Holiday / Days / Heaven On Earth Inn (801 Calhoun)

[zaphod 225]

Blow it up and build something else.

[tigereye 1742]

8 hours ago, Elseed said:

The entire building should just have murals on it.That would look pretty sweet. Either way I hope they don't tear it down. Abandoned or not we still needs as many buildings as possible in the city.

 

Insteadc the put the multistory sky dancers on another building. 

 

 

I’d be down for letting the building become Houston’s version of 5 Pointz or Graffiti Park. Let Gonzo247 & other local artists go wild with the entire building as their canvas. 

Edited December 11, 2018 by tigereye

[htownbro 584]

any news on this dreadful building 

[arche_757 826]

Turn it into a giant climbing structure?!  Would be pretty neat I assume for rock climbers?  All the while it would provide for a use while the economics of either demolishing it, or renovating becomes favorable.  Besides 2 working elevators (not sure code would allow just 1?), and some minimal restrooms/lockers, you’d be able to maybe carve out some parkour areas too?  Within the lower floors?

Edited April 13, 2019 by arche_757

[cspwal 3440]

On 4/12/2019 at 3:44 PM, htownbro said:

any news on this dreadful building 

There's new graffiti on the Northern side of it

[Nate99 7535]

On 4/12/2019 at 8:43 PM, arche_757 said:

Turn it into a giant climbing structure?!  Would be pretty neat I assume for rock climbers?  All the while it would provide for a use while the economics of either demolishing it, or renovating becomes favorable.  Besides 2 working elevators (not sure code would allow just 1?), and some minimal restrooms/lockers, you’d be able to maybe carve out some parkour areas too?  Within the lower floors?

 

Let Crossfit have it for a while, they could make a workout of the demolition.  Climb the stairs with a 20 lb sledge, bring back hammer and 20 lbs of material, repeat until there's no more building!

[Highrise Tower 25488]

On 4/17/2019 at 12:02 PM, cspwal said:

There's new graffiti on the Northern side of it

 

[Brooklyn173 611]

With all of the rain this Spring, they've been pumping water out of the garage entrance on Main almost every day. I wonder how bad the structure is with all of that water. It can't be a good thing.

[BeerNut 2259]

Clearly the building still isn't secured maybe they need some more COH violations to force a sale.

[hindesky 38249]

Saw a water hose pumping water out of it this morning while biking up Travis St.

[j_cuevas713 2608]

How is this not on the yearly list of eyesores needing to be demolished by the COH? If they're pumping water every time it rains, the structure has to be dangerous to the public. I guess we have to wait for something bad to happen to a pedestrian before the city will do anything. 

[cspwal 3440]

34 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I guess we have to wait for something bad to happen to a pedestrian before the city will do anything. 

or someone driving by

[mollusk 2241]

In this context, is "REMUV" really graffiti?

[Specwriter 325]

On 5/15/2019 at 1:30 PM, mollusk said:

In this context, is "REMUV" really graffiti?

It would be great if "REMUV" was on the drawings for a demolition contract. 😊 I've wondered for sometime if this thread should be merged with the 801 St. Joseph Parkway thread in Crater Houston Alliance. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Specwriter
additional comment

[Urbannizer 42377]

Under contract

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/801-St-Joseph-Pky-Houston-TX/12352462/

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal 370]

WOW - clikced expecting to be dissapointed, I'm excited

[Nate99 7535]

That's encouraging, though I did see some Hare Krishna downtown last week, so don't get your hopes up. 

[Triton 11187]

22 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Under contract

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/801-St-Joseph-Pky-Houston-TX/12352462/

Quote

Just one block away from Midtown; the favorite millennial neighborhood

 

[jermh 711]

24 minutes ago, Triton said:

 

 

We have to rest our heads somewhere when we're not busy killing industries. 

[Brooklyn173 611]

I'm very excited about this. I thought the building would fall down before anything was done. Still need to close and get financing for whatever is next, but hope springs eternal.

[samagon 2979]

I'm not terribly impressed.

 

my understanding is that under contract means that there's someone out there who's willing to drop some money to 'get a good look under the skirt' and see exactly how much investment will have to be made before they can start making money.

[Luminare 5793]

33 minutes ago, samagon said:

I'm not terribly impressed.

 

my understanding is that under contract means that there's someone out there who's willing to drop some money to 'get a good look under the skirt' and see exactly how much investment will have to be made before they can start making money.

 

True. They might also buy it and just sit on it for years. Nobody knows. Its why on the map I always put "Potential Development". The potential is there, but its not if its likely or unlikely.

[H-Town Man 4545]

19 hours ago, samagon said:

I'm not terribly impressed.

 

my understanding is that under contract means that there's someone out there who's willing to drop some money to 'get a good look under the skirt' and see exactly how much investment will have to be made before they can start making money.

 

I think much of this is done before a property goes under contract.

 

[Elseed 56]

This entire building should just be filled with murals, inside and out. That would be an awesome site to see.

[HtownWxBoy 177]

Fingers crossed they do something... that building has been such an eyesore for so long. 

[HoustonBoy 191]

19 hours ago, Elseed said:

This entire building should just be filled with murals, inside and out. That would be an awesome site to see.

My dream for this building has always been to strip it to its concrete, knock out some walls, add creative stairs and ramps throughout, beef up the elevators and/or put glass elevators on the sides, and turn it into a gallery/exhibit/event space/vertical graffiti park. Restyle the garage and add ground floor amenities and you could have a hot spot that generates some revenue at least

[Twinsanity02 1192]

My dream has been for a meteor to crash into it at 3:00 am when no one is around and it all tumbles down into a very neat pile. No gets hurt. No traffic blocked.  Don't really expect that to happen, but heck, one can dream.

[HoustonBoy 191]

Thankfully yours is more likely to come true 

[hindesky 38249]

Rappelling Off a Building, from reddit u/Driftershoots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cspwal 3440]

Looked up this thread to be pedantic on another thread, and made me think - should the title be updated to be 801 St Joesph Parkway?

[wilcal 1283]

On 8/13/2019 at 12:53 PM, Triton said:

 

 

Listing says "Last updated 1/22/20"

 

Doesn't say anything about being under contract anymore

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/801-St-Joseph-Pky-Houston-TX/12352462/

 

Did it specifically say under contract on this page?

[Brooklyn173 611]

Something is happening here. Construction fencing is up and there were workers on the roof of the ancillary building in the parking area. I'm not sure if it is related to the construction across the street (Fairfield Apartments) or just the parking area or something larger.

 

[wilcal 1283]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:45 PM, wilcal said:

 

Listing says "Last updated 1/22/20"

 

Doesn't say anything about being under contract anymore

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/801-St-Joseph-Pky-Houston-TX/12352462/

 

Did it specifically say under contract on this page?

 

29 minutes ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Something is happening here. Construction fencing is up and there were workers on the roof of the ancillary building in the parking area. I'm not sure if it is related to the construction across the street (Fairfield Apartments) or just the parking area or something larger.

 

Loopnet listing now says "last updated 2/3/20"

 

No idea what changed though!

[Houston19514 4028]

46 minutes ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Something is happening here. Construction fencing is up and there were workers on the roof of the ancillary building in the parking area. I'm not sure if it is related to the construction across the street (Fairfield Apartments) or just the parking area or something larger.

 

 

I believe that is an old drive-through bank.  Is that under the same ownership as the old hotel building? 

[wilcal 1283]

I emailed CBRE to ask and they nicely replied that the building is still for sale. Looks like this is unrelated. 

[wilcal 1283]

21 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I believe that is an old drive-through bank.  Is that under the same ownership as the old hotel building? 

 

Different ownership. 

[Nate99 7535]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:53 AM, cspwal said:

Looked up this thread to be pedantic on another thread, and made me think - should the title be updated to be 801 St Joesph Parkway?

 

Probably should for many reasons, but as a reminder of just how bad this thing is, it's an interesting artifact. 

[X.R. 915]

So what are people hoping happens with this? Torn down and something new (just not a surface parking lot), or restoring the building and using it for something else (I assume this would be faster than a tear down)? I guess I assume, based on the listing itself, that if anything happens to it then it will be an reuse or restore. Its strange that with all the development in DT, including development in that area, that no one has taken a chance on the building. 

 

They should make it like the city museum in St. Louis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum . Make the top floor a bar and restaurant with all glass walls because of the view would be great, call wolfgang puck and tell him the space is his. 

[HoustonBoy 191]

28 minutes ago, X.R. said:

So what are people hoping happens with this? Torn down and something new (just not a surface parking lot), or restoring the building and using it for something else (I assume this would be faster than a tear down)? I guess I assume, based on the listing itself, that if anything happens to it then it will be an reuse or restore. Its strange that with all the development in DT, including development in that area, that no one has taken a chance on the building. 

 

They should make it like the city museum in St. Louis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum . Make the top floor a bar and restaurant with all glass walls because of the view would be great, call wolfgang puck and tell him the space is his. 

Wow I didn't know that existed, yet that's exactly what I want for this. I was thinking art galleries + exhibition space + museum space + vertical graffiti park + observation deck + restaurants and of course ground floor retail 

[Houston19514 4028]

3 hours ago, X.R. said:

So what are people hoping happens with this? Torn down and something new (just not a surface parking lot), or restoring the building and using it for something else (I assume this would be faster than a tear down)? I guess I assume, based on the listing itself, that if anything happens to it then it will be an reuse or restore. Its strange that with all the development in DT, including development in that area, that no one has taken a chance on the building. 

 

They should make it like the city museum in St. Louis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum . Make the top floor a bar and restaurant with all glass walls because of the view would be great, call wolfgang puck and tell him the space is his. 

 

Interesting idea! (except the Wofgang Puck part ... blehh) 

[Brooklyn173 611]

I went by this the other day and the dump trucks were using it for a queuing area for the excavations at the Fairfield residential site (sorry for the run on sentence). So I am assuming that this is just lay down area and a construction site office (there was a new generator hooked up for the old bank building). Sadly, probably nothing of permanent value.

 

But hopefully interested eyes might be turned to the old building now...

[Highrise Tower 25488]

https://www.instagram.com/uhdiradio/

[zaphod 225]

I have a potential solution guys:

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-48068866

 

Thinking what I'm thinking 😈

Edited April 22 by zaphod
better source

[Montrose1100 3371]

It's in a prime location for low income housing, don't know why the city/housing authority hasn't snagged it up yet.

[ToryGattis 202]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:52 AM, Montrose1100 said:

It's in a prime location for low income housing, don't know why the city/housing authority hasn't snagged it up yet.

 

Because I'm pretty sure that's about the last thing the Downtown Management District wants it to become. But also experiences in Chicago and elsewhere have shown that low-income towers are hard to keep secure and can become crime hotspots. Lower-rise options work much better and lead to healthier low and mixed-income communities.

 

It needs to become student housing for Rice, UH, UH Downtown, or even Baylor Medical School (probably private serving all of the above).  It's right on rail lines to all of those.

 

 

[Brooklyn173 611]

I always liked the idea of a senior independent living situation, for many of the same reasons you liked student housing. Near transit and the theaters and the restaurants of downtown. But I fear that the structure itself may be the question now, especially after the reported contract fell through last year. And tearing it down and building something new is unlikely considering all of the available parking lots / development sites nearby.

[Naviguessor 2045]

The problem with senior living in high rises...fire alarms and actual fires. 

[TexasWriter 1]

Any way we could make it into a temporary urban garden? Southwest side gets lots of light streaming in for enough hours of the day, and if someone wants to do something more permanent, then planter boxes would be easy to remove.

[Brooklyn173 611]

On 4/29/2020 at 10:52 PM, Naviguessor said:

The problem with senior living in high rises...fire alarms and actual fires. 

 

There are lots of senior housing facilities that are high rise. I'm from NYC which has a bunch, but they exist in many smaller cities. Here's one just down the road a ways.

https://thetowersonparklane.com/

 

Though I am of the opinion that the current building will need to start completely failing so as to reduce the price, and then be knocked down for a new development. Though maybe the owners will want to dump it quickly in a post COVID world and someone will be willing to take the gamble. A very long shot at best.

[cloud713 3890]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:15 PM, Brooklyn173 said:

But I fear that the structure itself may be the question now, especially after the reported contract fell through last year.

The website says under contract again.

Edited May 14 by cloud713