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Post Oak Blvd. At Richmond Ave.


MetroMogul

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There is an abandoned property across the street from Best Buy on Post Oak @ Richmond Ave. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. It has overgrown trees, a couple of chains tied to posts blocking car access and a few old parking spaces still marked. Does anyone know what used to be in the place?

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There is an abandoned property across the street from Best Buy on Post Oak @ Richmond Ave. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. It has overgrown trees, a couple of chains tied to posts blocking car access and a few old parking spaces still marked. Does anyone know what used to be in the place?

For reference, this is the 6-acre property presently owned by the investors from Dubai, with another 3-acre site that was cut from it that is owned by Boymelgreen.

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There used to be a seafood restaurant on that corner. I think it was called "Drusilla" or something like that. Ironically, there was also a tropical fish store close by in that shopping center.

Was that in the building that was once TGI Friday?

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There used to be a seafood restaurant on that corner. I think it was called "Drusilla" or something like that. Ironically, there was also a tropical fish store close by in that shopping center.

10/12/01 HBJ reference to Drusilla's location:

"In coordination with a new condominium project being developed at the corner of South Post Oak and Hidalgo, a parcel of nearby retail land has been cleared in an effort to preserve the area's upscale image. Within the past month, Houston-based real estate giant Hines has completed the demolition of three abandoned restaurants located on roughly five acres of land it owns near the corner of Richmond Avenue and the West Loop. The property is adjacent to the proposed Manhattan -- a new Uptown condominium project being developed by the Randall Davis Co. Davis and Hines are partnering on the residential project. The restaurants that once inhabited the site included Steak & Ale, The Mason Jar and Drusilla's Seafood Restaurant. An abandoned eyesore, the Steak & Ale restaurant shut its doors more than three years ago and has been vacant ever since. The Mason Jar was boarded up for months after most of it burned down following a kitchen fire in 2000."

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Was also used as parking for next doors long time swinger place... City Streets. This whole area was once referred to as Windsor Plaza right? Before City Streets it was the multiplex cinema Windsor 6 or something to that effect. Mentioned in numerous past topics.

Area is so empty now. Hope some developer sees the great potential that lies here. :)

PS you must eat at the Chinese Cafe further down, yum yum.

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Was also used as parking for next doors long time swinger place... City Streets. This whole area was once referred to as Windsor Plaza right? Before City Streets it was the multiplex cinema Windsor 6 or something to that effect. Mentioned in numerous past topics.

Area is so empty now. Hope some developer sees the great potential that lies here. :)

PS you must eat at the Chinese Cafe further down, yum yum.

Before the Windsor 6, it was just the Windsor. It was one of the few theaters that could play the wide screen format of the day, 70mm. I saw "2001, Space Odyssey" there......

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The Windsor opened in December 1962 as a luxury theater. I too saw 2001, A Space Odyssey there as well as such screen epics as Dr. Zhivago and The Sound of Music.

By the mid 80s it was still open but very run down and nothing like it's former glamorous self.

"This theater had velvet rocker seats and a screen that was 33.5 feet tall by 100 feet wide. The sound system had 19 Altec speakers that were all byamplified with the first transistor amplifier for theaters. The Windsor is now a nightclub."

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/8244/

Before the Windsor 6, it was just the Windsor. It was one of the few theaters that could play the wide screen format of the day, 70mm. I saw "2001, Space Odyssey" there......
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The Windsor opened in December 1962 as a luxury theater. I too saw 2001, A Space Odyssey there as well as such screen epics as Dr. Zhivago and The Sound of Music.

By the mid 80s it was still open but very run down and nothing like it's former glamorous self.

Did Sound Of Music play there?? I thought it only played at the Alabama, where I saw it. It played there for over a year...can you imagine any movie today playing that long??

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I'm pretty sure the former Windsor theatre became the Agora Ballroom. It was a showcase club for bands. Regional touring acts, some of the one- hit-wonder new wave bands played there. I saw the Judy's there, I think. It was a big-time show for them.

In the later 80s and early 90s the space at the west end of the strip center was a succession of dance clubs. Before the 4- themes- in-1 places became popluar, it was an extremely popular place, but the name escapes me. You know, ladies drink free, 3 for 1 drinks, giant happy hour buffet/fern bar place. My roommate at the time dated Middle Eastern men exculsively and this was her joint of choice.

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Its been discussed in other theater topics.

I recall seeing re-release of The Exorcist around 1976? and only because I was over 18. (I was major thrilled)

If you recall; it was such a shocker that most theaters did not allow... as it was stated in newspapers and at theater doors:

"Absolutely No one under age 18 to view unless accompanied by Adult"

That kind of advertising only created more angst in teens wanting to see it!

Now unless it has recently re-opened again. (dont think so)

City Streets closed close to 7 years ago now? Had a darn good buffet, rats! Plenty of swiss cheese & roast beef pigs in a blanket.

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I'm pretty sure the former Windsor theatre became the Agora Ballroom. It was a showcase club for bands. Regional touring acts, some of the one- hit-wonder new wave bands played there. I saw the Judy's there, I think. It was a big-time show for them.

I don't think so - IIRC the Agora was open long before the Windsor closed. I remember seeing movies at the Windsor as late as the early 1980s, and the Agora was hosting acts like Iggy Pop in the late 70s.

The Windsor was originally equipped to run 3-projector Cinerama films, and later was converted to so-called "single-strip Cinerama", which was basically just another name for 70mm. There used to be quite a few theaters in town that could run 70mm - the last one was the late, lamented Cineplex Odeon Spectrum on Augusta (although I've heard that the Rice Media Center added 70mm capability during their last renovation, but I've never seen it in use). Seeing the 70mm rerelease of the restored LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there in 1989 was truly a life-changing experience. Those who've never seen a nice 70mm film print properly projected on a huge screen have no idea what they're missing - it is so far removed from the crappy 35mm prints run on ill-maintained equipment that are the usual multiplex fare these days that it's no wonder many people are now opting to stay at home with their DVDs and 60" flat-panel TVs. IMAX is the only current format that's as immersive as the large-format films of days of yore.

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Was the bar/dance club in the strip center called "Cooters" or "Codys"? Something like that?

I'm pretty sure the former Windsor theatre became the Agora Ballroom. It was a showcase club for bands. Regional touring acts, some of the one- hit-wonder new wave bands played there. I saw the Judy's there, I think. It was a big-time show for them.

In the later 80s and early 90s the space at the west end of the strip center was a succession of dance clubs. Before the 4- themes- in-1 places became popluar, it was an extremely popular place, but the name escapes me. You know, ladies drink free, 3 for 1 drinks, giant happy hour buffet/fern bar place. My roommate at the time dated Middle Eastern men exculsively and this was her joint of choice.

Cardi's I think it was.

Was the bar/dance club in the strip center called "Cooters" or "Codys"? Something like that?
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memory....hazy....

Cooters may have been the club on the end of the Windsor strip. I'm pretty sure Cardis was on FountianView and Westheimer, and it was more of a rocker bar--it, along with Rudyards, were the first 2 bars I snuck into under age.

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Was the bar/dance club in the strip center called "Cooters" or "Codys"? Something like that?

Cardi's I think it was.

I am pretty sure it was Cooter's or Confetti's. (Used to go) These two clubs catered more to the younger New Wave set opposed to the others like Cardi's which was more Heat Metal/Rock N Roll at the time. It competed with The Roxy further down lower Westheimer (Highland Village) as next best New Wave state-of-the-art sound systems.

There was also that very popular fish store on that corner? Next to the Windsor. In fact on another thread someone was discussing apts and the ones across the street were to mimic the design of the Windsor, correct? Thats why it had those Midevil spikes with flags or points at an angle? So this whole area was to have a Merlin Magician kind of names and theme? Just a hunch. :)

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There was also that very popular fish store on that corner? Next to the Windsor.

I remember a fish store being there in the early 60s. Is that the one you are talking about?

I also remember there was a Hammond Organ Store in the same center. On Friday nights they had the Hammond Organ Club where you could go and play your favorite pieces for other people in the club. Virgil Willis was the owner, and Don Holcombe & Russell Lindquist were two of his salesman. Later on they had their own stores - one was on the Southwest Freeway. This was in 1962-63.

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I remember a fish store being there in the early 60s. Is that the one you are talking about?

Yes, and it was very well known... especially for its vast array of unique/rare fish. The name fails me now?

They were there for a long time as you say, since early 60's up until about 1989ish? Surely someone can recall a business thats been around that long, unless it swapped names over the years. Very possible.

What I really do remember is this area was considered a very desirable and safe place to shop, eat out, etc. Its still not that bad... :huh:

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I used to buy tropical fish there but I can't remember the name of the place either.

Went to the Windsor Theater a lot. It was the best theater in Houston when it first opened. Remember seeing It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World on the "Surround Screen" as they called it.

Remember seeing Joan Jett at the Agora and a few other acts.

Also remember a place in the center called City Electronics. If you needed a hard to find electronic part, that was the place to go.

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Right, Cooters was on the Sage St. side. I remember being refused entry for having on white sneakers. I think Cardi's later became Confetti and that place is on Yorktown, over near Macy's. I saw Tron at the Windsor Theater in the 80's. The special effects were really cool on that super-wide screen.

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Right, Cooters was on the Sage St. side. I remember being refused entry for having on white sneakers. I think Cardi's later became Confetti and that place is on Yorktown, over near Macy's. I saw Tron at the Windsor Theater in the 80's. The special effects were really cool on that super-wide screen.

No, I think Crunchtastic was correct, Cardis was on Westheimer at Fountainview. Confetti was across the street from Macys, and it went through a number of incarnations. Didn't it become R&R?

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wasn't cooters where "fizz" used to be?

and I cannot remember where Fizz was located?

One of these was a double decker or spilt leveled modern club. I could be thinking of the one way over off Gessner and Westpark? I recall it having a very wide spiral staircase as you went up. There were 2 very popular one's in that vicinity at that same time. Opps straying into clubs topics.

R & R behind the Galleria was quite a wild place though. I clearly remember people dancing on & falling off tables. :o

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The empty lot used to have a Mason Jar and a Steak & Ale. I used to eat lunch there during the 90s. One of them burned at one point and was torn down.

There was also a club called Xcess in Windsor Plaza during the late 80s or early 90s. They had two giant speakers on either end of the dance floor that you could walk into. I think the location later became City Streets.

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No, I think Crunchtastic was correct, Cardis was on Westheimer at Fountainview. Confetti was across the street from Macys, and it went through a number of incarnations. Didn't it become R&R?

before it was R&R it was the Pirannha Room. I used to go to happy hour there after work all the time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Yes, and it was very well known... especially for its vast array of unique/rare fish. The name fails me now?

They were there for a long time as you say, since early 60's up until about 1989ish? Surely someone can recall a business thats been around that long, unless it swapped names over the years. Very possible.

What I really do remember is this area was considered a very desirable and safe place to shop, eat out, etc. Its still not that bad... :huh:

When I was in high school in the 80's, I used to buy fish from a place over there in Windsor Plaza (at least that's what I always called it) and I could have sworn it was just called ... Dave's Tropical Fish ?!

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