Photo by Andrew Rogers

A man walks by what used to be the Las Manitas restaraunt on Congress Avenue.

After a protracted battle to save Las Manitas, site of countless historic events for the past quarter century, the owners of the famous landmark closed its doors in August. The popular restaurant and its workers became another casualty of zealous developers—this time of the Marriott Hotel chain. The shuttered doors  shock passersby until the building was leveled — shortly before the hotel chain cancelled construction plans.

“It’s closed?! Oh no!” exclaimed one would-be diner. “I never got to have my final meal there!”

Despite the high profile battle that raged in City Council meetings, press reports and public gatherings for about two years, the loss of “the little hands” or “the sisters” still causes surprise when people walk up, peer in and then read the despedida—a farewell poem taped to the window.

When sisters Cynthia and Lidia Perez opened for business 27 years ago, Las Manitas provided a unique place in a still segregated city. Here, the walls showcased Latino and gay artists. Its space set the stage for emerging Latino musicians like Tish Hinojosa. Politicians met to plan strategy—including Democrat Ann Richards during her heady tenure in the governor’s office.

Las Manitas, located on the 200 block of Congress Avenue and seven blocks west of the interstate highway known as I-35, marks the western outer boundary of Austin’s battle grounds between traditional East Austin and the "new" Austin. For years, the community had been anchored by small local businesses. Now, development threatens that foundation.

Consider the fate of Ms. B’s Authentic Creole restaurant which closed in early November, two years after opening. (Its Mesa Drive location in Northern Austin, on the other hand, continues to operate eight years later). The East 11th location was part of the effort of  the Austin Revitalization Authority —a city-contracted non-profit organization with the specific objective of revitalizing 11th and 12th streets— to inject some energy into Austin. Eventually, high rent and low transit in the area forced the owners out.

“There is no foot traffic. If I were so full that I had to put a person on a waitlist, they would not wait; they would go someplace else. If I were in South Congress, that’s not so bad because I got shops to look at, I got (sic) things to do. There’s nothing for people to do here [on East 11th]. There’s no reason for them to stay,” says owner Brenda McGowan.

The development of small businesses could happen faster, McGowan, a local resident, believes. “I continue to see things being developed in Austin. I see areas such as the Triangle, Mueller, West 2nd, West 4th, the Domain. All of those projects continue to be developed, but when it comes to those (kinds of) projects east of the interstate, I see that it takes anywhere from 5 to 10 years to get a project up and off the ground, and a small business can’t afford to wait that long. In order for a small-business person to make it, they need more foot traffic, they need rents to be reasonable and they need build-out cost to be reasonable. Unless it’s somebody with deep pockets, I find it hard to believe that any small business will be able to survive (in the east side of town).”

But even deep-pocketed companies have been forced by the lack of financing to hit the brakes just like . those of the planned Marriott Hotel. But three popular spots are gone, leaving barren testimony to non-local developers. Empty space replaced Las Manitas, Tesoro’s Trading Company and Escuelita del Alma, a Spanish immersion childcare center, which will relocate in East Austin. Originally scheduled for 2008 and then pushed to 2009, the date of the Marriott’s construction is now undetermined. The block, once vibrant and busy, has lost most of its foot traffic.

In these circumstances, more help than ever is needed by city institutions to keep local business alive. But relations between the minority community and the city aren’t always optimal. Several years ago, the situation worsened when police text-messaged racist remarks after being called to the scene of a fire involving a black night spot, popular for more than 50 years. The outrage led to an investigation of the officers and subsequently a quality-of-life study about African Americans in Austin. This work documented serious isolation and alienation including problems between that minority community and city representatives. A number of complaints about police brutality also contributed to racial tensions. 

 More recently, business owners on East 11th Street report strained relationships with the Austin Revitalization Authority. “[The businesses on East 11th] don’t feel that the ARA listens and understands small businesses. They feel that they’re unfair, that the costs are too high…” McGowan says. “I don’t think we would have survived six months over there if we didn’t already have the reputation in town. But that doesn’t pay the bills when they’re continuing to go up on the costs of a lease. In January, my base lease would have gone up to $7,000. Then you add up about $3,000 in utilities and any additional payments, and I’m paying about $12,000 a month (overhead).”

The most prominent organizations in the revitalization of the East 11th Street Corridor are the ARA and OCEAN (Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods).

Plans for the development of East 7th, 11th and 12th streets  began in 1996 in two parts: a city-originated ARA process took care of the city’s concerns and the neighborhood-based OCEAN came together so that the concerns of the residents were voiced in the planning process. 

The ARA completed a blueprint in 1999 called CEAMP. The Central East Austin Master Plan has the force of law and compels property owners to comply with its mandates. Since then, the ARA has proposed changes to the original model such as increasing the height limit of buildings to be constructed and the amount of space destined for office purposes.

The ARA hopes to receive permits to build 4-story buildings (instead of the three currently allowed) and office spaces. This, residents claim, would only drown the surrounding neighborhood and increase traffic on narrow neighborhood streets. Another conflict concerns the situation with Block 18 (the block on East 11th enclosed by Juniper St., Lydia St. and Waller St.) on which Victory Grill stands.  The ARA proposes to increase density so businesses can maximize profits. This, they claim, is necessary for the project to earn enough revenue to be feasible. Projected constructions on the block are residential space geared towards low-income households (earning up to $35,000 or less than 50% of the median family income of $71,000 for a family of four) and mixed-use commercial sites (ice cream shops, dry cleaners, shoe stores; whatever the neighborhood asks for).

The objective of the 2001’s Central East Austin Neighborhood Plan was to give the neighborhood a better image and to increase the number of affordable housing facilities.

Some of the suggested plans of action received heavy criticism. One such example is the Bennett Tract, a strip of land bordered by I-35, E. 7th St., and E.11th St. that generated arguments for about a decade. The tract had been projected at different times as a site for a mall (right in the middle of a neighborhood), a hotel, and an office space. It finally became the Villas on Sixth, a housing facility geared for the most part towards low-income families.

Along with resistance to gentrification comes outrage at the disappearance of traditional homes, a rich cultural environment, language and favorite businesses—all being chewed up by developers and architects whose modern buildings contrast sharply with those of the original neighborhood of small scale buildings, bright colors, Spanish signs, and familiar music.

Photo by Andrew Rogers

Construction of a large building is seen in the reflection of the closed Las Manitas Avenue Cafe.

The population of Austin doubles every 20 years. Developers acquire space using a number of tactics so they can sell housing to the newcomers. They seek both convenient and cheap land. Historically deprived of common amenities—sidewalks, plentiful street lighting, quality schools and competing super markets—the East side fits their needs with the cheapest lots. But the push displaces numerous residents, whisking away their lifelong homes to satisfy condo appetites.

A step in this organized process took place on November 18 at an evening community meeting on Riverside called to hear about the results of a survey asking for resident input on a proposed vision for the area.

Anton Nelesson, real estate developer from New Jersey hired by the City of Austin to design a Master Plan for Riverside, is selling residents an aesthetic ideal. The  get-together on Nov. 18 at Baty Elementary drew mostly middle-class residents and focused on the beautification of the area. On the sidelines, three advocates of the large minority low-income community living within the target tract complained of exclusion both in meetings planned and in the thought put into the elaboration of the on-line survey for people’s input (the survey was only available on-line; many low-income residents don’t have access to home computers).

It’s the second community meeting and so far residents have been asked nothing but how they feel about the digitally altered forecast in the 37-page survey. Questions were raised about where the money to build it all will come from and what the impact of projected rise in property values and taxes will be.

“Gentrification is good. Whoever said gentrification was bad?” Nelesson said in a small gathering afterwards. To those who call for “keeping Austin weird” Nelesson says that funkiness is on the market. “We need to make it funky and we’re making it funky by making it smaller ,” says Nelesson, in response to the question of how the project plans to incorporate local business while maintaining its heart. Uniqueness has become a profitable product that consumers are eager to buy.

Will rent go up for local business? “Not in the foreseeable future, but in the future? Yes,” Nelesson says. “But by that time you gotta be more successful than what you are now…if the little shop doesn’t make it, you move out, somebody else moves in with a better idea.”

Will it be feasible for local businesses to move into newly built retail space? “Of course! That’s the whole point!” But what about the high rent that owners of recently built spaces (such as in East 11th street) ask for? “The key is that you gotta have some places that are high rent, and some places that are not high rent,” Nelesson responded.

“What you’re looking for is uniqueness. I do not want, on any condition, your standard value tenants, ok? Here’s your standard value tenants; you got a Starbucks and an Ann Taylor and a Victoria’s Secret, and you know, your same standard set of smush that you see everywhere. No, no, not this place; we need to make it funky and we’re making it funky by making it smaller.”

This, Nelesson believes, is what will make Austin remain Austin-friendly.

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