AUSTIN, Texas — City officials have stepped in to stop work on a historic East Austin property after a developer exceeded its approved demolition plans, tearing down nearly the entire structure at 1010 East Cesar Chavez Street, previously home to the popular cafe and restaurant Cenote.
The property, built as early as 1887, had been slated for renovation by Haidar Properties, which applied in 2024 to remodel the building and bring in the Southern California coffee chain Urth Caffé. While the developer told Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission it intended to preserve more than 3,000 square feet of the original structure, city inspections found that only a small portion of the historic facade remains.
“To see the building torn down like that, it was pretty heartbreaking,” said Mary Jenkins, who restored the building and opened Cenote in 2012. She noted that she and her late partner, Cody Symington, never pursued historic landmark designation while operating the restaurant, fearing it could affect their business.
According to city documents, the developer had indicated it would preserve 2,622 square feet of the original structure and remodel an additional 959 square feet. The plans also included replacing the roof to match the original design. However, the city confirmed last week that almost the entire building had been demolished without the proper permits, issuing two stop-work orders to address the unauthorized demolition and related code violations.
Kevin Koch, a member of the Historic Landmark Commission, said the original renovation plan would likely have maintained the property’s eligibility for landmark designation, but with much of it now gone, that potential has diminished. “People need to keep an eye on the bigger picture. We’re losing buildings like this all the time,” Koch said.
The developer, Haidar Properties, declined to comment on the demolition.