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Photo from city of Austin
Thursday October 28th 2021 by Kali Bramble
The Historic Landmark Commission was faced with a proposal to demolish a historic property in Austin last Monday and was considering an application to demolish a warehouse at 301 San Jacinto Blvd.
The brick building, built in 1912, has since passed through the hands of several well-known Austin grocers. Hoping to gather information to justify receipt, the commission unanimously voted to initiate historical zoning.
Although located outside of the designated downtown warehouse district, the board agreed that the building exemplified the style of utilitarian architecture that typified Austin’s transition from a settlement to an industrialized city in the early 20th century. The embodiment of a distinctive architectural style is one of two criteria that the commission requires for the consideration of historical landmarks.
“This is probably the best example of a warehouse in this part of town,” said Commissioner Kevin Koch of the property. “Given the quality, level of detail, integrity and community value it offers in its location next to the convention center, it really has a lot going for it.”
After its construction in 1912, 301 San Jacinto served as a wholesale grocery store and coffee roaster for several Austin grocers. Its longest operation was until the early 1960s under the John Bremond Company, one of the city’s best-known suppliers of goods to shops and restaurants. Since then, the building has served as a wholesale warehouse for auto parts, as a restaurant and as a location for the MTV filming of “Real World” in 2005.
“At the time this was built, the railroad was the primary means of delivering things to all types of consumers,” said Steve Sadowsky, historic preservation officer. “This building tells the story of how the food came here.”
Real estate development attorney Richard Suttle, who represented the applicant, said he intended to “protest historic zoning at every step”.
The commissioners also weighed the potential for Austin’s newly formed business development company to sway the case.
The EDC, which was founded in October 2020 to manage the city’s real estate partnerships, began the meeting to outline a Cultural Trust program that will address conservation efforts in support of the arts. With funding for this program fresh in mind, the Commissioners cautiously expressed hope that the EDC could help them achieve their goals.
“We have a job to do all we can to support and preserve Austin’s history and landmarks, but we have a scale in the downtown area where the pressure is growing,” said Commissioner Ben Heimsath . “We need better instruments, and I hope that the business development company will act aggressively and proactively … to create a level playing field for historic properties.”
In the meantime, the commission has started the designation of a historic landmark for the San Jacinto warehouse and will re-examine the case at its next meeting.
“I encourage the employees to do their follow-up in view of the rapidly dwindling warehouse district opportunities,” concluded Inspector Koch. “The very thing that rekindled downtown growth many years ago … is about to be gone and it will just be a bunch of people in towers, staring over the abyss. I think we have to do everything we can to maintain this property. “
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Published in: Conservation
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Landmark commission resists demolition of San Jacinto warehouse
