LarryDallas

I doubt anything will be going in where the building stood. The north side of Pasadena is economically depressed and is shambles. The major retailers have almost all pulled the plug on the mall. The strip malls and restaurants are on the low end of retail. No one is getting into bidding wars to purchase residential real estate in that area. The city will pick up all of the rubble and leave the pavement/parking lot as is then put a lot for sale sign on it. The only way some major investment in a structure will be made is if a local, state, or federal building is constructed in the site. The demolition today was inevitable. It was all about location. If this building had been located in the Kirby, downtown, or Bellaire area it would have been kept well maintained, stayed occupied, and received Historic Building protection. I worked in Pasadena around 15 years ago and would see this building regularly. It’s sad to know it is gone but the reality of the area made preservation/restoration impossible. The asking price when it was on the market was super cheap for a reason.

Great thread. I've lived in the area about 17 years and these are the changes I have seen: The shopping center next to Westbury Square: Blockbuster closed about 6-8 years ago and became a cash advance store The anchor store was an HEB in the late 1990s. They had a chronic problem with shoplifting and finally called it quits around 2005. The store identical in size at Chimney Rock and S. Brasewood still exists. The HEB that closed became a 99 Cent Only store. In 2009 that chain was going to close all Texas stores but they changed their minds. Meyerland Auto used to be at the Chimney Rock side of the center. It moved to S. Post Oak about 5-7 years ago. They divided the space and the car repair bays changed hands twice in terms of who leased them. The main office of Meyerland Auto became a check cashing place. The bank changed from Bank One to Chase roughly 5-6 years ago; it was never a Washington Mutual though. If any place needs gentrification it is that center. It's 100% ghetto now and should just be demolished to develop single family homes or condos. On Willowbend east of Stella Link right before the second set of RR Tracks on the north side of the road there was Kruger Motorsports that closed around 2001. It looked to be a chain gas station at some point prior to a repair shop. The building was demolished a few years later and now it is just a vacant lot. A bit towards Stella Link on that same side of the street was a C- store in the strip mall that had virtually no customers ever. It closed around 2002. In that same strip mall was a small shoe repair store an old man used to run. He had a hug collection of die cast toys he collected for decades in his store. I had shoes repaired there around 1998 and he took a lot of pride in his work. I guess he died; the store has been shuttered for at least 8 years now. There was also a barber shop next to his store that closed at roughly the same time. At the east end of the center was a resale shop in the early 00s that was converted into a banquet hall. It looks as if this has closed too. The entire center is now vacant and shuttered.

I was the complete opposite; I used to hate Studio 30 because of the giant parking lot and how that whole area in those days had the wannabe "racers" with car culture going on. They used to drag race at lights on Westheimer all of the time and it kind of lead up to that notorious HPD raid in the K Mart parking lot where they grabbed pretty much anyone who was young and hanging out there that weekend in August of 2002 to charge them with trespassing since they were not even in vehicles and could not be charged with a moving violation. Over 200 people got arrested because that's how bad the street racing problem was in those days and the police just went on a fishing expedition. The K Mart used to be where Home Depot is now on Dunvale and Westheimer. The traffic is so bad these days I doubt they can race even if they wanted to. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/740780/posts I LOVED Meyer Park 14 before it got all ghetto. The first time I went there was in 1989 with friends to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The last movie I saw there was Fast and the Furious part 2 when the theater was in it's decline. Some elderly lady was shot and killed in the Randall's parking lot behind the theater in the following years during a robbery when she was getting in her car. The Meyerland theater was also a favorite of mine because it was small and built on a human scale compared to the mega sized theaters. It did not last long; less than 15 years I would estimate. They extended the strip of stores over where it used to be and you would never know it was there if you look at it now. The building used to have really pretty neon on it too. The Sharpstown mall theater; I saw Dumb and Dumber there in 1994. We parked in the Foley's garage and that's the last time I was in the mall before it really went downhill. Once JC Penny pulled their store it was the beginning of the end. I'm surprised by how long Fingers Furniture and Macy's stayed there. I did go back to the mall in mid 2014 to just check it out. It's a must do because it is haunting to walk the same corridors some 20+ years later and remember what used to be there. The elevator in front of what used to be the Time Out video arcade is completely unchanged. I never really had a connection to Gulf Gate mall but I did see the movie Independence Day in the theater there. We parked at the mall and took the pedestrian bridge over 610. It was kind of run down even then but those were simpler times for sure.

I remember all of those things very well. I went to Lanier from 91-93 and we lived in that area when I was a kid. Next to Academy was a Western Auto store that had glossy black glass like flooring. The car dealer was Hub Buick that moved out to 290 during the 90s because the value of the land soared. My dad would have his car serviced at that dealer and spent $800 something once to repair the a/c which was a freakin lot of money in those days. But he once bought OEM GM made in USA shocks for his car from there around 1986 and paid about $12-15 each which tells you how the purchasing power of the dollar has collapsed. Chinese made struts now start at $40-50 for the cheapest quality; if you go premium OEM it's over $100 now. I can clearly remember when the first Buick Reatta models arrived at the dealer and were on display. It was a 2 seat FWD luxury sports coupe that was expensive. The car has all of the newest technology of the time but was a complete failure for GM and they pulled the plug only after 3-4 years. Southland Hardware is still there but I have not set foot inside in over 25 years. The surge in land prices are what changed things in that part of town. RMS auto care is still around down the street from Southland. I think they still have the rotating sign that I could see from Lanier in one of my classes on the 2nd floor.

UPDATE The Westbury Centerette, the Exxon ruins, and the strip mall next to Autozone are history now. The teardown started about 2 weeks ago and they have already hauled off the waste. Now they are breaking up the pavement to go down to soil that has not seen daylight in over 50 years so I assume they will start building soon. In other words, this is not just a tear down and leave it looking ghetto with the foundation and parking lot still there kind of deal. These were taken yesterday March 30, 2015 facing southwest on Cedarhurst at Moonlight. The laundry place was right at the corner in photo 1 and the Exxon used to be behind the middle tree in the row of 3 in photo 2.

I just need a little over $9.5 mill and I would buy it. http://search.har.com/engine/2307-River-Oaks-Bl-Houston-TX-77019_HAR17501491.htm The county records show a major renovation was done in 2007 so I doubt it looked exactly like that in the days he was there but still kind of a cool part of history to own. He actually died in the house in 1993. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1993_1121241/frank-sharp-dies-in-sleep-at-age-87-success-scanda.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7310659.html The red light camera issue was nothing compared to this. Most people I know don't even know about the downtown cameras that already number in many and will soon number in many many more. How soon before they put a camera in your house and your car so they can "help you" if you are in trouble?

One of his photos is from behind the wing, that's why.

Excellent photos by all in this thread. I flew in to HOU on gloomy and cloudy days this year. The pilot kept swaying the plane right and left on the most recent flight so it got very quiet inside. I'll have to take photos the next time. LoneStarMike, what camera did you use and what airline had windows so clean you can't tell they are there in photos?

You forgot Rick's and La Bare for the ladies.

Houston in the 80s was a GREAT place to live. More than anything specific it had a lower population plus the mentality of people was generally with a positive outlook on things and less hostility. I suppose that is true for all of our culture in the nation. These days people get into an arms race with giant SUVs with tinted windows for privacy and as soon as they get home to their planned community and the garage door drops behind them they are completely isolated from the world. There is some kind of anti-social pathology in the aggregate with this "me me me" egomania and self indulgence. Back in the 80s Houston was more of a traditional southern town where people really did say "howdy" to complete strangers and if you made eye contact with a stranger randomly they were more apt to say hello or at least nod instead of looking away in fear or due to anti-social mental disorder. Downtown was in ruins for the most part and the idea of lofts and urban living was not the in thing. We did have Houston House and the Savoy was still open but people were still flocking to suburbia. I would say we had at least 40% fewer cars on the road and people were much more friendly on the roadways. Prior to the late 1980s expansion of the SW freeway I think we had only 3 lanes going in each direction but it still worked. Something just went wrong in the 90s and what was traditional Houston culture was lost. It was not exactly like carpetbaggers who came to the south after the civil war and altered it but to some extent it was. The best things about the 80s I can recall: 1. That lights lasers show in downtown 2. Sharpstown mall before it declined hard 3. Kiddies Wonderland was still around 4. Astroworld was cheap and nice 5. The Origional X-mas store 6. Houston Zoo was free and not all corporate littered like now 7. JSC NASA was free and focused on science instead of being a playground; you could drive up to rocket park in your own car! 8. Woolworth downtown as stil a true 5 and dime store 9. Marvin Zindler was at the top of his game (plus The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas added to his fame) 10. METRO seemed to just conduct public transit business instead of being a front for deep corruption, illegal deals, and leaders with phoney diplomas/qualifications. As a bonus....I don't think the director of the YMCA Houston took home about 60% of all income they generated back in the 80s like he does now. The "good ole boy" days in Houston seem mild compared to what is normal these days. 7.

I think the buick dealer at Hillcroft and Bellaire was Bob Marco Buick which shut down sometime in the early 90s. The structure is still there but it has been divided into small independent shops that sell food, clothes, music, etc.. Southwest VW was at the SE corner of Hillcroft and Harwin where the X-brand blue roof malls are located now. They closed sometime in the early 90s as well. My dad has a 73 bug that was bought new at that place. The old Southwest Lincoln Mercury location on the northbound feeder of 59 just south of Hillcroft is a puzzle to me. It has sat vacant for over 15 years when they moved further down 59 closer to the beltway. Pretty much everything is still intact but just delapidated from abandonment. They do have 2 classic cars that have sat in the showroom since they left. I can't say if they are complete cars that could run or just shells but they look too good to just leave behind like that.

Wow small world. My family used to rent at the Belmont Apartments that were a stone's throw from the Coca Cola place. They were right behind the red brick apartments that were built around 1992 on the Bissonnet side. I lived there between 1995-1997 and they rented a 2 bedroom 1 bath for $525 with a shaded parking space and all bills paid. Those were good times. The area was super nice and clean plus the lawns and trees were huge in that property. These days a similar apartment in that 77005 zip code costs well over $1500 and you pay your own bills while living in a cramped space where you see just concrete and walls when you look out your window. The Belmont apartments were torn down in 1997 not from a lack of maintenance but the sale of the property. A giant retirement place sits on the land now and they cut down all of the trees. Do you remember that Mercedes/BMW/Porsche repair shop on the Coca Cola side of the street about a block up to the east on Bissonnet? It had been there for at least 20 years but I recently drove past that area and saw that a restaurant called "Mateo's" has gone up. I've been in Houston about 30 years and the townhomes are exactly the same as they always have been.

Those people have electricity and some have satellite dishes. To get those you need to verfiy residence and get permission from the owner/landlord for the dish to go up. I don't think they are squatting.

The HEB pulled out of that center because of shoplifting and other pretty crime. I know that for a fact because my neighbor's niece used to work there when she was in high school around 1998ish. They told them of the store closing and why a few weeks before they shut down. A giant HEB is a multimillion dollar investment and I am hoping they do not go for it. The only one in a bad area I know of is the one outside of the Belt on Beechnut. Although people who live in Westbury know it is not bullets and crack cocaine everywhere most people who don't live here think it is a rough part of town. The big HEBs are usually in newer McMansion development areas or heavy traffic older business/residential areas. Ever since Meyerland Auto moved to S. Post Oak that center seemed to have just gone further downhill. The ACE check cashing place is also a bad thing. What's next a pawn and smoke shop? The center was very nice when tennants were HEB, Meyerland Auto, the private and small 99 cent store, Eckerds, and Blockbuster. The only good thing to occur has been Advance Auto moving in. The store is immaculately clean and the employees are all very helpful. I kind of worry about 99 cent leaving and then some store like Save A Lot moving in. It is wishful thinking but if that entire center was demoed and wild grass grew on it like the Gillman Honda/Mitsubishi lot in Sharpstown I would prefer it. Although the Centerette was more of an eyesore, it was at least not a contributor to traffic and crime. In fact, that mechanic shop near the Discount Tire with all of the junk cars parked inside the fence had somewhat of a southern charm to it. But, I am glad to see it all go. You mentioned it will be a mix of retail and housing. Will it be a midrise building or at least 5 floors with apartments on top and retail at ground level? I can't see how retail would be successful there because the strip mall next to AutoZone was in good repair for years but just failed. The only store to hang on until about 5 years ago was the Sports trading card shop. Until about 2007 the spaces were all for lease but no one moved in. Then the plywood went on. I had been hoping that CVS would come back to the area and open a full size store on that land because they maintain their properties very well. Maybe a Quizno's or Subway shop could open next to Pizza Hut if CVS took the large parcel of land behind that corner.