Local news and fun, every day 6am.
Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed

(Soho House)
Soho House, a members-exclusive club open in 27 locales across 10 countries, has opened its luxurious doors in Austin on Tuesday.
The Austin branch, located on South Congress' Music Lane, will become a new hub for creatives and socialites looking for a taste of Austin culture.
While the House has only provided renderings of the project, it has confirmed the club includes 46 bedrooms, a rooftop pool and a screening room. The club floor and rooftop pool opened today, while rooms will be available to book online once the hotel is complete later this summer.
Austin is the latest addition to a chain that has branches in New York, London, Hong Kong and more cities across three continents; Austin will be the first Texas location. While the Texas capital seems to be an outlier, CEO of local travel site, Localeur, Joah Spearman said that the newest Soho House is representative of Austin's "boomtown" status and its reputation as a cultural hub.
"While we don't have the diversity of some of these larger cities, like in LA or New York, we definitely have a lot of cultural capital here," Spearman said. "Soho House, I think, is going to be a place where creators... have a lot of that cultural exchange."
Spearman, who has been a member of the Soho House committee since 2017, said that interest has only been growing in the newest club. Unlike other exclusive hangouts in the city, Spearman said that admission to the Soho House will be based more on Austin creatives than on wealth.
"You get a good cross-section of people who work for startups, creative agencies, creative professionals, photographers, designers, DJs, musicians," Spearman said. "I really think that it's going to be a nice kind of connecting spot for creative professionals in particular in Austin. There are other membership clubs that have opened in Austin that I think are more based on affluence."
Joah Spearman, founder and CEO of Localeur, a travel site born in Austin, is a charter member of Soho House. (Localeur)
As a reflection of its emphasis on creativity, the Soho House will be located on 1011 S. Congress, Building 2, sandwiched in between music venues, iconic Austin eateries and more on South Congress' new Music Lane.
Bedroom rates start at $205 per night, while membership to every Soho House is $3,500 annually and membership to just the Austin Soho house is $2,290 annually. For those under 27, membership to every house is $1,750 annually and membership to just the Austin location is $1,140 annually.
Soho House was unavailable to be photographed at the time of publication, but Austonia will provide an update when available.
- California tech employees move to austin for business and way of ... ›
- Joah Spearman responds to a California's man hate of Austin ... ›
- What's new in Austin's retail scene, new openings - austonia ›
- Hidden oasis, Aba, on South Congress grows in popularity - austonia ›
- Hermes fashion brand to open location on South Congress - austonia ›
- Music Lane in South Congress brings new business to Austin ... ›
- A look inside Soho House Austin, a luxe club for creatives - austonia ›
- East Austin club, The Pershing, brings luxury and comfort to influencers - austonia ›
- These 14 Austin hotels offer pool day passes - austonia ›
- George Strait is selling his $7.5 million San Antonio castle - austonia ›
- Calabasas or Hill Country? $11 million home hits Austin market - austonia ›
- This European villa in Bee Cave is an entertainer's dream - austonia ›
- This European villa in Bee Cave is an entertainer's dream - austonia ›
- Austin entrepreneur Joah Spearman announces run for City Council - austonia ›
- Longest-standing Austin H-E-B to be demolished, improved for 2022 - austonia ›
- Texas' most expensive home for sale is at Austin's Lake Travis - austonia ›
- Is Austin still cool? Why the Live Music Capital could be losing its edge - austonia ›
Popular
(Laura Figi/Austonia)
By Samuel Stark
Those of us who have braved the journey to find parking on South Congress Avenue during peak hours know it is not for the faint of heart.
You might be circling, searching for an open spot for what feels like hours. Euphoria fills your spirit when you think you have finally found that perfect spot. But almost as quickly as your optimism ascended, it dissipates as you realize there is an almost inconceivably small car scooched all the way up to the curb. Your journey continues.
The Transportation Department is aware of the parking challenges in the area and is ready to take some steps based on recommendations that came from a study of the parking in the South Congress District, coordinated by the Downtown Austin Alliance.
“(South Congress is) experiencing the issues that happen when you grow businesses within a district: Everybody wants to go there,” Jason Redfern, division manager at the Transportation Department, told the Monitor. “And now we have to employ those tools to better manage all the parking and interest within that district,” he added.
The South Congress District parking study was split into two phases. Phase one aimed to diagnose the problems through data collection and analysis, and phase two laid out strategies to mitigate them.
The study found that many cars stay parked in the South Congress District, particularly on South Congress Avenue, for extended periods, sometimes beyond eight hours. Further, for the drivers who are violating parking rules, there is limited enforcement due in part to a lack of resources to fund enforcers.
Also, of the 5,400 parking spaces they tallied in the area, nearly 40 percent of the spots available at peak hours go underutilized, while spots on South Congress Avenue stay filled.
One of the study recommendations the Transportation Department is currently going forward with is the establishment of South Congress District as a Parking and Transportation Management District, a defined area that would benefit from the addition of parking meters. If a PTMD is approved in this area, 51 percent of the revenue collected from the parking meters would go to funding transportation-related projects within the district, Redfern said. See the proposed South Congress PTMD boundary here.
These parking districts already exist in the Austin area, including one on the east side.
“We’ve leveraged dollars (from) the East Austin area (PTMD) to help finish an intersection improvement project where they’re going to put in ADA-compliant ramps,” Redfern said.
Though eventually the Transportation Department will put meters into the South Congress District if the PTMD is approved, Redfern said they want to ensure other issues, such as simplifying and standardizing residential permit parking, are in place before they add them.
The parking study found that currently in the South Congress District there are 13 different types of residential parking permits, which have varying restrictions. The study authors point out that these different types of permits are “confusing” and suggest that this contributes to the underutilization of available spots, including for employees of South Congress establishments, outside of South Congress Avenue.
Before the PTMD strategy in the South Congress District is adopted, the plans will be presented before the Urban Transportation Commission and the Mobility Committee. The plan will then be presented to City Council, which will vote on it later this year, Redfern said.
- Austinites retell the history of South Congress Avenue - austonia ›
- The Domain vs. Music Lane: South Congress becomes a luxury ... ›
- Hidden oasis, Aba, on South Congress grows in popularity - austonia ›
- Hermes fashion brand to open location on South Congress - austonia ›
- John Deere to open new innovation hub on South Congress - austonia ›
(Austonia file photo)
The Austin Police Department is investigating a suspicious death near Waterloo Park on Thursday night.
At the intersection of 12th and Red River streets, police received multiple calls at around 8:40 p.m. about a man covered in blood running in the roadway. Police say the man had potentially been stabbed. Austin-Travis County EMS transported the injured man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No suspect is in custody at this time, and police did not reveal any suspect information in a late-night media briefing.
APD is asking anyone with information on this incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS or the homicide tip line at 512-477-3588.
Police said this was the second homicide incident they responded to in less than 24 hours.