East Austin arts space slated for hotel conversion
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The exterior of the Hightower property in East Austin. Photo: Asher Price/Axios
An old East Austin church that has recently served as a home to a variety of arts organizations could soon become a hotel.
Driving the news: Owned by former Democratic politician Jim Hightower, the nearly half-acre property at 81 San Marcos St., a block east of I-35 and south of Cesar Chavez Street, is under contract after being listed for nearly $2.5 million.
- Sporting more than 5,700 square feet, in recent years it has hosted the administrative offices of Austin Shakespeare and the Austin Creative Alliance, as well as a host of artists and writers.
What's happening: The property is under contract to Nexus Private Capital, which also owns the adjacent property at 1004 Spence St., a roughly quarter-acre tract with a grand 3,780 square-foot, 1909 home, across the street from Sanchez Elementary School.
- A flyer recently distributed by Nexus Private Capital requesting neighborhood input says the company plans for the "restoration of 81 San Marcos Street" and the "conversion of San Marcos & Spence properties into small boutique hotel."
What they're saying: "We're worried that either the San Marcos property will get purchased by someone who wants to tear it down or that its increasingly run-down state will continue to go downhill," Cort Chalfant, the managing member of Nexus, tells Axios.
- "Architecturally, and historically, this property has served a wider community that is more important than the individual owner of record while largely anchoring the charm of the Willow-Spence neighborhood as a whole," he said.
The hurdle: The property suffers from a lack of parking and is currently zoned residential — even though it has been occupied as an office and church. (A home is also on the property.)
- "Fixing parking and zoning will take a long time — probably a year or more," says Chalfant, and the deal isn't set to close till later this year, after he learns how the neighbors feel about the proposal, he said.
- Chalfant said he is talking to a neighbor on the other side of the Spence Street property about another potential deal and building restoration — as well as added parking.
The big picture: The potential conversion illuminates the challenge facing musicians, artists and arts organizations to find office and studio space, as well as wider tensions over displacement in an increasingly costly Austin.
- Recognizing the problem, the city of Austin's Creative Space Assistance Program offers grants up to $50,000 to creative organizations and independent artists facing displacement or new commercial leases at higher and unaffordable rates.
Reality check: Tenants have spent less time on the property since COVID hit, per Hightower attorney Mack Martinez.
The backstory: According to Hightower, the history of 81 San Marcos dates to at least 1916, when the progressive First Church of the Nazarene built a chapel on the premises.
- By the late 1990s, the property was owned by the Grace Ministries and Kingdom Seekers in Christ Jesus, the first brick-and-mortar LGBTQ+ church in Austin.
In 2005, Hightower, a former progressive Texas Agriculture Commissioner, purchased the property under the name HAPI — Hightower-Abate Properties Inc.
- Hightower produced his monthly newsletter The Hightower Lowdown along with his weekly radio and newspaper commentaries in the sanctuary of the old church.
- The rambling space, with small and large offices adjoining the chapel, has been used as a photography studio, as the office of Cine Las Americas, and as the home to writers, artists, filmmakers, labor unions and nonprofit organizations.
Between the lines: Hightower decided to sell the property ahead of a switch to producing a podcast, his attorney, Martinez, tells Axios.
- "We're trying to reach more people, especially young people, with his political message," Martinez says. "We weren't using the building a lot because of COVID and after COVID, and if we go to a podcast, we don't have to deal with the rising cost of paper and print."
- He said Hightower turned down offers that would have led to glass-and-steel buildings on the property — and tried unsuccessfully to get the city to buy the property. "We're not going to do something that's disrespectful to the neighborhood," Martinez tells Axios.
Full disclosure: Among the current tenants is American Short Fiction, a literary magazine edited by Asher's wife.
What's next: Chalfant is hosting neighborhood meetings inside the old church at 6:30pm Thursday and 10am Saturday to get neighborhood input about the redevelopment plans.