Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
According to plans filed with the city, a student housing development in West Campus planned by local developer Johnson Trube & Associates would surround the historic Franzetti Store building at 2402 San Gabriel Street, better known as bar and barbecue restaurant Freedmen’s.
A view of the Freedmen’s building and surrounding area from San Gabriel Street earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
Public city documents prepared for tonight’s meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission give us a better look at the 8-story, 156-unit building:
A northern elevation of the building planned around Freedmen’s Bar. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
The historic building now occupied by Freedmen’s Bar was originally built in 1869 by freed slave George Franklin, as part of the African-American settlement in the area then known as Wheatville.
Most of its importance in the community can be directly attributed to one of the building’s most notable residents, Reverend Jacob Fontaine. He and his family lived in the building from 1875 to 1898 from which he operated a number of community oriented businesses such as the New Hope Baptist Church, one of many churches he helped to establish in Austin. Fontaine was also involved with The Gold Dollar, one of the nation’s first black newspapers which was instrumental in teaching freed slaves to read, helping loved ones locate lost relatives after the Civil War, and for keeping current on important news.
The building was known for some time as the Franzetti Store, after its tenants, the Franzetti family, who ran an Italian grocery store in the space in the 1920s. That’s the name the landmark commission uses when describing how the surrounding student housing development plans to preserve its historic structure:
The Franzetti Store building will not be touched by the new building, and will continue to have a street presence on San Gabriel Street with a buffer around the building to preserve its articulation as a separate building. The buffer will be 5 feet on the south side and 12 feet to the rear. The existing courtyard area to the north will be preserved. The Franzetti Store building will be centered in a courtyard-like open space with the proposed new building surrounding it on three sides.
— Historic Landmark Commission
Looking down at the development’s southeast corner, with significant streetscape improvements visible along 24th Street. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
The project’s developer, Johnson Trube & Associates, along with designers Mark Hart Architecture, have previously worked together on student housing developments in the area including The Corner apartments at 2504 San Gabriel Street and Skyloft at 2310 Guadalupe Street.
A closer look at the southeast corner from 24th Street, with streetscape improvements visible. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
What’s particularly interesting from these renderings, besides that it makes Freedmen’s look an awful lot like a nail house, is the portion of the development we see encroaching into and above the courtyard of the historic structure on the right side of this image:
A rendering looking southwest down San Gabriel Street. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
A little shade couldn’t hurt, it gets hot in that courtyard. Looks like there might be a market for air rights in Austin after all! It’s funny that we’re seeing a project designed to accommodate a historic structure like this in West Campus rather than downtown — but we’ve already established that the area is Bizarro Austin.
So what’s the commission got to say?
Staff further recommends increasing the buffer between the historic building and the learning center and amenity space to the south to at least 15 feet to further the goal of greater separation of the historic building from the new construction.
— Historic Landmark Commission
The existing buffer distance between the historic building and the amenity component of the development to the south is only five feet in current plans, so an increase of an additional 10 feet in distance, while sounding small, could actually require some significant redesigns. Here’s where the commission wants a larger buffer:
The area circled in red is where the commission recommends an increase in space between the historic building and the new development. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
Still, it’s a fascinating design and probably represents the best possible balance between adding density and historic preservation. I’m heavily personally invested in this project since Freedmen’s might be my favorite barbecue joint on the planet, but hopefully this won’t harm the quality of their brisket.
A map of the proposed development’s ground floor. Photo courtesy of Mark Hart Architecture / City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission.
Though we know from these filings that the project is already recommended for approval, we won’t know for sure until the commission meets tonight. Stay tuned!
West Campus Condos
-
$310,000
2810 Nueces Street #204
Austin, TX -
$1,050,000
1901 David Street
Austin, TX -
$2,350,000
2309 Longview Street
Austin, TX -
$405,000
2612 San Pedro Street #219
Austin, TX -
$289,000
2714 Nueces Street #205
Austin, TX -
$439,000
711 W 26th Street #701
Austin, TX -
$289,900
914 W 22 1/2 Street #305
Austin, TX -
$399,000
2510 San Gabriel Street #303
Austin, TX -
$900,000
2101 N Lamar Boulevard #2
Austin, TX -
$405,000
2505 San Gabriel Street #212
Austin, TX -
$385,000
2510 San Gabriel Street #305
Austin, TX -
$300,000
803 W 28th Street #204
Austin, TX -
$415,000
501 W 26th Street #214
Austin, TX -
$1,095,000
2840 SAN GABRIEL Street
Austin, TX -
$345,000
704 W 21st Street #308
Austin, TX -
$379,900
2529 Rio Grande Street #58
Austin, TX -
$329,900
806 W 24th Street #314
Austin, TX -
$1,400,000
1102 W 22 1/2 #A, B
Austin, TX -
$1,400,000
1102 W 22 1/2 Street #A, B
Austin, TX -
$565,000
1812 West Avenue #109
Austin, TX -
$675,000
2205 N Lamar Boulevard #221
Austin, TX -
$364,900
2216 San Gabriel Street #301
Austin, TX -
$384,900
2529 Rio Grande Street #77
Austin, TX -
$339,000
2207 Leon Street #101
Austin, TX -
$344,500
MLS # 3689871
Austin, TX
-
$310,000Lot Size1,177 sqft
Home Size847 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,050,000Lot Size9,292 sqft
Home Size1,460 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$2,350,000Lot Size8,142 sqft
Home Size3,350 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$405,000Lot Size1,743 sqft
Home Size1,090 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$289,000Lot Size959 sqft
Home Size600 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$439,000Lot Size393 sqft
Home Size1,049 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$289,900Lot Size785 sqft
Home Size655 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$399,000Lot Size915 sqft
Home Size1,043 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$900,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,378 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$405,000Lot Size262 sqft
Home Size980 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$385,000Lot Size915 sqft
Home Size1,125 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$300,000Lot Size898 sqft
Home Size663 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$415,000Lot Size741 sqft
Home Size1,101 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$1,095,000Lot Size6,534 sqft
Home Size1,539 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$345,000Lot Size920 sqft
Home Size808 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$379,900Lot Size828 sqft
Home Size925 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$329,900Lot Size1,046 sqft
Home Size715 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,400,000Lot Size6,447 sqft
Home Size2,560 sqft
Beds6 Beds
Baths6 Baths
-
$1,400,000Lot Size6,460 sqft
Home Size2,560 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$565,000Lot Size480 sqft
Home Size1,169 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$675,000Lot Size1,699 sqft
Home Size1,276 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$364,900Lot Size1,307 sqft
Home Size834 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$384,900Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,055 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$339,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size812 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$344,500Lot Size915 sqft
Home Size882 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
Leave a Reply