Two vacant, century-old buildings on Bates Street in Old Town Keller are about to become a coffee shop, a dessert business and a gathering spot called The Keller Depot. Developer Ashley Stone Hernandez bought the long-empty properties at 128 and 136 Bates St. for a combined $650,000 in a dual-contract deal completed on July 3, with construction set to begin once a neighborhood celebration wraps up next week.
Hernandez, who runs the project through her company The Hive & Holding Co., held a preview event called Nights on Bates on September 25 featuring music, food and local vendors, according to Community Impact. The two buildings, previously home to the Keller Station House & History Museum and Catherine Anne's Books, had sat vacant for more than three years before Hernandez stepped in. She plans to rename 128 Bates St. the Station House and 136 Bates St. the Jackson Cottage, both structures she says date back at least 100 years.
A Coffee Shop, A Dessert Spot and a Borrowed Ticket Booth
Hernandez intends to use one building for a coffee shop concept and the other for a dessert business, with both connected to an event center space. The Keller History Museum has loaned a historic railroad ticket booth to The Keller Depot, a nod to the interurban rail lines that once connected Fort Worth to Dallas, Cleburne, Denison, Corsicana and Waco, per the same Community Impact report. Hernandez also plans to landscape both properties and replace the backyards' grass with turf.
“This will truly become a destination for gathering, connection, small business and unforgettable experiences,” Hernandez said, according to the outlet's report.
Public Dollars Help Fund the Restoration
The project has leaned on public incentives alongside private investment. The Keller Economic Development Board voted on August 25 to recommend full $10,000 facade improvement grants for both addresses, overriding a failed motion from one board member to reduce the funding, according to Citizen Portal. The City Council approved those grants on September 15. Hernandez also holds a Chapter 380 economic development agreement, totaling $81,740, covering a grease trap at the Jackson Cottage and publicly accessible restrooms at the Station House, per the Community Impact report.
Board debate over how much public money should go toward the private historic redevelopment surfaced before the council's final sign-off, though the dossier record does not detail the specifics of that disagreement beyond the board's narrow vote. A state filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, submitted Thursday, details a $50,150 project to build a 364-square-foot expansion at 128 Bates St., with construction scheduled to run from Thursday through January 15, 2027, filed under the name The Hive & Holding Co. LLC.
Not Hernandez's First Historic Restoration
This isn't Hernandez's first adaptive-reuse project in Old Town Keller. She opened the event space 139 Olive in May 2023 after restoring a 19th-century house that once served as the residence and medical practice of Keller's first doctor; that venue now hosts the female-focused co-working space The BE Hive on weekdays and private event rentals on weekends. Hernandez also ran for Keller City Council Place 5 in the May 2026 general election, placing second with 21.88% of the vote behind incumbent Chris Whatley.
The Keller Depot sits across from Bates Park, which is itself benefiting from fresh municipal investment — Keller Development Corporation's fiscal year 2027–28 capital budget sets aside $625,000 for a new public restroom facility there. The Keller History Museum, located directly across the street at 133 Bates Street in the historic Wild Rose house, reopened in July 2023 after a four-year closure tied to the pandemic and street construction.
Bates Street's Festival Makeover Set the Stage
None of this would look the same without the city's Bates Street Reconstruction project, completed in October 2023, which turned the corridor into a dedicated Festival Street with decorative arches, string lighting, pedestrian crosswalks and public art benches designed to link Highway 377 to Old Town's parks and pedestrian spaces. That public infrastructure overhaul laid the groundwork for exactly the kind of walkable, destination-style redevelopment Hernandez is now pursuing.
The Keller Depot will host National Night Out on October 6 from 6:30 to 9 p.m., with Keller Police Department officers stopping by before construction on the renovations begins. Hernandez has said she expects both the Station House and the Jackson Cottage to be ready for leasing by December, putting the project's completion on track for late 2026.
The push to fill long-vacant storefronts comes as Old Town Keller sees broader commercial churn. Tex-Mex restaurant Luna Loco opened at 228 S. Main St. in August, as Hoodline previously reported, while 13-year dining fixture Cafe Medi closed its doors on Olive Street last month. Median household income in Keller topped $135,000 in 2026, spending power that has helped draw boutique dessert, coffee and gathering concepts like The Keller Depot into the district's historic core.
