Scholz Garten, located in downtown Austin at 1607 San Jacinto Boulevard, isn’t just the oldest restaurant in the city — originally opened by German immigrant August Scholz in 1866, the establishment is also the oldest continuously operated German biergarten in the country, now owned by German-Texan heritage organization Austin Saengerrunde. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room…
Requiem for an Ugly Building: Ashbel Smith Hall at Block 71
I’ve said before that I never met a building I didn’t like. Even among the structures most hated by the general public — from the eyesores brought about by brutalism , to absurd postmodern self-parodies of buildings that aggressively confront the very definition of architecture — I’m usually able to dig up at least one charming element, a…
410 Uptown Office Tower Blurs Line Between Downtown and West Campus
According to new city filings, Austin’s latest tower could rise in an unlikely location. Documents from a utilities coordination commission meeting last week give us a first look at 410 Uptown, an office tower with a ground floor retail space planned at the corner of West 18th and San Antonio Streets. That’s just one block south…
Street Smarts: Deep Thoughts on I-35’s ‘Capital Express’ Redesign
Last week, we heard a surprising announcement from the Texas Department of Transportation and State Senator Kirk Watson regarding plans to significantly redesign Austin’s downtown stretch of Interstate 35, part of an $8 billion long-range plan — apparently dubbed
Statesman Sale Shines Spotlight on South Central Waterfront’s Future
On Halloween earlier this week, we learned that Cox Media Group, owners of the Austin American-Statesman since 1976, have put the newspaper up for sale. It’s not a particularly spooky news item unless you’re a journalist concerned about the uncertain future of Austin’s paper of record, but it draws attention to another interesting possibility: the development of the…
A First Glimpse of the Commodore Perry Estate’s Planned Boutique Hotel
UPDATE: New city filings for next week’s Historic Landmark Commission meeting include additional info on renovation plans for the Perry Estate. Architects Clayton & Little have modified their proposed porch cover structure on the front of the original mansion to meet the needs of the commission, and in the process we’ve got a better view…
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