Austin's Starr Building to be reborn
Historic downtown building set to be new home to ad agency after renovations.
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/06/03//0603office.html
Vacant and overlooked for four years, a 55-year-old downtown Austin building once heralded as an icon of midcentury modern design is about to be restored largely to its original state. The McGarrah Jessee advertising agency will move in next year as the new lead tenant.
Austin-based Kemp Properties plans to buy the Starr Building at West Sixth and Colorado streets, which until 2005 housed the state comptroller's office. Once the deal with the Texas General Land Office closes, likely in September, Kemp plans to renovate the 75,000-square-foot building and preserve many of its features, including a mural in the lobby created by renowned modern artist Seymour Fogel.
More than a half century ago, Fortune magazine included the mural on a short list of "the most distinguished national examples of architectural paintings." The building opened in 1954 as American National Bank. It had Austin's first escalators and the city's first drive-up bank. The interior was designed by Florence Knoll, an acclaimed designer. Much of the building's original marble, Travertine, stainless steel and wood laminate touches are intact.
Bill Ball, a partner in Kemp Properties, a real estate development and management company, was the development partner with LBJ Holding Co. in the 1998 renovation of downtown's Brown Building from offices to residences. McGarrah Jessee handled the advertising for the project at the time. Ball said he had been helping McGarrah Jessee look for a bigger office space, looking at dozens of sites over the past two years, when the Starr Building became available last year. Ball said McGarrah Jessee partners Mark McGarrah and Bryan Jessee are big fans of midcentury modernist design, incorporating it in both their existing offices at 205 Brazos Street as well as their homes. "This building was pretty easy for them to fall in love with," said Ball, who also is friends with McGarrah and Jessee, with whom he goes hunting and fishing. "There was an immediate connection." Ball said the ad agency plans to move in next summer, initially taking 25,000 square feet.
Kemp will seek restaurants, shops and nightlife venues for the retail space, creating what Ball hopes will become a distinctive entertainment and dining hub. Ball said the building could be ready for the first retail tenants by early 2010. With McGarrah Jessee, he said, "the building is going to have a certain cachet," he said. The agency's client list includes Shiner Beer, Whataburger and Frost Bank, for which McGarrah Jessee just rolled out a new multimedia advertising campaign.
Ball said Kemp will be selective in its choice of tenants and hopes to attract design-oriented businesses. "We can't have just any tenant go into this building," Ball said. "We want it to be a very energetic, creative center. The people, the chemistry and the vibe are going to be the paramount consideration for this project."
Kemp has a track record of renovating historic buildings downtown, with projects including the Littlefield and Scarbrough buildings, as well as Norwood Tower and the Brown Building. "Older buildings are tricky, and there are a lot of things you can only learn from experience," Ball said. "There's no textbook." Ball envisions the same kind of success for the Starr project as the Brown Building. On the ground floor, Gumbo's restaurant and the Brown Bar have been popular draws despite being somewhat off the main downtown path.
Ball said the Starr Building has a more central location, "essentially next to ground zero in downtown Austin," Sixth and Congress. Eric Webber, a managing partner with McGarrah Jessee, notes that the refurbished building "won't be totally retro." "There will be contemporary touches, like using very innovative techniques for sustainable and green design," Webber said. The building was considered cutting-edge when it was built, Webber said, "and the rehabilitation of the building will be considered the same."
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said the state received interest from several parties for the building, but Kemp's offer was "the highest, best or both." He said he can't disclose the offer price because the deal hasn't closed. Preserving Fogel's mural, Patterson said, was a condition of any sale. Patterson likes Kemp's plans for the building. "Restoring old buildings and retaining their flavor, while making them modern and energy-efficient, is a good thing to do," Patterson said, "particularly in a place like Austin, where not too long ago we were tearing everything down and building multistory high-rises or downtown office buildings without regard to historical preservation."
The project's design architect is San Antonio-based Overland Partners, known for developing sustainable and ecologically minded projects, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the LBJ School renovation. The mechanical engineering firm is Arup Engineering, known for the "Bird's Nest" and "Watercube" buildings from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The interior design firm for McGarrah Jessee's new space is locally based McKinney York Architects.
Ball said the building will probably be renamed, but a name hasn't been selected yet. "We will leave that up to the very capable McGarrah Jessee firm," he said.
(edited to form longer paragraphs)
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