Office Tower At 1111 Travis St.

[yaga]

Yesterday Swamplot posted a cryptic rumor of a "major (non-residential) Houston property is about to make a significant change." The rumor also mentioned managment pursuing notable architects for this change and demolition to begin by years end.

http://swamplot.com/big-vague-news-you-cant-use/2013-01-02/

[j_cuevas713]

No one fear, all about econonics people! You seriously think that this report from the Chronicle is news? Lets figure some things out, this forum was created because we assumed that the downtown Macys would soon be renovated in to this incredible glass structure. Then we find out that was all just some "concept" thrown around. Then we see this today in the paper. Houston is booming, and if we think this is somehow a disappointment then we aren't realizing how valuable downtown is becoming. All the renovations, and planning by our city leaders is creating a high dollar area. I honestly believe we are about to see a ton of businesses downtown like never before. I find it very weird how we stumble across a rendering of a smaller store with office space above it and then this happens. I think the city has been planning much more than we expect.

[samagon]

j_cuevas713, I don't disagree with you in principal, and certainly not in optimism, because I like the idea, and I'm an optimist about downtown and the surrounding areas (specifically to the east of DT).

However, before they can draw a high dollar crowd, they have to do something about the homeless issue. Educate the people they are trying to attract, move the homeless, or something else, but people are not going to go downtown to visit an Apple store when the entryway smells of urine, and they are uncomfortable with the homeless person asking them for spare change.

[kylejack]

j_cuevas713, I don't disagree with you in principal, and certainly not in optimism, because I like the idea, and I'm an optimist about downtown and the surrounding areas (specifically to the east of DT).

However, before they can draw a high dollar crowd, they have to do something about the homeless issue. Educate the people they are trying to attract, move the homeless, or something else, but people are not going to go downtown to visit an Apple store when the entryway smells of urine, and they are uncomfortable with the homeless person asking them for spare change.

Works for Chicago.

[kbates2]

I did go to that Macy's today to figure out if I was going to want any big ticket items once the closeout sale starts. No joke, 100% truth, as I walked up I had to jump over the spreading puddle of piss from a homeless guy directly across the street peeing behind a planter. This was 2 hours ago. 12:30. On Main Street in the middle of rush hour.

[wxman]

Figured maybe it was time this should have its own topic. Seems things are moving forward with a new commercial property that Macy's currently occupies downtown. According to the article, Macy's is closing and the building will be torn down and replaced with a new commercial building.

http://blog.chron.co...o-close/#9183-5

Edited January 3, 2013 by wxman

[arrodiii]

Apparently they want to put an office building there

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/01/downtown-macys-to-close/

Sorry if you all knew that - I didn't remember reading that the first time

[HOUCAJUN]

If the replacement building isn't impressive, then it would be a waste. The article also mentioned that a new Macy's store is a possibility. Houston Pavilions? Books A Million spot extended to the next block? Just a thought.

[Tejo]

Perhaps this rendering is legit as to what will replace Macy's. There is nothing which indicates it is a rendering of a "remodeled" Macy's.

[lockmat]

A chron commenter said the nyt did a story on its opening. I think I found it but you have to pay

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D1FF83E5E17738DDDA80994D1405B8788F1D3#

[Trae]

Perhaps this rendering is legit as to what will replace Macy's. There is nothing which indicates it is a rendering of a "remodeled" Macy's.

Except for the Macy's logo in the middle. I wonder if Macy's will take up the old Books-A-Million space? It would look bad for Downtown to lose another retailer and hurt what they are trying to build there.

[urbancowboy]

Except for the Macy's logo in the middle. I wonder if Macy's will take up the old Books-A-Million space? It would look bad for Downtown to lose another retailer and hurt what they are trying to build there.

That would be great, and quite pratical. It's a shame that we are losing one of the few viable options to shop at not only Downtown but along the lightrail routes that will be constructed for the forseeable future. I wish the MD or the city could've worked out some sort of financial incentives to keep them open, at least until a new location downtown could be determined.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

the old Books a Million space would be great for a scaled down Macy's

[fatesdisastr]

I guess if Macy's did want to take the Books A Million spot they could always expand beyond current walls considering the rest of that first floor side of the block is completely vacant.

Edited January 4, 2013 by fatesdisastr

[wxman]

According to the article, it looks like a new office TOWER is going in that location.

...The owner of the building is planning to tear down the 10-story structure and develop an office tower in its place, Mayor Annise Parker said Thursday afternoon, addressing the store's closure and announcing a new plan to increase retail in downtown....

Edited January 4, 2013 by wxman

[Subdude]

Note two Macy's topics merged. Since at this point nothing is announced as 'Going Up' the combined topic is in the downtown section.

[arrodiii]

The Houston Chronicle's article on it - for those who don't have a subscription to the paid articles:

Landmark Store Leaves Rich Legacy By David Kaplan

January 4, 2013

Traveling by car and bus, people rich and poor came to visit the department store at 1110 Main. They'd shop, eat, explore and take in the buzz of a city.

But Houston's way of life has changed and the store - originally Foley's and now Macy's - is no longer a hub of activity. The city's vast retail landscape now includes malls, shopping centers and big-box stores scattered everywhere. Other Macy's around town do far better business.

Now, the once-celebrated downtown department store may meet the wrecking ball. Its parent company announced Thursday that it will shutter the store and five others nationwide.

If the building is demolished, it will leave behind a rich legacy.

In decades past, "retail shopping was the glue that held downtown together," said Bruce C. Webb, professor at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston.

National attention

Going to a downtown department store was "a bigger deal" than shopping in a mall is today, Webb said. It involved "seeing everything in the world" in the store, eating, possibly taking in a movie nearby, walking around downtown and looking in other store windows, he said.

And Webb recalls that the Foley's windows "were wonderful at Christmas."

Micheal Boddy, HP Staff Houston Post files

11/19/1984 - Foley's brings back animated windows for the Christmas season. Pedestrians pass by the "Land of Snow" scene from the Nutcracker Ballet. Each of the four windows on Main Street displays a different stage set with animated characters from the Nutcracker Ballet. Micheal Boddy / Houston Post

"The thought of it being torn down is scandalous to me, considering the quality of the building and its cultural history," Webb said. Noted architect Kenneth Franzheim designed the building and worked with legendary designer Raymond Loewy.

When it opened in 1947, the downtown Foley's got the nation's attention. Some 200,000 people showed up for the grand opening, an event covered by national media from the New Yorker to Popular Science.

"The downtown Foley's was considered a futuristic store that would reshape downtown retail merchandising," said Rice University history professor John Boles.

A modern marvel

People marveled at a windowless, air- conditioned structure with conveyer belts running throughout the store and into the parking garage, he said.

"It was so large and innovative and people were stunned it would be built in a city they didn't know much about," Boles said. "It was Houston's first big iconic building and helped shape an image of Houston as a bigger, bolder, futuristic kind of city."

The Shamrock Hotel and Astrodome would reinforce that image, he said.

Beginning in 1950, Santa would land at Union Station and ride his sleigh to the downtown Foley's building to kick off the Foley's Thanksgiving Parade, a 44-year-long tradition.

The downtown store, like the city around it, would be affected by social change. For example, in 1970 a group of women marched to Foley's to protest its male-only Men's Grill, one of several eateries in the store.

'It's terrible'

On Thursday, customers were disappointed to hear of the store's closing. "It's terrible," said Sherry Gross, an executive assistant who lives in the suburbs but works downtown. "I think it's sad a city this large is losing its only big retail store downtown - the only place for the downtown worker to shop, unless you're Forever 21."

Retiree Gladys Redmond began shopping in Foley's decades ago when she'd ride to downtown to transfer buses for her job. She is still a customer.

"This is where I go," she said. "I'll just find it in Macy's." Redmond uses MetroLift for transportation now, and isn't sure which Macy's she'll try next.

She was at the store looking out the window with her great-granddaughter. "I used to take her father here, too," Redmond recalled.

Lost landmarks

Five Houston landmarks that fell to the wrecking ball:

Metropolitan Theater, 1973: One of downtown's grand, 1920s-style movie houses, the Metropolitan had an Egyptian theme.

Shamrock Hotel, 1987: Oilman Glenn McCarthy's hotel brought Hollywood star power to the city, but financial problems proved insurmountable.

Fourth Ward, 1990s: Shotgun-style houses in this traditionally African-American neighborhood west of downtown yielded to upscale townhomes and apartments over a period of time.

AstroWorld, 2005: Houstonians of a certain age still lament the demolition of this amusement park that operated off the South Loop for 37 years.

Prudential Building, 2012: Stylish 1950s-era office building featured curved walls paneled with tropical wood, copious amounts of Chiaro marble and an Olympic-size swimming pool.

Source: Chronicle archives, architectural historian Stephen Fox, Greater Houston Preservation Alliance's book, "Houston Deco"

Read more: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Landmark-store-leaves-rich-legacy-4166138.php#ixzz2H1H6fUY2

[Subdude]

Another lost landmark the article leaves out is the Lamar Hotel, which you can see across the street in the photograph. It was demolished in April 1985, not long after the picture was taken.

[tigereye]

According to the article, it looks like a new office TOWER is going in that location.

...The owner of the building is planning to tear down the 10-story structure and develop an office tower in its place, Mayor Annise Parker said Thursday afternoon, addressing the store's closure and announcing a new plan to increase retail in downtown....

It maybe worth noting that 1110 Main Partners owns the Macy's Block, as well as the Macy's Garage & the Americana Building on the the adjacent block. That's 2 city blocks in the center of Downtown. And only Subway is left open now (everything else has been closed)

One can only wonder what they'd need 2 city blocks for...

[Nate99]

It maybe worth noting that 1110 Main Partners owns the Macy's Block, as well as the Macy's Garage & the Americana Building on the the adjacent block. That's 2 city blocks in the center of Downtown. And only Subway is left open now (everything else has been closed)

One can only wonder what they'd need 2 city blocks for...

Just saw the same thing.

I seem to recall reading that the rest of the Americana building is empty as well. A replacement development could be another Houston Center type with a bridge over the street, but I would imagine, unless tenants are locked up for something huge that they would build on the blocks one at a time.

Sitting empty, the Macy's/Foley's building is going to look like hell in short order.

[IronTiger]

I have a really bad feeling that the thing is going to be a hole in the ground for a few years.

I was horrified when I read the paper today: I went there last summer (2011).

[Houston19514]

Since Macy's is closing because they lost their lease (according to the Mayor's office/Chron. article), it seems somewhat likely that redevelopment is planned sooner, rather than later. Likewise for the Americana/parking garage block. For-profit businesses do not typically force out rent-paying tenants for the purpose of creating a hole in the ground.

Hopefully, they have something exciting in the works. Is there any reason an office tower development could not have a department store at its base?

[infinite_jim]

Hopefully, they have something exciting in the works. Is there any reason an office tower development could not have a department store at its base?

Like a Bloomingdale's? or is the old Sakowitz parking garage getting a retail renovation first?

[samagon]

Hopefully, they have something exciting in the works. Is there any reason an office tower development could not have a department store at its base?

Maybe I'm envisioning this wrong, but I'd hate to work in an office that I had to walk through a women's perfume department every day to get to my desk.

Seriously though, that would be cool, at least the first floor could be built out as retail, it wouldn't have to be a department store.

Not including HP, I wonder what the occupancy is for first floor retail space downtown?

[Houston19514]

Like a Bloomingdale's? or is the old Sakowitz parking garage getting a retail renovation first?

I was thinking like a replacement Macy's. Bloomingdale would be amazing to get. I would LOVE to see Bloomingdale or Nordstrom take over the old Sakowtiz Building. Or, heck, even Macy's.

[DrLan34]

Hilcorop just announced the new building. Macy's teardown will be starting soon.

[livincinco]

Kind of amazed that no one has asked this question yet, but...details?

[H-Town Man]

Lost landmarks

Houston landmarks that fell to the wrecking ball:

Metropolitan Theater, 1973: One of downtown's grand, 1920s-style movie houses, the Metropolitan had an Egyptian theme.  Turned into Houston Chronicle office space.

 

Milam Hotel, 1985: Site of the legendary 8F club.  Included Houston's remaining two historic movie palaces: the Majestic and the Loews State.

Shamrock Hotel, 1987: Oilman Glenn McCarthy's hotel brought Hollywood star power to the city, but financial problems proved insurmountable.

Fourth Ward, 1990s: Shotgun-style houses in this traditionally African-American neighborhood west of downtown yielded to upscale townhomes and apartments over a period of time.

 

Jefferson Davis Hospital II, 1999: Landmark art deco hospital, featured in a prominent shot in Urban Cowboy.

AstroWorld, 2005: Houstonians of a certain age still lament the demolition of this amusement park that operated off the South Loop for 37 years.

Prudential Building, 2012: Stylish 1950s-era office building featured curved walls paneled with tropical wood, copious amounts of Chiaro marble and an Olympic-size swimming pool.

 

 

Couple of edits...

[lockmat]

Kind of amazed that no one has asked this question yet, but...details?

Or better yet, links? Was it a hilcorp internal email?

[DrLan34]

-

Edited May 15, 2013 by DrLan34