February 14th Blog
Happy Valentine’s Day. While the origins of this day remain shrouded in mystery, many scholars attribute the impetus to St. Valentine, a christian martyr who died around 300 AD. The roman emperor at the time had apparently decided that single men made better soldiers than married men. So, in the true style of Rome, he issued a ban on marriage. Valentine did not agree with this and was secretly performing marriage services when he was arrested and jailed. He supposedly fell deeply in love with the daughter of his jailer; and, just before his execution, sent her a note from “your Valentine.” He apparently also shared his cell with a failed scribe name Hallmarkus. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.)
This is a day that restaurants loathe. Why? Because they waste half of the space in their restaurants. 90% of the reservations are what the industry calls “two tops.” It’s particularly irksome when Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend night. Not so bad when it happens on a Wednesday such as today. I’m surprised someone from the TRA hasn’t lobbied the legislature to mandate that the holiday fall permanently on a Monday-Wednesday.
Heard a cool rumor last week. Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian churascarria, is rumored to be considrering the space at the recently closed Houlihan’s downtown on 3rd for an entry into the Austin market. Fogo de Chao has stores in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta and is as close to heaven as one can get for carnivores. The churasco style of Brazilian BBQ is unique and amazingly tasty. San Antonio had a place called Du Brazil for a while out near the airport but it didn’t make it. Apparently the owners didn’t know what they were doing. But I think Austin’s ready for Fogo de Chao. I certainly am. Apparently the elder President Bush played a role in Fogo de Chao’s coming to the US. On a state visit to Brazil back in the late 80’s, he was smitten with the southern Brazilian delicacy and remaked to the owners that they should set up their first US store in Dallas. They did, and the rest is history.
I can’t resist a laugh about the uproar over the latest downtown condo high rise planned for the west 6th St. area. The developers want 32 stories of vertical love, the epicenter of which would be where Kevin Williamson’s Ranch 616 now sits. The local merchants love the idea. The local citizenry has less amorous feelings. They feel it would mar the cozy neighborhood. Here’s how I see it. We are in the midst of a full-blown orgy of development in the downtown area that shows no signs of abating. We (the city) have thrown the proverbial chum in the water and the sharks are circling. We have bought into this notion of establishing “density” downtown. Where will it all end? I’d say in about 6-7 years, you may be able to buy yourself a pretty cheap downtown condo. The wretched excess of the late 90’s has been forgotten (along with all the empty buildings) as Austin has shown up on just about every urban developer’s radar screen. Despite what the citizens want, the condo will rise. And more will follow. And we will get some version, for a time, of that sacred “density” the city is chasing. But the demographics that have to support that density are simply not there yet (despite the daily breathless proclamations from the Statesman) and they probably won’t ever be in the numbers necessary to support all the building that will occur.
But what do I know? I just run a market research firm (the Benchmark Company) by day that specializes in demographic analysis and forecasting.
