Retail Downtown
Downtown Retail Demand
Downtown Austin is booming. Forty-four projects have been announced, twelve of them are currently under construction. Whole Foods opened an 85,000 sq. ft. store at 6th Street and Lamar in 2005, the Second Street Retail District opened 24 new retail stores and 11 restaurants in the past two years, and the office and housing markets are on the rise. Currently 67,000 people work in the Central Business District, 90,000 people work within a 1-mile radius of 6th Street and Congress Avenue. There are 5,900 residents who live downtown and 363,000 who live within a 10-minute drive time to downtown. Seven million tourists visit the city on an annual basis. Downtown Austin has a bright future.
The current market demand for retail goods and services downtown is 990,000 sq. ft., with only 450,000 sq. ft. currently servicing this demand. Most retail downtown is servicing the demand in the restaurant and entertainment sectors. The remaining demand for soft and hard goods retail is a priority for the Downtown Austin Alliance and the City of Austin and thus much effort is focused on re-establishing consumer goods in downtown.
Through a partnership with the City of Austin, the Alliance has a Retail Recruiter on staff to help retail establishments locate in downtown. The Retail Recruiter works with retail establishments, brokers, tenant representatives and property owners to find suitable, well defined locations for the success of the retail establishment. The Alliance provides this service free of charge to downtown property owners located in the public improvement district. If you are looking for the right downtown location for your store, please contact our retail recruiter, Linda Asaf.
Retail Recruiter
Linda Asaf
211 E. 7th Street, Ste. 100-L
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 619-3303
Retail Development Strategy
The DAA and the City of Austin commissioned a Retail Development Strategy for Downtown. Economics Research Associates of Washington, D.C., conducted the study, which can be downloaded here.
- Downtown Austin Retail Market Strategy (includes Executive Summary) (9.4 MB PDF)
- Appendix I - Description of Infrastructure Inventory GIS Files (17K PDF)
- Appendix II - Selected Findings of Resident Retail Survey
- Appendix IIIa - International Downtown Association Advisory Panel Report, June 2004 (169K PDF)
- Appendix IIIb - Appendix to International Downtown Association Advisory Panel Report, summary of PRIZM groups in Downtown Austin (87K PDF)
- Appendices IV-V - Best Practices: Case Studies of Other US Cities and International Downtown Association Brain Trust Survey Results (228K PDF)
- Downtown Austin Retail Market Strategy Executive Summary (1.1 MB PDF)
In addition, you can download recent presentations given by the consultant team.
- Presentation to the Austin City Council, January 27, 2005 (15.4 MB PDF)
- DAA Winter Speaker Series Luncheon Presentation, January 28, 2005 (49.1 MB PDF)
- Retail Strategy Implementation Team Presentation, Issues & Eggs, August 25, 2005 (15.3 MB PDF)
- Downtown: The Inside Scoop Updated 9/25/2007 (7.66 MB PPT)