Austin’s Rainey Street Historic District was created in 1985 to safeguard a crop of run-down bungalows along Lady Bird Lake. The protection’s ability to stave off development was kneecapped when the area was rezoned as part of the city’s Central Business District in 2004, opening it to a wider array of uses. The cocktail bars pounced, and—writing from lived experience—by the early 2010s, it was a hotbed of conviviality. 

For most of the decade, one shack was the first brick-and-mortar home of G’Raj Mahal, but the restaurant closed in 2021, leaving behind a site shorn of protected trees and with several questionable patios. A city staffer told architect Scott Magic of Magic Architecture, who renovated the building to become the Stay Put Brewery, that “this property [was] site plan exemptioned out,” resulting in an 18-month review process for just 900 square feet of new construction. 

The handsome result will, true to its name, hopefully stick around for a while. The project has three parts: a beer hall in the historic 1923 house, a linear brewery box along one side of the backyard, and a restroom building that takes the place of a carriage house.

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