An A.D. Stenger-designed home in South Austin is headed for demolition with the unanimous consent of the city’s Historic Landmark Commission. Normally, this would be an unusual move by the city commission entrusted with evaluating the city’s historic buildings. However, changes to the building in the 1990s and resistance to historic preservation by the owner […]
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
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 […]
Posted inDevelopment
Stream offers more details on Sixth Street renovation plans
Stream Realty Partners offered up more information this week on its plans to remake a section of the Sixth Street entertainment district, emphasizing daytime business and a move away from the high-volume shot bars and nightclubs that have dominated the area for decades. At this week’s Arts Commission meeting, Stream senior vice president Caitlyn Ryan […]
Posted inPreservation
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 […]
Posted inPreservation
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 […]
Posted inPreservation
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 […]
Posted inPreservation
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, […]
Posted inPreservation
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 […]
Posted inPreservation
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 […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Sixth Street reboot gets first Council OK to raise building heights
In one of the most significant moves to remake the city’s downtown entertainment district along East Sixth Street, a Dallas developer has received the first OK aimed at raising mixed-use buildings up to 140 feet high to the area. Last week City Council voted 9-0 to move forward with a proposed amendment to the city’s […]
Posted inPreservation
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 outpouring of neighborhood opposition and a community-led effort to research the property’s origins. Last week […]
Posted inPreservation
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 both a high-rise residential building and rehabilitation of the neighboring landmark, came before the Historic […]