Historical gem: Local investors to renovate Brownsville's Cameron Hotel

Sep. 27—A group of hometown Brownsville investors has purchased and will renovate the historic Cameron Hotel at Ninth and Washington streets into upscale luxury apartments upstairs, with high-end retail shops below.

The Cameron opened in 1928 as a travel lodge and has remained occupied in the years since. It originally had 32 hotel rooms upstairs, while the downstairs housed a Buick dealership, one of the nation's first indoor automobile garages, the hotel office, lobby, a tea room, and barbershop.

The building looked much like it does today, based on historical photos provided by the new owners. The group intends to maintain and enhance the Cameron's historical character, members said in an interview with The Brownsville Herald earlier this week.

"We're renting the building to the hotel owner right now. ... What we're trying to do with this building is we really want it to be high-end luxury apartments, also with high-end tenants downstairs. The apartments are going to be top-notch, very nice. That's the plan, a luxury apartment complex," said builder Emmanuel Hernandez of EVH Construction, one of the eight family members and spouses who make up the investment group.

The investors, operating as the Historic Restoration Group, purchased the building from Brownsville's Christiano family for an undisclosed amount.

The group has been approved by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation's business improvement and growth fund for a $200,000 grant to develop the project.

Hernandez said renovation costs are expected to total $2.2 million.

He said renovation on the upstairs apartments and the former garage and retail area below will begin in earnest in November, although work on the apartments will be more meticulous because of the plumbing, flooring cabinets and other details.

The upstairs currently houses 34 hotel rooms, some with community bathrooms. There is a central terrace.

"We're going to re-use the existing windows, they're 100 years old and even the pulleys work on them. Obviously, we're going to meet the current code, but we're going to keep everything we can. It is 10 apartment units, three two-bedroom and seven one-bedroom," Hernandez said.

Hernandez's wife, Maren Fruia, said the group is working with the Texas Historical Commission to get the hotel listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Because the building is located in the Brownsville Downtown Historic District "our priority level is considered high. We have applied for an individual determination of eligibility to be on the national register ... and we have been preliminarily approved. We just need to complete construction," she said.

Fruia said the group's architectural firm, Harlingen-based Megamorphosis, has done preliminary demolition and found that because the building was never officially vacant, it remains in very good condition.

Jarret Hornsby, another group member, said EVH is already finding hidden evidence of the Cameron's former opulence.

"What we're starting to see now with panels being removed, carpet being removed ... is what was there before. Manny and EVH are trying to bring it back to its historical luster, and they're finding beautiful hardwood floors under the carpet. ...There's so much character in a building of that era," he said.

Hornsby said the Cameron started out as a travel lodge. The builder, Warden-Hendry Co., built several buildings in the area around the same time.

"That original garage is still in great shape. We're going to keep as much of the exposed, elevated rafters as we can, and make that space a special space," he said.

According to an historical narrative the investors had written about the building, the original owners, the A.A. Browne family, "brought in the famed Spanish revival architect W.D. Van Siclen, who had already made his mark designing and creating the building aesthetic of cities like Seattle, Washington, and more notably, San Jose, California," where Spanish revival architecture can be seen to this day.

"Not only is Van Siclen responsible for bringing the mission revival style to the Cameron Hotel, his design elements are reflected throughout the entire downtown area and are culturally relevant to the city. ... Several buildings designed by Van Siclen in Brownsville, including his personal residence on 537 W. 18th Street, the first offices for The Brownsville Herald on 509 W. Levee Street, and the now-shuttered Resaca Elementary School located on 901 E. Fillmore Street are all in the neo-Renaissance mission revival style. This style was unofficially adopted by the downtown area and today encapsulates the city with newer commercial buildings as well as single and multi family residential buildings," the historical paper states.

"After the Cameron Hotel, Van Siclen remained in active practice throughout the 1920's and 1930's. His work in Brownville consisted of small commercial stores, clubhouses, apartments and residential work." Van Siclen lived and worked in Brownsville until his death on July 14, 1951, the paper states.

The eight investors, all graduates of Lopez High School except for Hornsby, who is from Houston, include: Maria J. Hernandez, Vicente Hernandez, Estrella Fraire, Jose Manuel Fraire, Emanuel Hernandez, Maren Fruia, Luna Hornsby and Jarrett Hornsby.

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Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify that Fruia is Hernandez's wife.

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