Carson Creek Ranch

Market position

Positioned as an Austin outdoor concert and festival venue, competing with other local event spaces, restaurants, bars and unique venues in and around Austin listed in the same marketplace category.

Go-to-market

The venue markets itself directly through its own website and phone line and is listed for booking through the Tagvenue venue marketplace, where it has been a partner for three years and is represented by an on-site event manager, Joan Havard.

Festival and concert promoters, food event organizers, corporate event planners, and hosts of private gatherings such as parties and birthdays, as well as filming productions.

Geography

Single site at 701 Dalton Lane, Austin, Texas 78742, in East Austin near the Colorado River, close to downtown Austin and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

History

Established in 1851 and continuously held by the same family for more than 150 years, the property is recognized by the State of Texas as a "Texas Century Ranch." In 2017, news reports indicated that HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a graffiti park previously on Baylor Street, was moving to Carson Creek Ranch; it in fact moved to an adjacent parcel. In February 2019, owner Joan Havard erected a gate at what she describes as the end of her driveway, after visitors seeking the gallery repeatedly drove onto her property.

Risks & controversies

In 2021, HOPE Outdoor Gallery filed a $250,000 lawsuit against Carson Creek Ranch owner Joan Havard, alleging trespass, defamation, libel and business disparagement in connection with a gate and fencing that the gallery says were built on its side of the property line, and alleging that Havard or her ranch hand brandished firearms against persons entering the disputed properties. Havard denies the allegations, says the gate does not impede access to the neighboring property, and asserts she would hold a prescriptive easement over Sherman Road, which she says has provided the only legal access to her family ranch for more than a century. She also states her house could become landlocked if adjacent parcels changed hands. HOPE Outdoor Gallery's creative producer, Andi Scull, said the boundary issue was raised with Havard and that Havard instead posted inaccurate information on social media; the gallery's counsel said a land survey of 701 Dalton Lane revealed the issues in the suit.