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Atlantic Coffee Solutions - 3900 Harrisburg Blvd.


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While sad, it was inevitable with the rising property values and the decreasing industrialization of the East End. It sits on a prime, corner property off the light rail line. Just hope a developer other than Lovett Commercial redevelops this property as Lovett has had a chokehold owning many of the big undeveloped properties here in the East End and really hasn’t done much but sit on them for over a decade plus. Only now is dirt finally moving at the old nearby Stewart & Stevenson site which Lovett owns. 

 

Hopefully whoever snatches the coffee plant property up, can preserve and renovate parts of the original building if at all possible. Sadly, no more smell of coffee outdoors. Living nearby the plant for 9 years now I’ve quite enjoyed the aroma unless it was being burnt. 

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coffee roasting can smell far better than ever came out of that roaster in the last decade.

 

last I heard they exclusively made decaf at the plant and that most of the money came from selling the caffeine to energy drinks manufacturers.

 

it's been an institution of the east end for a really long time, but I won't miss it too much when it's gone.

 

I'm sure cost of land enters into the equation, but it has more to do with the cost to continue operating the machinery inside. upgrade the hardware to increase efficiency vs dumping the facility. add to the increased value of the land and we end up with it being more beneficial for the company to sell this facility and either increase capacity at other facilities, or build a whole new facility somewhere.

 

sad for the people that will lose their jobs though.

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4 hours ago, cspwal said:

 

Did not realize it had been around that long.

 

I did some work in that building in the early 80's, and saw some blueprints that had the Ford logo on them. The view from the top of the coffee silos was pretty amazing. I wish I had had a camera with me on one of the trips there.

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5 hours ago, native_Houstonian said:

My grandfather worked for Ford in that building in the 1920's.   He lost his job when a block and tackle hit him in the back and he couldn't work anymore.    I have a company picture from 1926 that I treasure.

 

Anyway to share it? I love going over Houston's history. I embarrassingly even have a book on the history of all the roads in Houston.

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2 hours ago, Triton said:

 

Anyway to share it? I love going over Houston's history. I embarrassingly even have a book on the history of all the roads in Houston.

That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I bought the Houston Freeways book as soon as I could, as and have several other obscure books on Houston. I've spent untold hours at several libraries and online looking for pictures and such from the old days.

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1 hour ago, Ross said:

That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I bought the Houston Freeways book as soon as I could, as and have several other obscure books on Houston. I've spent untold hours at several libraries and online looking for pictures and such from the old days.

 

Same here. One of the best book investments in a book that I've ever made. I have yet to scour the microfilm archives in Houston for the Chronicle's back issues, but I can't tell you the hours I've spent at the George Memorial Library in Richmond reviewing the Houston Post through the 80s. Spent a fair amount in dimes trying to print off as much of the business coverage of developments from the period. Probably will again at some point as there's still a fair amount I want to print out.

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A few years ago during a rainy day I decided to roll down the window despite the weather and the somewhat sketchy neighborhood to get a wisp of the coffee smell, but instead I got this nasty burnt smell (the same sort of thing I got when I visited Houston for a weekend a few years back and left the coffee maker on the entire time) and rolled the window back up.

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10 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

What do yall think could become of the site? I'd hate to see a developer rip this thing apart. If the Ford structure could be converted somehow that would be awesome!

 

100% wishful thinking but love to see a Pearl-style redevelopment similar to what San Antonio did with the old Pearl Brewery and Hotel Emma.

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1 minute ago, downtownian said:

 

100% wishful thinking but love to see a Pearl-style redevelopment similar to what San Antonio did with the old Pearl Brewery and Hotel Emma.

Nice idea! I love what they did with that development. Maybe instead of beer it can be all about coffee or a coffee museum? Lol idk

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  • 5 months later...

It's a nice idea, but the coffee plant is nowhere near as attractive as the Pearl Brewery. Once you gutted the manufacturing equipment, there won't be much to look at. Razing the whole facility and redeveloping from the ground up makes the most sense.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/11/2018 at 2:37 PM, Pitts said:

It's a nice idea, but the coffee plant is nowhere near as attractive as the Pearl Brewery. Once you gutted the manufacturing equipment, there won't be much to look at. Razing the whole facility and redeveloping from the ground up makes the most sense.

Right, I'd think the best we could hope for is that whoever develops the land (assuming it's retail, residential, or some mixture) makes a building that nods to the industrial and coffee history of the land.

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On 10/11/2018 at 2:37 PM, Pitts said:

It's a nice idea, but the coffee plant is nowhere near as attractive as the Pearl Brewery. Once you gutted the manufacturing equipment, there won't be much to look at. Razing the whole facility and redeveloping from the ground up makes the most sense.

The Tobacco Campus in Durham, NC is another cool re-purposed manufacturing space. 

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  • 7 months later...

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