The New Lobby Bar at Downtown’s Independent Building Wants To Be a Neighborhood Hang

There’s yet another new coffee shop/bar and restaurant headed to downtown Austin courtesy of Austin’s forthcoming tallest tower the Independent, aka the Jenga building, at 301 West Street. The cafe and bar component is expected to open by March 2020, which means right in time for South by Southwest, and there is no timeline for the restaurant as of yet.

Brokerage firm Urbanspace Real Estate + Interiors will run the ground-floor coffee shop and bar, and it’s looking for an operator for the new restaurant space. The area will also contain its offices and showrooms, which will move from its current home on West 5th Street by the end of 2019.

The as-of-now unnamed bar and cafe is meant to feel like a “hybrid of [bar-centric television show] Cheers and a high-end lobby bar, with an authentic Austin feel,” explained Urbanspace founder Kevin Burns, which means a neighborhood bar with very stylish details. It will offer coffee, beer, wine, cocktails, and snacks during daytime and evening hours.

As for the restaurant, the company is “looking for something special,” said Burns, “however, it needs to be something that the neighborhood will embrace as a regular staple in their diet.”

• The Independent, Downtown’s Tallest Tower, Tops Out at 685 Feet [Curbed Austin]
• All Coverage of the Independent [Curbed Austin]