Blaise Compton, Liam Alteneder and Tinu Thomas
Austin’s unique personality has always attracted big businesses and tourists. But now the city’s commercialization has led to rising property taxes that are driving away the small businesses that made Austin weird.
“It’s challenging,” said Steve Wiman, owner of Uncommon Objects, “It’s a very difficult situation for small businesses who are now competing with big box and national chains for space.”
Wiman, who left Austin to work out of state after graduate school, said it was the balance of Austin’s small-town charm and big city atmosphere that brought him back in 1991. Now, he feels the charm has been overtaken.
“The trends are that people from out of state are coming in and changing everything about the flavor of what made it so appealing in the first place,” Wiman said.
Wiman ran Uncommon Objects on South Congress for 26 years. This past year the store’s location was bought out by an investor and forced to relocated to Frontview Road in south Austin.
“I believed because of my long-time relationship with the landlord that I would be there for a long time,” Wiman said. “They believed that too until the money came. Money talks loud.”
Talena Rasmussen is co-owner of New Bohemia and Parts and Labor, only one of which still resides on South Congress. Last year, Rasmussen decided to move her store, New Bohemia, from South Congress for several reasons, including the rise in property prices.
“Per square foot I pay a lot less than I paid over there,” Rasmussen said about the financial reason moving her business from the South Congress location.
Rasmussen also said she moved her store away from South Congress to regain a sense of community which was displaced over time by the area’s commercialization.
“When all your customers are tourists, it’s not as exciting anymore. You’re not as invested in your clientele,” Rasmussen said.
Although South Congress was one of the first areas to be affected by commercialization and rising property taxes, both Rasmussen and Wiman express concerns that the problem is not contained to this area.
Rasmussen has experienced an increase in property taxes at her new location. “We just got a letter about a month ago that property taxes went up again,” Rasmussen said.
“When property taxes go up in your lease, it falls on the tenants to pay the property taxes.”
Wiman says that even lesser known Austin areas are not immune to the rising property prices, estimating that property valuations at his store’s new location have just about doubled within the last year.
According to the Travis Central Appraisal District, the property value of Uncommon Objects’ new location has increased from $585,638 in 2017 to $1,066,695 in 2018.
“The new neighborhood is changing faster than I can believe,” Wiman said. “It means that we’ll experience some of the problems of South Congress sooner rather than later.”
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