Downtown nightlife boom ignites a gold rush

Albert Gonzalez steps into his almost-finished bar, a white cardboard Starbucks cup in his hand and karma on his mind.

Before he can set his drink down, two guys from Home Entertainment by D-Tronics come up to him. They start talking about installing plasma screen TVs above the bar. After two minutes, another guy interrupts the conversation, and he wants to talk about putting glass in the windows. They talk loudly, speaking over saws and drills from other construction.

Gonzalez has two weeks to get this place ready. A non profit group is throwing a charity gala, and the event will introduce the world to his new business - Bar 201. In the next few days, he will devote hours to every little detail of the establishment. He wants it to be perfect, just like its location.

• FIND OUT ABOUT ALL THE NEW BARS AND RESTAURANTS

Bar 201, which is named after its address at 201 S. 17th Street, is opening on McAllen's most lucrative avenue for new bars. Since this time last year, nearly a dozen nightlife spots have debuted there. A dying area is becoming the home of entertainment south of San Antonio. Dilapidated cantinas and a notorious prostitution problem once plagued the street. Now it's full of young people in short skirts and button down shirts. They're here for dinner, drinks and concerts.

Bar 201 will likely be opened by the time this story is printed. It is scheduled to start as a first floor music venue. It will add a second level dance area and a rooftop lounge before New Year's Eve. Gonzalez refuses to pinpoint the exact dollar amount, but he says renovating this building, which opened in the 1940s as a pharmacy and a hotel for men only, has cost him "well over six figures."

But he expects to make the money back, and recent sales figures support that. In January and February alone, venues on the street sold more liquor than the last six months of 2008 combined, according to tax return information from the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. From June to December 2008, venues in the Entertainment District reported $631,247 of liquor sales. For January and February, the same group has reported $651,336, the numbers show. That's a $20,000 increase, and it doesn't even count March and April, which don't have tax numbers available yet.

The money and the people spending it have apparently shifted from the north side of town. Gonzalez can attest to that. That's where karma comes in.

This isn't the first time he has invested thousands in a new bar. Gonzalez is the man responsible for Klub-X, the now defunct and mildly legendary McAllen rock venue that opened in 1989. Gonzalez has stayed in the bar business non-stop ever since. He ran McAllen's Prada before it closed, and he still owns Metropolis, which occupies Klub-X's old digs.

But to date, his most successful project is Mint. Mint was open for about two years on Nolana near Second Street, and lots of bar patrons still talk fondly about it. It closed in December 2006 after residents of a nearby neighborhood campaigned against it, angry about the noise and clientele. At that time, Gonzalez made a deal with officials. McAllen let him keep Mint open an extra two months, and he agreed to drop a lawsuit against the city over its decision not to renew his permit.

• READ WHY NORTH McALLEN NIGHTLIFE IS IN NO DANGER

"The city had two problems," Gonzalez says. "These old cantinas and prostitutes on the south side and nightclubs near neighborhoods on the north side."

A group called Heart of the City is trying to fix both of those. This non profit organization wants to revitalize the downtown area, and the city backs their efforts. McAllen offers a special liquor license to bars on 17th Street. It lets them operate within 600 feet of homes, churches and schools. These businesses get other perks too, including free guidance and marketing help from Heart of the City.

Gonzalez says this backing has made it easy to open Bar 201, and he expects to recoup every penny he lost on Mint and then some. And he's not the only one heading south.

In January, Kaf's closed and owner Adrian Santos cited slumping sales. "I guess everything's moving downtown," Santos told Festiva at the time.

Kaf's dominated uptown for four years before the closure, and Santos and his two business partners are hoping the success will come back. They opened the Elephant Room on April 30, and a packed house filled the new bar. It's located downtown across from the Chase Tower.

Bar patrons have also shifted south. While new businesses still open north of and near Nolana - Bar Rio, Legends Bar and Grill, and Lounge 3911 come to mind - these places combined seem to draw as many people as Boiler Room, the reigning king of the Downtown Entertainment District.

The progress is obvious on 17th Street. On a Friday night in May 2008, the avenue had plenty of parking and no lines at either of the two bars on the street. Now, a trail of cars gridlocks both lanes from about 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. People line up outside Boiler Room and the Shine Martini Lounge. Guys sell parking spots for $10 a piece as far away as 15th Street. Small diners and cafes now stay open until 3 a.m.

At the north side intersection of 10th Street and Dove Avenue, things have calmed down. Dubai, an elaborate bar with an outdoor patio and faux waterfall, shut down in the fall, and it's still closed. City leaders denied a permit to a business owner who wanted to reopen the spot in December. Mayor Richard Cortez told The Monitor at that time that bars should consider opening downtown or relocating there.

Since then, Dubai's neighbors Sapphire Club and McClain's have both closed down. Just like Mint.

Everyday, Gonzalez seems less upset about the death of his old bar. He's more concerned with things like getting his rooftop lounge open for the New Year's Eve Ball Drop, an event that drew an estimated 10,000 people downtown in 2008. He's also busy opening a second bar downtown next to Flesh. Gonzalez has already knocked out the ceiling of that place and he plans to start renovating soon.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, he walks through that property. He has to watch his step because the ground is covered with debris from the crumbled roof. He's sweating from being inside Bar 201 all morning. The air conditioners aren't installed yet.

He points to where he's going to extend the back wall of the new bar. This one will be considerably smaller than the 3,500 square foot Bar 201, which is within throwing distance. But Gonzalez says there is no competition between the bars on 17th Street.

In the past few months, he has watched dozens of people wait in line at Boiler Room. Twenty somethings have stood shoulder to shoulder at The Speakeasy Piano Bar. And nearly everyone who comes downtown bar hops rather than staying still. There's more than enough money to go around, he says.

And thanks to karma, some of that money is headed his way.

Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for Festiva. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.