Tax Credit Program Highlight: Mercantile Commerce Building

History

The 22-story Mercantile Commerce building was constructed in 1957 to house multiple businesses enterprises. The Building was designed in the Mid-Century Modern style by prolific Texas architect Wyatt C. Hedrick. The building is a textbook example of a high-style Modern building, featuring a minimalist steel frame and glass curtain wall system, accented at the ground level with a travertine walls, a serpentine enclosure and staircase, and spiral inlay tile floors that extended from the interior elevator lobby all the way to the street curb. The building was originally named the Vaughn Building, after oil producer and Chairman of Spartan National Life Insurance, Jack Vaughn; the proprietor housed offices for many of his enterprises in the building, including several of his oil service companies and Spartan Life insurance.

Rehabilitation Project

As part of this rehabilitation project, the formerly vacant building was repurposed as an AC Hotel/Residence Inn. The project included all new systems throughout the building, as well as a variety of structural repairs and upgrades. The interior had lost most of its historic interior features, especially on the upper levels, so the developers were able to create a modern hotel interior in those portions of the building. On the first floor where the historic travertine elevator lobby and the two-story public storefront space remained intact, the applicants paid tribute to the historic character of the building by leaving the interior design of the lobbies very simple—allowing the original materials to be showcased.