By Tim Eaton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, August 24, 2009
An Austin business owner is trying to single-handedly create a new going-out district at downtown's eastern edge.
In April, Bridget Dunlap, 39, opened Lustre Pearl, a popular bar on Rainey Street that is near Interstate 35 and Cesar Chavez Street. The place already has attracted a following, and its patio is filled with thirsty customers at least a few nights a week — an image less than thrilling to a small collection of neighbors.
But Dunlap is determined to ride the momentum of her success. She has plans to open three more establishments for eating and drinking on the same street by the end of the year.
"It's going to be my little empire," said Dunlap, a former yoga and Pilates instructor with a shockingly firm handshake. "It makes me happy. It makes me giddy."
The businesses will co-exist with a neighborhood that includes modest, and sometimes decaying, century-old buildings and some striking modern homes.
The Rainey Street area, which is now largely occupied by renters, has been poised for major change since 2005. Back then, it was rezoned for commercial development. Three condominium and apartment projects have been built, but some other projects have been shelved or postponed because of the economy.
Dunlap said that five minutes after she saw the 1907-built house at 97 Rainey St. that became Lustre Pearl, she committed to leasing it.
"I really just stumbled upon the house and loved it," Dunlap said. "It was pure luck, pure genius or pure serendipity."
Standing barefoot on the original wood floors and under a vintage chandelier, Dunlap said some friends — who happen to be trained as movie set builders — helped create the old-time feel of the place.
"I wanted to keep the integrity of this old house," she said. "And I think we did it."
Scranton Twohey, a friend of Dunlap's, will be general manager of all four locations. He said the design of Lustre Pearl, as well as the other places, was chosen to give the perception that it has been part of the neighborhood for years.
"It's got the old Austin, small-town feel. When you're here, you don't think about Sixth Street," Twohey said. "You could walk in here and say, 'This has been here for 15 years.' "
On a recent weekend night, 20-somethings in skinny jeans were drinking Pearl beer from cans and swirling hula hoops, as slightly older customers in designer shirts sipped on mixed drinks near a concrete pingpong table.
"That's the best part of this bar: the diversity of the people," Twohey said, noting that actress Jessica Alba had dropped by last week.
Dunlap's next project, Clive Bar, should be open by the middle of September, also in an old house.
"That's going to be something for the men," Dunlap said.
In October, Dunlap plans to open 96, as in 96 Rainey St., across the street from Lustre Pearl in another 1907 house. It will serve beer, wine, coffee, pizza and other items.
Finally, Container Bar, at 90 Rainey St., is slated to begin serving drinks by Nov. 24. The building will be made from recycled shipping containers stacked on a treed lot across a side street from Clive Bar.
Dunlap is not new to bar and restaurant management. She co-owns the Shuck Shack, a seafood place on Cesar Chavez and Chicon streets, and Pearl Bar in Houston's Washington Heights neighborhood.
Lustre Pearl has already attracted a following. In June, it had higher liquor sales than Chuy's on Barton Springs Road and the Lavaca Street Bar and the Hole in the Wall on Guadalupe Street, according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Dunlap said July was even better, with liquor revenue of about $140,000.
Kevin Burns, CEO of the Urbanspace real estate agency, said something was missing from the neighborhood when he lived in the Milago condominiums at the foot of Rainey Street.
"They needed that pedestrian experience, and Lustre Pearl is helping in providing that," Burns said. "I missed a place to meet friends for a drink."
But Burns, who owns the land on which the Container Bar will sit and who was the leasing agent at 96, said he sees the future of Rainey Street as more than just another bar district.
"It's becoming a nice mixed-use, urban environment where you can live, work and play," he said.
Jim Furrow, president of the homeowners association at the Towers of Town Lake condominiums, said he has concerns about the projects on Rainey, especially parking, emergency vehicle access and noise.
"If they put in a Starbucks, people would probably be tickled," Furrow said, emphasizing that he was speaking for himself and not the association. "It is a quiet neighborhood, and for the most part, that could change."
A better option for the generally older residents at the Towers of Town Lake might be development more akin to the mix of businesses on Second Street, Furrow said.
"We were hoping for something more than just a string of bars," he said.
Mike Anderson, who operates Anderson Plumbing in a shop behind Lustre Pearl, said he has no problems with Dunlap's plans.
"It's kind of nice to have a neighborhood watering hole to go to," he said. "I personally have nothing against the bar."
Anderson said he's glad to see more people in the area.
"When there's nobody around and nothing going in," he said, "that's when stuff happens."
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