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Preservation

Law Department predicts challenges ahead for equity-based preservation programs

The Historic Landmark Commission was in an unusually gloomy mood last Wednesday, as the meeting kicked off with an ominous briefing from the city’s legal department. At the request of Commissioner Blake Tollett, Assistant City Attorney Neal Falgoust dropped by…

Council rejects historic zoning for East Seventh Street house

Lacking the nine votes needed to overcome the property owner’s objection, City Council denied a request last week from the Historic Landmark Commission to designate “a good example of folk Victorian architecture” as historic. The Carlson-Colunga house at 902 E.…

Hancock home to Tom Miller and Emma Long to become historic landmark

In a brief respite from demolition cases, the Historic Landmark Commission is celebrating a likely contender for landmark designation at 803 Park Blvd. in North Central Austin. The Miller-Long house was built in 1929 in the heyday of the early…

Historic Preservation Office aims to replace 40-year-old preservation plan by next fall, with a focus on equity

Austin’s Historic Preservation Office has taken on a new project to tackle equity issues, with ambitions to overhaul the city’s preservation plan for the first time since 1981. In a briefing to the Historic Landmark Commission, staff reported that the…

Debate intensifies over owner-opposed historic zoning of lakefront estate

The fate of a lakefront estate at 2002 Scenic Drive is now in the hands of the Planning Commission, with a battle over the property’s merits ending in victory for preservationists last Wednesday. Citing architectural, landscaping and historical qualifications, the…

East Seventh historic zoning case sails through Planning Commission

A 116-year-old property at 902 E. Seventh St. stands a fighting chance against demolition following the Planning Commission’s recommendation last Tuesday to zone the site historic. The single-story folk Victorian home, currently operating as storage space for neighboring restaurant Gabriela’s,…

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Council holds Sixth Street historic district until after summer break

The city will wait until July to consider creating a local historic district along a section of East Sixth Street that has been identified by a Dallas developer as prime for redevelopment. City Council had planned to discuss and take…

West Austin neighborhood bands together to save lakefront estate

An application to demolish an idiosyncratic estate at 2002 Scenic Drive has been put on hold, as the Historic Landmark Commission elected to initiate historic zoning last Wednesday. The residence first appeared on the commission’s agenda last month, inspiring an…

Developer to embark on dual high-rise and landmark restoration project at Old Depot Hotel

A plan to develop the parking lot adjacent to the historic Old Depot Hotel is getting a new lease on life, with real estate firm Stonelake Capital Partners behind the wheel.  The project at 504 East Fifth St., which includes…

Landmark commission hopes developer can give LGBTQ businesses on Fourth Street a fighting chance

As people across the world geared up to celebrate Pride Month, Austin’s LGBTQ community mourned the loss of its last cultural stronghold to redevelopment. On Wednesday, the city’s Historic Landmark Commission elected not to recommend historic zoning for the block of warehouses on…

No historic zoning for experimental air-cooled house

With no City Council member willing to make a motion for historic zoning that was sure to fail, the push to preserve the Chrysler Air-Temp house at 2502 Park View Drive died quietly at last Thursday’s Council meeting. Owner Hugh…

Move to initiate historic zoning gives Fourth Street preservationists a glimmer of hope

The Historic Landmark Commission hosted a lively public hearing Wednesday with a diverse cast of characters who had gathered to voice their opinions on the controversial redevelopment of Fourth and Colorado. After compelling testimony from both supporters and those opposed,…

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