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  1. Interesting! I found a teacher (later owner/principal) over the years. Maud (or Maude) Mitchell. From the newspaper The Houston Post dated September 17, 1922. Mrs. Douglas' Kindergarten and Primary School will open Sept. 18, 2910 Smith St., assisted by Mrs. Maud Mitchell. For terms phone Hadley 4906. Years later, in September 18, 1930, there was the Maude Mitchell School located at 4720 Montrose Blvd.
  2. This entire block is up for sale; not sure how long it's been up for. On the property there is a couple of town houses and an old house used as a store. This could be something really huge or nothing at all depending on who buys the lot. https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/Westheimer-Elgin-Bagby-St-Houston-TX/27811183/
  3. Beautify the `superblock' and watch the Midtown area's tax base grow By DAVID CROSSLEY Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle News Services Often we hear in Houston that it's "too late" to do something that would have great positive impact on quality of life. We are approaching one of those moments. Two years ago, I proposed that a new urban park be created on the Midtown "superblock" on Main Street abutting the McGowen rail stop. This four-block long property with no streets crossing it has been the subject of a hunt for the right development project. I felt that no urban development really needed that kind of configuration, and indeed that much space with no pedestrian ways across it so close to a rail station would be terribly counterproductive. The only thing that really makes sense there is a great public park. Many creative people put a lot of energy into the idea, which we tentatively called McGowen Green. The proposal, which was accompanied by exciting drawings from Kevin Shanley and SWA Group, McGowen Green would be urban amenity, tax revenue source seemed to catch fire for a while. But a Chronicle article last week (``Ideas filling vacant block / Some see park, others see urban oasis in Midtown, Aug. 31'') indicated that the board of the Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA) is acting to convey its interest in the property to Camden Property Trust, which already owns about half of it. Camden apparently intends a large apartment project there, probably with some retail or artist space on the ground floor. This is a real shame for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is loss of significant future tax revenue for the city. Parks are the greatest of urban amenities, and properties adjacent to them tend to rise in value faster than other properties. With a lush river garden ambience surrounding a formal boat pond and promenade, McGowen Green would produce the highest value center in the Midtown district, and in time one of the most important in our city. To my knowledge, the MRA board hasn't expended any energy exploring the benefits of a park or the creative means to finance it. A lot of the important work to determine how parks affect real estate has been done by Dr. John L. Crompton, a Texas A&M professor knowledgeable in the economics of park development. Crompton's studies reveal that people will pay more for property close to parks than for property that does not offer this amenity. This means they pay higher property taxes. In effect, Crompton says, this represents a capitalization of park land into increased property values of proximate land owners. Crompton calls this the ``proximate principle.'' If the incremental amount of taxes paid by each property attributable to the presence of a nearby park is aggregated, he argues, it will be sufficient to pay the annual debt charges required to retire the bonds used to acquire and develop the park. As it happens, the board of the MRA is the same board as the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ. One of the purposes of a TIRZ is to increase property values during its lifetime (in this case 30 years) so that the city receives greater revenues from the district once it begins to pay full taxes. Most people who do projections on land values would say that the increase in taxes coming from the four-block Camden project would be dwarfed by the taxes of developing - at a much higher value - the 14 blocks surrounding a park on that property, not to mention the second tier of properties in the next ring of 22 properties. The public interest clearly will not be reasonably served by encouraging the Camden project, which should be developed on several of the blocks surrounding the park. And why does an apartment project in an urban place need to have continuous land without cross streets? A four-block long apartment project would create a horrible pedestrian environment, and one of the goals for Midtown has been walkability. In his ground-breaking book Cities in Full, Steve Belmont says that neighborhoods deprived of natural features are severely handicapped in the competition for middle-class households. He cites examples showing that a well designed and maintained park can substitute for natural features as the heart of a thriving neighborhood. He also claims that for a neighborhood on the path to revitalization, [a park] represents a prudent investment with the power to attract affluence, and he notes that it takes relatively few affluent newcomers to reverse the negative image of a derelict neighborhood. Last spring, my organization, the Gulf Coast Institute, distributed hundreds of postcards urging Mayor Bill White to pursue the development of McGowen Green. These were signed by nearly 500 people and mailed. Surely, before it is too late, the mayor and City Council (the property is in Councilmember Carol Alvarado's district) should have a look and determine whether the long-term interests of the city are best served by a great urban park or by another apartment project. Midtown needs an important park that people will actually use and that will draw tourists to the area. The park would be a gift to future generations that cannot be given later. Link
  4. https://www.gensler.com/blog/thinking-outside-the-wooden-box-an-alternate-construction?o=houston https://usvets.org/how-we-serve/housing/housing-development/
  5. (Posts moved from Louisiana and Elgin thread) dbigtex56 Well, I don't see anything at all....but here are a couple of pics of the site, I think.http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1201192026/gallery_15_10_2313787.jpghttp://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1201192026/gallery_15_10_1200602.jpghttp://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1201192026/gallery_15_10_1942120.jpg Here is a small project we've talked about across the street, but I couldn't find the thread. http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1201192026/gallery_15_10_184824.jpg
  6. I noticed some land was being cleared near Grey and Caroline. Anybody have any idea what's going on?
  7. http://swamplot.com/a-substandard-structure-to-become-sterling-house-bar-in-midtown/2013-08-26/ VIA SWAMPLOT WOW This wobbly 108-year-old house in Midtown, remodeled in 1999, might be fixed up one more time and converted into a bar. Or it might be demolished to make room for something new, says the reader who sends this photo and word of a recently secured TABC license for the so-called Sterling House here at 3015 Bagby St., just 1 block north of Elgin. The 1905 2,850-sq.-ft. house, sitting on a 4,918-sq.-ft. lot at the corner of Bagby and Rosalie, changed hands back in 2009, but it appears to have been waiting around for something to happen since then.
  8. Pearl is really banking on Midtown. I think this brings the total count to 4 possible Pearl complexes in the area.
  9. Permanently closed Qualcare Rehab building at 1120 Dennis St. will be converted to a restaurant bar.
  10. Was wondering if anyone had information about this building. It's the stucco structure at the corner of Winbern and Milam streets, and appears to have been built as a small apartment building. It has some interesting details, such as the name "Carlton" spelled out in small tiles near the eaves, wood-framed ornate windows and an entryway framed by tiles in various patterns (among which is a swastika!) The tiles also extend along the roofline on the west side of the building. It appears to be in the Arts and Crafts style, although there may be a more precise term. Any ideas as to who "Carlton" was, who designed the building or when it was constructed? I'm guessing 1910-ish....
  11. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/arts-culture/local-arts/2023/10/19/467141/funded-by-a-1-million-grant-houston-will-launch-nine-art-installations-in-midtown-in-homeless-project/ "Houston was awarded $1 million after being selected as a finalist in a nationwide public arts challenge. The subject of the award money is a Houston project, “HueMan: Shelter,” a public art effort designed to disrupt perceptions of homelessness by bringing artists and unsheltered residents together to create visual stories from their experiences in Houston. The project includes the activation of nine sites for public art installations along a main street corridor in Midtown."
  12. Very cool! Never knew about this until this week. 1218 Webster St., Houston Benjamin Apartments Completed in 1924, this apartment building is a good example of multi-family housing constructed in the south end of downtown Houston after World War 1. Successful businessman Benjamin Cohen (1875-1951) hired noted Houston architect Alfred C. Finn to design the building. Its style is simple but reveals influences of the arts and crafts movement prominent at the time. Cohen and his wife, Annie (solomon) (1875-1951), lived in one of the apartments while renting the remaining three to other prosperous Houstonians. After Cohen sold the building in 1945, it was used as a private hospital but lay vacant for much of the late 20th century. A rehabilitation project in 2000 returned the Benjamin Apartments to viable use as commercial office space. Recorded Texas historic landmark – 2001 Presumably, these two small houses are the apartments? Every building around them is a new, modern build.
  13. Protected Landmark Designation Report The Sarah Francelia Bell Home, established to provide living assistance for indigent women, was built in 1922 at the bequest and through funds provided by Sarah Francelia Bell in her will in 1911. The Methodist Hospital movement had its beginning when Dr. Oscar L. Norsworthy established the Norsworthy Hospital in 1908. He later decided to pursue only medical research and made a generous offer of the facility to the Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. After a few years of fundraising, the plan materialized when the Trustees chose James Ruskin Bailey, a Houston architect, who was related by marriage to one of the Trustees, and the project was underway. They chose a site for the Home adjacent to the hospital and let the contract for the construction to Central Construction Company on August 16, 1922. Thus, the Sarah Francelia Bell Home and the Methodist Hospital movement was initiated. The Sarah Francelia Bell Horne Building remains today as the only physical remnant in Houston, Texas of the first endeavor to establish the Methodist Hospital in Houston, now recognized as one of the best medical facilities worldwide.
  14. Project Midtown Building Address 3310 Travis Street Houston, TX 77006 Architect HALFF Owner Travis Partners Capital, LLC. Information This project is a new 6-story midrise building (approx. 23,200 sf) that will be connected to an existing 2 story building on the NW corner of Travis and Francis streets in Midtown. Levels 1-5 consists of office space while level 6 has Kitchen/Bar/Lounge (enclosed) with an outdoor terrace.
  15. I saw this out the bus window when leaving Wheeler Station. Does anybody know anything about it? http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/8325/img8004v.jpg
  16. This thread was originally created April 2016. I'm reposting this because this post and other content from me are no longer available on the forum. The original thread is archived here: page 1, page 2. 2403 Caroline Street in Midtown, Houston.
  17. Herald Park (also known as Fair Grounds Base Ball Park, Houston Base Ball Park, Fair Ground Park, and League Park.) I don't think Gonzo was suggesting it was, but West End Park wasn't the first baseball park in the city. West End Park was built around the turn of the century, and baseball had been played in Houston for many years before that. The Texas League formed in the 1880's, with Houston as one of the original members. As far as early baseball park locations go, I know that, in 1887, the Houston Heralds baseball team had a park located "at the head of" Travis Street. And, in 1896, a Houston baseball team played a Chicago baseball team at a "new baseball park at the end of" Travis Street. Still, West End Park, which was built by the Houston Electric Street Railway Co., near what is now the intersection of Andrews and Heiner, was undoubtedly among the city's earliest baseball parks. It hosted UT/A&M football games in addition to baseball games.
  18. Apparently, according to a Rice University website, William Ward Watkin designed a grocery store in the 1920s. I recall seeing a general thread talking about the A-B-C (or ABC) grocery stores. I never recall hearing about this location. Very cool! Imagine a "star architect" designing a grocery store in 2023? Well, I do believe Gensler designs mixed-use developments with ground floor HEBs and Whole Foods. In the publication The Life and Work of Architect William Ward Watkin: The commercial work for which Watkin was responsible was of a generally small-scale character: The A-B-C South Main grocery store (1928). From the newspaper The Texas Jewish Herald dated July 19, 1928: Better Things To Eat You can set a better table at less cost if you make it a habit to come to our stores for your groceries. Store No. 1-- 2802-4-6 Main Street -- Store No. 2-- 529 West Alabama -- Store No. 3-- 1628 Westheimer
  19. wow!! This neverbuilt building for the Westheimer Transfer and Storage Company!! Beautiful architecture. Too bad it was never built. At least, not to my knowledge. From the newspaper The Texas Jewish Herald dated March 29, 1928. 8-Story Furniture Repository Plans are being prepared by Hedrick & Gottlieb, local architects, for this elaborate eight-story furniture redepository to be built at Main and Rosewood for Ben S. Hurwitz and Associate at cost of approximately $200,000. Hurwitz and Associates will build on South Main A $250,000 eight-story reinforced concrete brick and stone repository building for the Westheimer Transfer and Storage Company is planned on the northwest corner of Main Boulevard and Rosewood. Work will start within 60 days, Sam L. Bloomberg, vice president of the transfer company, said Saturday-- The late S.J. Westheimer, founder of the company, often had planned to build a modern repositroy in the semi-residence section of Houston, Mr. Bloomberg said-- The building and grounds are designed by George S. Kingsley of New York. Hedrick & Gottlieb are the local architects.
  20. wow!! Look at this beautiful mansion! I wonder the architect and address? Residence of W.T. Carter 1908 Geo. Beach
  21. In the publication The Life and Work of Architect William Ward Watkin there is a sketch of a building in Midtown on South Main Street. I'm not sure if this was built? Google Earth only goes back to 1944. 20 years after the sketch was drawn. Sketch of a store built on the southeast corner of Main Street and Isabella in Houston, TX. 1928 Watkin Building Main and Isabella WM. Ward Watkin Architect
  22. Another Alfred C. Finn design! I searched around HAIF and couldn't find any information so I thought I would share. James Autry House located at 5 Courtlandt Place
  23. Just saw on their FB page. I wonder why. I hadn't really been since I moved out of midtown 2 years ago but assumed it was still pretty popular. Oh well. https://www.facebook.com/celticgardens/?fref=ts
  24. As far as we know, this diner should be opening within a few weeks. The diner will be located at the corner of Brazos and Pierce in the shadow of the Pierce Elevated. I am wondering if this will be a 24 hour type place as there are few places like this in midtown. Parking maybe an issue as well. Any new restaurant is a welcome addition in my opinion.
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