Piñata Store Update
Owners banned from building on site of demolished East Austin piñata store
A Travis County judge has issued a temporary injunction halting construction on the site of the recently demolished Jumpolin piñata store at 1401 E. Cesar Chavez St.
According to a report by the Austin-American Statesman, Judge Karin Crump granted the injunction Tuesday to stop the new owners from building on the site. The order stops all construction and alterations to the site until a trial, tentatively scheduled for July 20, can determine if the measure should be made permanent, according to the Statesman.
In February, Sergio and Monica Lejarazu, owners of Jumpolin, said their piñata and party goods store was bulldozed without their knowledge, with all of their merchandise still inside. The property's new owners, Jordan French and Darius Fisher, countered that the Lejarazus owed past due rent and that they were given ample notice before the store was demolished.
In speaking with CultureMap, one of the owners, Jordan French, set off a firestorm when he alluded to Jumpolin being a front for illegal activity and used an analogy that compared the store to "a house that was infested by roaches."
In the weeks that followed, controversy continued to swirl around the East Austin property and its owners. Crump's decision comes one week after the company scheduled to throw a SXSW party on the site pulled out, calling the situation "terrible."
Over the past few days, Eater Austin reported that representatives for the property requested help from Food Trailer Austin in order to book food trucks on site. Food Trailer Austin's Tony Yamanaka told Eater that he declined to work with the property.