24-25 – 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JUNE 4, 2025 2025-052143 DA; GF-2025-059324 2025-052143 DA; GF-2025-059324 PENTHOUSE APARTMENTS 1801 RIO GRANDE STREET/604 W. 18TH STREET A&B PROPOSAL Demolish an apartment building constructed between 1962 and 1964. ARCHITECTURE Three-story apartment complex constructed with Ranch and Mid-century Modern stylistic influences. The front building is clad in brick with a horseshoe-shaped plan, while the back building has an irregular plan. RESEARCH The property is associated with businessman Gene McGregor, whose early days as a champion cardshark in catapulted him into nightclub ownership, talent management, and apartment construction and management in the 1960s and 1970s. After serving in the South Pacific during World War II, McGregor made his home in Austin and purchased several small nightclubs while gambling competitively around the country. After establishing his success as a club owner and entertainment manager with Club Petite and Caravan, McGregor entered the construction business, focusing his efforts on apartment development. After his initial foray into the industry with the Tropicana Apartments, McGregor constructed the Rio Grande Penthouse in 1962 and expanded it in 1964. Though he made his home in the Penthouse, McGregor would go on to construct the VIP, Casa Grande, Casa Tejas, Granada, and Americana Apartments throughout the 1960s. PROPERTY EVALUATION The draft 2025 Downtown Historic Resource Survey lists the property as contributing to potential local and National Register historic districts. In the survey it is addressed as 604 W. 18th St. Bldgs. A & B. 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 may meet two criteria for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building is a good example of mid-century low-rise multifamily housing constructed with Ranch influences. b. Historical association. The property is associated with businessman Gene McGregor. 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 property does not possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes 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 …
HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JUNE 4, 2025 2025-051801 DA; GF-2025-059338 26 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1936 store building. ARCHITECTURE The building at 601 West Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. is a traditional two-part commercial block, clad in masonry, with a stepped parapet. This type of human-scale commercial architecture can help encourage pedestrian traffic on our city’s central corridors. RESEARCH The building at 601 West Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, originally addressed as 601 West 19th Street, was constructed around 1936. An existing residential building, demolished between 1984 and 1997, stood further back on the lot; Sanborn maps show that the ca. 1907 house gradually grew from a modest dwelling to a large duplex structure as additions were constructed. The store was originally occupied by Cantrell’s Drugs, owned by Clyde and Lucille Cantrell. After only two years, the Cantrells sold their store to the Nau family. Ladner and Hilton Nau were no strangers to the drugstore business. According to a 2021 history by Elizabeth Brummett, they established many of Austin’s drugstores and soda fountains: Historically, multiple drug stores bore the Nau name, most owned by Hilton’s older brother Ladner. Ladner Nau came to Austin in 1926 to go to pharmacy school at the University of Texas. After working at a drug store for a couple of years, he and the proprietor of that store opened the Community Drug Store at 1201 E. 1st (Cesar Chavez) and Waller streets. Shortly thereafter, he bought the business outright. In 1935, Ladner established Nau’s San Jacinto Drug Store at 1819–21 San Jacinto St. This location remained in operation for nearly 30 years. Nau’s Drug Store No. 2 at 913 E. 1st St. operated under the management of Maynard Anderson from at least 1949 through 1959. In 1964, Ladner Nau closed the San Jacinto location and opened Nau’s Pharmacy at 2405 San Gabriel St. Though Ladner had retired, the pharmacy remained open in 1980, but neither the business nor the building presently remains. Hilton Nau also attended the University of Texas. Per City Directories, he worked as a pharmacist at the San Jacinto Drug Store in 1937 but by 1939 had co-founded Nau’s Nueces Drug Co. with Ladner. Hilton married Eleanor Liebscher in 1945. In 1951, the couple established Nau’s Enfield Drug Store. Eleanor Nau did the bookkeeping, continuing for years after the couple sold the business to pharmacist Lambert Labay …
HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JUNE 4, 2025 2025-051814 DA; GF-2025-059320 1800 NUECES STREET 28 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1917-1918 house. ARCHITECTURE 1800 Nueces is a one-story bungalow clad in wood siding and capped with a front-gabled roof. Double-hung windows of wood and vinyl and a front door with transom window comprise the fenestration. Though Classical Revival decorative detailing, such as cornice returns and simplified triangular pediments over front windows, has been applied to the building, it was originally a traditional Craftsman-style building with an open full-width front porch and exposed rafter tails. RESEARCH The house at 1800 Nueces Street was built around 1917 or 1918. Its first occupants were widow Lenora Russell and her son, Otis, a student at UT. The Russells also took in boarders as a source of income. After around ten years, Lenora Russell sold her home to another widowed mother, Josephine Strandtmann, and her eight children. Strandtmann and her oldest son, builder and Comal Lumber Co. owner Ernest Strandtmann, made several improvements, including constructing a rear garage and apartment and converting the property to a duplex. Strandtmann rented the property to tenants throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s; residents included saleswomen at several businesses, a dry cleaner at nearby Kelly Smith Cleaners, a machinist at Capital Machine Works, and a photographer for the American-Statesman. PROPERTY EVALUATION The 2025 draft Downtown Austin survey lists the property as contributing to potential local and National Register districts. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain high integrity, as the porch enclosure and boxing of rafter tails appears to have taken place during the period of significance. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does not meet two criteria for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building conveys an eclectic mixture of Classical Revival and Craftsman styles. b. Historical association. The property does not appear to have significant historical associations. 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 property does not appear to possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. e. Landscape feature. The …
HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JUNE 4, 2025 2025-051821 DA; GF-2025-059345 1806 NUECES STREET 29 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1933 house. ARCHITECTURE One-story Tudor Revival house with a cross-gabled roof plan, pointed-arch detailing at fenestration, a catslide roofline at the main gable, and a flat-roofed storefront addition constructed during the period of significance, per Sanborn maps. Windows appear double-hung and made of wood, apart from the fixed-pane undivided store window. RESEARCH The house at 1806 Nueces Street was constructed around 1933. Both 1806 Nueces and its neighbor at 601-B West 19th Street, now demolished, were owned for a time by Jenny Matejek and her daughters; the Matejeks rented out these and several other properties in the Nueces Street area. The home’s first renters were attorney Ralph Yarbrough and his family, though they did not remain there for long. The Walker family lived there from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s; R. S. Walker was a State tax official and the family’s two sons were in military aviation. The family moved away after son R. S. Walker, Jr. was killed in a plane crash on his way home from service in World War II. The house was converted to a florist’s shop in the early 1950s. The Austin Blossom Shop, operated by Blanche and Oliver McClanahan, was damaged by a fire at the adjacent Brydson Lumber Company in 1952. It appears that the McClanahans, during their repairs of the shop, constructed the front flat-roofed addition with expansive picture windows to display floral arrangements to passersby. The Blossom Shop moved to 29th Street in 1973. PROPERTY EVALUATION The draft 2025 Downtown Austin survey lists the property as contributing to potential local and National Register historic districts. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain high integrity. The storefront addition was constructed during the period of significance. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does not meet two criteria for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building has Tudor Revival stylistic influences. b. Historical association. The property does not appear to have significant historical associations. 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 property does not appear to possess …
HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, May 7th, 2025 – 6:00 PM City Hall – Council Chambers 301 W. 2nd Street Austin, TX 78701 Some members of the Commission may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, please use the QR code or link at the end of this document. For questions, please email preservation@austintexas.gov. Ben Heimsath, (D-8) Chair Roxanne Evans (D-2), Vice COMMISSION MEMBERS: X X Chair X X X vac Jeffrey Acton (Mayor) Harrison Eppright (D-1) Kevin Koch (D-3) Judah Rice (D-4) ab Harmony Grogan (D-5) ab X X X Carl Larosche (D-6) Jaime Alvarez (D-7) Bat Taniguchi (D-9) Trey McWhorter (D-10) DRAFT MINUTES CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first (10) speakers who register to speak no later than noon the day before the meeting will be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. April 2, 2025 – Offered for consent approval. MOTION: Approve the minutes per passage of the consent agenda on a motion by Commissioner Eppright. Commissioner McWhorter seconded the motion. Vote: 8-0. The motion passed. BRIEFINGS 2. Staff briefing on Rally Austin’s role in the City Presenter: Anne Gatling Haynes, Chief Transactions Officer, Rally Austin. Teresa Alvarez and Brad Patterson also presented. PUBLIC HEARINGS/DISCUSSION AND ACTION Historic Zoning Applications 3. C14H-2025-0022 – 1701 San Gabriel St. Graves House Council District 9 Proposal: Owner-initiated historic zoning. (Postponed April 2, 2025) Applicant: Sean Reynolds City Staff: Austin Lukes, Historic Preservation Office, 512-978-0766 Staff Recommendation: Grant the applicant’s request to postpone the public hearing to June 4, 2025. MOTION: Postpone the public hearing to June 4, 2025, per passage of the consent postponement agenda, on a motion by Commissioner Acton. Commissioner Alvarez seconded the motion. Vote: 8-0. The motion passed. Historic Landmark and Local Historic District Applications 4. HR-2025-034942 – 905 Congress Ave. Mutual Building Heritage Grant Project Council District 9 Proposal: Renovate and restore façade. Applicant: Austin Nelsen City Staff: Kalan Contreras, Historic Preservation Office, 512-974-2727 Staff Recommendation: Approve the application …
May 27, 2025 Harthan Local Historic District Landowner’s Support of the Proposed Demolition at 600 Harthan Dear Chair Heimsath and Members of the Historic Landmark Commission, The undersigned landowners in the Harthan Local Historic District (LHD) support the proposed demolition of the structures located at 600 Harthan Street. The property has stood vacant and deteriorating for over a decade, posing significant obstacles to any meaningful preservation efforts. Importantly, the integrity and character of the Harthan LHD will not be materially adversely impacted by the proposed demolition of 600 Harthan. The landowners have met with representatives of the applicant and reviewed preliminary plans for the redevelopment of the site. We look forward to collaborating with the applicant on the proposed project to ensure it is compatible with the guidelines of the Harthan LHD and accretive to the district. Given the property’s prolonged state of disrepair and the thoughtful nature of the proposed redevelopment, the undersigned support the demolition of the structures at 600 Harthan Street. Sincerely, Harthan Local Historic District Landowners 602 Harthan 605 Harthan 60 7 Harthan 609 Harthan 1206 W 6th Street 604 Harthan 606 Harthan 6 08 Harthan 610 Harthan Map of Harthan Local Historic District Subject Property
June 2, 2025 RE: Whitehall Cooperative Historic Landmark Designation Dear Chair Heimsath and Members of the Austin Historic Landmark Commission, Preservation Austin exists to empower Austinites to shape a more inclusive, resilient, and meaningful community culture through preservation. We write to you today in support of historic designation for the Whitehall Cooperative building at 2500 Nueces for its Architecture, Historical Association, and Community Value. The Whitehall Cooperative has provided affordable housing in the West Campus neighborhood since 1949. Established as a women’s residence for UT Austin students, Whitehall began occupying the 1896 Queen Anne-style residence at 2500 Nueces in 1955. In 1956, when Black students were first admitted to UT, Whitehall was one of only two University co-ops to integrate racially. In 1960, when the opportunity to purchase the building arose, four of Whitehall’s female residents purchased the building for $25,000. The co-op became a co-ed residence for students and non-students alike in 1971. Over the decades, the home’s appearance has evolved, reflecting the cooperative’s spirit of communal involvement and individual creativity, all while maintaining its original Victorian character. As development pressures continue to intensify and the cost of living increases, Whitehall Co-op remains one of the very last affordable housing options in West Campus. Preservation Austin is proud to support Whitehall Cooperative in its pursuit of historic designation so it may continue its historic mission of providing affordable housing to the people of Austin. We thank you for your consideration and your service to the City of Austin. Sincerely, Melissa Barry, President
From: To: Subject: Date: Historic Preservation Office 1703 Alameda Dr--hearing scheduled for June 4 Thursday, May 29, 2025 3:24:18 PM You don't often get email from . Learn why this is important External Email - Exercise Caution hello, I am newer to this neighborhood, having purchased my house on Alta Vista a bit less than a year ago. My house was built in 1948; I love old houses, which is one of the main reasons I bought in this neighborhood--for the historic character of the houses. It seems a shame to demolish something that contributes to the charming older feel of the neighborhood. I would like to register my opposition to the demolishment of this house. Can the owners not add on in the back somehow? Yes, old houses deteriorate and need work. Houses are brought back all the time from very poor condition. That's what you let yourself in for when you buy one. I hope they will consider leaving the old structure and adding to it, thus respecting the atmosphere and feel of the historic area. sincerely, Annie Possis -- Annie Possis "Somebody needs to do something — it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.”--Jerry Garcia "Don't be good: Be fearless."--Sanford Meisner “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are.” --Carl Jung "One of the coolest feelings a human can experience is to feel so small in a world that’s so big."--Marc-Andre LeClerc "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."--Charles Bukowski 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".
May 30, 2025 Via Electronic Delivery Austin Lukes, Case Manager City of Austin Historic Preservation Office Permitting and Development Center (PDC) 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive Austin, TX 78752 RE: Historic Landmark Commission Meeting- June 4, 2025 - Demolition Applications: • PR-2025-045700 – 604 Copeland St. • PR-2025-044852 – 606 Copeland St. • PR-2025-049503 – 1004 S 1st St. • PR-2025-044914 – 1006 S 1st St. Dear Austin, The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association endorses the demolition of these four structures. Given their severely dilapidated condition, relocating them seems unfeasible. We would like Habitat for Humanity to receive any materials that can be safely preserved. If the applicant is agreeable, we request that someone from Habitat for Humanity visit the properties with IntraCorp before demolition begins, so they can identify any items that can be salvaged and donated to Habitat. Sincerely, Greg Smith, President, Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association CC: Kalan.Contreras@austintexas.gov, Kim.McKnight@austintexas.gov, Melissa.Beeler@austintexas.gov, Zo.Qadri@austintexas.gov preservation@austintexas.gov, Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, P. O. Box 3683, Austin, Texas 78764
604 West 18th Street and 1801 Rio Grande Street Historic Landmark Commission 6/4/2025 1 Project Site 2 Demolition Applications 3 Downtown Austin Historic Resources Survey 4 Downtown Austin Historic Resources Survey 5 Landmark Designation Criteria – 604 W 18th Street and 1801 Rio Grande Street (Penthouse Apartments) LDC 25-2-352: 1. The property must be 50 years old and must represent a period of significance of at least 50 years ago; and 2. The property must retain a high degree of integrity, as defined by the National Register of Historic Places, that clearly conveys its historical significance and does not include an addition or alteration which has significantly compromised its integrity. Landmark Designation Criteria – 604 W 18th Street and 1801 Rio Grande Street (Penthouse Apartments) The property must meet at least two of the below criteria: i. Architecture ii. Historical Associations iii. Archaeology iv. Community Value v. Landscape Feature i. Architecture ARCHITECURE CRITERIA: √ Embodies the distinguishing characteristics of a recognized Downtown Austin Historic Resources Survey - 1963-1964 ranch style apartment building - All doors and windows replaced architectural style, type, or method of construction; × Exemplifies technological innovation in design or construction; × Displays high artistic value in representing ethnic or folk art, architecture, or construction; × Represents a rare example of an architectural style in the city; × Serves as an outstanding example of the work of an architect, builder, or artisan who significantly contributed to the development of the city, state, or nation; × Possesses cultural, historical, or architectural value as a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian or vernacular structure; or × Represents an architectural curiosity or one-of-a-kind building. 604 West 18th Street Southwest view from West 18th Street 9 604 West 18th Street Southeast view from Nueces Street 10 604 West 18th Street Northeast view from side alley way 11 604 West 18th Street Northeast view from alley way 12 1801 Rio Grande Street Northwest view from Rio Grande Street 13 1801 Rio Grande Street Northwest view from Rio Grande Street 14 1801 Rio Grande Street Southwest view from West 18th Street 15 1801 Rio Grande Street Southwest view from West 18th Street 16 Request We respectfully request your approval of the request for total demolition of the structures located at 604 West 18th Street and 1801 Rio Grande Street and release of the demolition permit upon receipt of a City of Austin …
