10.s - 2514 Wooldridge Drive - public comment — original pdf

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From: To: Subject: Date: Historic Preservation Office 2514 Wooldridge Drive Wednesday, October 1, 2025 3:57:34 PM You don't often get email from . Learn why this is important External Email - Exercise Caution To Whom it May Concern, We, the owners of 2411 Pemberton Place, strongly object to the application to demolish 2514 Wooldridge Drive. 2514 Wooldridge is historic in its provenance, as already identified by this commission in its own review, and significantly contributes to the beauty and appeal of our city and our neighborhood. Further, it is a contributing structure that enables the Old West Austin historic district to maintain its status on the National Register. As you are aware, many homeowners in the district have undertaken lengthy and painstaking renovations to preserve the integrity of existing historical structures like that on 2514 Woodridge. This not only preserves the district’s status on the National Register but also helps maintain the beauty and appeal of the neighborhood, and the overall value of the tax base to the city. These vintage homes are valuable because they are rare, unique and historic. These thoughts are not just lip service: as owners of 2411 Pemberton Place, a ~75 year old structure located 3 blocks from the subject property, we worked collaboratively with the city over 5 years to plan, remodel and add to a contributing structure in a way that maintained the architectural integrity of the site. This was done at an expense that was potentially double that of simply tearing down the site and building anew. We did this not because it was easy or cheap, but because it was the right thing to do for the neighborhood and city. Dozens of others in the neighborhood have done the same before us, and that should be the standard that is upheld for structures like these. In addition to the inappropriateness of permitting the demolition of a contributing structure with historic provenance, the proposed replacement home does not even remotely match the size and scale of the existing homes on the 2500 block of Wooldridge, or Pemberton Heights more broadly. For perspective, the median HVAC square footage of the existing homes on this block is ~4,000 square feet, with the largest being 5,100 square feet. The proposed replacement structure for 2514 Wooldridge would span two lots and comprise almost 14,000 HVAC square feet! At almost 3x the size of the largest home on the block, this would be comically large as compared to its adjacent structures, and would tower over and dwarf the historical homes around them. In closing, we thank you for your time and consideration and we respectfully urge you to deny the application for demolition of 2514 Wooldridge Drive. Sincerely, Michelle Strauss CAUTION: This is an EXTERNAL email. Please use caution when clicking links or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious or phishing email, please report it using the "Report Message" button in Outlook. For any additional questions or concerns, contact CSIRT at "cybersecurity@austintexas.gov".