City officials renew Denton Woman's Club building lease in 4-3 vote

In a 4-3 vote at the May 5 regular meeting, Denton City Council renewed the city’s land lease with the Denton Woman's Club for its building at Quakertown Park.

The current lease is set to expire on Aug. 6, council documents state.

The details

Mayor Gerard Hudspeth and council members Joe Holland, Jill Jester and Brandon McGee voted to approve the lease. It includes an initial 20-year term with two optional 10-year renewals for a total possible term of 40 years.

The new lease reduces the lease’s square footage from 28,870 square feet to 18,000 square feet to cover the land directly under the building. The club will pay the city $1,320 annually to lease the land, with adjustments for inflation every five years.

The conditions also include adding a historical marker within 180 days of the new lease taking effect and allowing the city 24 full-day rentals of the space at no charge to the city.

Some background

The previous agreement, executed in 1927, leased the land to the club for 1 cent a year for a 99-year term. The building is on city-owned land and the club paid to build and maintain the building since its construction in the 1920’s.

The building sits on city-owned land where a former freedmen's town and middle-class Black neighborhood called Quakertown once existed. In the early 1920’s, the city forcibly relocated several families and destroyed dozens of businesses and homes in Quakertown, city documents state.

The building currently hosts events for nonprofits, the Texas Storytelling Festival, the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival and the building is available for private rentals.

City staff began negotiating the new lease with the club in fall 2025, council documents state.

What they’re saying

Several Denton citizens suggested postponing the lease renewal to allow more time for public input and community engagement on the lease and uses for the land and building, including future District 1 representative Jordan Villarreal.

“This building sits in Quakertown Park on land tied to the forced removal of our historically Black community, and renewing another long term lease on prime public property without a broader, transparent process only serves to repeat that history instead of repairing it,” Villarreal said.

McGee moved to delay the vote to allow time for more community engagement, but failed 3-4 with council members Jester, Suzi Rumohr, Holland and Hudspeth voting against the postponement.

On the other hand

Denton Woman's Club member Lindsey Miller supported the lease renewal, saying the club has paid to maintain the building and the building serves an important civic function.

“It has been a place where women gathered to lead, to serve and to create opportunities for others,” Miller said. “With your support, it can continue to serve for generations to come.”