, small office spaces for lease and a conference center.

“The hotel will be a first-class, garden-style, low-rise, contemporary boutique hotel,” Horne said.

At this point, the renovations are not within the city of Austin’s downtown redevelopment plan. Michael Knox, city downtown officer and Economic Growth and Redevelopment Office co-project manager, said the city may consider the West Sixth Street district as part of a city-sanctioned redevelopment.

“A portion of West Sixth may be looked at as part of the Downtown Austin Plan district planning in an upcoming phase,” Knox said.

Adams said the Kung Fu Saloon will be a relaxed, upper-scale concept featuring vintage arcade games such as “Ms. Pac Man,” classic table games including Air Hockey and a full bar.

McMichael said West Sixth has been going in a new direction for the past two and a half years and that it is far different than what it was 10 years ago. He said Mother Egan’s business has been stable even within the recession and that this was not a deciding factor in the bar losing its lease.

“They are knocking this place down and building an entirely new concept,” McMichael said. “Yeah, it’s not destroying the character of Austin — obviously we are in a recession and the city is still opening up new businesses and bars. It’s not what I want to happen, but [in the] big picture, it’s what’s best for the economy.”