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See Correction/Clarification at the end of this article.
Diners seated outside the iconic South Austin eatery Mattie’s at Green Pastures noshing on eggs benedict and chilaquiles are more likely to hear the call of peacocks wandering the property grounds than heavy machinery. But don’t let that fool you — there’s a big construction project going on at the property hidden away from diners.
Austin-based La Corsha Hospitality Group began construction on a boutique hotel at the 5.5-acre property earlier this year, hiding construction of the ambitious project behind a tall fence and keeping construction activity to a minimum during dining hours, said Jeff Trigger, president of La Corsha. The project has been in the works for years and is finally underway, with plans for a future phase including more rooms and a spa, Trigger said.
La Corsha previously led a $10 million renovation of Green Pastures, which culminated in the re-opening of the restaurant as Mattie’s in spring 2017.
The latest project is a three-story, 63-room hotel and event space tucked into the southern end of the property, Trigger said. The hotel will be 44,282 square feet with a 16,475-square-foot underground parking garage. Construction began in January and is expected to wrap up in the summer of 2025.
La Corsha is also planning a future phase, which would see a spa and more hotel rooms constructed on the western edge of the property. Austin-based architecture firm Clayton Korte is designing it.
Green Pastures is also home to a small historical residence that cannot be destroyed, so La Corsha is moving the home to the front of the property where it will be more visible. Trigger said La Corsha wants to restore the home.
All of the financing for the project comes from local entities and investors, Trigger said. Bastrop County's Frontier Bank of Texas is the lead bank that syndicated with other local and regional lending partners to finance the endeavor.
“You can go through the people that are involved in our project, and it touches all of Austin,” he said. “And it touches people that have made a difference throughout Austin, all of whom said, ‘I want to be a part of this.’”
Trigger added that there were roughly 50 entities invested in the project. Austin-based Jordan Foster Construction LLC is the general contractor, and this is the third La Corsha project the firm has worked on. Previously, Foster Construction worked on La Corsha's East Austin Hotel project and the Hotel St. George in the West Texas town of Marfa.
La Corsha also counts Second Bar + Kitchen, Fair Market and more among its Austin portfolio.
The historic home that houses the Mattie's restaurant was built from 1894-95, according to the historical marker database. The property is the childhood home of John Henry Faulk. He helped bring an end to the Hollywood blacklist, which blocked those in the entertainment industry from working due to membership or alleged membership in the communist party in the 1940s and 50s. In 1946, Faulk’s sister, Mary Faulk Koock, and her husband, Chester Koock, first opened a restaurant in the home.
Correction/Clarification
This story has been updated to clarify that Frontier Bank of Texas is based in Bastrop County.
