After 40 years documenting the past and present of Austin’s music scene in publications like the Austin Chronicle, local journalist Michael Corcoran died last week at the age of 68. The passage of “Corky” into the pages of local history marks the end of an era in a city that never seems to stop ending eras — but as…
sixth street
A Residential Project Dips a Toe Into Sixth Street’s Bar District at The Grant
The apartment project planned for the Grant Plaza offices at 611 East Sixth Street would be the first major residential development built inside downtown Austin’s infamous Sixth Street entertainment district in a generation — and even before a certain sense of uncertainty struck our local real estate market, the proposal first surfaced in 2022 by New York-based investment firm Empire Square Group and national developers Ryan…
Grant Plaza Redevelopment Bringing Downtown Residences to Sixth Street
The redevelopment of the Grant Plaza office complex at 611 East Sixth Street, occupying a full block at the far eastern end of what’s considered Sixth Street’s famous strip of shot bars, represents an opportunity for something new in downtown’s most troubled district — but we underestimated just how drastically the site’s owners at New York-based firm Empire Square Group are…
A Block-Sized Redevelopment Could Join East Sixth Street’s Planned Revival
With the Texas Lottery Commission reportedly completing its move to fresh digs in the George H.W. Bush Building of the Capitol Complex project earlier this summer, it appears yet another downtown Austin block formerly occupied by a state agency is contemplating its future — a site plan filed with the city earlier this week indicates the easily-overlooked Grant Plaza office complex at 611…
To Build a Better East Sixth Street, Consider the Night Market
A recent push by the City of Austin to study public safety improvements for downtown’s East Sixth Street entertainment district following a string of shootings already has lots of ideas on the table — including a wider variety of cultural activities on the street, rezoning for additional commercial or even residential development, and encouraging more diverse uses for the area’s many historic storefronts beyond the near-identical string of…
Is There Really a Case for Reopening Sixth Street’s Weekends to Cars?
Members of Austin City Council voted unanimously last night to pass a resolution “relating to comprehensive strategies and immediate and longer-term actions to create a safer Sixth Street environment for all,” which directs city staff to study potential design interventions and other changes that could improve public safety in the East Sixth Street bar district that’s seen a…