Austin | 301 W. 6th St. | Feet? | Floors? | Proposed

[The ATX]

I'll start a thread for this because a 330 unit residential tower with ground floor retail is rumored to be the future of the Iron Bear and Belmont sites. This is directly East of the underway 321 West Tower.

At Monday's Historic Landmark Commission meeting, the Commissioners decided to initiate Historic Zoning for the Iron Bear building. The Belmont building was not on the agenda. The Commissioners also left the public hearing about the proposed Demo of Iron Bear open for the May meeting just to allow for more people to speak against the Demo. The consensus seemed to be that the building alone is not worth saving for historical or architectural reasons. But the current use since 2019 is enough of a reason to save it.

The site on Streetview.

[chinchaaa]

Big boo on this one.

[KevinFromTexas]

Hey, if they're looking for something to knock down, there's always Lavaca Plaza back there.

[Jdawgboy]

I'm glad about this...

[Urbannizer]

Not too long ago I was told they’re having a hard time getting the owners of The Belmont to sell.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Hey, if they're looking for something to knock down, there's always Lavaca Plaza back there.

Agreed!!

[myBrain]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Hey, if they're looking for something to knock down, there's always Lavaca Plaza back there.

This has always been my most reviled building in Austin. It's somehow worse than just a normal parking garage for me. It looks like it was built to withstand a direct artillery strike.

It's four levels of office sitting on top of a five-level parking structure, its only redeeming feature being a skybridge, rare for Austin -- except that just connects to ANOTHER PARKING GARAGE!

I'd really rather we see the Belmont and Iron Bear survive. The Belmont has always brought a lot of life to this section of street, they always seem to have an event going on. I frequented the Austin Ale House a lot before the Iron Bear (not my crowd haha) and the space has that nice old-time bar vibe without going to the dirty section of 6th.

To continue my rant, I'd also much rather see some redevelopment around the Chase tower -- both the parking garage and the low rise retail bank attachment. I know there would be complications with razing a garage while the office tower is still in use but man, what a waste of real estate.

[We vs us]

The Chase garage is on my list for semi-expensive structures that will be redeveloped just as soon as the price gets high enough. Gotta figure we're getting close . . .

The Camden (as ATX mentioned in another thread) is another one. So is Austin Ballet. And of course State of Texas Garage, and the Hobby Building.

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by myBrain

This has always been my most reviled building in Austin. It's somehow worse than just a normal parking garage for me. It looks like it was built to withstand a direct artillery strike.

It's four levels of office sitting on top of a five-level parking structure, its only redeeming feature being a skybridge, rare for Austin -- except that just connects to ANOTHER PARKING GARAGE!

I'd really rather we see the Belmont and Iron Bear survive. The Belmont has always brought a lot of life to this section of street, they always seem to have an event going on. I frequented the Austin Ale House a lot before the Iron Bear (not my crowd haha) and the space has that nice old-time bar vibe without going to the dirty section of 6th.

To continue my rant, I'd also much rather see some redevelopment around the Chase tower -- both the parking garage and the low rise retail bank attachment. I know there would be complications with razing a garage while the office tower is still in use but man, what a waste of real estate.

Wasn't a rumor floating around that HEB was going to take over the building? It has plenty of parking, and would also make for a nice food court as well.

[dilliam]

Originally Posted by myBrain

This has always been my most reviled building in Austin. It's somehow worse than just a normal parking garage for me. It looks like it was built to withstand a direct artillery strike.

It's four levels of office sitting on top of a five-level parking structure, its only redeeming feature being a skybridge, rare for Austin -- except that just connects to ANOTHER PARKING GARAGE!

The beast in question:

[Urbannizer]

https://twitter.com/jamesrambin/stat...kyN1wxn01jk5rA

[We vs us]

A very mature letter.

[Sigaven]

It would be great if they could move to a spot actually on 4th street. Maybe carve out another space in the new tower next to OCH?

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

It would be great if they could move to a spot actually on 4th street. Maybe carve out another space in the new tower next to OCH?

Ooooo. That brings up an interesting idea. If they are hell bent on having the corner restaurant I could see Iron Bear or Coconut partnering with a restaurant group for a food/nightlife concept. Maybe lunch during the day/early evening and club after 10.

I mean, as it stands IB has a full kitchen....

[We vs us]

To me, that letter was a pretty firm step back from the 4th street hullabaloo. That's maybe the most surprising thing about the letter to me. It dodges the LGBTQ+ heritage argument altogether, and says essentially, IB isn't its building, and can go and exist essentially anywhere.

[chinchaaa]

Originally Posted by We vs us

To me, that letter was a pretty firm step back from the 4th street hullabaloo. That's maybe the most surprising thing about the letter to me. It dodges the LGBTQ+ heritage argument altogether, and says essentially, IB isn't its building, and can go and exist essentially anywhere.

Except this isn’t on 4th St. No one is retreating.

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by chinchaaa

Except this isn’t on 4th St. No one is retreating.

Even though it’s not on 4th, being just two blocks over makes it a very convenient location.

[We vs us]

To clarify, I meant IB is specifically keeping itself separate from the 4th St. OCH discussion. Not that that discussion itself is over or finished or etc.

[Geckos_Rule]

Originally Posted by We vs us

To clarify, I meant IB is specifically keeping itself separate from the 4th St. OCH discussion. Not that that discussion itself is over or finished or etc.

That's how I read it.

And not for nothing, but my understanding is that Iron Bear caters to a different crowd that OCH and the other places on 4th, for the most part.

[J78704]

Originally Posted by Geckos_Rule

That's how I read it.

And not for nothing, but my understanding is that Iron Bear caters to a different crowd that OCH and the other places on 4th, for the most part.

It's possible for multiple things to be true. OCH is looking out for longevity in the development and frankly, "Austin Historical designation" is not some endorsement of LGBT history in Austin. It's just a building code and plaque! On the other hand, IB will need to relocate.

Other cities have LGBT full-on neighborhoods. Austin has a block of LGBT concentration that some of us gay or lesbian people remember street parking and otherwise dark surrounding neighborhoods and parties between 1995 - 2015. History can set up elsewhere.

That being said, I've been downtown a handful of times over the last 2 months. Basically, everywhere i turned where there used to be a bar / nightlife / fun / food... now it's a hotel lobby, business lobby, or something else not fun. Austin is changing. I love the views but it's getting boring in here. The city needs to focus on preserving the fun, otherwise, ATX will not be worth the heat, IMO!