Local developer GrayStreet Partners has dropped out of its contract to purchase the Oasis Mexican Cafe property at 210 McCullough Ave., and thus has pulled its request to demolish the 1873 structure, said Peter French, GrayStreet’s director of development. San Antonio resident Douglas Hair owns the property.
GrayStreet was “unaware the building was historic,” French said in a text message to the Heron.
Oasis cafe’s owners are now planning to buy the building, refurbish it, and revamp the menu and hours of operation, said Armando Garcia, who operates the family business.
The city’s Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) is no longer pursuing to designate the structure as a historic landmark, OHP spokesperson Ximena Copa-Wiggins confirmed in a text message. When asked why, Copa-Wiggins did not respond.
The potential sale of the property was first reported last month by the San Antonio Express-News.
The article describes the structure as a “salt-box style” home built in 1873 by Ross Kennedy for the Duffey family, in the Irish Flats neighborhood that was populated by Irish and German immigrants. In a brief interview this week, Garcia described the middle portion of the current structure as historic.
On Mar. 13, 1989, the building was considered for historic designation by a city entity called the Board of Review for Historic Districts and Landmarks, but it didn’t pass, according to OHP documents.
Heron editor Ben Olivo contributed to this report.
Contact Gaige Davila: 956-372-4776 | gaige@saheron.com | @gaigedavila on Twitter
Just because the building was built in the late 1800s shouldn’t automatically make it “historic”.
Umm….I think that’s exactly what makes it historic!!
I am a frequent customer of the Oasis as I live 2 1/2 blocks away.
Historic or not, the family owned business provides downtown San Antonio good, inexpensive Tex/Mex cuisine. Glad it’s not being bought.
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