lgg
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I wrote about the building Sunday in the Chron: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...ay/6213541.html Unfortunately, the paper didn't run any images. I've got a couple of nice renderings from a booklet about the opening... but I can't figure out how to upload them. Anybody want to help? And I almost forgot: I asked a couple of readers whether I could share their e-mails with Houston Mod. In this one, Richard Brinlee says that LBJ campaigned at the bank: "Just a quick note to tell you that I truly enjoyed the article in today's paper. It brought back many, many fond memories. "Being in my mid-teens in 1963, I cannot describe how proud we were when it opened. We thought, wow, we are really "on the map" now. I can remember seeing all the important and prominent men and ladies there when I went in with my Mom and Dad. I grew up in Pasadena and still work in Pasadena to this day. (Although I do live in Deer Park). I also remember when LBJ came to Pasadena to deliver a speech in the parking lot of 1st State. They landed the big helicopter just to the side of the bank and I was fortunate enough to be along the roped-off walkway for him as he shook hands with most of us as he made his way to the podium. A day I'll never forget. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the 'ol boy is imploded and you can rest assured that I will be there with a tear in my eye. I love Pasadena and its history."
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That's in Midtown? Is it still occupied?
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When I talked with the would-be buyers, they were having trouble with their financing. Sigh.
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After the Chron article, I had an e-mail from Rob Griffith, of Trellis Properties -- a company that he says restores older homes. He said he and his life partnerhave signed a contract on the place. And his business partner, Rebecca Perez, is even now getting bids to restore the house "to its former glory." I sent him contact info for Houston Mod. And I can't wait to see the place.
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It's hard to back up far enough to shoot the entire facade because you run into the bushes that separate the yard from the street. If you're standing on S. Braeswood, looking at the house, the garage would be on your left. The house is on a corner lot, and the garage faces South Rice.
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It's operated by the Discovery Green Conservancy, a private non-profit. They've been great at fundraising -- good at tapping downtown business interests (which, after all, have an interest in downtown). With the park a roaring success, the conservancy should have no trouble continuing to pump in the money required.
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I agree that most '70s and '80s houses are depressing -- but a tiny percentage are gorgeous and well-made, and they seem underpriced relative to equally gorgeous houses from other eras. A few months ago, RPS showed me two that got under my skin. I seriously considered buying a Sea Ranch knock-off in Meadowcreek, just outside the Loop on the East Side. It had been glopped up, but had good bones -- and the great lot that the nature-loving style really needs. (I'm a sucker for bayou frontage, especially when it's not even in the 100-year flood plain.) Lots of sliding glass doors that led to the park-like back yard. I also had to work hard to talk myself out of a very different '70s house: An enormous foreclosed swankienda in Northfield, the Lubovitcher neighborhood in Fondren Southwest. That house was all '70s glam, but without kitsch. There was a sunken "conversation-pit" living room with a 2-story ceiling, the stone fireplace in front of two-story windows. The materials -- loads of stone and wood -- were top-notch, as were the original fixtures. Even the garage had a beamed, finished ceiling. If I'd had enough cash to deal with the house's problems (mold, leaky flat roof, HVAC), I'd have jumped on it.
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Good news: Looks like the Realtor's added a few interior pics for the house on Electra.
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I had to go check the Chron's web page, and was rewarded with another appearance of dmghouston. Now I'm even more sure that he's Marvin Granit, who's done a lot of development in Bellaire. The good news, if I'm right, is that he's willing to sell. He wrote: I would take one of those large scale tract homes any day! The houses I have been to in Bellaire look more like museums then spec houses. I am sure the city of Bellaire isn't complaining about the taxes they collect every year of the McMansions. Why don't one of the readers make the owner a big offer for the house? I am sure he would sell it to someone who wanted to preserve it. Fact is that most people are quick to fight for a cause but aren't putting up anything to fight for it. The cost of purchasing this lot and then cleaning the mold and remodeling it will exceed the cost of rebuilding on the lot. It's a house thats covered in mold! I think people should concentrate on better preserved buildings maybe like River Oaks bookstore etc.
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Ooh, Flipper, that quote from "dmghouston" *is* interesting. Do you think Marvin Granit's initials are "dmg"? The Chron story didn't mention mold because a source who'd been inside the house recently told me that he didn't see any. And I think it's interesting that he defends the company's reputation, and says he's sure that Granit will "keep some historical aspect of the property." I heard that he might reuse some of the stones from that front wall -- but again, that wasn't in the story.
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A Chron reader just e-mailed me this story. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the house that Cohen built. I worked with a former business partner of Robert Cohen's. He once told me how he and Robert floated a boat (cabin cruiser) in The Shamrock's pool for a party!
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This interesting tidbit just appeared among the Chron's on-line comments. I assume it refers to what Granit told a neighbor: That he bought the house because his girlfriend lives across the street, and that he planned to live there himself. "Granit bought the house next to ours and said exactly the same thing to the old man who lived there. He must have a lot of girlfriends..."
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Thanks, guys -- especially those of you who talked to me. I love this forum. -- Lisa, from the Chron
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I looked at that house with RPS, and I loved it. (I've been surprised by how much I like high-end '70s mods.) But the place was way more house than I need, and more than I could afford, given the work it needs. It was obviously maltreated a long time. The scariest thing was an Enormous Wall o' Mold -- probably from an old plumbing leak. I have no idea whether the mold had gotten into the structural members or the ducts. A friend who's obsessed with real estate believes that the neighborhood, Fondren Southwest Northfield, is a fabulous bargain. I looked at police stats, and they confirmed what the neighborhood association's president told me: Northfield is fairly crime-free, or at least comparable to my current place in Montrose. But it's ringed by the most dangerous apartment complexes in Houston. The neighborhood has an active civic club, and its high dues help pay for constable street patrols in unmarked cars. But another factor may be more important in stabilizing the neighborhood. Orthodox Jews began pouring into Northfield after the oil bust. The area has several Orthodox synagogues. Because the Lubavitchers don't drive on the Sabbath, they tend to cluster around the synagogues. On Saturday nights, you see whole families walking home from worship, the men in beards and broad-brimmed hats: A sweet, strange sight. The Orthodox presence won't help much with schools. The HISD middle and high schools are appalling. And because Lubavitchers tend to send their kids to religious schools, the public schools won't get their upper-middle-class kids. And for what it's worth: The Lubavitcher community is growing. Right now, they're expanding their Chabad Center, a very modern-looking building at 10900 Fondren: http://www.chabadtexas.org/templates/artic...ng-Campaign.htm
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I filed this with the Chron: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5106106.html The demolition was especially awful because it didn't look as though the building had been salvaged. Schoolhouse light fixtures are (as of this afternoon) still hanging in the old Black-Eyed Pea site. Through an office window over Jos. A. Banks' old space, I saw a mid-century aluminum chair. The backhoe mangled it. -
Fear of PR damage seems to be the only thing protecting the buildings now, and I'm afraid most people think they've already been saved. Weingarten won't have any trouble getting a permit to demolish the shopping center building. The recommendation to designate the three buildings as landmarks will take months before it appears before city council. Even if it's approved, the toughest thing the city can do is delay demo by 90 days. But what about the theater? How long does a demolition permit last? Could you apply now for one to be used in 2008? or 2010?Think Weingarten's fear of potentially tougher preservation laws offset the bad P.R. that's bound to result from the demolition permits?
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It's really not over: http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolit...ay/4758297.html --Lisa, from the Chronicle.
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Thanks. And (she says, self-servingly) here's the link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4172529.html
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As I understood Drew Alexander, he believes his duty toward shareholders is to make them as much money as possible without breaking any laws. And really, isn't that what the market demands? Last time you allocated money in your 401(k), did you check precisely how all those mutual-fund dollars were invested? Part of my pathetic retirement savings is socked in an ethical-investments account, but even that doesn't consider historic preservation. The larger problem, I think, is that the City of Houston cedes these decisions to developers -- and even more frighteningly, to their shareholders, who often don't know or care what they're doing to the city.
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Lisa Gray here, dutifully identifying herself as the reporter from the Chronicle.... Now I'm looking for adaptive reuses of old theaters. I've found tons of performing-arts venues around the country, and a handful of bookstores. (Mostly started by the old Bookstop chain, now apparently being abandoned by Barnes & Noble.) There's a Restoration Hardware or two out there. But do you know of any other good ones? Especially things that are able to hold their own on expensive real estate? Post them here, or drop me a line. I'd be grateful.
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Chronicle story about Carolyn Farb's protest and other efforts to save the three buildings: http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4153487.html
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Actually, the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission *is* a City of Houston entity. Here's the web site: http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/commissions/arch.htm You might be confusing it with the similar-sounding Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, or maybe Historic Houston. (Those are both nonprofits.) The city commission has only feeble powers, but I believe that even under current laws, it could make Weingarten more uncomfortable. The commission could, for instance, recommend that City Council to designate buildings as historic landmarks -- even though the owner hasn't applied. That's never happened before. I believe Weingarten could still maneuver around that designation, and would be able to raze the buildings. But it would at least have to file public notice of those intentions months before bulldozers arrive.
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Buried deep inside today's Chronicle -- the city's Archaeological and Historical Commission weighs in: http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4140539.html Also, here's a story I did on the Alabama a couple of weeks ago. With nice old photos, including a very '80s Rocky Horror crew. (Sorry I didn't post the link when the story ran; I was out of town.) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/movies/4098093.html
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i'm on it I'm afraid that in Houston, even being in the National Register won't save a building from demolition. Miami must have that provision in its city preservation laws. We don't. Our most stringent protection is for buildings that the owners themselves have designated "protected." But unless an owner chooses to file that city paperwork, even a landmark building can be razed. Even if you're in one of the city historic districts, even if your building is on the National Register, even if the city historic and archeological commission rejects your plans -- if you want to demolish a building, you'll face at most a 90-day waiting period.
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I asked the manager the week after the story broke, and he wasn't sure. There might have been an increase, but it's hard to disentangle all the factors that determine whether people go to the movies -- the popularity of the movies showing, the weather, stuff like that. The manager did say that customers have been asking about the theater's future. But he can't speak for Landmark's corporate office, which negotiates the company's leases, and is playing things close to the vest -- maybe in hopes of eventually working out something with Weingarten.