As Dallas-based Stream Realty moves forward with efforts to revitalize more than 30 properties it owns along East Sixth Street, the company is evincing a notable shift in strategy: preserving historic buildings instead of replacing most of them with new construction.
“We just really feel good about the retail story in Austin,” said Paul Bodenman, senior vice president at Stream. “It’s incredibly undersupplied. There really is not a lot of retail stock like what we have on Sixth. It’s a very unique opportunity.”
Stream’s current focus on restoration marks a notable departure from its original redevelopment plan, first made public in 2022. At the time, the firm sought to remake portions of East Sixth Street by preserving only the historic facades of select buildings, while pursuing entitlements to build vertically behind them, potentially adding office or residential uses atop ground-floor hospitality. That approach raised eyebrows among local preservationists, who feared it would erode the street’s architectural integrity and historic character.
Now, Stream has moved away from the idea of vertical infill entirely.
“We do not have any plans to do any large-scale vertical development,” Bodenman said. “We’re moving forward on all of our properties with a retail and restaurant execution.”
The decision to pivot hard into restaurants reflects the increasing costs of new construction and a recognition of the unique commercial potential of Sixth Street’s historic building stock. Ongoing soft demand for office space and a slow leveling off of sales for downtown housing also played a role in the shift.
“Doing new ground-up construction right now is challenging because of the hard costs,” he said. “But we always take a holistic approach to our projects.”
The pivot away from facades fronting new construction up to 45 feet in height has earned praise from preservationists and downtown stakeholders. At a panel discussion last month on the state of Austin’s music economy, Antone’s Nightclub co-owner Will Bridges held the group up as a model for how the real estate industry can be a beneficial partner to the whole downtown ecosystem.
“I have been honest with them that I did not like the original version of the plan, which was getting entitlements to maintain historical facade and build vertical,” said Bridges, who is also a board member for the Preservation Austin nonprofit.
“Leasing is tough right now in downtown for a multitude of reasons, but they have a very long-term commitment to this Old Sixth vision. So when they’re marketing to a tenant, they’re saying this is what the building looked like at one time, and if you sign a lease with us, we’ll partner together on restoring this building. I think that is amazing.”
Bodenman said the company is working on improving and restoring seven of the facades on the street by the end of next month to prep the spaces for a first phase of tenants he expects will be made up largely of “quality restaurants” to emphasize hospitality businesses. He said a second round of improvements will begin soon after to ready the area for more tenants that are likely to include uses such as a small grocery store, fitness studios and spaces for art and music.
With a range of spaces from 900 to 23,000 square feet, Bodenman said the company has received significant interest from local and national restaurant groups interested in the revitalization effort.
The effort to revitalize East Sixth Street is far from new. For decades, city leaders, business coalitions and urban planners have floated proposals to reimagine the entertainment district, often in response to concerns about public safety, economic underperformance and a lack of daytime activity. The street’s reputation as a nightlife hub, especially the section long dubbed “Dirty Sixth,” has been difficult to reshape.
Numerous efforts, including branding campaigns, public-private partnerships and even a city-led study in the early 2010s have fallen short of producing lasting change. In many cases, the challenges were structural: aging infrastructure, fragmented ownership and a development environment focused on bar traffic rather than diversified use. High crime rates have also deterred substantial investment, particularly because of incidents after dark when the district’s many nightclubs are busiest. In an attempt to address the safety issues, the city recently reopened sections of East Sixth Street to vehicle traffic on weekend evenings in a reversal of the long-standing policy to close the street on weekend evenings.
The change, which initially drew mixed reactions, appears to be having a positive effect. According to early data presented by the Austin Police Department, key public safety metrics have improved since the program began. Notably, police report fewer instances of violent crime, reduced pedestrian congestion and an increase in visible law enforcement presence during busy hours.
Other preservationists see signs of optimism for the district. Lindsey Derrington, executive director of Preservation Austin, recently toured some of the facades that Stream was working to improve and make ready for new tenants.
Derrington said on top of getting expert design work from architect Clayton Korte, she is glad to see the buildings getting meaningful improvements to their infrastructure after “years and years of not being invested in.”
“I’m really happy that the focus is so much on the historic fabric and bringing those spaces back to life and preserving the historic material, replacing things in kind – or making some updates but really doing it the right way,” she said.
“No matter what the owner’s motivations are, the buildings are getting some love. Buildings that were going to be torn down are not going to be torn down. Other buildings are going to be rehabbed and restored and there’s going to be street life on East Sixth Street in a district that just seems like such a forgotten place.”
While Bridges is determined to remind Bodenman and his partners not to forget live music in the company’s plans for the street, he seems bullish on what’s ahead for a portion of downtown that has long been seen as something of a problem child.
“I am encouraging them and reminding them that live music needs to remain a part of that story. It’s a tough fit because what they’re doing is expensive and it’s an expensive market downtown right now,” he said.
“I told them someday you’ll look like geniuses. How amazing will that be to have Pecan Street looking like something out of a movie, just seeing all these amazingly restored facades.”
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Preservation Austin: This organization was founded in 1953 in order to protect the architectural and cultural legacy of Austin, and works with city, state, and national organizations and governmental bodies to do just that.
