Andrew Jackson Zilker was an enterprising young man who understood the value of a frosty cold beverage. After arriving in Austin at the age of 18 in 1876, Zilker made his living in the ice business, running the immensely successful Lone Star Ice Works during a historical period when artificial ice was still a novelty viewed with some suspicion…
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Demolition Pending for North Lamar Apartment Site Near Crestview Station
Demolition permits are now pending for approximately five buildings spread across four adjacent properties near the northeast corner of North Lamar Boulevard and West St. Johns Avenue in the Highland neighborhood of Central Austin, clearing the approximately 3.6-acre land assembly for a 378-unit apartment and retail building planned by residential mega-developers Greystar. The four tracts…
A Former Burger King Has Good Bones for This Central Austin Wine Bar Project
“I’ve always wanted to turn a Burger King into a wine bar,” I patiently explain to my court-appointed psychiatrist. “Imagine how great it would feel to tear down all those ugly Whopper signs and slap up some cheap French posters they sell at the airport!” But seriously, there’s nothing stopping you from turning a Burger King into a…
Downtown Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum Plans a Long-Awaited Renovation
Since 1984, the Mexic-Arte Museum has served Austin as the city’s official home for Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art — and it should be the most well-positioned museum in the city to showcase that art, having occupied an extremely visible location at the southeast corner of Congress Avenue and Fifth Street since 1988. But…
700 River Apartment Tower Celebrates Topping Out in the Rainey Street District
The 43-story 700 River apartment tower now under construction at the corner of Rainey and River Streets in downtown’s perpetually exploding Rainey Street District announced its official topping out today, with the structure reaching its maximum height of 500 feet. This is a significant milestone for a neighborhood experiencing the densest concentration of simultaneous tower construction anywhere in Austin, with two other projects of…
Here’s How Nau’s Enfield Drug Could Redevelop in Clarksville
The 2022 closure of Clarksville pharmacy Nau’s Enfield Drug was a dispiriting end for the long history of this iconic “Old Austin” staple, which first opened as a drugstore and small lunch counter serving burgers and milkshakes way back in 1951. But for many nearby residents, the shuttering of the business wasn’t a huge surprise, since it had publicly struggled…