From Hotel to Housing: New Life for the El Jardin in Brownsville, Texas

Once known as “the finest hotel in the Rio Grande Valley,” Brownsville’s historic El Jardin Hotel sat vacant for more than three decades before an ambitious redevelopment brought it back to life. Today, the landmark has been transformed into much-needed affordable housing through a more than $30 million investment and a creative capital stack combining federal and state Historic Tax Credits (HTCs) with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs).

In the latest Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, Heritage President Cindy Hamilton takes readers inside the project—from the challenges of rehabilitating a long-vacant historic structure to the financing strategy that made the transformation possible. The result offers a compelling example of how preservation and affordable housing can work together to breathe new life into a landmark while creating lasting community impact. Read the full article to see how El Jardin went from historic hotel to new housing for Brownsville families.

Built in 1935 as a roadside restaurant, the Navajo Hogan has been a distinctive Colorado Springs landmark for more than 90 years. Its unusual construction—designed in the 1930s to evoke the form of a traditional Navajo hogan—helped earn the building a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Over the decades, the restaurant became a familiar local institution, later operating as Johnny’s Navajo Hogan before closing in 2021 following the pandemic and a damaging fire. After years of vacancy, new ownership undertook an extensive rehabilitation, restoring character-defining features, including the remarkable hand-hewn log ceiling structure and iconic neon sign while upgrading the building for a new generation of patrons. The project utilized HTCs to help support the preservation of this one-of-a-kind roadside landmark, allowing the Navajo Hogan to reopen in 2026 and continue its long history as a Colorado Springs gathering place.

TEAM UPDATE

Heritage Hits the Road

This fall, the Heritage team is hitting the road! We’re looking forward to connecting with clients, colleagues, and preservation partners at conferences and events across the country. These gatherings bring together leaders in historic preservation, community and economic development, affordable housing, and real estate to share ideas, explore emerging trends, and tackle the challenges and opportunities facing historic places and communities today. For our team, they’re also an important opportunity to stay engaged with the industries we serve, learn from our partners, and share how HTCs and preservation can be powerful tools for revitalization and investment. If you’ll be at one of these conferences, we’d love to connect!

HTCs can be a powerful tool for revitalizing Main Street properties—but misconceptions about project size, cost, eligibility, and the application process often keep owners from exploring them. Heritage’s new Main Street resource tackles some of the most common HTC myths and shows how the credits can work for smaller-scale commercial, mixed-use, and nonprofit projects. With federal and state incentives potentially offsetting a significant portion of qualified rehabilitation costs, HTCs may be more accessible—and more valuable—than many property owners realize. Explore our new Main Street page to learn what’s possible for your historic property.

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