Warehouse District: Mixed-Use By Urban Genesis

[hindesky]

Looks like they have just started on the brick building on the north east corner.

Edited May 3, 2021 by hindesky

[Houston19514]

It's starting to look like they are sticking with the plan presented in the renderings.

[phillip_white]

Is a Houston developer actually going to semi-preserve a historic structure? The times they are a-changin.

[hindesky]

7 minutes ago, phillip_white said:

Is a Houston developer actually going to semi-preserve a historic structure? The times they are a-changin.

Not according to one of the demo guys I talked with. He said everything is coming down except for the "Black Bodegas" building in the southwest corner. They started today on the brick building on the northeast side.

[Houston19514]

18 hours ago, hindesky said:

Not according to one of the demo guys I talked with. He said everything is coming down except for the "Black Bodegas" building in the southwest corner. They started today on the brick building on the northeast side.

Yeah,  but it’s kinda looking like they are being pretty careful not to damage the southeast brick building in the process of demolishing the others, and that's the one that seems to be in the renderings.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Houston19514

[phillip_white]

40 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Yeah,  but it’s kinda looking like they are being pretty careful not to damage the southeast brick building in the process of demolishing the others.

Agreed. If they wanted to take it all down, why not just come out swinging?

47 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Not according to one of the demo guys I talked with. He said everything is coming down except for the "Black Bodegas" building in the southwest corner. They started today on the brick building on the northeast side.

Is the bodega still open? That would be a major hint as to whether or not it will be demolished anytime soon. Also, technically the southeast building would be coming down... just not completely if they leave the facade (fingers crossed). 

[H-Town Man]

9 hours ago, phillip_white said:

Agreed. If they wanted to take it all down, why not just come out swinging?

Is the bodega still open? That would be a major hint as to whether or not it will be demolished anytime soon. Also, technically the southeast building would be coming down... just not completely if they leave the facade (fingers crossed). 

They don't own the bodega building, which is also a hint that they won't be demolishing it.

 

[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.

[hindesky]

They are working on the blue colored brick building on the northeast corner, looks like 90% of it is down.

[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.

[j_cuevas713]

So has anyone fully confirmed that the last building standing is staying or being town down?

[hindesky]

3 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

So has anyone fully confirmed that the last building standing is staying or being town down?

Only the Black Bodegas on the southeast corner is staying. Urban Genesis didn't buy it, everything else is coming down on that block, I asked the guys doing the demo. If you look at HCAD it is owned by someone else. Urban Genesis also owns several other plots of land in the area though.

[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.

[BigFootsSocks]

Wasn't there a furniture store that used to be here?

[j_cuevas713]

2 hours ago, astrohip said:

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.

Why didn't you keep the building? Just curious

[astrohip]

12 hours ago, BigFootsSocks said:

Wasn't there a furniture store that used to be here?

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.

 

12 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Why didn't you keep the building? Just curious

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'.

 

[hindesky]

Looks like @astrohip safe area will be the last to come down. I'd say 99% of the blue brick building is down. Saw a truck loaded with scrap leaving when I rode up.

[astrohip]

18 hours ago, hindesky said:

Looks like @astrohip safe area will be the last to come down. I'd say 99% of the blue brick building is down. Saw a truck loaded with scrap leaving when I rode up.

It was a heck of a vault!

[hindesky]

On 5/8/2021 at 9:29 AM, astrohip said:

It was a heck of a vault!

I think the contractor realized he's gonna need a jack hammer attachment to break up the vault area. They didn't work Saturday or Sunday.

 

[astrohip]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:04 PM, hindesky said:

I think the contractor realized he's gonna need a jack hammer attachment to break up the vault area. They didn't work Saturday or Sunday.

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.

 

 

[astrohip]

[iah77]

I'm honestly shocked that in an area with so many empty lots this was the most feasible for them... they wiped out like half the area.

[j_cuevas713]

I have been informed that the bricks for the corner building will be saved and the facade will be rebuilt as the rendering shows. 

[crock]

destroying an entire neighborhood's aethestic/vibe/thing in a week, jfc.   
 

[HoustonMidtown]

https://flic.kr/p/2kYkPcS

 

 

[hindesky]

I talked with the worker in the orange hard hat and asked what they were doing. He said they were going to clean up the grout and waterproof it. This is the Black Bodegas building that is staying in the southwest corner of the the project. The other crew was loading out demo material and hadn't started on the last remaining building yet. I also saw them loading a desk into the SUV. I guess there is still some salvageable stuff in the last building.

 

 

[astrohip]

14 hours ago, hindesky said:

I talked with the worker in the orange hard hat and asked what they were doing. He said they were going to clean up the grout and waterproof it. This is the Black Bodegas building that is staying in the southwest corner of the the project. The other crew was loading out demo material and hadn't started on the last remaining building yet. I also saw them loading a desk into the SUV. I guess there is still some salvageable stuff in the last building.

 

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

[j_cuevas713]

20 hours ago, crock said:

destroying an entire neighborhood's aethestic/vibe/thing in a week, jfc.   
 

I know it's hard to be ok with this at the moment BUT when we take a look at the overall plan for the area, it's very promising. In retrospect I see what Urban Genesis is doing. They're keeping the most important parts of the Warehouse District, or what makes the most sense for what they own. That entire blue building was mostly just old rusted metal. And it's great they are going to pump more people in to the heart of the area. We also need to consider who is actually contributing the the area. There is the Dakota Lofts, William St Lofts, Theodore Rex, Last Concert Cafe, Blacks Bodega, Red Eye Tattoo, M Architects, and Sears & Crawford LLC. More residents in the area means more support for these businesses. And the North Canal will better situate and preserve this area for many years. Now I do hope the remaining owners keep their buildings, whoever they are. My BIGGEST worry are the buildings on Wood St. Does anyone know who owns them?

Edited May 14, 2021 by j_cuevas713

[hindesky]

Urban Genesis owns 10 other lots in the area and I bet would like to get their hands on a few more. One of their lots has already been cleared, here are 3 of them.

 

[j_cuevas713]

46 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Urban Genesis owns 10 other lots in the area and I bet would like to get their hands on a few more. One of their lots has already been cleared, here are 3 of them.

 

Oh wow. Do you know of all 10 or a way I could look them up?

Edited May 14, 2021 by j_cuevas713