Loro Asian Smokehouse & Bar At 5333 Kirby Dr.

[Highrise Tower]

Noticed this on Loopnet.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/5333-Kirby-Dr-Houston-TX/21788420/

[OkieEric]

Somewhat unrelated, but does anyone know anything about the building just north of this property?  Looks like an old office building with all of the windows sealed off - I had always assumed it was some kind of storage, or somehow related to the body shops nearby but have no idea how it would be.  Looking at it on google maps there is very limited access to the building, even on the back side.  Seems pretty bizarre for what is a good location

[Ross]

25 minutes ago, OkieEric said:

Somewhat unrelated, but does anyone know anything about the building just north of this property?  Looks like an old office building with all of the windows sealed off - I had always assumed it was some kind of storage, or somehow related to the body shops nearby but have no idea how it would be.  Looking at it on google maps there is very limited access to the building, even on the back side.  Seems pretty bizarre for what is a good location

It's owned by an entity named Achatus LP, whose franchise tax status is suspended. Before that, it was owned by the Houston Association of Credit Management, who bought it from Bank of the Southwest in 1977. No clue who owned it before then, the County Clerk's search feature isn't that great. Hmmm, I wonder if I can get the digitized records in a database format so I can do my own searches. I've done that with HCAD data, converting it to SQL Server in the past.

[Urbannizer]

This one may have grown in size. Loopnet listing no longer being advertised.

https://www.moarchitecture.net/collaborative-design-projects/mob-houston

Triple Crown Investments - Houston, Texas

This project represents the design for a best-in-class Medical Office Building located prominently between Greenway Plaza and the Texas Medical Center. This 360,000 gsf facility will provide upward of 100k gsf leasable space while supporting parking requirements for 476 cars at an 83.6% efficiency ratio.

The design will create a 'billboard' for the community while enhancing the characteristics of the former industrial site.

 

 

[astrohip]

Interesting looking building, in a prime spot (besides the fact traffic sucks right there). It's funny, just last week my wife & I were driving to a Seder just down the street, and commenting on how the area could use more medical buildings (really!). Dense part of town, large mature population, and it's a PITA to have to drive into the TMC. 

We're just waiting for the one on Westheimer (near Wesleyan) to open, just to see who's in it. Yes, I know, I'm old. 🤒

 

On 12/25/2020 at 8:42 PM, Ross said:

It's owned by an entity named Achatus LP, whose franchise tax status is suspended. Before that, it was owned by the Houston Association of Credit Management, who bought it from Bank of the Southwest in 1977. No clue who owned it before then, the County Clerk's search feature isn't that great. Hmmm, I wonder if I can get the digitized records in a database format so I can do my own searches. I've done that with HCAD data, converting it to SQL Server in the past.

My former company was very active in HACM, now known as NACM Southwest. It's a trade association of credit managers, we were part of the Building Materials group (my CM was the head of it for several years). They owned that bldg free & clear, but several events converged. One, the building needed an enormous amount of work, it was really old. ADA rehab, code updates, etc. Second, the land was worth far more than the bldg. Lastly, the membership was moving farther from the city core, like much of Houston, and more members were outside the Loop, and even the Tollway, than inside. The location, once a huge plus, was now a drag. They made a boatload of money when they sold it, which can be a real problem for a 501(c)6. They moved to the west side of Houston.

I've reached out to the former Exec Director of HACM to see what she knows.

[Montrose1100]

Houston - The architecture of yesterday, today!

Sincerely love this. Makes me wonder if the shades are on the north side as well?

[texas911]

I don't know, if you're making it to Kirby, might as well go all the way to the med center? Its not that much further.

[X.R.]

2 hours ago, texas911 said:

I don't know, if you're making it to Kirby, might as well go all the way to the med center? Its not that much further.

There's a bit of a lack of non-TMC premium medical space here in the H. Docs with larger clinics/private practices that also have credentials at the larger hospitals want a nice space for their patients that doesn't require them to deal with parking in the med center. Midtown is already getting two or three pain/plastics clinics (including Austin st), you have Mann doing his thing in Museum district, and there's a bit of new leasable space just south of TMC. I think we'll see more of these "premium" healthcare spaces around town with retail at the bottom because, you know, the doctors need to diversify too 😂.

Didn't the Museo District's renderings have shades too? Lol, why does everyone love that, is that a trend. 

[hindesky]

[j_cuevas713]

The parking requirements are insanely ridiculous. Isn't there a meeting soon about parking mins city wide? 

[iah77]

5 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

The parking requirements are insanely ridiculous. Isn't there a meeting soon about parking mins city wide? 

That area has an issue where for some reason none of the streets allow parking even though they are super wide and not that busy. I've always wondered why

Just mentioning since I feel street parking would make the area feel much more alive etc.

[j_cuevas713]

2 minutes ago, iah77 said:

That area has an issue where for some reason none of the streets allow parking even though they are super wide and not that busy. I've always wondered why

Just mentioning since I feel street parking would make the area feel much more alive etc.

For sure. After last years Sidewalk Summit, I remember a council member saying that the next big thing on the agenda is talking about parking requirements city wide and extending the market based parking to other areas. 

[clutchcity94]

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/05-11-22-loro-asian-smokehouse-restaurant-second-houston-location-kirby-rice-village-aaron-franklin-tyson-cole/#slide=0

[iah77]

3 hours ago, clutchcity94 said:

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/05-11-22-loro-asian-smokehouse-restaurant-second-houston-location-kirby-rice-village-aaron-franklin-tyson-cole/#slide=0

This being open in a year seems a bit ambitious no?

[DotCom]

On 5/11/2022 at 11:13 AM, clutchcity94 said:

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/05-11-22-loro-asian-smokehouse-restaurant-second-houston-location-kirby-rice-village-aaron-franklin-tyson-cole/#slide=0

Does this mean the MOB project is dead?  The site plan and renderings show it replacing the auto body shop where Loro will be located.

 

On 4/21/2022 at 11:55 PM, Urbannizer said:

This one may have grown in size. Loopnet listing no longer being advertised.

https://www.moarchitecture.net/collaborative-design-projects/mob-houston

 

 

 

[hindesky]

Architect - https://abeldesigngroup.com

[DotCom]

Permit app still pending.

[hindesky]

Architect - https://abeldesigngroup.com

[j_cuevas713]

I wonder if a road diet would be considered for Kirby from Westheimer to Holcombe. As this area continues to get more dense, the demand for multimodal ways of getting around is going to increase. I could see protected bike lanes being implemented and shrinking Kirby to one lane each way with a middle turning lane. 

[Ross]

4 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I wonder if a road diet would be considered for Kirby from Westheimer to Holcombe. As this area continues to get more dense, the demand for multimodal ways of getting around is going to increase. I could see protected bike lanes being implemented and shrinking Kirby to one lane each way with a middle turning lane. 

That seems like a really bad idea, given the amount of traffic Kirby carries. It would also eliminate a good chunk of the North South capacity from that part of town. If Shepherd went all the way to Holcombe, it wouldn't be as bad, but having go use Greenbriar, then Rice Blvd, then Shepherd to go North would be a huge pain and traffic would be bad.

[emmanume]

Kirby needs a road diet for sure

[Naviguessor]

It'd be a nightmare.  

[Houston19514]

18 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I wonder if a road diet would be considered for Kirby from Westheimer to Holcombe. As this area continues to get more dense, the demand for multimodal ways of getting around is going to increase. I could see protected bike lanes being implemented and shrinking Kirby to one lane each way with a middle turning lane. 

 

34 minutes ago, Naviguessor said:

It'd be a nightmare.  

"Nightmare" might be the most overused word in Houston, but in this case, it might be apt.  Perhaps a road diet, but Kirby one-lane in each direction all the way from Westheimer to Holcombe?  Not a good plan.

[j_cuevas713]

22 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

"Nightmare" might be the most overused word in Houston, but in this case, it might be apt.  Perhaps a road diet, but Kirby one-lane in each direction all the way from Westheimer to Holcombe?  Not a good plan.

I'd like to see the data. The city plans to do the same to Lower Westheimer and they're already going to give 11th in the Heights the same treatment. 

[Houston19514]

4 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I'd like to see the data. The city plans to do the same to Lower Westheimer and they're already going to give 11th in the Heights the same treatment. 

For all practical purposes, Lower Westheimer is already one lane in each direction.  In most places where there are nominally two lanes, the lane closest to the curb is unusable.

Here are some traffic counts I could find.

Kirby just north of Southwest Freeway carried about 22,000 cars per day.  Westheimer just east of Shepherd carries a little less than half that number.  11th Street between Heights and Studewood also carried less than half.  (All counts were from 2019.)

https://hgac.public.ms2soft.com/tcds/tsearch.asp?loc=hgac

Edited October 26, 2022 by Houston19514

[Naviguessor]

J_c, All it takes is driving up or down Kirby, at almost any time during the day, to realize that it is a very busy street, through a very commercial stretch, which includes a major feeway intersection right in the middle of zone we are talking about, to realize that the street doesn't need a road diet.  The volume of traffic on Lower Westheimer or 11th, doesn't even closely compare.   Traffic data isn't required.  

[j_cuevas713]

On 10/26/2022 at 10:57 AM, Naviguessor said:

J_c, All it takes is driving up or down Kirby, at almost any time during the day, to realize that it is a very busy street, through a very commercial stretch, which includes a major feeway intersection right in the middle of zone we are talking about, to realize that the street doesn't need a road diet.  The volume of traffic on Lower Westheimer or 11th, doesn't even closely compare.   Traffic data isn't required.  

I don't need to drive it, I live right off of it. Yes it's a very busy thoroughfare but as the amount of people increase in this area, what can be done to give people more options to move around? It's not only busy but incredibly dangerous for anyone not in a car. Even if bike lanes seem unfeasible, what about dedicated transit lanes for buses only?

Edited October 28, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[Naviguessor]

Oh, Totally.   If you could figure a way out a way to introduce transit lanes and keep two main lanes of traffic, that'd be ideal.  In fact, I'd love to see Post Oak style BRT from NRG Park all the way up Kirby, to Allen Parkway and into Downtown.    

[j_cuevas713]

On 10/26/2022 at 12:25 PM, Naviguessor said:

Oh, Totally.   If you could figure a way out a way to introduce transit lanes and keep two main lanes of traffic, that'd be ideal.  In fact, I'd love to see Post Oak style BRT from NRG Park all the way up Kirby, to Allen Parkway and into Downtown.    

Ridership would be through the roof

[OkieEric]

This is *kind of* unrelated, but a few weeks ago I was coming south on Kirby and saw a guy on his bike in the right lane just cruising along at a snail's pace.  Granted, he ignored all rules of the road and rode on past traffic stopped at lights, through red lights themselves, etc., but that dude kept pace with me from Westpark nearly to Holcombe.  Not sure what could help alleviate some of the traffic in that area but it will be nice to get Buffalo Speedway back eventually

[j_cuevas713]

1 hour ago, OkieEric said:

This is *kind of* unrelated, but a few weeks ago I was coming south on Kirby and saw a guy on his bike in the right lane just cruising along at a snail's pace.  Granted, he ignored all rules of the road and rode on past traffic stopped at lights, through red lights themselves, etc., but that dude kept pace with me from Westpark nearly to Holcombe.  Not sure what could help alleviate some of the traffic in that area but it will be nice to get Buffalo Speedway back eventually

It's a lot easier for cyclists to yield at red lights than stopping every single time. 

[OkieEric]

6 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

It's a lot easier for cyclists to yield at red lights than stopping every single time. 

Oh, come on.  This isn't midtown or downtown with lights every block and sorry, if you are riding your bike down Kirby at rush hour at a leisurely pace, then passing and re-passing cars at red lights as you ignore them, you can go fly a kite.  My point was that there are serious traffic issues on Kirby as is, so a "road diet" is simply not going to work.  You must not live very far south off Kirby or you would realize this not remotely feasible.

It would be nice to see that stretch from 59 to Bissonnet finally redone.  Upper Kirby TIRZ extends there so not sure what the hold up is as I've seen it come and go from Houston CIP over the years.  South of there (even though outside Upper Kirby) it would be nice to see similar touches to Upper Kirby, but I know that is a pipe dream.   South of University there's just not much room to do much of anything

[j_cuevas713]

On 10/28/2022 at 11:35 PM, OkieEric said:

Oh, come on.  This isn't midtown or downtown with lights every block and sorry, if you are riding your bike down Kirby at rush hour at a leisurely pace, then passing and re-passing cars at red lights as you ignore them, you can go fly a kite.  My point was that there are serious traffic issues on Kirby as is, so a "road diet" is simply not going to work.  You must not live very far south off Kirby or you would realize this not remotely feasible.

It would be nice to see that stretch from 59 to Bissonnet finally redone.  Upper Kirby TIRZ extends there so not sure what the hold up is as I've seen it come and go from Houston CIP over the years.  South of there (even though outside Upper Kirby) it would be nice to see similar touches to Upper Kirby, but I know that is a pipe dream.   South of University there's just not much room to do much of anything

Go ride a bike and come back with a better opinion. I ride everywhere in this city, and can tell you it's much easier to yield. Just because it isn't downtown or Midtown is irrelevant when approaching a red light. Would you rather every cyclist stop at a red light while you sit behind fuming because we won't get out of the way? You can't have it both ways and complain. I live right off Kirby and W Alabama so I see the traffic daily, but that doesn't mean the road wasn't poorly designed to begin with as most Houston streets are. You're just accustomed to seeing traffic and assuming nothing can be done because how could people possibly get around without a car. If you provided easier more accessible ways to travel, you would cut traffic on Kirby and encourage cycling or transit use while making Kirby much more pedestrian.

Edited November 1, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[hindesky]

[Caribomoa]

Don’t think I noticed anyone post the Rolex Boutique at de Boulle

[Amlaham]

This building has been stripped, couldn't get the best picture

 

[IntheKnowHouston]

A plan review fee permit for a sprinkler plan check was filed today for 5333 Kirby Dr. 

Edited October 20 by IntheKnowHouston