{"nrhp_refnum":"97000364","name":"Brown Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"708 Colorado St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.270132039000032,"lon":-97.74632447499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-04-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Office tower at 708 Colorado Street in downtown Austin, Texas, designed in 1938 by architects C.H. Page and Son for Herman Brown's Brown & Root enterprises; floors nine and ten were added in 1949 and 1952.","why_significant":"The building is nominated at the local level under Criterion A for Commerce because it served as Austin headquarters for Brown & Root, a construction firm that grew into one of the world's largest. It is also nominated under Criterion C for Architecture as one of Austin's finest examples of Art Moderne. Its location near the state capitol made it a base for politically connected tenants.","narrative":"Rising ten stories at the corner of Colorado and Eighth streets in downtown Austin, this office tower was designed in 1938 by C.H. Page and Son for Herman Brown, whose enterprises included the construction firm Brown & Root. Built of reinforced concrete with buff brick above a red Texas granite base, it shows Art Moderne design in its flush piers, metal spandrels and vertical rows of casement windows. Ninth and tenth floors were added in 1949 and 1952 to match the original design. Its position a short walk from the capitol, city hall and courthouses attracted politically prominent tenants, including Lyndon Johnson and a radio station owned by Lady Bird Johnson. Brown & Root kept offices there through 1962. The elevator lobby keeps its marble, terrazzo and etched glass panels. The building closed in 1990 and sat vacant for over six years before plans for apartment conversion emerged.","period_of_significance":"1938-1952","architect_builder":"C.H. Page and Son (architect)","architectural_style":"Other: 2-part vertical block; Art Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed as an office tower in 1990 and vacant for more than six years; current owners intend to rehabilitate it and convert the offices to apartments.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.55244-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/9737/40973785/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/97000364.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000364/d96e0a53ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000364/d96e0a53ac-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"LoneStarMike","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrownBldg-Jul2010-b.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">LoneStarMike</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrownBldg-Jul2010-b.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Building_(Austin,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4976081"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/brown-building-97000364/"}