East 6th Street Bar Rio Rita Is Moving Into Badlands

Turns out East 6th Street bar Rio Rita is moving to East 12th Street. It will take over the space where live music venue and bar Badlands is currently located.

As Rio owner Randall Stockton explained on Facebook, he was looking for a new space for the bar and became interested in the Badlands address:

When we realized Rio Rita wouldn’t be able to stay where it is, we did approach Badlands’ owner Shane Howard to see what their plans were. He said they intended to stay unless we made an offer in the "six figure range." So, we gave up on that idea and began to come to terms with the likely end of Rio Rita.

But Badlands owner Shane Howard, who revealed online, said he declined the offer and agreed to renew his lease with the landlord. He was suddenly informed earlier this month that Stockton would take over the lease instead. He wrote:

We renewed our TABC permit on August 4th, purchased a new sound and light system, scheduled events through December, and began some remodeling, secure in the belief that our new lease was on the way. On August 26, we received a phone call from Mr. Daywood's real estate agent informing us that it appeared the properties would be being leased to Mr. Stockton, as he offered more than what we were willing to pay. On September 1st, we received a notice from Mr. Daywood's attorney that our lease was expiring and the properties had already been leased to someone else.

As part of the deal, Stockton now owns the leases for King Bee, Mystery City Tattoo, and Romani Gallery. King Bee, run by his half-brother Bill Hankey, used to be another bar run by Stockton: Legendary White Swan.

Badlands' lease concludes on Friday, September 30, and Howard is currently looking for a new location. Rio Rita will take over Badlands before the end of the year. Stockton told Eater that the last day will potentially be sometime in mid-November.

Stockton also owns Beerland on Red River, and he transformed the Poodle Lounge into the Aristocrat in 2014.

• Badlands [Facebook]
• Rio Rita [Facebook]