Rising rents in Austin's Red River Cultural District are prompting the closure of Holy Mountain, a music venue that opened in 2012 at 617 East 7th Street. Holy Mountain's last show will be September 27.
The venue's operating group took over a four-year lease from the former tenants, Beauty Bar. The lease expires at the end of September, and general manager James Taylor says the landlord wants to raise the rent from $5,500 a month to $8,000, not including taxes, insurance and maintenance.
"They're not wrong in trying to get top dollar for their property," Taylor says of his landlord. "I think that inevitably pricing is going up in that neighborhood. With affordability such a big issue in Austin, I don't know that the clientele that we cater to can even afford that."
The closure comes amid concerns of rising rents and development threatening other venues in the Red River District. Texas Monthly writer Dan Solomon wrote about the changes and asked, "Could Austin's live music community survive without a Red River club district?"
We invited Solomon in to talk about it. You can listen to our conversation here.
