Keller tables 207 S. Elm St. salon-suite permit until Nov. 17

By Nathan Brooks

Keller City Council tabled (postponed) a vote on a specific-use permit for 207 S. Elm St. on Nov. 3, deferring the item to Nov. 17 after a work-session discussion. Mayor Ross McMullin asked owner Brian Palfrey to consult city staff on the building’s vision, parking limits and entry and exit arrangements before council revisits the request.

The proposal includes a 1,323-square-foot coffee or ice-cream concept, eight second-floor stations across a barbershop and salon, and six first-floor business suites.

What replaces Keller House Collective?

Brian Palfrey requested the permit for “spa uses,” a city category that includes barbershops, hair salons and nail salons. The application would replace the withdrawn food-and-drink concepts with beauty-service suites, independent professionals and street-facing retail.

Following a March 4, 2025 council decision approving an economic development agreement, the city announced the Keller House Collective. Its original plan put a brewery on the first floor and a pizzeria on the second; neither operation is now proceeding in Keller.

The city had agreed to pay for the brewery’s gas line and meter, reimburse building permit fees, and cover part of its sales and personal property taxes for five years of operation. Those incentives totaled an estimated $72,632, and staff expected a 100% return on investment by the brewery’s fourth year, according to a March 2025 city social media post.

Why did the project change?

City Manager Aaron Rector said he had not heard directly from the landlord or tenant about why the plan failed. He identified parking, a need for a second property entry and exit, and electrical infrastructure for a restaurant and brewery as unresolved issues.

At the public hearing, Gloria Palfrey said she and her husband had worked extensively to find another use after the brewery tenant withdrew. The revised application shifts from two food-and-drink concepts to a smaller multi-tenant mix of retail, beauty services and independent professionals.

Brian Palfrey said the suites would suit hairstylists, barbers, estheticians and spray-tan technicians. He said they should complement retail by giving small business owners and independent professionals a shared base in Old Town Keller. He also argued that 207 Elm Street could become an Elm Street flagship and help drive future development.

What does the revised floor plan include?

The second-floor presentation showed a four-station barbershop and a separate four-station salon. On the first floor, the 1,323-square-foot coffee or ice-cream concept would include a patio facing South Elm Street, which Brian Palfrey called the development’s focal point.

The rest of the first floor would contain six individual suites, a laundry room and an employee break room. Palfrey said the suites could attract business-service entrepreneurs, including independent beauty professionals, while the coffee or ice-cream shop would serve as the public-facing retail anchor.

How much competition is already in Keller?

Sarah Hensley, Keller’s director of development services, said Old Town contains 11 approved spa uses and estimated the city has 65. Her category encompasses barbershops, hair salons and nail salons rather than vacant rental inventory.

Brian Palfrey cited six other salon-suite businesses in Keller, two without vacancies, and only nine suites available for rent citywide as of the Nov. 3 meeting. His figures point to limited rental stock for a new operator, even as the broader city contains an established base of beauty businesses.

Can the site handle customers and staff?

A June 2023 site plan provided seven parking spaces and two accessible spaces, not the 35 required under code, according to city documents. Council Member Jarrett “Doc” Armstrong questioned how multiple suite operators, their customers and retail visitors could fit into that shortfall.

“I see it as a business struggle,” said Armstrong, who owns Armstrong Chiropractic Center. “My office has 10 spaces. It’s just my wife and I and one extra person, so that leaves seven spaces all day for people to interchange.” He asked Palfrey not to burden neighboring businesses, residents or Keller Church of Christ without an agreement.

Palfrey disputed the objection three years after the parking variance. “Respectfully, I believe it is inconsistent to approve the parking arrangement for the building and then use that same arrangement as a reason to deny its proposed use,” he said.

Elm Street’s public spaces will arrive only after reconstruction finishes at the end of 2027, according to previous reporting. Salon tenants therefore face the approved nine-space site plan in the near term. Council’s next decision point on the permit is Nov. 17, after Palfrey discusses parking, access and the building’s vision with city staff.