Despite trepidation from developers, the Historic Landmark Commission has recommended a heftier review process for Sixth Street properties slated to be redeveloped under proposed regulations. The code amendments, which were initiated by City Council in June 2022, could raise height limits to 140 feet for buildings on Sixth Street between Neches and Sabine streets. Council’s […]
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.
Posted inPreservation
Demolitions get green light at historically brief Historic Landmark Commission meeting
An unusually brief meeting took place at City Hall last Wednesday, with the Historic Landmark Commission bidding adieu to a number of aging properties with little fanfare. The first of two properties approved for demolition was 1904 Raleigh Ave., a one-story home in Tarrytown built in 1953 by Austin real estate fixture Gene Naumann and […]
Posted inPreservation
West Downtown on track to receive national historic status
Austin could soon welcome a brand-new historic district into the mix, with an application for the West Downtown National Register District lined up to get the rubber stamp next month. Located west of the Capitol between Seventh and 15th streets, the proposed district is a trove of historic architecture, charting Austin’s course from 19th-century settlement […]
Posted inPreservation
Landmark Commission stalls demolition at former summer camp in Northwest Hills
A sprawling lot in Northwest Hills – once home to a summer camp for boys – could be headed to City Council’s agenda sometime soon, after a move to zone the site historic secured approval from the Historic Landmark Commission earlier this month. Built around 1940 for army captain and outdoorsman Warren Penn Knox, the […]
Posted inPreservation
Preservationists lament the eroding of Travis Heights at Historic Landmark Commission
The city’s Historic Landmark Commission mourned the steady chipping away of homes recognized in the Travis Heights-Fairview Park National Register district last week, with yet another falling to the housing market’s demand for more contemporary, spacious designs. The application to demolish 1804 Brackenridge St., presently a 1.5-story Craftsman bungalow built in 1920, stoked neighborhood opposition […]
Posted inPreservation
Historic Landmark Commission votes to keep the party going at legacy venue the Broken Spoke
The Broken Spoke will keep its doors open to honky-tonk enthusiasts for the foreseeable future, after a move to grant the venue a historic zoning designation made its way through the Historic Landmark Commission last week. Now 59 years old, the Broken Spoke is one of few remaining vestiges of Austin’s star-studded musical legacy, boasting […]
Posted inPreservation
Permit to relocate home prevails over proposal to renovate
The Historic Landmark Commission voted unanimously at its regular meeting Jan. 11 to permit the relocation of a house at 2203 E. Cesar Chavez St., which was initially proposed for reuse and rehabilitation. The owner of the property, Myung Lemond, was a major contributor to this decision. Her request to relocate the house rather than attempt to […]
Posted inPreservation
Travis Heights residents put up a fight to preserve century-old fourplex
The Historic Landmark Commission kicked off 2023 with a bang last Wednesday, with nearly a dozen Travis Heights residents taking the stand to oppose demolition of a century-old home on the corner of East Monroe Street and Newning Avenue. The house at 409 E. Monroe St., which has been a rental fourplex since the 1930s, […]
Posted inZoning
Effort to designate West Austin house historic fails at Council
At its regular meeting last week, City Council did not pass an item that would have designated West Austin’s Delisle House a historic landmark. Before the vote, Mayor Steve Adler explained that the measure would need a nine-vote supermajority to pass on all three readings. The final vote was 3-7-1, so the measure did not […]
Posted inPreservation
Unpermitted demolition stokes existential crisis at Historic Landmark Commission
Frustration was palpable at last week’s meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission, with yet another unpermitted demolition garnering little fanfare outside the Historic Preservation Office. The vacant lot at 4008 N. Lamar, once home to a 1926 residence converted for commercial use, was reportedly demolished this spring. According to property representative Todd Cruz, the demolition […]
Posted inPreservation
Landmark commission makes no exceptions for sign standards on Congress Avenue
Austin-based health care provider Curative will have to rethink its storefront design thanks to the Historic Landmark Commission, which unanimously voted last week to reject signage for the startup’s flagship clinic on Congress Avenue. The rejected proposal would have rendered Curative’s logo in 72 square feet of halo-lit white vinyl lettering on the lowermost facade […]
Posted inPreservation
Fairmont Hotel financiers take a second shot at historic home relocation
After six years of thwarted negotiations, Manchester Financial Group is still eyeing 606 and 608 E. Third St., a site just blocks from the Austin Convention Center and dead center of downtown’s burgeoning Palm District. But first, the Fairmont Hotel financiers will have to face the Historic Landmark Commission, which is determined to salvage the […]