Bob Holladay, president of the Tallahassee Historical Society, can\u2019t help but think the long and winding history of 469 Saint Francis Street deserves another chapter. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Jewish and Spanish influence here has been significant, you know, from the very beginning,\u201d Holladay said.<\/p>\n
Its story began when Jewish immigrant Alfred Wahnish dreamed of turning a sleepy government town into a flourishing tobacco mainstay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was talk of moving the capitol away from Tallahassee,\u201d Erin Vaughn, a local preservation architect, said. \u201cIt really revitalized the entire city and that was really, really important. And this building was the hub of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That story continued thirty years ago when Brian Giblett turned the factory into the Cow Haus music venue. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of bands that, you know, that played here before they became huge, like Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, New Found Glory,\u201d Giblett said. <\/p>\n
![\"Theold](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WOAOWBICI5GJTFUCHJHP527XOY.jpg\")
Theold Wahnish Cigar Factory(Florida Memory)<\/p>\n
More recently, Vaughn\u2019s former boss had hopes to restore the structure for office space. <\/p>\n
But, this story may end soon. A Tampa based developer plans to demolish it to build apartments and a four-story parking garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be able to knock it down. I mean, I have no doubt about that, but God, why?\u201d Holladay said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s despite the building being on both the local and national registers of historic places. <\/p>\n
Vaughn prepared the 2018 application to add it to the national register. That distinction doesn\u2019t guarantee protection, but it does provide tax incentives for a future developer to restore rather than raze. <\/p>\n
\u201cPreservation and redevelopment do not have to be mutually exclusive. They can actually work together to create something that is valuable to the community,\u201d Vaughn said. <\/p>\n
Because the building is under a historic zoning overlay and on the local register, developers were forced to make their case in front of the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation\u2019s Architectural Review Board.<\/p>\n
The developer had to prove the building isn\u2019t structurally able to coexist with their plans.<\/p>\n
The Trust\u2019s executive director, Shannon Kuch, told WCTV they met the high burden of proof to move forward with the demolition. <\/p>\n
This week, the historical society passed a resolution calling on the city to stop the demolition and save the building.<\/p>\n
But Mayor John Dailey said it\u2019s gone through the proper channels already. <\/p>\n
\u201cI trust this board. They do their homework. They do it really well,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll do everything we possibly can to save a building when appropriate. But for the review board to come back and make the recommendation it did, makes it sound like it wasn\u2019t structurally safe.\u201d <\/p>\n
Holladay said it\u2019s frustrating to see a building earn historic preservation designations, but still face the wrecking ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes you feel empty,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes you feel sort of hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s hoping it\u2019s not too late. <\/p>\n
There are at least a couple meetings before demolition day. There\u2019s a meeting of the Development Review Committee next Monday, Aug. 10, where the developer is asking for a setback deviation. <\/p>\n
There will also need to be another meeting of the Trust\u2019s Architectural Review Board where the developer will need to present plans to commemorate the building in some way. That could mean creating a plaque or marker about the building\u2019s history or reusing some of the bricks in the new construction.<\/p>\n
That meeting\u2019s date is not yet set.<\/p>\n
Kuch said no matter how this ends, it serves as a learning moment for all involved. <\/p>\n
If more people had taken interest in the building when the developer first met with the board months ago, the concerned parties would have had a better forum to be heard, she said. <\/p>\n
WCTV reached out to the developer and did not receive a response.<\/p>\n
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