Big Tex Storage At 730 E. 11th St.

[LBC2HTX]

I get being upset about a seven story storage facility, it’s an eyesore. But to act like the building it’s replacing is a huge loss or historical in any way is laughable. This section of 11th was always destined for densification. Just look what’s happening further down 11th and around 19th and 20th. If this monstrosity of a storage building came AFTER other densification (e.g mid-rises and retail) then hardly anyone would care. 
 

if this replaced a hand car wash or church parking lot on 11th then it would be getting the same reaction from NIMBY residents. Nothing to do with “history”. 

[s3mh]

2 hours ago, LBC2HTX said:

I get being upset about a seven story storage facility, it’s an eyesore. But to act like the building it’s replacing is a huge loss or historical in any way is laughable. This section of 11th was always destined for densification. Just look what’s happening further down 11th and around 19th and 20th. If this monstrosity of a storage building came AFTER other densification (e.g mid-rises and retail) then hardly anyone would care. 
 

if this replaced a hand car wash or church parking lot on 11th then it would be getting the same reaction from NIMBY residents. Nothing to do with “history”. 

This property was left out of the Historic Districts.  So, the owner was free to demolish it and shame on us for not having it included in the district.  But 11th is nothing like 19th and 20th.  The majority of the street frontage on 11th is either single family residential or small 1-2 story retail/commercial.  This section of the Heights has mostly very small lots abutting 11th and was never destined for densification.  

And if you think the theater was an eyesore, how in the world is a seven story storage facility an improvement?  The owner of this lot could sell the land and probably have enough money to buy a larger lot on N. Shep or Durham.  This is just a stupid place to put a storage facility.  The Heights is not what it was fifteen years ago when no one wanted to build anything in the neighborhood.  The neighborhood has some of the best new developments in Houston.  You can call people "NIMBYs" all day, but that doesn't mean that putting a storage facility on 11th is a good idea.  

[j_cuevas713]

4 hours ago, LBC2HTX said:

I get being upset about a seven story storage facility, it’s an eyesore. But to act like the building it’s replacing is a huge loss or historical in any way is laughable. This section of 11th was always destined for densification. Just look what’s happening further down 11th and around 19th and 20th. If this monstrosity of a storage building came AFTER other densification (e.g mid-rises and retail) then hardly anyone would care. 
 

if this replaced a hand car wash or church parking lot on 11th then it would be getting the same reaction from NIMBY residents. Nothing to do with “history”. 

Umm yeah because it was neglected. Had the building been restored, it would have been beautiful. Densification has nothing to do with this. You can build smart and still be dense. Plus plenty of us in the Heights aren't happy about this for good reason. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by j_cuevas713

[LBC2HTX]

 

This property was left out of the Historic Districts.  So, the owner was free to demolish it and shame on us for not having it included in the district.  But 11th is nothing like 19th and 20th.  The majority of the street frontage on 11th is either single family residential or small 1-2 story retail/commercial.  This section of the Heights has mostly very small lots abutting 11th and was never destined for densification.  

And if you think the theater was an eyesore, how in the world is a seven story storage facility an improvement?  The owner of this lot could sell the land and probably have enough money to buy a larger lot on N. Shep or Durham.  This is just a stupid place to put a storage facility.  The Heights is not what it was fifteen years ago when no one wanted to build anything in the neighborhood.  The neighborhood has some of the best new developments in Houston.  You can call people "NIMBYs" all day, but that doesn't mean that putting a storage facility on 11th is a good idea.  

11th is mostly a commercial corridor from Michaux to Yale. Yes, it’s mostly 1 and 2 story buildings, but that’s exactly what most places are like before densification. If you didn’t think this would happen on 11th then you haven’t been paying attention to everything else happening in the Heights. You only need to look at 1111 studewood to know this was coming to this part of 11th.

[Texasota]

Even if you're expecting development, it's perfectly reasonable to be upset about this specific development. A storage facility is a huge waste of this spot, and, even though the old theater wasn't much to look at, it represented the potential to be reused as something good. 

Storage facilities are super cheap to build and maintain and provide guaranteed income with minimal future expenditures. Like surface parking lots downtown. And they're terrible. Houston does not need more storage facilities. I don't support explicit regulation of use on private land, but I do think there have to be options for the City to actively disincentivize stuff like this.  

[Ross]

1 hour ago, s3mh said:

This property was left out of the Historic Districts.  So, the owner was free to demolish it and shame on us for not having it included in the district.  But 11th is nothing like 19th and 20th.  The majority of the street frontage on 11th is either single family residential or small 1-2 story retail/commercial.  This section of the Heights has mostly very small lots abutting 11th and was never destined for densification.  

And if you think the theater was an eyesore, how in the world is a seven story storage facility an improvement?  The owner of this lot could sell the land and probably have enough money to buy a larger lot on N. Shep or Durham.  This is just a stupid place to put a storage facility.  The Heights is not what it was fifteen years ago when no one wanted to build anything in the neighborhood.  The neighborhood has some of the best new developments in Houston.  You can call people "NIMBYs" all day, but that doesn't mean that putting a storage facility on 11th is a good idea.  

There are already storage places on Shepherd and Durham. The storage place developers presumably did some sort of market research, and found a need for a storage unit location in this area. At some point, we will achieve peak storage unit, and will quit seeing new ones being developed. I will also assume that the storage unit developers made the best offer to the church for the property. The deed doesn't mention sales price, so any financing did not result in a lien on the property.

 

 

[LBC2HTX]

59 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Umm yeah because it was neglected. Had the building been restored, it would have been beautiful. Densification has nothing to do with this. You can build smart and still be dense. Plus plenty of us in the Heights aren't happy about this for good reason. 

Clearly no one was willing to restore it.   The level of unhappiness isn’t a surprise. The heights is full of NIMBYs who have only moved there within the last 10 years. 
 

As I said, the NIMBYs would be up in arms even if this was being built on an empty lot. This has nothing to do with “historical preservation”. 

[j_cuevas713]

15 minutes ago, LBC2HTX said:

Clearly no one was willing to restore it.   The level of unhappiness isn’t a surprise. The heights is full of NIMBYs who have only moved there within the last 10 years. 
 

As I said, the NIMBYs would be up in arms even if this was being built on an empty lot. This has nothing to do with “historical preservation”. 

So you're calling me a NIMBY? No actually if it was built on an empty lot I wouldn't complain. Not sure what your overall stance on historic preservation actually is, but it sounds pretty damn nearsighted

[LBC2HTX]

Like I originally said, I understand being upset with a 7 story storage center. It’s an eyesore and a symbol of American excess. However, these developments are everywhere inside the loop. In any case, I’m all for historic preservation of actual historic places, just not preservation of old dilapidated buildings that have been neglected for decades and weren’t even notable when originally built.
 

I’m going to call BS on that given the reaction to the apartments under construction on 6 1/2 street (behind onion creek), as well as the proposed automated parking structure on White Oak.

[s3mh]

 

11th is mostly a commercial corridor from Michaux to Yale. Yes, it’s mostly 1 and 2 story buildings, but that’s exactly what most places are like before densification. If you didn’t think this would happen on 11th then you haven’t been paying attention to everything else happening in the Heights. You only need to look at 1111 studewood to know this was coming to this part of 11th.

You are right.  When they announced the development of 1111 Studewood almost ten years ago, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before a seven story storage facility would pop up on 11th St because developers started building apartments almost two miles away.    

 

 

I’m going to call BS on that given the reaction to the apartments under construction on 6 1/2 street (behind onion creek), as well as the proposed automated parking structure on White Oak.

We were pissed about those too.

[s3mh]

 

There are already storage places on Shepherd and Durham. The storage place developers presumably did some sort of market research, and found a need for a storage unit location in this area. At some point, we will achieve peak storage unit, and will quit seeing new ones being developed. I will also assume that the storage unit developers made the best offer to the church for the property. The deed doesn't mention sales price, so any financing did not result in a lien on the property.

 

 

There is only one storage place on N. Shep and Durham.  Storage facilities are clustered all around each other in Houston.  It is just like car dealerships.  They want to all be in the same area so you do not have to go far if you don't find what you want at your competition.  No one in Woodland Heights is going to pick Big Tex over Storage West because it is barely a mile closer.  

And screw all the "guy with the biggest bag of money gets to ruin the neighborhood" bs.  This is an incredibly stupid use of this property.  It does absolutely nothing for the neighborhood.  

[Ross]

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

There is only one storage place on N. Shep and Durham.  Storage facilities are clustered all around each other in Houston.  It is just like car dealerships.  They want to all be in the same area so you do not have to go far if you don't find what you want at your competition.  No one in Woodland Heights is going to pick Big Tex over Storage West because it is barely a mile closer.  

And screw all the "guy with the biggest bag of money gets to ruin the neighborhood" bs.  This is an incredibly stupid use of this property.  It does absolutely nothing for the neighborhood.  

You are right.  When they announced the development of 1111 Studewood almost ten years ago, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before a seven story storage facility would pop up on 11th St because developers started building apartments almost two miles away.    

Are you saying that the church should have consulted with the neighbors before selling, and received endorsement for the buyer? Are you saying that the church shouldn't have been able to sell for the highest amount possible if the buyer wasn't "acceptable"? This is Houston, where sellers get to take the highest bid, and buyers get to build pretty much whatever they want.

1111 Studewood is not two miles away from this location. It's hardly 2 blocks.

[LBC2HTX]

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

You are right.  When they announced the development of 1111 Studewood... almost two miles away.

WHAT? This is the unappealing 6 story building behind someburger. Literally across 11th street from this project. 

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

We were pissed about those too.

That’s my point. Bunch of NIMBYs.

[zaphod]

Whether or not the property owner and developer were in the right, can we all just agree for once that building a multistory self-storage warehouse on top of what had been one of the last historic movie theaters on a sidewalk fronting lot in the city is just like dropping a massive wet turd and why Houston can't be nice like other cities?

Call me a NIMBY if you want, but you know people do vote with their dollars and feet when it comes to where they prefer to live and work. It's why people from other cities look down on us. If Houston preserved its historic commercial buildings and streetscapes better it would have higher property values and attract the people who would pay for that.

Edited December 24, 2020 by zaphod

[Ross]

1 hour ago, zaphod said:

Whether or not the property owner and developer were in the right, can we all just agree for once that building a multistory self-storage warehouse on top of what had been one of the last historic movie theaters on a sidewalk fronting lot in the city is just like dropping a massive wet turd and why Houston can't be nice like other cities?

Call me a NIMBY if you want, but you know people do vote with their dollars and feet when it comes to where they prefer to live and work. It's why people from other cities look down on us. If Houston preserved its historic commercial buildings and streetscapes better it would have higher property values and attract the people who would pay for that.

I can't agree that it's like dropping a big wet one there. The new owner obviously believes there is a market for the product he plans to offer. Houston is actually nice like other cities, and even better in some respects, as it doesn't generally force property owners to abide by some vague aesthetic view promulgated by self proclaimed experts. 

What do you think should have been built there? Would you put, say, a million of your own dollars into making the theater something else? How do you propose to ensure that property owners get maximum value when they sell, while still satisfying your desire for preservation of old(nothing in the Heights is historic) buildings?

I am not against keeping old buildings, but the owners need to have a say in the process, and not have rules changed on them in the middle of their ownership, like the historic district ordinance did, forcing some people to sell when they were unable to modify their property to meet their needs.

[hindesky]

[s3mh]

Of course, this won't go anywhere and the stupid storage place will get built.  But it is a positive sign that Heights residents have not given up and still have some fight left in them.  

 

https://www.stopbigtexstorage.org/

[mollusk]

1 hour ago, s3mh said:

Of course, this won't go anywhere and the stupid storage place will get built.  But it is a positive sign that Heights residents have not given up and still have some fight left in them.  

 

https://www.stopbigtexstorage.org/

The Ashby folks might claim copyright infringement for the angry toothy building image...

[j_cuevas713]

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

Of course, this won't go anywhere and the stupid storage place will get built.  But it is a positive sign that Heights residents have not given up and still have some fight left in them.  

 

https://www.stopbigtexstorage.org/

Even if this thing still gets built, hopefully it puts pressure on the city to revise the preservation ordinance.

[thedistrict84]

6 hours ago, s3mh said:

Of course, this won't go anywhere and the stupid storage place will get built.  But it is a positive sign that Heights residents have not given up and still have some fight left in them.  

 

https://www.stopbigtexstorage.org/

The developer is from Dallas?!? Definitely cannot allow this to move forward now.

[mkultra25]

6 hours ago, mollusk said:

The Ashby folks might claim copyright infringement for the angry toothy building image...

Yeah, my first thought upon seeing it was "hey, the Ashby neighborhood-eating monster has relocated to the Heights!"

My second thought was "I can't believe so many people on Nextdoor are just now hearing about this", before remembering that the overlap between vociferous Nextdoor posters and HAIF members is presumably quite small. 

[hbg.50]

What’s sad to me is that people are more upset about tearing down a “movie theater” that hasn’t been a movie theater for over 60 years!  Nobody cares that a CHURCH was torn down so maybe Heights residents are getting what they deserve.

I do think it’s a shame that a storage facility will be built there but there are eyesores all over the Heights.  

[Ross]

7 hours ago, steve1363 said:

What’s sad to me is that people are more upset about tearing down a “movie theater” that hasn’t been a movie theater for over 60 years!  Nobody cares that a CHURCH was torn down so maybe Heights residents are getting what they deserve.

I do think it’s a shame that a storage facility will be built there but there are eyesores all over the Heights.  

The church was moribund, and had been since the main pastor died. The congregation was shrinking as members died. I found a few articles about it when the sale and demolition was announced. The building was not going to remain a church. It was not the first church in the Heights to disappear in any case.

[wilcal]

On 1/27/2021 at 12:12 PM, mollusk said:

The Ashby folks might claim copyright infringement for the angry toothy building image...

Drove up Studemont today and there were SO many signs with the logo. Ashby PTSD 😅

Pretty big thread on this at The Heights Life Facebook page today.

I know this is an aside, but was looking at the surrounding properties to see if this corridor might continue to be developed, and the apartment complex next door, the Lencor Apartments, looked a little long in the tooth for area. Looked up the owner on HCAD and it is a husband and wife who live in Spring who own this one and one by the same name on White Oak across from where Heights VInyl used to be. I googled their name.... and the husband passed away last year and his obit said that he managed the real estate up until he died at age 85.

The name, Lencor, is a combination of their names: "Their first apartment building, Lencor, is named after the last three letters of Helen’s name and the first three letters of his." (Cornelius and Helen). Thought that was kind of nice!

Anyway, just a random aside and y'all are probably the only ones that would care about that. 

[august948]

On 1/27/2021 at 12:12 PM, mollusk said:

The Ashby folks might claim copyright infringement for the angry toothy building image...

This one apparently eats lampposts so it's clearly a different animal....

[j_cuevas713]

58 minutes ago, wilcal said:

Drove up Studemont today and there were SO many signs with the logo. Ashby PTSD 😅

Pretty big thread on this at The Heights Life Facebook page today.

I know this is an aside, but was looking at the surrounding properties to see if this corridor might continue to be developed, and the apartment complex next door, the Lencor Apartments, looked a little long in the tooth for area. Looked up the owner on HCAD and it is a husband and wife who live in Spring who own this one and one by the same name on White Oak across from where Heights VInyl used to be. I googled their name.... and the husband passed away last year and his obit said that he managed the real estate up until he died at age 85.

The name, Lencor, is a combination of their names: "Their first apartment building, Lencor, is named after the last three letters of Helen’s name and the first three letters of his." (Cornelius and Helen). Thought that was kind of nice!

Anyway, just a random aside and y'all are probably the only ones that would care about that. 

I actually really like those apartments. I hope this block doesn’t change too much. I’d hate to lose some of the beautiful buildings that line this street.

Edited February 1, 2021 by j_cuevas713

[wilcal]

10 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I actually really like those apartments. I hope this block doesn’t change too much. I’d hate to lose some of the beautiful buildings that line this street.

I do think this block is pretty great. A lot of that comes from the older buildings that don't have the massive setback imho. 

 

Big Tex mentioned in their reply to a news station that the building will:

· Adheres to COH Transit-Oriented Development: pedestrian-friendly plaza with 6′ wide sidewalks & a well landscape street façade.

· Architecturally designed to be complementary to the character of the Heights: honed brick, la Habra stucco and architectural metal panels

 

That is kind of funny to me since this is not designated as a TOD corridor. I could see this being designated as a Walkable Place corridor, though. 

 

 

 

[LBC2HTX]

10 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I actually really like those apartments. I hope this block doesn’t change too much. I’d hate to lose some of the beautiful buildings that line this street.

There are very few beautiful buildings on that block. 

[Texasota]

701-719 (filling station and four houses) are all quite nice. I kind of agree that the rest are ...fine, but I wouldn't have a problem if they were replaced with something good. 

What I think is intriguing is the prospect of developers basically trying to opt in to the transit corridors/walkable places outside their current boundary. Ideally this would show the City that they need to accelerate expansion of them.

[wilcal]

6 hours ago, Texasota said:

701-719 (filling station and four houses) are all quite nice. I kind of agree that the rest are ...fine, but I wouldn't have a problem if they were replaced with something good. 

What I think is intriguing is the prospect of developers basically trying to opt in to the transit corridors/walkable places outside their current boundary. Ideally this would show the City that they need to accelerate expansion of them.

Agreed.

Walkable Places makes the most sense for this area. Some of the curb cuts are nasty and of course the restrictions only apply as things are redeveloped.