Owners of Cheer Up Charlie's worry about downtown hotel development

An Austin music venue is feeling threatened after recently learning that a hotel is not only being built behind it but that the construction could ruin their outdoor space.

Cheer Up Charlie's has been in the Red River district since last year after moving there from 6th Street.

A Hyatt hotel is slated to go up on the property adjacent to Cheer Up Charlie's. People who come to the district are worried that all of the new construction will destroy the live music experience that it's become known for.

At stake is a mountainous wall in the venue's backyard. Scaffolding on the private property was scheduled to go up on Wednesday morning

"The developers that are building the Hyatt were putting that up pre-maturely without advance notice," said live music enthusiast Marcus Lawyer.

A peaceful protest put a stop to it. At a rally earlier this week, the popular venues owner said they found out last week.

A statement from the hotel says they are now talking to Cheer Up Charlie's. They did confirm though that their landlord had been in conversations with the developer, Journeyman Construction, for months.

"It's kind of a renter's rights here issue has been violated," said Lawyer.

Permits are in the works for building the hotel but it's not clear if the wall needs one for the scaffolding or if the city thinks cutting into it would cause any problems.

"We're in the process of trying to sort out what is going to be occurring on the site adjacent to Cheer Up Charlie's," said Mayor Pro-Tem Kathie Tovo of District 3.

On Thursday, they're sending someone from the Watershed Department to give it a thorough check

"We want everyone to be in sync," Lawyer said.

In sync so music here will continue to thrive, long after construction comes to a halt

"This is mutually beneficial. We just want them to protect the culture," Lawyer explained.