D.5.0 - 301 San Jacinto Street — original pdf

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D.5 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS OCTOBER 25, 2021 DA-2021-132111 301 SAN JACINTO STREET PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1912 brick warehouse. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, flat-roofed brick warehouse building with segmental-arched window bays containing metal-framed horizontal lites; each has a segmental arched cast stone lintel and a fixed-sash clerestory transom above with a cast stone segmental-arch and a cast stone lintel; full- width independent metal and wood canopy; modern, metal-framed double-leaf, glazed entry doors; cast stone belt course above the clerestory transoms. RESEARCH This warehouse building was constructed around 1912 for the Nalley Grocery Company, operated by A.M. Nalley, and later by J. Gordon Wilcox, a prominent wholesale grocery man in town. Nalley Grocery Company remained here until around 1917, when the Shear Company, owned by Mrs. H.H. Shear of Waco, Texas, appears as the owners of the building in Austin city directories. All of these early wholesale grocery distribution warehouses were also coffee roasters, and purveyors of produce. The Shear Company operated out of this building until around 1923, when the building was sold to the John Bremond Company, which was a grocery wholesaler and roaster of high-grade coffee. The John Bremond Company was one of the, if not the most, prominent wholesale grocery businesses in Austin for many years, supplying grocery stores and restaurants in the city. John Bremond operated out of this building until around 1960, when White Swan, a wholesale institutional grocery company, took over the space. In the late 1970s, the building became a wholesale auto part warehouse, and in the early 2000s, this building was the residence of the cast of MTV’s Real World program. More recently, it has been a restaurant. PROPERTY EVALUATION The building was surveyed as part of a City overview of Austin’s warehouse districts in 2008, but no recommendations for designation came out of that survey. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain high integrity. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it meets two criteria: a. Architecture. The building [is a good example of a large warehouse building that typifies rail-side warehouses for wholesale distribution of provisions and commodities during the time that the vast majority of those operations were rail lines. This is a utilitarian building with little architectural flourish, but qualifies for landmark designation under the architectural criterion as a good example of a utilitarian structure with few alterations. b. Historical association. The building was constructed as a wholesale grocery warehouse by one of the largest grocery wholesalers in the city, and was taken over by the largest operation of its kind in the city under the John Bremond Company. The building D.5 - 2 retained its identity as a wholesale grocery warehouse from the time of its construction around 1912 until the mid-1970s. Wholesale grocery operations were essential to the livelihood of the city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, importing foodstuffs into Austin that could not be obtained from local farmers and ranchers. The railroad’s arrival in Austin in the late 19th century was a game-changer for the city, allowing for the importation of a huge number of manufactured and cultivated items, everything from building materials to fabrics to home furnishings, and food. The railroad transformed Austin from a settlement to a city, and it was firms like Nalley, Shear, and John Bremond that brought the urbanizing influences of foods to the burgeoning city. c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The building is part of an extensive, and quickly disappearing warehouse district on the east side of downtown, and thus does contribute to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Either postpone to November 15, 2021 or initiate historic zoning to fully explore and evaluate alternatives to demolition of this building. Staff believes that this building meets the criteria for architecture, historical associations, and community value, and every consideration should be given to its preservation. If, however, the Commission decides to release the permit, then staff encourages completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of 8.5 x 11 photographs of all elevations, printed on photographic paper, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history for archiving at the Austin History Center.  LOCATION MAP D.5 - 3  D.5 - 4 301 San Jacinto Boulevard ca. 1912  OCCUPANCY HISTORY 301 San Jacinto Boulevard D.5 - 5 White Swan (Institutional Foods Company Wholesale groceries W.G. Cullom, manager John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries Hale M. Houston, president Austin Automotive Warehouse Wholesale auto parts Joe Anderson, manager Austin Automotive Warehouse Wholesale auto parts John Bobbitt, manager City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office November, 2008 1987 1977 1967 1957 1953 1949 1944-45 1941 1937 1935 John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee Hale M. Houston, president D.5 - 6 Shear Company Wholesale groceries, produce, and coffee roasters Mrs. H.H. Shear (Waco, Texas), president J.B. Godfrey, manager NOTE: The John Bremond Company was located at 109-13 E. 6th Street. 1932-33 1930-31 1929 1927 1924 1922 1920 1918 1916 1914 1912-13 John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee Hale M. Houston, president John Bremond Company Wholesale groceries and roasters of high-grade coffee John Bremond, president Hale M. Houston, vice-president Shear Company Wholesale groceries, produce, and coffee roasters Mrs. H.H. Shear (Waco, Texas), president J.B. Godfrey, manager Shear Company Wholesale groceries, produce, and coffee roasters Mrs. H.H. Shear (Waco, Texas), president J.B. Godfrey, manager Nalley Grocery Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters J. Gordon Wilcox, president and manager NOTE: The Shear Company is not listed in the directory. Nalley Grocery Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters A.M. Nalley, president and manager Nalley Grocery Company Wholesale groceries and coffee roasters A.M. Nalley, president and manager D.5 - 7 1910-11 The address is not listed in the directory. NOTE: The Nalley Grocery Company was located at 400-02 Congress Avenue. NOTE: The building was extensively remodeled in 1975. The residents of the MTV series “Real World Austin” lived here during filming in 2004. The building was again remodeled as a restaurant for the current tenant, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in 2005. Advertisement for the Nalley Grocery Company Austin Statesman, January 1, 1912 Advertisement for the Nalley Grocery Company, wholesale grocers and roasters of high grade coffees Austin Statesman, January 2, 1912 Obituary of A.M. Nalley Austin American, September 18, 1920 Funeral notice for A.M. Nalley Austin American, September 19, 1920  D.5 - 8 Christmas greetings from John Bremond Company Austin American, December 25, 1925 D.5 - 9 Advertisement for John Bremond Coffee Austin American, November 4, 1928 Advertisement for the John Bremond Company Austin American-Statesman August 14, 1927  D.X – 10 D.X – 11 D.X – 12 D.X – 13 D.X – 14 D.X – 15 D.X – 16 The 1900 Sanborn map shows a house at 302 E. 3rd Street, the site of the current building. D.X – 17 The 1935 Sanborn map shows the current building as a wholesale grocery warehouse with coffee roasting in the eastern half of the building. The John Bremond Company had its wholesale grocery warehouse and coffee roasting business here from 1924 to 1967/ Note that there was still a two-story residence next to the building at 308 E. 3rd Street at the right of the map. The 1961 Sanborn map shows the current building at the northeast corner of 3rd and San Jacinto – it is labeled wholesale groceries with coffee roasting in the eastern portion of the building and cold storage in the basement, reflecting the continued occupancy by the John Bremond Company. PROPERTY INFORMATION D.X – 18