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A look at Rhode Partners 2018 design for a tower on Carmelo by Houston-based developer Allen Harrison Company that failed after World Class Holdings bought the property. Image: Rhode Partner
Three long years ago, the Houston-based developer Allen Harrison Company showed some renderings of a residential tower designed by local architects and enthusiasts Rhode partner for the closed website of the longstanding Italian restaurant in the city center? Carmelos at 504 East Fifth Street, a plan that balanced an attractive new development with both the preservation needs of the historic building on the property and the effect of an overhead Capitol View Corridor on the geometry of a potential tower.
A ground level view of Rhode Partners’ 2018 design for a tower on Carmelo grounds by Houston-based developer Allen Harrison Company that failed after World Class Holdings bought the property. Image: Rhode Partner
A level view of Rhode Partners’ 2018 design for a tower on Carmelo grounds by Houston-based developer Allen Harrison Company that failed after World Class Holdings bought the property. As can be seen in the picture here, the original structure of the depot hotel would be connected to the new tower by a section of glass. Image: Rhode Partner
Another view of the full tower from Rhode Partners’ stale 2018 plan for the Allen Harrison Company. As with any tower featured for this location, the diagonal angle is determined by the Capitol View Corridor, which spans a section of the wing. Image: Rhode Partner
Although loved by many locals, the Carmelo didn’t date until 1985, while the building itself was constructed in the 1870s and finds its historical value as supposedly the state’s first train station, which later served as a guesthouse, known as the Depot Hotel.
The sale of Carmelo’s in 2017 to Allen Harrison for a proposed tower redevelopment came as no surprise, as marketing documents for the property that existed long before the restaurant’s closure announcement showed a representation of what could be built here under the site unique limitations:
A 2017 marketing brochure for the Carmelo estate, prior to the announcement of the restaurant’s closure or purchase by the Allen Harrison Company. Image: lead commercial
Less than a year after Allen Harrison presented his plans for the site to the city’s Historic Landmark Commission, Allen Harrison sold the property to a local real estate company Nate Pauls Festivals World class stocks, which at that time was often described with adjectives such as “impressive” and “cheeky”, but in 2021 its word cloud was dominated by less prominent terms such as “contested” and “besieged”. Paul insisted that a groundbreaking tower was of paramount importance here due to the thick and thinnest of his business interests.Tower plan from 2017 – due to the viewing corridor that spans part of the wing, the shape of almost all of the towers presented here is roughly the same:
A new 2018 study for a World Class tower on the Carmelo grounds designed by Rhode Partners and essentially an updated version of the architect’s previous work for the Allen Harrison Company. Image: Rhode Partner
Even then, the purchase of the world-class property was viewed by most Austin properties as a sign that nothing would be built here until the address changed hands, and while we didn’t necessarily expect it to be violent, the foreclosure of the Carmelo property to an Austin-based real estate investment firm Stonelake Capital Partners At the end of last year, vaporware blew up from this wing and seriously started talking about its future. Now that we have nearly a month to go to dismiss a World Class lawsuit over the property acquisition, Stonelake is taking its next step with a residential tower development permit filed this week on the property, which is currently by the name 5RR due to its location on the corner of Fifth Street and Red River Street.
A view of the former Carmelo site at 504 East Fifth Street from the parking lot. Photo by James Rambin
No further details on the project are available at the moment, but we expect its maintenance plans to be discussed again if they have changed significantly from what was unveiled in 2018. life on this property has been linked for the past few years, so excuse us for a little excitement – especially since this tower would be one of the housing projects closest to the hotly contested (that’s that word again) section of East Sixth Street, we hope see increased revitalization and conservation efforts following a series of violent incidents that we believe will better shed light on the needs of this inner city.
A classic view of the southwest corner of Sixth and Red River Streets, one block from the Carmelo location, photographed in 1979. Image: Texas Historical Commission
Prior to its current state as a Bourbon Street-lite of identical shot bars, largely owned by the same people, the historic section of East Sixth Street was once home to an eclectic (and racially diverse) selection of local businesses, including restaurants and retail outlets in addition to the bars and restaurants Music venues, which, despite the admittedly often shabby atmosphere, meant people enjoyed visiting the area for a drink and watching street fights. One of the best ways to renew this type of investment in an inner city neighborhood is to allow people to live there, provided they accept that the live music should be kept – and although it’s hard to believe If you read too much whine on Nextdoor, some people consider proximity to such things a selling point.
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