For 22 years the city has owned the historic Castleman-Bull House, which sits vacant and unused at 201 Red River St. across from the Austin Convention Center’s service yard entrance. Now City Council Member Kathie Tovo hopes to push through a resolution this week that would start the process of renovating the interior and returning […]
Preservation
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Preservation office gets new design standards and equity plan
Big changes for Austin’s Historic Preservation Office are on the horizon, with new historic design standards and an equity-based preservation plan on course to bring major updates to the city’s preservation program. Cara Bertron, senior housing and planning officer, stopped by the Historic Landmark Commission last week with an update on both projects, which are […]
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Preservation leaders show concern over delay in Sixth Street historic district
The push to designate the East Sixth Street entertainment district as a city historic district has been postponed, with Council Member Kathie Tovo opting to wait for proposed new designed guidelines for properties that could be reconstructed as part of an ambitious redevelopment effort. Tovo pulled a resolution at the Sept. 1 City Council meeting […]
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Demolition case reveals shortcomings in city’s historic preservation policies
A monthslong debate over an East Austin bungalow has ended in a victory for the property owner, with City Council voting to reject historic zoning last Thursday. The home, located at 1403 E. Cesar Chavez St., initially came to the Historic Landmark Commission as a demolition request in January. Despite its ruling that the site […]
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Historic zoning for Westgate Tower delayed amid concern over tax breaks
The Planning Commission postponed a decision Tuesday on whether the Westgate Tower should be zoned historic due to concern about a tax break for condo owners. Preservationists deem the tower at 1122 Colorado Street historic for its architecture and its association with historical figures. The 26-story, 261-foot-tall building, built in 1966, is an “excellent example […]
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Landmark commission gives green light to five-story makeover for West Sixth
After hurtling successfully through the Historic Landmark Commission earlier this month, investment firm Riverside Resources is one step closer to carrying out a project that would transform 2 acres of restaurant and retail space on West Sixth Street into a five-story commercial and residential development. The project previously known as Clarksvillage – the name is pending […]
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No end in sight for decadelong Sneed House debacle
The perennial saga over a cluster of ruins in the Dove Springs neighborhood of Southeast Austin continues, as the all-too-familiar Sneed House case resurfaced at the Historic Landmark Commission last Wednesday. The remains of the Civil War-era estate have been on the city’s radar since 2007, when property owners introduced plans to develop the surrounding […]
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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 to discuss the shifting federal court landscape and its implications for city policy. In light […]
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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. Seventh Street was built between 1903 and 1906 by Swedish immigrants Victor and Carl Carlson, […]
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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 Hancock neighborhood boom, eventually serving as residence to formative civic leaders Tom Miller and, later, […]
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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 Equity-Based Historic Preservation Plan is halfway through its two-year development period. To complete its second […]
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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 Historic Landmark Commission unanimously voted to recommend historic zoning for the two-story Spanish eclectic residence […]