Council declines historic zoning for Westgate building

Nine of 11 City Council members voted last week to deny city historic landmark status to the clearly historic Westgate Tower at 1122 Colorado, on a motion by Council Member Zo Qadri, whose District 9 includes the building. Council Member Alison Alter opposed the motion and Council Member Mackenzie Kelly abstained.

The 25-story residential building, which is close to the Capitol, has hosted any number of historical figures and been designated as historic by the state of Texas and the federal government. Several of the building’s residents strongly urged Council to adopt local historic preservation status for the building. The Planning Commission rejected landmark status last year, but the previous Council gave preliminary approval in December.

Westgate resident Brian Evans told Council, “After receiving both national and statewide recognition for historical value, we assumed the city would gladly join us in celebrating and recognizing this historic structure in our hometown. The city has had a program in place since the 1970s to preserve historic structures just like this one. As a native Austinite, I’m glad this program exists. Westgate has complied with all aspects of the program and surpasses the requirements.”

However, with Qadri in the lead, Council resoundingly rejected local historic status on the basis of the accompanying tax breaks. Despite federal and state recognition, because Council denied historic landmark status under city regulations, owners of the building’s condominium units will not be able to claim property tax exemptions.

Qadri told his colleagues, “You know, my concerns are about the equity impacts of the tax exemptions to the city, the Austin Independent School District, Travis County and to Travis County Central Health. Historic zoning, unfortunately, is tied to a tax exemption for historic properties that may not have been considered when it comes to multi-unit residential properties downtown.

“I think we must weigh the fiscal and equity implications of the tax exemption. Staff will be bringing a draft of the equity-based historic preservation plan to Council in the upcoming months and I look forward to seeing that,” he said. He added that he would be working with stakeholders to ensure that the new plan is equitable.

According to information provided by Qadri’s staff, AISD could lose up to $255,000 in property tax revenue and the city could lose more than $212,000 if Council approved the historic designation. The same calculations show that Travis County could lose $173,000 and Central Health, the Travis County health care district, could miss out on nearly $64,000 under the 2022 tax rates.

Senior planner Cara Bertron told the Austin Monitor that she expects a draft plan for the new historic preservation ordinance to be released in the next few months. She said a 26-member group has put together a plan, but it will not be released until the city has hired a manager for the plan. After that, Bertron said the city will be hiring a consultant and some community ambassadors to further engage with community members to see what they want in a historic landmark plan.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.

Posted In: Preservation, District 9