Historic Landmark Commission designates Whitehall Cooperative as historic at 2500 Oasis Street

The Historic Landmark Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to designate the Whitehall Cooperative at 2500 Oasis Street as historic zoning, a move supporters say will help preserve the long-running student cooperative and its building on the University of Texas West Campus.

Staff recommended the designation, citing the house’s architecture, community value and historical associations. Commissioners approved the recommendation in a motion to follow staff’s report; Commissioner Kevin Cook moved the motion and Commissioner Beth Taniguchi seconded it.

The designation recognizes the building’s multiple periods of significance, staff said, including its construction in the 1920s, its use as a boarding house in the 1920s and, most prominently, its occupation by Whitehall Cooperative since 1955. In the staff report, the property was described as “the oldest independently run residential cooperative in Texas” and as having served as a locus for student organization, women’s autonomy and integration-era activism on campus.

Alessio Franco, a Whitehall resident and treasurer for the cooperative, told commissioners that he moved to Austin for graduate school and that Whitehall “transformed my life.” He said the co-op has provided affordable, communal housing and a continuity of culture that is now at risk as West Campus changes. “We feel that partnership and the support of the city and the community are really essential at this time,” Franco said during the public hearing.

Megan King, policy and outreach planner for Preservation Austin, said her organization strongly supports the application and praised the co-op’s efforts to document its history and work with staff.

Commissioners and members of the public described the designation as an opportunity to protect both an individual building and the cooperative housing model it represents. The motion passed with all commissioners present voting in favor.

The designation carries the usual review obligations for historic properties in Austin; commissioners noted that future alterations and any demolition proposals will be subject to historic-design standards and review by the Historic Landmark Commission and staff prior to issuance of permits.

Supporters said the recognition is intended to preserve the building itself and the cooperative way of life associated with it, rather than to displace existing residents. Franco and King both said Whitehall’s members and Preservation Austin will continue to work with city staff on next steps.

Outcome: motion to approve historic zoning for C14H-2025-000059 (Whitehall Cooperative at 2500 Oasis Street) passed unanimously.