Here’s a Look at the Condo Project Replacing Castle Hill’s Graffiti Park

The development of a residential building atop the heavily-tagged remains of a failed 1980s Austin condo development was probably the least surprising end imaginable for the HOPE Outdoor Gallery, which plans to reopen in a new location in 2019.

Looking southeast towards downtown from the heights of the HOPE Outdoor Gallery in 2018. Photo by Alvaroreguly / Flickr.

Even before the official dubbing of the Castle Hill graffiti park in 2011, the wide assortment of amateur and not-so-amateur artwork featured at the field of concrete slabs on Baylor Street codified its “Weird Austin” status, but due to its privately-owned, well-situated, and development-bound location, the clock was always ticking at this site — in fact, the only reason the gallery persisted as long as it did was property owner Vic Ayad’s willingness to partner with the HOPE foundation and pay significant property taxes on the land, a partnership that lasted nearly a decade before the park’s closure earlier this month.

Still, knowing the end has arrived for this location of the gallery is a little different than knowing what’s getting built there next, and to that end, here’s a rendering by local architects Alterstudio, working for developer Mid-City, along with J.B. Cumby Construction, to transform the site into a 20-unit, 54,000-square-foot condo community currently only known as 1012 Baylor:

A rendering of the 20-unit condo development headed for 1012 Baylor Street at the former site of the HOPE Outdoor Gallery. Click for a larger view. Image: Alterstudio / Mid-City Development / J.B. Cumby Construction

This vibrant and charming pocket of downtown Austin is about to get a major facelift in 2020.
In early 2019 HOPE Outdoor Gallery, the longtime occupant at 1008 Baylor Street, will be relocating to its new home; the new owner will then be developing the site with luxury boutique residences. Local art gallerist Lora Reynolds will be building her new high-end gallery across from HOPE and next to 1010 W. 10. With prices per square foot at 1010 W. 10 already one of the best values downtown, and with all these sophisticated changes coming to Baylor Street in the next year, property values are very likely to rise!
— Mid-City Development Investor’s Guide

As evidenced by the above quote, Mid-City has a larger vision for Baylor Street beyond just the gallery site — which, by the way, spans 1008 and 1012 Baylor Street, just in case those two addresses getting thrown around was starting to confuse you.

The developer’s existing condo community in the area, 1010 W. 10, backs up to Baylor Street, and directly north of that building just across the street from the former HOPE Gallery, the Lora Reynolds Gallery will relocate from its current location on the ground floor of the 360 Condos to a new building atop the vacant lot at 1007 Baylor Street. You can see a tiny piece of it in the rendering below — it appears to be the white building on the right side of the street, across from the graffiti park development:

A rendering looking north up Baylor Street, with the former HOPE Gallery / 1012 Baylor Street condo development on the left, and Mid-City’s 1010 W. 10 development on the right — you can also see a tiny bit of the Lora Reynolds Gallery building further up the street (it’s the white structure). Click for a larger view. Image: Alterstudio / Mid-City Development / J.B. Cumby Construction

Investor materials for these developments include an estimated completion date of 2020, and though the demolition of the gallery site is imminent, we don’t have a firm groundbreaking date for the new development at this time. We’ve reached out to Mid-City for more information and will update when we hear back — but for the time being, why not throw the HOPE folks a bone and buy their book?