Former City Hall and One Texas Center eyed as possible arts and music spaces

The city once again appears to be willing to make a high-profile downtown building available for cultural and creative uses, along with a handful of other city-owned properties under consideration for use by local musicians and artists.

A memo released last week regarding a number of initiatives related to the preservation and enhancement of the local creative community noted that the former City Hall building on the corner of Eighth and Colorado streets is one of the sites that “may be appropriate” for cultural uses. The memo is the latest response to a May 2020 resolution passed by City Council that directed staff to take several steps to preserve the artistic community, with the use of city-owned real estate as one of the options to help local arts organizations.

The memo notes that the Financial Services Department has an ongoing strategic facilities governance team that meets regularly with the Austin Economic Development Corporation to evaluate what city buildings may be a good fit for cultural use. Other properties listed as part of that discussion include One Texas Center, a two-story storefront on Guadalupe Street near 30th Street and a warehouse building on Chicon Street between Fourth and Fifth streets.

Those properties weren’t specified as being among the sites under consideration for some portion of the $12 million in creative space bond money approved in 2018 by voters. The Austin Economic Development Corporation is managing the deal-making process for those funds and so far has announced two projects using $2.4 million to improve a pair of city properties, the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex and a portion of the Permitting and Development Center near the former Highland Mall.

The former City Hall building previously has been in discussion to be used partially for creative studio and office space, along with a plan to move the Downtown Austin Community Court there, as well. That plan was scuttled in 2022 over objections from nearby residents and the Downtown Austin Alliance.

In addition to those buildings, the city has made availability of creative space a desired component for the redevelopment of four of its other parcels.

The memo also gives updates on a number of construction projects that involve creative space, including the new Dougherty Arts Center and the expansion of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. The Dougherty project, which has entered the construction document and permitting phase, has received funding from the city to begin construction near ZACH Theatre at Butler Shores. But the memo notes it will need money from a forthcoming bond issue – likely in 2024 or thereafter – to complete the project.

The Mexican American Cultural Center’s expansion, which will include additional space for performance and rehearsal rooms, also has entered the construction document phase. The Asian American Resource Center has completed the schematic design phase for a planned expansion, while the George Washington Carver Museum is being renovated and will soon begin the first phase of improvements included in a long-planned expansion.

All three of those cultural centers have been identified as sites for a series of new arts and music hubs that will be guided in part by a Chicago group that operates a 160,000-square-foot creative center and arts business incubator.

Related to the 2018 space bond, the memo also notes that the Austin Economic Development Corporation and city staff have 14 more projects that have been identified as “pipeline ready” for possible city acquisition or investment, with due diligence being conducted on all of them ahead of any potential deals.

City staffers also are working with the Music Commission on evaluating the rollout and effectiveness of the new Live Music Fund, with Council pushing for the program to promote “the long-term sustainability of the live music industry and evaluate other investments that would help enhance the live music and cultural tourism economy.”

Photo by LoneStarMike, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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