The Cultural Land Network

Creative Policy Network’s Cultural Land Network preserves places, builds wealth, and catalyzes cultural and economic revitalization through power-sharing alliances with property owners, local artists, and cultural organizations.

We envision a future where artists and communities control their creative destiny through interconnected Cultural Land Networks—demonstrating that preservation, community ownership, and economic prosperity can flourish together across Texas and beyond.

We revitalize underutilized properties into community-controlled cultural infrastructure, creating affordable live-work spaces while empowering local nonprofits to lead programming and stewardship.

In need of space?

Cultural Land Network is a mechanism for creating affordable places for the creative and essential work force, cultural workers, and community organizations while preventing displacement and fostering neighborhood stewardship.

The Cultural Land Network is an initiative of the Creative Policy Network, dedicated to transforming heritage sites into community-owned cultural infrastructure.

Creating new structures and procedures to break down barriers.

Join the List!

Purpose Statement

Creative Policy Network is dedicated to cultivating sustainable, resilient, and culturally vibrant ecosystems by revitalizing heritage sites into community hubs that support creatives and cultural enterprises. We begin every project by deeply engaging with local communities to understand their actual needs, aspirations, and cultural heritage—making community voices the foundation of our development process, not an afterthought. Through our adaptive reuse approach, we create affordable live-work spaces and cultural programming for artists, cultural workers, and essential workers while preserving architectural heritage and building individual and collective wealth. This community-centered development catalyzes economic revitalization that amplifies diverse voices, celebrates local heritage, and increases accessibility to arts and culture—all while benefiting long-term residents and preventing displacement.

We measure our success not just by units developed or square footage activated, but by the strength of community ownership, cultural capital, and the depth of resident wealth-building, and our ability to help other communities replicate this model of truly community-driven development.


(Creative Policy Network is currently fiscally sponsored by Greater Austin Neighborhoods)

This portal is designed to create a waitlist of creative and cultural workforce members and organizations seeking affordable live-work and cultural spaces.

The Problem

  • Housing costs up nearly 40% since 2020; 71% of cultural spaces face unstable leases.

  • The creative workforce faces combined living + working costs of nearly $2,800/month in Austin.

  • Austin demolished 5M sq ft of buildings (2010–2021)

  • 655,000 tons of construction waste in 2020.

  • Only 16% of Austin’s landmarks reflect BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or women’s history.

  • Creative economy generates $4.3B annually, supporting 21,000+ jobs.

  • 30% of creative professionals may leave Austin due to unaffordability.

We Fill the Gap:

  • Develop Creative Workforce Housing for essential and cultural workers.

  • Revitalize underutilized assets through adaptive reuse.

  • Strengthen local economies with cultural retail, nonprofit incubation, and entrepreneurship.

  • Advance health equity with affordable wellness and therapy partnerships.

  • Protect community/family wealth via ground leases, equity-sharing, and joint ventures.

  • Ensure portfolio stability with diversified housing, cultural, and nonprofit tenant mixes.

  • Build community buy-in through the Cultural Membership & Partner Program, creating new pathways for residents and organizations to co-invest in cultural infrastructure.

Meet the Team!

  • Mikel received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma in 2001 and joined Chioco Design in 2014.  She has international experience working at firms in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and London, including Zaha Hadid Architects. While in New York, Mikel attended Parsons, The New School for Design where she studied and worked in the fashion industry.  This experience provided her with a deeper knowledge of materiality and processes of design at any scale. In addition to residential and commercial work, Mikel's experience includes museums and educational facilities. In 2024, Mikel received the AIA Austin Emerging Professional Achievement Award. She was on the founding board of NOMA of Central Texas and was the first Treasurer from 2021-2023. She is also lovingly known as the founding mother of the AIA Austin LGBTQIA+ Alliance which was the second chapter in the country.

    Chioco Design
    Chioco Design is an award-winning architecture and interior design firm formed in 2005 by Principal, Jamie Chioco.

    Our firm’s work ranges from the intimate, a private residence, to the massive, an industrial adaptive reuse project, and everything in between. We have designed restaurants, bars, retail stores, multi-use facilities and public spaces. By having a diverse client base with various project types we believe this to be an effective way to experience and contribute to a community.

    We strive to exceed our clients’ expectations in process and result, through active listening, collaboration and innovative design. We believe in a contextual design that fits into its built, natural and cultural environment. Our projects are functional, engaging and honest.

    All this is to say, we believe elevated design elevates lives, for the individual and the collective.

  • G. Maximiliano Martinez, P.E. | Alejandra Flores, P.E.
    Principal

    Milian Engineering is dedicated to being a Civil Engineering firm that evolves as quickly as Austin's development, providing creative and efficient engineering solutions and positively contributing to the design team.

    What we do:
    Milian Engineering specializes in private land development design and permitting within the City of Austin. We are committed to maintaining a high level of expertise in the city’s current and future land development processes.

    What makes us different?
    Milian provides corporate-level experience with the dedication and attention of a small firm. Together, the Milian team has over 15 years of experience dealing with the City of Austin Development Services Department.

    How we started:
    Running a Civil Engineering firm was always part of the plan, but it was a “someday Island” type of idea—an end goal that seemed more like a dream or an escape during the late hours spent in the corporate engineering trenches. The decision to start Milian /ˈmily(ə)n/ was solidified in February 2021, during the Snowvid storm, when most Austinites were left without electricity and water for several days. This obligatory pause brought a wake-up call for Maximiliano, who realized that the uncertainties of tomorrow were a bigger threat than venturing out on his own. He recognized the importance of creating a firm that could not only provide competent engineering services but also serve the under-represented developers working to construct timeless, creative spaces that keep Austin magical. In three years, Milian Engineering has already supported Austin staples like Patrizi’s, Sour Duck, Jo’s Coffee, Licha’s, Suerte, Monk’s Jazz Club, and more.

  • CARTER DESIGN ASSOCIATES (HUB,DBE,MBE,WBE) is a multi-disciplinary architectural and planning firm, with an emphasis on urban design, community development and historic preservation. CARTER DESIGN ASSOCIATES is a Texas corporation with an office in Austin, Texas since 1982. Our Architects, Planners and Historic Preservation professionals have experience with LEED certification of existing structures and provide guidelines and strategies for development within existing built environments. These are often, in or adjacent to, historic properties or districts. Coupling with our restoration and architectural expertise with urban design, planning and programming CARTER DESIGN ASSOCIATES is able to offer professional services from the pre-development stage through the construction of a project.

    CARTER DESIGN ASSOCIATES has also worked with community and stakeholder groups to document and annotate their communities. We have led workshops highlighting the importance of preserving the built environment and we have worked with jurisdictional officials in the area helping communities to make use of the opportunities preservation affords them.

    Learn more!

  • Post Oak Preservation specializes in historic preservation, employing a meticulous research-plan-execute methodology. They conduct thorough archival research to uncover each property's unique history, develop tailored strategic plans through collaborative teamwork, and execute projects with precision and expertise. Their detail-oriented approach ensures exceptional quality while navigating complex municipal requirements, consistently delivering results that exceed client expectations.

  • is a Texas-based multi-discipline engineering firm with offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth, and is certified by the State of Texas as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB). We are an affiliate firm of Martinez Engineering, LLC and Walter P. Moore and Associates, Inc.

    Through our partnership with Walter P Moore, we bring together an unparalleled team of experienced structural and civil engineers. We engineer cost- and resource-efficient, forward-thinking solutions, which help support and shape our communities.

  • Remodeling & Construction

Founder

List of Advisors:
Perry Lorenz | Austin Real Estate Developer & Preservation Advocate

Nora Linares-Moeller | President of La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) | HousingWorks

Celeste Quesada | Floyd Real Estate

Frances Ferguson | Executive Director | Mueller Foundation

Ingrid Spencer | Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, AlA Austin

Lori Martin | Historic Preservation Specialist

Heidi Schmalbach | Planet Texas 2050 + City of Austin Arts Commission

Nick Stillman | Executive Director of Prospect New Orleans

All Things Artistic.

Founder of Creative Policy + Creative Policy Network

Miriam Conner has curated and organized art and experiences for over a decade. She has been in Austin for 33 years by way of New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from St. Stephen's Episcopal High School, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. After college, Miriam came home to Austin and began managing Pine Street Station (a 30,000+ sqft artist warehouse and gallery) for three years, and has since planned countless art shows, in addition to co-founding Topology Art Warehouse for 2 years. She has also worked with SXSW, Art Outside, Forklift Danceworks, Six Square – Austin’s Black Cultural District, the City of Austin, and more.

She is the founder of Creative Policy, a firm recognized for its community-focused strategy that bridges policy-making and cultural engagement to achieve meaningful systems change. Additionally, she is the Board President of Preservation Austin, and she has previously served as a commissioner on the City of Austin's African American Quality of Life Commission.

“At the age of fifteen, I discovered what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I know not many people are sure about what they want to do by the age of thirty, much less by the age of fifteen, but I am very grateful to have found that particular passion that wakes me up in the morning and tucks me in at night. My life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness lie within art.”

She has been organizing in the Austin Art community since 2008.

Meet the Board

  • Laura Esparza is currently the Executive Director of A3: Art Alliance Austin, the City’s first non-profit Local Art Agency she facilitates a re-granting program for local artists, musicians and performers.

    She retired after 17 years as the Division Manager of the City’s 12 Museums and Cultural Centers that she ran for the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department

    Ms. Esparza’s training is in theater; she was the recipient of the esteemed San Diego Fellowship at UCSD, where she received her Master of Fine Arts in Latino Theater and Direction. In 1994, she received the NEA-TCG Director’s Fellowship, a national honor given to only four theater directors in the nation every other year. Her undergraduate degree from Fairhaven College, Western Washington University was entitled “Community Arts Development,” which brought her to her work with the City of Austin’s museums and cultural centers.

  • Trent Lethco is a transportation principal with Arup’s New York-based planning team and has a background in transportation planning, land use policy, and urban design.  With 26 years of experience in the public and private sector, of which 22 have been with Arup, focusing on livable, sustainable, and equitable cities.

    Trent Lethco leads a diverse range of planning projects within the CPD portfolio. His focus is on the New York Tri-State area, but he is also actively involved with Planning across the US, Canada, and Brazil. When working in the Tri-State area, his activities span transport strategies and business case analysis, multimodal corridor studies, Bus Rapid Transit studies, downtown and station area plans, technology and the transport sector, and capital plans and programs. Working internationally, his projects focus on infill development, transportation strategies, and master planning activities. His strong background in transportation planning, land use policy, and infrastructure funding allows him to effectively link transportation and land use policy to create sustainable fiscal, social, and environmental outcomes for his clients. He has worked in both the public and sectors which gives him a unique perspective as a consultant in the Planning field. In addition to his responsibilities at Arup, Trent regularly teaches at Pratt Institute, serves as a Board Member to the Regional Plan Association and guest lectures worldwide.

    Trent has worked on re-envisioning highway infrastructure over those 22 years, starting with Doyle Drive, now known as Presidio Parkway in San Francisco, and continuing to the St. Louis Arch in St. Louis, I-35 in Austin, Texas, the East River Waterfront in New York,  examining proposals for the BQE on behalf of New York City Council, and other projects throughout the world.  Finding better ways to provide access to our cities that allow us to live with smaller highway facilities or the removal of highway facilities in our downtowns is a career-long focus.

  • COMING SOON

  • Anne Gatling Haynes AIA (US) is an accomplished urban development expert with over 25 years of experience in architecture, planning, and community-focused economic development. She is currently the Chief Transactions Officer at Rally Austin (formerly the Austin Economic Development Corporation), where she leads project development and fosters collaborative partnerships.

    Anne's career highlights include serving as the first CEO of the Houston Land Bank, where she restructured the organization to enhance affordable housing and community development initiatives. She also designed and led the Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) for MassDevelopment, an innovative urban development program that has significantly impacted second-tier markets in Massachusetts.

    Her previous roles include CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven, where she managed business development and long-term planning, and Design Director/Program Manager for the City of New York under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Anne began her career as a Senior Associate at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, leading various institutional and mixed-use projects.

    Anne is a founding member of MakeHaven, a maker space, and a co-founder of CitySeed, which operates farmers markets and directs food policy initiatives in New Haven. She holds a Master’s in Architecture from Yale University, a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan Fellows Program. Her work focuses on the intersection of city design and development, emphasizing the role of people in shaping urban spaces.

  • Lisa Byrd’s interest lies in exploring the intersection of the arts, civic engagement, community activism and cultural preservation. Lisa has a 30+ year career in the arts with roles ranging from audio engineering and production management to providing organizational leadership as production director for dance companies and executive leadership for community based arts organizations. Lisa has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Penn State University and a Masters Degree in Theater History and Criticism from Texas State University. She continued her studies in leadership and organizing with Marshall Ganz’s Leadership, Organizing and Action, an Executive Education program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy.

    Utilizing her leadership skills as well as her skills as a community organizer, Lisa developed what is now Texas’ only African American cultural district, Six Square: Austin’s Black Cultural Heritage District. Lisa continues her work using a collaborative learning model in partnership with artists and arts organizations and those interested in public policy and civic action. Her current collaborative partnerships include Civic Arts and Forklift Danceworks on projects that center the arts as an organizing pathway to addressing civic life.

    Over the years Lisa’s work has been recognized for its positive impact on communities she has engaged. In 2015 she received the Dewey Award from SXSW Conference. The award is given as an acknowledgement to the honoree’s dedication to creating positive and lasting change in their communities. In 2016 she received an award for her leadership as a community partner from the University of Texas at Austin’s Division on Diversity and Community Engagement. And, in 2017 she received the Ada DeBlanc Simond Trailblazer Award from the Austin Black Democrats. Lisa is also very proud to have been elected in 2019 to the Community Education Council representing District 3 for the New York City Department of Education.

Current Projects

Hackberry ARts

East Austin | Partnership with Hall Burnis & Lee Family Trust

Transforming two heritage residential structures into affordable live-work spaces and community programming hubs. This project honors the profound legacy of Lt. Colonel Burnis Lee Hall Jr.—a distinguished Prairie View A&M graduate, decorated Vietnam War veteran, and beloved Austin Community College educator—and his wife Lee Cradia Hall, who exemplified the community-building spirit that makes East Austin a place of resilience and collective prosperity. Hackberry Arts creates affordable artist studios, a community gallery, and gathering spaces while building pathways for cultural workers to thrive in the neighborhood their families helped build.

Reji Thomas
Live-Work Community Hub

South Austin | Partnership with Artist Reji Thomas

In partnership with legendary artist Reji Thomas, whose Pine Street Station (1979-2014) served as the beating heart of East Austin's creative renaissance. Pine Street Station welcomed “80s gypsy artists" and hosted major SXSW showcases featuring artists like Kanye West and Amy Winehouse. This project transforms Reji's current property into a live-work hub with artist studios, community museum space, and cultural programming while positioning her as a foundational partner in Austin's first cultural real estate network.

The Local 4-5-6

East Austin | Looking for Partners

CP Network aims to create an inclusive, eco-conscious cultural hub where creativity, social equity, and cultural preservation converge. Local 4- 5- 6 will integrate live-work residences, fabrication shops and studios, artisan workshops, performance space, and community-centered amenities like a restaurant, coffee/tea shop, wellness offices, and a family-friendly courtyard. This dynamic space will serve as a cornerstone of cultural exchange, empowering future generations to build on Austin’s rich artistic and social legacy while supporting resilience, inclusion, and diversity.