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1st Pasadena State Bank At 1001 East Southmore Ave.


SpaceAge

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I agree it should be saved. Now here is an idea on how to do it:

1. Start a company

2. Issue 1.3M Class A shares to interested individuals/investors/HAIF'ers

3. Elect a Board of 7 from Class A participants

4. Undertake appraisal of property and best uses for. (Lease to Pasadena as City Hall, Other corporation, Retail on ground floor, Doctor Offices, Condo's, etc...)

5. Purchase FPSB

6. Acquire Bids to renovate, repair, and start pre-leasing/selling space

7. Finish Renovation and Leasing/Sales and devise exit strategy for initial investors.

8. Possible sale or long term (99year) lease to ??? with clause that exterior of building can not be significantly altered.

Building saved, hopefully a few $$$ made, and a nice warm feeling inside and a life long story to tell your friends, kids, and grandkids.

Scharpe St. Guy

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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 12:50 pm Post subject:

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Quote from PasadenaTexas.com Forum by member ggstro

"There was an article in the Chronicle a couple of weeks ago I believe that said that someone had bought the building and was planning on redeveloping that area with the help of the city administration. I believe Manlove also mentioned this in his state of the city address.

So it is my understanding, that area is getting a facelift, and the building will not get torn down."

"My Prayers have been answered if this indeed is true."

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yep!

oops...that link has expired...here's the archived article:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2006_4118294

Yahoo The First Pasadena State Bank Building has been Saved she has a New Bright Future, that is as long as our City Fathers don't mess up it's Revitalization plans. the Company K Realty Development of Houston purchased the Tall Lady for only 1.2 Million. If any of you know this firm, Please keep me up to date with anything you might read or hear and see about the Fate of Our Skyscraper. The President of the Company K Realty Developement, Kyle D. Tauch,is quoted saying our Tall Lady is much to nice a piece of Architicture to tear down, and his Company site Boasts of success in bring ideas to be Realities. God Bless him if he keeps her standing PROUD, and God Help him if he doesn't.

Edited by PasadenaTexan
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  • 2 weeks later...

I worked in the bldg about 6 years ago. We had the penthouse suite and it was great. Our big boss had the giant corner office and rigged up his door so that he could push a button under his desk and the door would close so he could light up his cigar. It was of course against company policy to smoke at your desk, but who was going to be brave enough to tell him. We also had the only balcony in the bldg being on the 12th floor. I thought about eating lunch out there once. Walked out and it was way too windy to sit down at the picnic table (that we hauled up the wood and built). There was a little space in the basement for a deli and I always felt sorry for the people who tried to open up an eating establishment there. They'd always close in about 1 month after opening because they had no customers. We had about a dozen 5 gallon buckets up there because every time it rained, the roof would leak in about a dozen places. In addition, the toilets were always breaking every other week. The a/c wouldn't work good in the summer and the heating wouldn't work good in the winter. Basically, the place was miserable and we couldn't get the owner to spend any money on maintenance so we left after our lease was up. I don't think anyone moved into the space after we left.

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I worked in the bldg about 6 years ago. We had the penthouse suite and it was great. Our big boss had the giant corner office and rigged up his door so that he could push a button under his desk and the door would close so he could light up his cigar. It was of course against company policy to smoke at your desk, but who was going to be brave enough to tell him. We also had the only balcony in the bldg being on the 12th floor. I thought about eating lunch out there once. Walked out and it was way too windy to sit down at the picnic table (that we hauled up the wood and built). There was a little space in the basement for a deli and I always felt sorry for the people who tried to open up an eating establishment there. They'd always close in about 1 month after opening because they had no customers. We had about a dozen 5 gallon buckets up there because every time it rained, the roof would leak in about a dozen places. In addition, the toilets were always breaking every other week. The a/c wouldn't work good in the summer and the heating wouldn't work good in the winter. Basically, the place was miserable and we couldn't get the owner to spend any money on maintenance so we left after our lease was up. I don't think anyone moved into the space after we left.

Hello G Team what was the view like up there on the 12th Floor? I once had a bank account there when it was Mbank or Bank one but I never got past the Lobby level. How was the Inside Styled, Frank Lloyd Style fixtures or anything note worthy. Besides all the bad stuff any great Memories? Were you Freaked out during high Wind days and feel the Building Sway as a earlier post stated.

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Hello G Team what was the view like up there on the 12th Floor? I once had a bank account there when it was Mbank or Bank one but I never got past the Lobby level. How was the Inside Styled, Frank Lloyd Style fixtures or anything note worthy. Besides all the bad stuff any great Memories? Were you Freaked out during high Wind days and feel the Building Sway as a earlier post stated.

The view from the balcony was of Southmore, but the walls around the balcony were like 4-5 ft high and seemed like about 1 or 2 ft thick so it was hard to get a street view unless you kind of climbed up and looked over. My office had the view of intersection of Pasadena blvd. and Southmore. It was a good view because there were always accidents at that intersection, plus when it rained real hard it would flood and you could watch the crazy drivers try to drive through and then get stuck. I had forgotten about the building swaying until you mentioned it, but yeah, I do remember you could feel the the bldg move in high winds. As for the interior, it was about as plain jane as you could get on our floor. Of course, each tenant could build out the floor however they wanted and I think there was a lawyer office that had pretty nice decorations. I always thought the lobby was neat because it was so dang big and the ceiling went way up. It seems like I also remember there was no 3rd floor...the elevator went 1, 2, 4,5....12. I think the 3rd floorw as maintenance and they could get there by putting a key into the elevator or something like that. There were good times of course. The best part of being in the building was we WEREN"T DOWNTOWN with the ivory tower boys so we could kind of do our own thing.

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  • 8 months later...
I'm not letting this thread die. I pass this building once a week. It's still powered and now boarded up with wood(all the ground floor windows.) anyone here anything about it?

The matter is under study by the City. To my knowledge, the new owner of the building is being cooperative and forthcoming.

Redeveloping a city

By JENNIFER BRANCH

Imagine a city where residents could congregate and a centralized town square was clearly identifiable. These are possibilities that could turn into realities, depending on community input regarding the redevelopment plan with which the city is moving forward.

Beginning in the mid 90's, under the mayoral direction of Johnny Isbell, a group of citizens, along with the assistance of a board, put together the Pasadena Plan, a strategy that would tackle the redevelopment and revitalization of Pasadena's north side, a side, said Teresa Vazquez, Economic Development Administrator for the City of Pasadena, that is suffering from blight. The plan involved participation from 500 citizens and was essentially a long-range visioning project that was completed in 1996. That plan was essentially a spring board for the redevelopment plan for north Pasadena, a plan that will hopefully combat the blight that is currently plaguing the northernmost part of the city.

Read further on HCNonline.

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  • 2 months later...
The matter is under study by the City. To my knowledge, the new owner of the building is being cooperative and forthcoming.

Anyone heard anything new? They replace the lighting when they go dim, and fix the fence when it get's knocked down, Some thugs have snuck in and tagged up the top of the builing.(wish i knew how they got in, I'd love to go in and take pics)

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As it is my goal to one day have my name (or my company name on a building), this would be GREAT (if it weren't in pasa-friggen-dena).

Gorgeous building.

I think it would be AWESOME to renovate it and build the office spaces out like the mid 50s and 60s (like Ewan Mcgregor's character's office in Down with Love).

That would be great.

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As it is my goal to one day have my name (or my company name on a building), this would be GREAT (if it weren't in pasa-friggen-dena).

Pot, meet kettle.

Hmmm... in a battle between "pasa-figgen-dena" and Sharpstown, which would be better-suited for the title Armpit of Houston?

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Pot, meet kettle.

Hmmm... in a battle between "pasa-figgen-dena" and Sharpstown, which would be better-suited for the title Armpit of Houston?

Pasadena is out of the way and stinks. Sharpstown is convenient with beautiful neighborhoods.

It really is funny how ignorant people are of what Sharpstown actually is.

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Pasadena is out of the way and stinks. Sharpstown is convenient with beautiful neighborhoods.

It really is funny how ignorant people are of what Sharpstown actually is.

I know Sharpstown and I know Pasadena. Each have nice areas and each have scary areas. Each is about the same distance from downtown, and Pasadena is far more convenient to the ship channel, NASA, and other jobs in east Harris County than is Sharpstown. Sharpstown is more convenient to the Galleria area, Sugar Land, and Westchase than is Pasadena. Each have crappy malls...but Sharpstown's is without a doubt more dangerous, while Pasadena's is only half-empty but remains relatively safe. North Pasadena has a tendency to have odors, but some are noxious while others are sweet-smelling; also, by being able to tax the refineries, Pasadena is able to offer a higher level of city services than is the City of Houston in the Sharpstown area.

They stack up pretty evenly, but if only on account of its larger geographic size and variety of residential and recreational offerings on the south side, I think Pasadena soundly wins out in terms of quality of life.

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Sharpstown and Pasadena might be a mile difference between each other and downtown, but it is infinitely easier to get to downtown from Sharpstown.

Sharpstown is also far more family friendly (in the neighborhoods). No one understands the crap on the main streets more than I do. I'm quite involved in trying to get rid of the trash and improve Sharpstown. Part of those efforts are underway on the SW Corridor (Bellaire from 59 to 8).

Sharpstown mall isn't dangerous. It just isn't. You can go there any time, any hour. If dangerous means cars with rims and more black people than white people, than sure. But if by dangerous, you mean you are more likely to get hurt, mugged, murdered there, you're simply wrong.

You've got to look past the misconceptions.

Yes, I know I talk a lot about Sharpstown. But I love it and that love doesn't blind either.

Also, Sharpstown's proximity to Westchase, Sugarland, mid-town, uptown, the Galleria, the museum district, Montrose, etc (all SW side) adds quite a bit to Sharpstown's score card over Pasadena.

Edited by gwilson
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Sharpstown is also far more family friendly (in the neighborhoods).

Have you been in the neighborhoods of Pasadena? Very family friendly. I grew up there and there was only smell about twice a year, unless you actually live at the refineries. It's too suberban for me, but very family friendly place to raise kids these days, particularly the newer areas near the new shopping centers.

Also I got to second the city services in Pasadena, suberb. My mom called Pasadena to ask when the big trash trucks would be coming to her street next, and they just sent a truck and crew over and picked up the trash that day for her.

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Sharpstown and Pasadena might be a mile difference between each other and downtown, but it is infinitely easier to get to downtown from Sharpstown.

Sharpstown is also far more family friendly (in the neighborhoods). No one understands the crap on the main streets more than I do. I'm quite involved in trying to get rid of the trash and improve Sharpstown. Part of those efforts are underway on the SW Corridor (Bellaire from 59 to 8).

Sharpstown mall isn't dangerous. It just isn't. You can go there any time, any hour. If dangerous means cars with rims and more black people than white people, than sure. But if by dangerous, you mean you are more likely to get hurt, mugged, murdered there, you're simply wrong.

You've got to look past the misconceptions.

Actually, I spotted a report on the news several months ago that compared incidences of violent crime at various malls around town. Sharpstown was the worst, with 80-something incidences. The next worst was Greenspoint with 17 or 18. The best was Gulfgate, with 3 incidences, which is very convenient to and draws from some of Pasadena.

Also, Sharpstown's proximity to Westchase, Sugarland, mid-town, uptown, the Galleria, the museum district, Montrose, etc (all SW side) adds quite a bit to Sharpstown's score card over Pasadena.

That's assuming, of course, that a resident of Sharpstown wants to go to those places. Everywhere is convenient to somewhere. I'm not going to argue over what is convenient for you.

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Have you been in the neighborhoods of Pasadena? Very family friendly. I grew up there and there was only smell about twice a year, unless you actually live at the refineries. It's too suberban for me, but very family friendly place to raise kids these days, particularly the newer areas near the new shopping centers.

Also I got to second the city services in Pasadena, suberb. My mom called Pasadena to ask when the big trash trucks would be coming to her street next, and they just sent a truck and crew over and picked up the trash that day for her.

Very true there was a big pot hole in the street we live on, we called the city and they show up 1 hour later with some asphalt and a pounding machine. A water main broke at my friends house in Houston, Water dept came in 3 days... Call the cops they are there in less than 10mins, Call the cops in Houston...Let's get BACK on topic, every thread turns into this is better than yours...

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Actually, I spotted a report on the news several months ago that compared incidences of violent crime at various malls around town. Sharpstown was the worst, with 80-something incidences. The next worst was Greenspoint with 17 or 18. The best was Gulfgate, with 3 incidences, which is very convenient to and draws from some of Pasadena.

That's assuming, of course, that a resident of Sharpstown wants to go to those places. Everywhere is convenient to somewhere. I'm not going to argue over what is convenient for you.

I'd love to see those statistics because every set of numbers I look at show Sharpstown on a whole being a virtually violent crime free area.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

I came across this thread in a Google search. I grew up in Pasadena, but I had no idea the bank building was in peril. It's a beautiful structure, I was born at the former-hospital across the street.

If you don't mind, I have a couple questions that are Pasadena-related, but not architecture-related:

- What happened to the "Cowboy Riding Armadillo" sculpture that used to be inside Pasadena Town Square? If I ever win the lottery I'd like to own it.

- Where can I get an image of the old Pasadena city seal, with the chemical plant theme, rather than the boring new star logo?

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Hello,

I came across this thread in a Google search. I grew up in Pasadena, but I had no idea the bank building was in peril. It's a beautiful structure, I was born at the former-hospital across the street.

If you don't mind, I have a couple questions that are Pasadena-related, but not architecture-related:

- What happened to the "Cowboy Riding Armadillo" sculpture that used to be inside Pasadena Town Square? If I ever win the lottery I'd like to own it.

- Where can I get an image of the old Pasadena city seal, with the chemical plant theme, rather than the boring new star logo?

The armadillo cowboy went to the convention center i think. The new logo sucks i thought it was churchs chicken logo :)

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Hello,

I came across this thread in a Google search. I grew up in Pasadena, but I had no idea the bank building was in peril. It's a beautiful structure, I was born at the former-hospital across the street.

If you don't mind, I have a couple questions that are Pasadena-related, but not architecture-related:

- What happened to the "Cowboy Riding Armadillo" sculpture that used to be inside Pasadena Town Square? If I ever win the lottery I'd like to own it.

- Where can I get an image of the old Pasadena city seal, with the chemical plant theme, rather than the boring new star logo?

welcome to the forum robsmithtx.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Where can I get an image of the old Pasadena city seal, with the chemical plant theme, rather than the boring new star logo?

I spotted the old seal on a watertower in Pasadena's Memorial Park, just southwest of Pasadena High School, earlier this morning while down there on business.

northpasadena013ge2.jpg

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