Two vacant, century-old buildings on Bates Street in Old Town Keller are about to become a coffee shop, a dessert business and a gathering spot called The Keller Depot. Developer Ashley Stone Hernandez bought the long-empty properties at 128 and 136 Bates St. for a combined $650,000 in a dual-contract deal completed on July 3, with construction set to begin once a neighborhood celebration wraps up next week.
Hernandez, who runs the project through her company The Hive & Holding Co., held a preview event called Nights on Bates on September 25 featuring music, food and local vendors, according to Community Impact. The two buildings, previously home to the Keller Station House & History Museum and Catherine Anne’s Books, had sat vacant for more than three years before Hernandez stepped in. She plans to rename 128 Bates St. the Station House and 136 Bates St. the Jackson Cottage, both structures she says date back at least 100 years.
A Coffee Shop, A Dessert Spot and a Borrowed Ticket Booth
Hernandez intends to use one building for a coffee shop concept and the other for a dessert business, with both connected to an event center space. The Keller History Museum has loaned a historic railroad ticket booth to The Keller Depot, a nod to the interurban rail lines that once connected Fort Worth to Dallas, Cleburne, Denison, Corsicana and Waco, per the same Community Impact report. Hernandez also plans to landscape both properties and replace the backyards’ grass with turf.
“This will truly become a destination for gathering, connection, small business and unforgettable experiences,” Hernandez said, according to the outlet’s report.
Public Dollars Help Fund the Restoration
The project has leaned on public incentives alongside private investment. The Keller Economic Development Board voted on August 25 to recommend full $10,000 facade improvement grants for both addresses, overriding a failed motion from one board member to reduce the funding, according to Citizen Portal. The City Council approved those grants on September 15. Hernandez also holds a Chapter 380 economic development agreement, totaling $81,740, covering a grease trap at the Jackson Cottage and publicly accessible restrooms at the Station House, per the Community Impact report…