Red River is once again in troubled waters. Earlier this month, in response to property turnover that put the buildings housing Valhalla, the 13th Floor, and Elysium on the market, Red River Cultural District issued a public letter to the city, urging City Council and staff to implement policy tools that could shape the district’s development.
Development evokes fears of skyscraping luxury condominiums, but that’s not quite the shape looming over the live music strip – at least right now. Parts of the area are protected from high-rise development by legislation restricting skyline growth in designated Capitol View Corridors to maintain a public view of our Capitol building’s dome. Other buildings are Historic Landmarks, or are restricted from multi-story development by their landmark neighbors.
Still, RRCD knows they must prepare for an uncertain future. Decreasing alcohol purchases have pushed venues like Cheer Up Charlies to consider daytime opportunities – a challenge in an area with little pre-nightfall foot traffic. While local venue margins remain razor-thin, lack of revenue is also not the monster under Elysium and 13th Floor’s bed, nor the nail in Valhalla’s coffin. Aging landlords selling their property, as is the case for these recently listed buildings, is a pertinent reminder that cultural districts persist not by the grace of individuals, but through intentional city policies.
Capitol View Corridors have faced threats in recent years, such as 2023’s failed House Bill 4499, which proposed removing that designation from a stretch of Seventh running between Red River and San Jacinto. Individual landmark designations are helpful, but a Heritage District ordinance would help ensure the entire area maintains its character. RRCD is also advocating for development incentive programs that could encourage developers to maintain stages or create new cultural spaces.
“Red River is not going to be saved by one bar tab at a time,” RRCD Executive Director Nicole Klepadlo says. “But I do think it’s extremely important for people to invest in the cultural infrastructure of the city [in] which they live.” The nonprofit asked the public to sign the letter and express their support. So what exactly are they asking for?
Incentive, Regulatory, and Rebate Programs
“The City is developing regulatory tools and using existing financial incentives to support the businesses and venues in the Red River Cultural District and ensure the area continues to serve as the beating heart of Austin’s live music scene,” Austin Planning Director Andrea Bates writes to the Chronicle. “The City is crafting district-specific rules as part of an update to the Downtown Density Bonus Program to encourage future development projects in the district to maintain and create spaces.”
If you aren’t an urban policy fanatic, you might be scratching your head.
The DDBP invites private developers to expand their building’s footprint or stature in exchange for community benefits like providing on-site affordable housing; building or maintaining creative spaces; including daycare services or public use spaces; adhering to sustainability measures; and funding off-site parks or affordable housing.
This program is already in place in the southernmost parts of Downtown, where incentives largely focus on affordable housing, but as it enters Phase II, Red River has the opportunity to propose community benefits specific to live music venues and other creative uses. A full proposal is expected to the City Council in early 2027.
A Cultural District Overlay, which RRCD is advocating for, would apply additional incentive programs specific to creative spaces that don’t require a massive redevelopment to apply. Different qualifiers – like being a music venue or a cultural destination – could entitle owners to industry-specific tax breaks. Fee waivers could incentivize landlords to keep culturally valued tenants, even when a property changes hands.
“This would be tailored towards what the long-term vision of Red River is,” Klepadlo says. The overlay could require a certain percentage of ground-floor square footage on Red River to be occupied by venues or cultural spaces, or impose a height cap. The district is asking the city to help them identify what tax or fee waivers could be a part of their specific proposal so a full policy can be imposed.
Some programs aimed at helping music venues are already in place, like the Texas Music Incubator Rebate Program, which reimburses liquor taxes, and the Place-Based Enhancement Program, which reimburses property and sales taxes for music venues that have been located in Austin for the last 10 years – or were displaced from city limits – and have a capacity below 5,000. Applications for this program are currently open.
Historic Preservation
Compared to other cities, Austin has been remarkably slow to consider commercial areas for its Local Historic Districts program, which entitles areas to more protections than Cultural Districts receive.
“Historic preservation does not regulate how a building is used, but it can maintain the physical spaces that have long been conducive to live music,” Austin Planning Director Bates explains. Preservation also doesn’t “freeze a district in time,” she continues. When buildings are inevitably renovated, improved, or developed, adopted specifications would keep the district cohesive, while allowing it to respond to new needs – like potential increased daytime use following the expansion of Waterloo Greenway.
Becoming a historic district requires the majority of property owners to sign on and propose the designation to Austin Planning’s Historic Preservation Office. In the meantime, eligible individual landowners can apply for Historic Landmark designation. The historical data gathered by RRCD’s Cultural Currents campaign would simplify the application process.
“The 2025 Downtown Austin Historic Resource Survey identified a number of properties in the Red River Cultural District that are eligible as city of Austin landmarks, and that’s a tool that can be used right away by any property owner on Red River who wants to act urgently to make sure that their investment in the built and cultural environment of the Red River Cultural District is preserved,” says Preservation Austin’s policy & outreach planner, Meghan King Namour. Two venues were among the buildings identified: Swan Dive, which is owned by STREAM Realty, and Mohawk, which is held by venue owner James Moody and a group of investors.
Rally Austin
“Another tool at the disposal of the city of Austin is their newly invigorated Heritage Acquisition Fund, which is managed by the nonprofit developer, private-public entity called Rally Austin,” says King Namour. Discussing the listing of 701-713 Red River, home to goth dance floor Elysium and rock club 13th Floor, she says: “This is the exact kind of instance that the Historic Acquisition Fund should be mobilized for.”
This fund succeeds the Iconic Venue Fund, which Rally used to secure a 20-year lease for Hole in the Wall in 2023. This new iteration will use hotel occupancy taxes to do similar work focused on the “long-term preservation of iconic, legacy, and cultural spaces that support tourism,” according to a 2025 memo.
Red River’s lengthy story is only in its latest chapter. Though protection is urgently needed, there are other districts and cities to learn from and optimism to be had yet as RRCD continues to push for an intentional future.
This article appears in September 25 • 2026.
