El Mercado's downtown Austin property sold; site to be redeveloped

After almost three decades, El Mercado Restaurant Uptown will serve its last enchiladas and margaritas on Monday, as the site of the downtown Austin fixture on Lavaca Street is being sold for redevelopment. Co-owner Tony Villegas said he and his partners have sold the property at 17th and Lavaca streets, where the Tex-Mex restaurant has been operating since 1993. The buyer is Infra Tech Ventures, a company that is primarily a hotel developer based in Corpus Christi, said Sam Calliham with Harrison-Pearson Associates, who represented Infra Tech in the purchase. El Mercado's downtown site had been coveted by developers through the years and received other offers. The ultimate sales price — which was "between $8 million and $9 million" — was one he and his partners couldn't pass up, Villegas said.

Infra Tech's Ajit David said his company's plans for the property have not yet been determined, although a hotel and condominium project is one possibility. "It's very early to plan or decide any of that," David said. The property is near the Capitol and just south of the University of Texas campus. Two hotels are across from El Mercado, one a 17-story Hilton Garden Inn, and the other an eight-story Hampton Inn & Suites. With the acquisition of two parcels that comprise El Mercado, Infra Tech now owns four parcels totaling close to half an acre on the block, Calliham said. The assemblage does not include the Capitol Credit Union site and another small parcel to the north, Calliham said. The original El Mercado Restaurant South at 1302 South First Street, and El Mercado Restaurant North at 7414 Burnet Road, along with Tony Villegas' Git Out Bar & Kitchen at 4930 S. Congress Ave., will remain open. Tony Villegas said the El Mercado Uptown location employs 15 people, including him and his wife, Reena. He said his employees all will have jobs at his other restaurants.