AUSTIN, Texas — Austin just keeps on growing, but the city's historic Sixth Street doesn't look like it's growing with the rest of the city. Right now, it has dozens of vacant buildings, and business owners say crime continues to be a problem.
One real estate group believes a new development they are planning could help revitalize the once vibrant area.
"If you poll a lot of locals, I don't think a lot of locals come down here at night because safety is a huge concern and a huge issue,” said Caitlyn Ryan, the senior vice president of Stream Realty Partners.
That’s why Ryan hopes a new development they have planned can help make Sixth Street a place for locals and tourists once again. They have acquired 41 properties on Sixth Street over the past four years and plan to make one block an office building with 600 public parking spaces, one block a boutique hotel, and then keep the other 25 parcels as possible retail space. The area of Sixth Street where this would happen is between Neches and Sabine streets.
"We can bring a lot of people down to the street during the day, which will give us the walkability and everything else, as far as restaurants and everything else, to give people a way to be here and stay here during the day and really enjoy this district,” said Ryan.
She said they plan to preserve the front fifteen feet of the buildings facing the street and will build up higher and farther back to try to keep the street feeling authentic.
"Hopefully in less than five years, you're going to come down here and everybody is going to be really excited about having a district that's representative of what the Austin culture has been previously, is today and will be in the future,” said Ryan.
Some Sixth Street business owners are open to this idea, like Gnar Bar owner Jesse Fortney, but he worries revitalization won't happen soon enough.
"I think it'll be amazing if it happened yesterday,” said Fortney. “If it happens three or four years from now, it's just going to be dismal this whole time."
He said Sixth Street needs intervention much sooner to help new developments and current businesses thrive. He doesn't feel the city is doing enough
"If they just had APD officers walk up and down the street during the day, making sure people don't assault, rob and potentially harm or murder people, it'll be a lot better,” said Fortney. “There's no message like that, like, people just come down here and run amok."
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Austin City Councilmember Kathie Tovo started the Safer Sixth Street initiative just about a year ago, following a mass shooting on Sixth Street.
"I think having more uses on Sixth Street, having more diverse uses on Sixth Street, right now, we have some vacant properties that are included within Stream’s portfolio, having even temporary uses in that space would be of help,” said Tovo of her concern over the vacant properties.
She thinks Stream Realty's plans are promising but said they need to be looked at further since it's a historic area.
"The part that gives me pause, and that I know that our landmark commission will be looking at closely, is the proposals to demolish structures that are older,” said Tovo.
No matter the different ideas for solutions, everyone we spoke with seems to want the same thing.
"I hope it's a place where locals and tourists alike when you think of Austin, you think of Sixth Street,” said Ryan. “And it was that 10 years ago, it was that 20 years ago. And, right now, it’s kind of got a little bit of a blip, but hopefully we can bring that back.”
Right now, Stream Realty is working with the Historic Landmark Commission and getting insight from local businesses while they wait on city approval to move forward.
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