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It's no secret that COVID-19 has put businesses' longevity to the test this year, sending bars, restaurants and local businesses like Buffalo Billiards, Threadgill's, The Bazaar and Capitol City Comedy packing. With no end in sight, these businesses have either announced their closure or are asking for help.
Baretto
Baretto, a wine bar located on 10710 Research Blvd, will also close its doors due to an H-E-B expansion causing the bar to lose its lease. With short notice and nowhere else to go, Baretto said on Facebook that it was being "forced out" of its home shopping center and that it is "not a casualty of the shutdown." Baretto said they are looking to relocate but until then, the bar will close its doors on Nov. 30.
Brick Oven Austin
After 38 years of business, pizza restaurant Brick Oven Austin, located on 10710 Research Blvd. in the same center as Baretto, announced in a blog titled "2020 is the worst," it would close its doors permanently, citing the same H-E-B expansion as Baretto that would cause the business to lose it's lease. The restaurant has had a rough year; Brick Oven Austin also closed its downtown location in March due to nearby businesses expanding, making it infeasible for the chain to stay. The Arboretum location will remain open until Nov. 30 for dine-in and takeout, noting also to stay on the lookout for discounts and that it is on the "hunt for viable alternatives."
Holy Roller
Three years after its opening, punk rock-inspired brunch restaurant and cocktail bar Holy Roller, located on 509 Rio Grande St., will bid Austin farewell this weekend. The restaurant was famous for its creative cocktails and biscuits, serving up comfort food in a charming atmosphere. Holy Roller will host a final brunch this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Mother’s Cafe
(Facebook)
Austin's longest-standing vegetarian restaurant, Mother's Cafe, located on 4215 Duval St. and E. 43rd St., announced it would join the ranks of many other restaurants this year, closing its doors after 40 years with a final service this Saturday. After the onset of COVID-19, Mother's Cafe was forced to continue operations on just takeout orders and watch sales drop about 75%, according to Austin 360. It isn't all bad news—Mother's Cafe plans to sell some of its more popular items, like the cashew-tamari salad dressing, in stores. The restaurant's owners said they have not yet ruled out the possibility of moving locations or even selling the restaurant.
Valhalla Esports Lounge
Valhalla Esports Lounge, located on 710 B W 6th St., announced Aug. 8 it wasn't sure it could make it through COVID-19. The Austin Business Journal reported Oct. 16 that the bar would file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in hopes of being able to restructure its business model and hopefully reopen. The bar, which opened just over a year ago, started a WeFunder campaign to raise money to survive the pandemic but did not meet its goal and returned the money it had raised.
Wheatsville Co-op
While Wheatsville Co-op, located on 3101 Guadalupe St. and 4001 S. Lamar Blvd., doesn't have plans to shut down anytime soon, the grocery store mentioned in a letter for help that since COVID-19 started, sales had dropped about 15% despite many larger grocery stores seeing a surge in profit. Among others, Wheatsville cited one-stop shop grocery stores being popular during this time; people avoiding city centers—where both of its locations are; and UT's low in-person rate as reasons why the business is struggling.
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Popular
(Laura Figi)
It’s not the high rises of Manhattan or the blend of Victorian and modern architecture seen in San Francisco, but we have a mix of charming, sleek and tall. Of course, being the tallest in any region is one of the main bragging rights, so we rounded up a list of some of the buildings with impressive heights over the years.
As coming towers make their entry to downtown, the Domain and other booming areas, here’s a look back at where it all began.
Texas State Capitol, 1888
(Earl McGehee/CC)
If any state capitol was going to be bigger than the nation’s, Texas was going to be it. The capitol stands about 14 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Taking just a little more than six years to build, it eventually reached 302.64 feet from the south front ground level to the tip of the star of the Goddess of Liberty. The building has such a captivating view that the state and city have worked to preserve it by limiting the height of other buildings in a corridor.
Design didn’t come locally: a nationwide competition led to Detroit-based architect Elijah Myers’ design, which incorporated the look at the nation’s capitol, the Michigan state capitol and the Denver, Colorado courthouse.
Scarbrough and Littlefield, early 1900s
These buildings, which came to Austin through two Confederate veterans, drew attention in another part of downtown through their impact on the early business center.
In 1910, the Scarbrough building was completed and stood at what was once an impressive feat: eight stories. Emerson Monroe Scarbrough, owner of E.M. Scarbrough & Sons department store, brought the skyscraper to the southwest corner of Sixth and Congress. Bartering was still a common practice then but Scarbrough changed things up by setting prices and extending credit, reporting by the Austin American-Statesman notes.
While this was happening, president of the American National Bank George Littlefield broke ground on a building. In 1912, it was completed with a roof garden for parties. Littlefield later enclosed the garden to create a ninth story—just one story taller than Scarbrough’s.
In 2012, the buildings marked their 100-year anniversaries with a public celebration attended by the mayor and members of both families.
Norwood, 1929
Imagine an office building without air-conditioning. That’s what people had before Norwood stepped onto the scene as the first office with AC and the first “motoramp” for parking. With its castle-like build on West 7th Street, Norwood Tower set the stage for office buildings downtown with rooftop gardens and a penthouse. Its owners also have deep roots in Austin as members of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s family.
With its neo-gothic architecture, Norwood drew attention as the tallest commercial structure and its bashes. In 1939, a party for Austin High graduates was held and one attendee, Liz Carpenter, talked about the experience in the 14-story structure. “It was thrilling and at that point frightening to be up so high,” Carpenter said.
The University of Texas at Austin Tower, 1937
Sonic fast food workers and librarians at UT had a thing or two in common. The main building and its 27-floor tower were originally intended as the campus central library where librarians stationed on every other floor roller skated to requested books. They’d then pass the books along to students down below through a small freight elevator.
Known for its orange glow to mark victories and special occasions, the 307-foot UT tower was the tallest building in Austin for many years.
Ernest O. Thompson State Office Building, 1940s
from Austin
This 136-foot building was formerly known as the Austin Daily Tribune Building since the headquarters of a newspaper was once housed there.
The site at 920 Colorado joined the national register of historic places years ago and was renamed in honor of the former Texas Railroad Commissioner.
Westgate Tower, 1966
This 26-story high rise stirred some controversy when it was in the works. Some weren’t keen on having a building so high near to the capitol at 1122 Colorado St. Even then Gov. Price Daniel noted his opposition to it in an address to the legislature.
Earlier this year, it applied to become a city historic landmark given that politicians like Lyndon B. Johnson and former Lt. Governor David Dewhurst made appearances there. Plus, the 24th floor was the location of the headliners club.
Chase Bank Tower, mid-1970s
(Chase Tower ATX)
Twenty-one stories of golden mirror beauty. That’s how this tower described itself in an advertisement published in the Statesman in 1973. Aside from height, the building played up strengths like its 750 parking spaces and personal banking center.
This $17 million building enjoyed a year as the tallest building until the Austin National Bank Tower came out to be 14 feet taller.
One Eleven Congress, 1980s
(Cousins Properties)
Over 391 feet, this building formerly known as One Congress Plaza has now fallen on the list of tallest Austin buildings. But when it came onto the scene in the late 80s, it was one of the most notable during the tower boom of the time.
Today it features a food hall with eateries like Little Wu and Taco Pegaso. It also includes a conference center that can accommodate up to 75 people in a standard classroom setting and a fitness center to work out in.
Frost Bank Tower, 2004
A pyramidal crown topping off 33 stories, Frost came onto Congress Avenue standing at 515 feet and quickly got a reputation as the “owl building” given its bird-like appearance with eyes in the bank’s logo.
But as KVUE and others have confirmed, none of the architects have a connection to Rice University, so the eyes aren’t a jab at UT. It’s not connected to the Illuminati either—if you were wondering.
360 Condominiums, 2008
Breaking the Frost tower’s streak of 515 feet, this residential skyscraper went 47 feet higher. 360 is a reference to its numbered address on Nueces, and its 430 units are the envy of many. With a concierge and ground floor retail, it’s also in a prime location by the pedestrian bridge leading to Town Lake and 2nd Street stores.
But its time as the tallest didn’t last long. The Austonian arrived in 2010 with 56 floors that took over 360’s reign. Residents there enjoy amenities like a spa room, a library, a wine cellar, a theater and more.The Independent, 2019
The "jenga tower," or the Independent, stands at 685 feet tall and houses 58 stories. The year of its opening, the 363 condo units there reportedly ranged in price from $400,000 to $5 million.
It proudly touts itself as the tallest residential tower west of the Mississippi, but it has other offerings like an outdoor lounge, a heated pool, a coffee bar and more.Into the future
That brings us to now where we’re seeing some Scarbrough-Littlefield type of drama play out. The 66-floor tower known as Sixth and Guadalupe is set to house Meta. But it’s going up against another contender for the tallest building, a mixed-use project at 98 Red River St., which could end up being the tallest building in Texas.
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(City of Austin/Facebook)
Commissioned by the National Apartment Association and the National Multifamily Housing Council, the study found that Austin had the highest apartment demand across the nation using projected percentage growth and absolute new renters from 2021-2035.
Texas dominated the need for rental housing, with Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston following closely behind in slots two and three, respectively. The study said percentage growth tends to favor smaller metros while absolute growth favors larger metros.
While the study showed Austin was most starved for new units, it ranked fifth for the absolute number of units needed by 2035: 117,107, or a little over 9,000 units per year. Meanwhile, DFW needs 269,906 and Houston needs 209,084, both higher than totals in any other metro on the list.
(Laura Figi/Austonia)
In terms of percentage growth needed, Austin ranked second for percent growth needed at 2.6%, DFW slipped behind at 2% and 1.9% for Houston per year.
All combined, Texas ranks sixth for needed housing, requiring 653,285 new units and an increase of 1.6% per year.
According to a report from the Austin Business Journal, 60 projects were delivered locally in 2021, adding 15,198 new units across Travis, Hays, Williamson, Caldwell and Bastrop counties. There are 50,000 units currently under construction in Austin, though 45,000 are awaiting permits, which can be a lengthy, year-plus long process right now.
Additionally, the industry is grappling with regulatory changes and supply shortages that are slowing the process.
As of July, 47 apartment complexes are under construction, making up 13,270 units according to Apartmentdata.com, and another 128 communities representing 42,257 units are proposed.
