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astrohip

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  1. astrohip
    I went by this week, first time in a while. Doesn't look like any change since @hindeskyposted pics a few weeks back. Demo seems to have come to a stop. No one on site, even the equipment looks to be in the same spot. The site had standing water, it's possible the rain is causing issues?
  2. astrohip
    What better way to spend a weekend with your mom! 😁
  3. astrohip
    I'm confused (not an unusual state of mind for me 🙃). I thought this was a "mixed use" project--residences, restaurants, light retail, common dining areas, yada yada. Now it's just another apt complex? Or two complexes? Excuse me... with "art walls".
  4. astrohip
    Went by Tuesday, about the same stage as @hindesky posted above. The water hole has dried up, and every day a little more debris is hauled off. The lead excavator (my new buddy 😁) told me they have about 2 weeks left to scrape it clean, before they move on. It's amazing how good the view of downtown Houston is from here.
  5. astrohip
    I need to drive by and take a look at this. Love that area. Sort of a hidden gem. I've met Lauren Rottet, she's an interesting person to talk to. She did the interior at my condo bldg, and not long after it opened, we had a resident's get-together that she attended.
  6. astrohip
    Thanks, appreciate the kind words. Be careful what you ask for... since I mentioned Pease St above, here's a Pease story... In 1963, on Nov 21, JFK came to Houston. Landed at Ellington, drove in the nascent Gulf Fwy, exited at Pease (you had to, there was no Pierce Elevated yet), and drove into downtown. I have home movies (somewhere, in a box), we were standing on the side of Pease where it drops into downtown, along with thousands, watching, waving, cheering, jeering, as JFK drove into town. I remember someone on the opposite side of the road held up a "Goldwater in '64" sign. Ok, no more digressing, I promise.
  7. astrohip
    Sad. I ate there many a lunch. Got a little hot in the summer (no indoors), but the burgers were worth it. My first job was at the corner of Polk & Dowling Emancipation (across from the Houston Post bldg), and then Pease & Bastrop. We ate at a steam table diner called Shanley's (no, that's not right, can't think of the name, Leeland & Hutchins), and Sparkle Burger, and then a Church's opened up. 1976 or so. I'm old. 😁
  8. astrohip
    In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a renovation expert. I don't know what can and can't be saved. I'm sure for the right price, this building could have been rehabbed. It's clear Urban Genesis either didn't want to spend the money, or didn't want an older (rehabbed) building. Part of the reason we moved in 1994 was the state of the structure. The brick section, that had wood beam floors, was rotting (similar but worse to that pic directly above), and we were having to be careful what we stored where. Heavy loads had to be kept in the concrete sections (middle & back), not the front. And we no longer used the upstairs for anything except light duty (like the doors we were finishing). And in the middle sections, there were significant leaks, sections of roofing rotting/rusting, seriously aging mechanicals, etc etc. So from a warehousing POV, it was untenable. To fix would have cost hundreds of thousands. For less money, I bought a rock-solid building out near Gulfgate Mall, about the same size (105,000 sqft). Our buyer (Corp Outfitters) was at the time a "barely scrapin' by" used office furniture company. The building was two or three times the size of what they needed, but the price was perfect for them (I had to darn near give it away to unload it). They had no intention of using the crappy sections, so it worked perfect for them. Plus their product was lightweight, I was moving building materials that weighed a lot, and needed a better built bldg. Could someone have fixed it up? I don't know, that's not my area of expertise. I'm sure for the money, anyone can do anything. But UG didn't seem to value it (sadly, IMHO). I'm somewhat surprised they didn't try to save *any* part of it, at least some brick walls. But again, I'm not a rehab guy, so I don't know what went into their final decision. Sorry to have rambled on, just wanted to share some personal insight.
  9. astrohip
    I understand the sentiment, but I would debate whether this is an "Historic Building". It was an old, decrepit warehouse, that was barely standing when I sold it 25 years ago. It would have cost a fortune to rehab, far more than it was worth, and far more than it would have been worth. It was a warehouse, not an architectural standout. It has sentimental value to me, but little value to anyone else. Other than the location. I have hopes that whatever they build will become a centerpiece of the area. I have always thought that area was undervalued, which is why I originally bought there. So much potential, and it is only going to be realized with new projects. Some of those projects will be new, other rehabs. Location was superb, but the building was a teardown.
  10. astrohip
    Great pics, thanks for sharing. That's the huge freight elevator I mentioned a few weeks ago. Notice also, all the columns and beams are wood, not steel. I know nothing about demo, but is that how you save bricks? Another factoid of interest to no one... See the row of brown marks along the wall to the right of the elevator? In 1991, we set up a door finishing facility up there. We were buying raw Mahogany doors from Mexico (wood from South America, fab'ed in Saltillo, outside of Monterey). We bought truck loads at a time, and finished them in-house. Sanded them, stained them, coated them with Poly. Sold them to builders, who loved the idea of buying a pre-finished front door, rather than having their painter stain them on-site. Eventually we started selling them installed, which they *really* liked. We were the only ones doing this. At the time, almost all builders bought raw doors from lumber & trim suppliers. By selling them turnkey, builders had less steps to manage. At our peak, before competitors reacted, we were selling/installing 20 doors a day. I had five crews doing nothing but door installs. 5,000 doors a year! In any case, those "scorch" marks are overspray from the staining & sealing process. When we moved in 1994, I bought a massive spray booth, like auto-painters use. It had air systems, filters, etc, and met all the EPA/TNRCC (now called the TCEQ) rules.
  11. astrohip
    My desk!!!! 😁 That last building left (not the Bodegas) is all warehouse, there was no office space in it. That's the one that had the wood beam floors. If there is anything left, like a desk, it was probably left behind when the last tenant, Corporate Outfitters, moved out. The office furniture people. I would really like to walk thru that last structure one final time. I will try again when I go by Tuesday for my weekly visit. Not only wood beam flooring, it also had wood columns holding it up. I don't think there was any steel in that building at all. There may have been some concrete columns, I'm not sure which building had them. But most of that building was wood columns. Huge, massive wood columns. I probably have some pics, but that was pre-digital era. If any exist, they are sitting in a Kodak box in a closet. Thanks for the pics & updates @hindesky
  12. astrohip
  13. astrohip
    It's down now. Went by today, the vault is gone, it's all clear, and they're hauling off all the debris of the last week. The only thing left is the brick building in the SE corner (not the SW, that's Black's Bodegas). Demo guy said that's coming down as soon as they haul everything else off. They had three of those large semi-trailer dump trucks lined up, so it may already be gone.
  14. astrohip
    It was a heck of a vault!
  15. astrohip
    Brief history: Built by Houston Sash & Door in the 1910s/1920s. Expanded over the years, that's why it looks like so many different styles of construction--brick, metal, more brick, wood floor, concrete slab, etc. They sold it sometime in the early 1970s, when they built a huge new place out near (called at the time) Beltway 8 West (now SH Tollway). They sold it to a company I can't remember the name, who I bought it from in 1976. I can't believe I can't remember their name, but time & old age will do that to you. 🙄They were only there a few years, they had some financial problems and needed to sell it & move. At the time, I was in some leased buildings at Polk & Dowling (now Emancipation Blvd). Across from the old Houston Post bldg. We moved in 1977 to McKee St. I sold it in 1996 to Corporate Outfitters, a used office furniture business. They were there until they sold it to Urban Genesis. Corp Outfitters has now moved to a fancy new bldg off the South SH Tollway. I had a building supply business called Gulf & Basco. We sold products to home builders. Business was booming, and I needed both a larger, and a more efficient, building. Bought an old warehouse off Broad St, near Gulfgate Mall. Moved in 1994. I had no desire to keep this building. At the time, that area (Warehouse District) was crappy, vacant buildings everywhere, no demand for space. I could barely give the building away. It wasn't in very good shape, physically. FInally sold it in 1996. Needless to say, the times they are a changin'.
  16. astrohip
    All coming down. I had a friend that drove by, and took this picture today. They didn't know it was coming down, and of course had to send it to me ASAP, with a text "Did you know your old building is being demolished?". It shows even more of it gone. Most of the front bldg now down. You can also now see the concrete columns of the vault, along with the concrete floor.
  17. astrohip
    That was fast! Those stairs still standing in your last pic, we added those in the late 1970s. Obviously pre-ADA era. You can see it in my pic below, red circle, before they tore it down. We wanted a public entrance, separate from the main entrance on the corner, so we knocked an opening in the brick wall, added a door, and those steps. Also, can't remember if I've mentioned this before. There is a full size vault upstairs, roughly where the yellow circle is. It was there when we moved in, 1977. Think bank vault. Full size bank vault door, vault was about 12' wide, maybe 25-30' deep. Concrete walls. Concrete columns to hold it up. My office was actually built around two of the columns.
  18. astrohip
    The Bodega building has always been platted and owned separately from the main bldg. I'm not sure who owns it now, but I tried to acquire it in the late 1980s, when it was vacant, and they had no interest in selling. I talked to the demo guys also yesterday, and he said it is all coming down (Bodega excluded). I asked him why they left the brick part standing, and he said they were tearing down the old metal part first (now complete), and then they had to load & haul it off. They would start on the brick part next week. I also asked again about getting in to see the timbers, and he gave me a firm no. Said the brick part was unstable without the metal framework, and it could fall or collapse. No way he wanted me in there. I got some pics, but @hindeskyhas it covered well.
  19. astrohip
    I guess we'll shortly find out if they're really tearing it all down. I'll go by tomorrow.
  20. astrohip
    Agree. That's why I hope to see them myself next week.
  21. astrohip
    I asked him about that (he was on break, and we had a 5-10 minute conversation on all sorts of things--such as I started working there before he was born). He knew exactly what I was talking about. He said those beams were in bad shape, and were not really usable beams any more. Old, dried out, falling apart. I'll probably go back next week and see if I can check them out personally.
  22. astrohip
    I went back and looked at the renderings that were posted in this thread. They clearly show the brick sections being renovated. I know them well enough to recognize them... each window, door, overhead door, etc. Even the funky entrance on the Nance St NW corner is shown in the renderings. While you would think the demo guy would know what he's doing, and he was VERY clear that they were taking down the entire structure, and even gave me a time frame (4-6 weeks start to finish, which is way more time than they need to remove the old metal structures), that doesn't mean he's correct. But I don't hold out much hope at this point. I took a brick that had already been knocked loose as a memento. By my rough estimate, I spent 50,000+ hours of my life in that bldg.
  23. astrohip
    Quick update: I went by yesterday, and talked to the lead guy handling the demo. He said the entire structure is coming down. Every bit of it, brick, metal, etc. They're even going to be ripping out all the slabs, and scraping down to the ground. The only thing left will be that building in the SW corner, that's not part of the main 813 McKee bldg. I'll try to post some pics later, running short on time this morning.
  24. astrohip
    Ah, so they are keeping the brick part of the building? That makes sense. That metal part was junk when we were there, and that was decades ago. The only good part of it is the huge concrete slab it sits on. I'll try to drive by this week, and see what's going on.
  25. astrohip
    I wasn't saying it's fallen thru, I have no insight into its development. Just that it's dead, no activity at all. 100% agree on the land. It is *prime* inner-city real estate.
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