With a $600 million development deal allegedly in the pipeline, Manchester Financial Group once again is eyeing a slice of prime real estate across the street from the Austin Convention Center.
Since 2016, two historic homes on East Third Street have been caught in a tug of war between the hotel magnate and the city’s Preservation Office, after a proposal to relocate the homes across the street died on the vine. Years later, developers revisited the project in a proposal to move the larger of the two homes to East Austin’s Robertson/Stuart & Mair Historic District, which again proved unsuccessful.
Now, the Fairmont Hotel financiers are returning to the Historic Landmark Commission with a new proposal that would see both homes find new lives outside of city limits. The plan would relocate the larger home at 606 E. Third St. to Renaissance Ranch, an up-and-coming educational facility at the historic St. John Colony in Bastrop County, while the smaller house next door would make a longer trek out to Smithville.
“I get called in five times a day to look at houses in far East Austin. … I move out houses on city blocks that I moved them in on a few years before. In other words, the houses are all going out of Austin,” contractor Warren Wellborn said on behalf of the applicant team. “For this to go to a freedmen colony on a state-designated historic place just fell into place perfectly.”
Still, commissioners weren’t thrilled at the prospect of removing the homes from their historical context, particularly in a swath of downtown that has been all but swallowed by the development gold rush sweeping the Rainey Street area.
After a lengthy debate, commissioners on July 5 opted to initiate historic zoning in a 9-1 vote, with Commissioner Ben Heimsath voting against. The commission will follow up with a final vote next month, at which point the case will move to the Planning Commission and City Council, where it will face historically dismal odds.
“The way I see our job, we’re at the end of a conveyor belt before things get tossed in the trash,” Commissioner Kevin Koch said. “And although it’s a very uphill climb on the other end, I just don’t think we would be doing our job if we let things like this go.”
Horticultural specialist and preservationist Harvé Franks, who owns the proposed relocation site at Renaissance Ranch, offered a different perspective. Franks, who works at the George Washington Carver Museum and has restored a number of historic buildings in St. John Colony, said the home would be put to good use on the farmland, where she plans to teach gardening classes and provide a historical education similar to that offered at Pioneer Farms in Northeast Austin.
“I’ve seen Austin and my community change so much. I’ve seen so many people born and raised in Austin having to leave, because they could no longer afford to live in this area,” Franks said. “I feel that this is an extension of Austin, an extension of a community that has been relocated. … We’re expanding places where people can come and learn about the rich African American history that can’t be found here as much anymore.”
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Historic Landmark Commission: The city’s Historic Landmark Commission promotes historic preservation of buildings and structures. The commission also reviews applications and permits for historic zoning and historic grants.
