Austin’s history lives in the places, stories, and cultural spaces that give this city its soul. Rally Austin supports the preservation of these landmarks to keep our local heritage alive and accessible. Our work began with direction from the City Council to help shape the process for identifying, prioritizing, and acquiring historic properties through the Historic Preservation Acquisition Fund.
Since then, Rally Austin has worked alongside City staff to research opportunities, engage the community, and develop the framework needed to guide this effort in a legally compliant and financially sustainable way. This work included convening an Advisory Committee with expertise in preservation, real estate, finance, and cultural heritage to ground the process in both technical insight and community values.
As this work continues, Rally Austin will help bring forward recommendations and a long-term framework to preserve and activate places that reflect our past while creating a stronger, more sustainable future for the city. We are proud to support a vision that protects Austin’s history, strengthens cultural identity, and keeps historic places active for community use and visitor engagement alike.
We invited Kim McKnight, Division Manager of the Historic Preservation Office (HPO), to share a closer look at the programs and partnerships currently shaping the future of preservation in Austin. Read her guest blog below!
Austin is changing fast. New buildings rise and neighborhoods evolve. The city’s physical landscape is in constant motion. Amid that change, the City of Austin’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO) is working to make sure Austin’s unique built environment and community heritage aren’t lost in the process.
Here’s a look at what the HPO has been doing, why it matters for Austin’s future, and how you can get involved.
The HPO is a division of Austin Planning, the City department responsible for guiding how Austin grows and changes. The HPO’s job is to identify, protect, and celebrate the places, buildings, and stories that make Austin what it is and to make sure that work reflects the full diversity of Austin’s communities.
The HPO works alongside the Historic Landmark Commission (HLC), an advisory body that reviews applications for historic designation, evaluates proposed changes to historic properties, and helps shape City policy on preservation. Together, they oversee Austin’s historic landmarks, local historic districts, and the City’s participation in federal and state historic preservation programs.
In November 2024, City Council adopted the Equity-Based Preservation Plan, a roadmap for making historic preservation more inclusive, more responsive, and more useful to all community members. The Plan was authored by a community working group with feedback from thousands of Austinites. It recognizes that traditional preservation has often focused on the stories and properties of wealthier communities, while overlooking places that matter deeply to communities of color and working-class residents.
In November 2025, the HPO held a Preservation Plan Summit: a half-day gathering that brought together more than 50 community members, organizational partners, educational institutions, and City staff. Participants reviewed progress made in the Plan’s first year, heard about current initiatives, and discussed how to work together to tackle preservation priorities. Events like the Summit reflect the HPO’s commitment to preservation as a collaborative community-driven process, not just a regulatory one.
Preservation isn’t only about regulations and zoning. People’s stories and their connections to local buildings and neighborhoods are a big part of what makes places worth preserving. The HPO has recently expanded its public outreach through two media partnerships with ATXN, Austin’s public access channel:
One of the HPO’s most forward-looking initiatives is an analysis of Transfers of Development Rights (TDRs). TDRs are a market-based tool that could help preserve small-scale historic properties while allowing new density to be directed where it’s most appropriate.
Here’s how TDRs would work: owners of historic properties in “sending zones” under high development pressure could sell their unused development capacity to property owners or developers in “receiving zones” where higher density is encouraged. This would give historic property owners an incentive and financial resources to maintain and rehabilitate their buildings.
The HPO has contracted with Lionheart Places and Economic & Planning Systems to assess whether a TDR program is feasible in Austin. The study is expected to be completed in summer 2026, with a briefing to the Council Housing and Planning Committee in June. The HPO is also gathering input from stakeholders through an online survey and focus groups.
Preserving old buildings and reusing historic materials are wins for the environment, both in terms of retaining embodied carbon and reducing landfill waste. The second Austin Sustainable Building Materials Forum, coming up on November 13, will focus on Design, (De)Construction, and the Circular Economy, with building reuse as a central topic. The forum will include panels, exhibitors, and breakout sessions, and will be free and open to the public.
Following the forum, a weeklong deconstruction workshop November 16-20 will continue the themes of sustainability, material reuse, and workforce development. Participants will gain hands-on skills to deconstruct an older building, assess and catalog materials, and navigate the City’s permitting process. Focused on contractors and others with construction experience, the workshop seeks to expand capacity for local deconstruction work.
These events are providing opportunities for the HPO to expand working partnerships with other City departments: Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Energy, and Austin Parks and Recreation.
Preservation works best when it’s a community effort. Whether you’re a longtime Austinite, a neighborhood advocate, a property owner, a legacy business owner, a developer, or someone who’s simply curious about the city’s history, there are many ways to engage:
Austin’s past is part of what makes its future worth building. The Historic Preservation Office is working to make sure that history belongs to all of us.
Learn more about the Historic Preservation Office.
