How a House, a Dream, and an Affordability Project Made Dear Diary Possible
Hey everyone, Litsa here again.
In my last post, I talked a lot about the ethical choices we make at Dear Diary, like going 100% plant-based and making our own syrups. But I want to be real with you: practicing those ideals is incredibly expensive for a small, owner-operated business.
People often ask me how we manage to absorb those high costs without cutting corners. The honest answer? It all comes down to the dirt we’re standing on.
Trading a House for a Dream
Opening a coffee shop that caters to creative people has been my dream ever since I moved to Austin back in 2002. When I first arrived, I made almost all of my friends at coffee shop artist meetups. That experience changed my life, and it planted a seed: I wanted to create a permanent home for that exact kind of community magic.
But for years, I searched for a commercial space and kept hitting a brick wall. The market was brutal. After talking to other local business owners, I knew deep down that I didn’t want to lease. I watched people struggling to keep up with rent prices of $20,000 or more every month, and I just wasn't willing to take on that kind of terrifying risk.
Then, the Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Project (CNRP) changed everything.
Through their affordability project, I found our 947-square-foot commercial condo here at 1212 Chicon Street. Back in 2019, it was listed for a "normal person" amount of money: $380,000.
But buying commercial property isn't like buying a home. You can't just take out a standard 30-year mortgage; you have to secure a much shorter 5- or 10-year business loan. The financial bar is incredibly high to clear. To make it happen, I had to take a massive leap of faith: I sold my house in South Austin and used the equity, combined with a small business loan, to buy the shop's home.
Honestly, Dear Diary would not exist in any other space.
Why Small Business Needs City Intervention
Playing the long game and choosing to own our space completely paid off. Because we aren't throwing money into a bottomless pit of commercial rent every month, we have the financial breathing room to afford our environmental and ethical choices. Our equity is what subsidizes our values.
But while we own our unit, the fight to stay sustainable in Austin is far from over. I really wish the City of Austin paid closer attention to what I call the "affordable commercial crisis."
Right now, the system has no idea how to handle the little guys. For example, when the city assesses my property taxes, they lump my tiny coffee shop in with massive land development opportunities over in the Holly neighborhood. It’s completely apples and oranges, and it puts an unfair burden on micro-businesses.
I'd love to see the City of Austin start building designated first-floor commercial units directly into new public and residential housing projects. We need to inject real competition into the commercial real-estate market to protect local culture.
Right now, huge property investment firms based out of Houston and Dallas are sucking up the hard-earned revenues of small business owners. When a local shop pays astronomical rent to an out-of-town landlord, that money is stripped right out of our neighborhood and sent out of the city or state.
By owning our space, we keep your dollars right here in Austin. It allows us to fund our local ecosystem, pay living wages, and keep serving you coffee that doesn't compromise on ethics. Thank you for being a part of this radical little experiment with me!
Warmly,
Litsa
