citykid09 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 March 26, 2005, 10:29PM Shopping center to rise on hot corner Up-and-coming neighborhood said to be hungry for retail shops By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Rob Johnson recently accomplished what few independent real estate developers can in the inner city. He bought enough land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 A CVS drugstore has just opened on Washington near T.C. Jester. And Mexican restaurant El Tiempo has moved its Katy Freeway location to a spot across the street. The cantina is said to be packed nightly, backing a theory that this area is underserved by retailers.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>That right there is my favorite part of this article. It's about time someone realizes what is going on and does something about it. Can't say the same for our city's incompetent leadership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 The main reason they moved is because TxDOT bought their location for the freeway expansion. They couldn't build again along the freeway in the general area because of the lack of available developable land.What is supposed to be going on that they realize? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 "Shopping center to rise on hot cornerUp-and-coming neighborhood said to be hungry for retail shopsBy NANCY SARNOFFCopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle"I am a little confused as to why this was newsworthy. When I read the article I was imagining a much larger project. When I realized it was only going to be 17,000 SF I wondered why this made Sarnoff's column. I guess she relies on developers to tell her the news as opposed to going out and getting more details. I know it is a hard job, but the Real Estate column should be a little more meaty for such a large and diverse city. The project in question is a small strip shopping center and that is not really news worthy to me. There are probably 25 similar shopping centers being constructed right now within the Houston city limits. I can think of 10 off the top of my head that are in some sort of development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Good point. The real estate section most of the times dissappoints me. I find out more on this forum than what the Chronicle spits out.17,000 sf? A typical Walgreen or CVS is anywhere from 10,000 to 14,000 sf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Â A typical Walgreen or CVS is anywhere from 10,000 to 14,000 sf.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Exactly. If she mentioned every one of those going up the Chronicle would be 8 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Exactly. If she mentioned every one of those going up the Chronicle would be 8 pounds.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>At least we'd be getting something close to our money's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoveThatTrain Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Does anyone have information regarding the shopping center at the corner of Washington and Shepherd that was once an Exkerd and auto supply store? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Does anyone have information regarding the shopping center at the corner of Washington and Shepherd that was once an Exkerd and auto supply store? Washington Place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Although I rarely went in there, that used to be a Weingarten's back in the 50s. I also remember that it had a basement with a stairway right in the middle of the store. Also, there was usually a tamale vendor in the parking lot in the afternoons. That's the way Berryhill got started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonray Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 (edited) Wow! That's cool! I love hearing history like that. The link posted above to the artist drawings shows it still has a basement...sure hope a store incorporates that....it would be very neat. Weingartens...hmmmm....maybe that's where we could finally get our grocery store! :-) Edited May 19, 2006 by houstonray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I'm glad they are renovating to look close to the original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Although I rarely went in there, that used to be a Weingarten's back in the 50s. I also remember that it had a basement with a stairway right in the middle of the store. Also, there was usually a tamale vendor in the parking lot in the afternoons. That's the way Berryhill got started.sorry to change speed here, but does anyone have an idea of how many Weingarten's there were back in the day. I only remember the store at Westhiemer and Hillcroft. I grew up in Briarmeadow and we used to shop there in the early to mid seventies. It became a Apple Tree later and is now some other big box user. Weingarten still owns the center. They have probably owned it for 40 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 sorry to change speed here, but does anyone have an idea of how many Weingarten's there were back in the day. I only remember the store at Westhiemer and Hillcroft. I grew up in Briarmeadow and we used to shop there in the early to mid seventies. It became a Apple Tree later and is now some other big box user. Weingarten still owns the center. They have probably owned it for 40 years.There were lots of weingartens all over town. Gulfgate had one. There was one at Harrisburg and Dumble which the original building is still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 This is an appropriate category since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Right across from the horse was the source of my first social consciousness awakening. It was the restrooms. There were three of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I was about 4 because it was before I started school. That was in the early 50s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 A brief history of Weingarten. Not much info on the grocery stores, but sort of interesting. From the Weingarten Site: WeingartenThe Weingarten story begins in 1854 with the birth of Harris Weingarten, a poor villager from a small community in Poland. Seeking new opportunities in America in the 1880s, he eventually settled in the Houston area where he opened a dry goods store. Joined by his family, Harris, his wife Beile and their children survived the ups and downs of the young town Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwood Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I am pretty sure I remember a Weingarten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trophy Property Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I am pretty sure I remember a Weingarten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Haven't seen pictures, but I think that Weingartens was at University and Kirby, where the Gap is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Sorry about hijacking your post, Train Mover. Back to your OP, whatever happens to the property there, I hope they keep the building intact and not raze it for a strip center. I just love that old building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 H2B, your's and one of mine was actually at Yale and 20th-where my grandma as well hauled me over to after school. My other was at 43rd @ Oak forest. They are both Krogers now. I remember the colored restrooms and water fountains like the one at Sears on Shepherd. I remember my big sister holding me up to get a drink at the colored fountain at Sears and some woman grabbing us away because we were using the colored fountain. We were thirsty, color blind kids. What a bizzare and disgracefull time in our history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 I had a very similar experience at Herman Park Zoo. I was 4 at the time, and I was there with my mom who was chaperoning my sister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native_Houstonian Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Although I rarely went in there, that used to be a Weingarten's back in the 50s. I also remember that it had a basement with a stairway right in the middle of the store. Also, there was usually a tamale vendor in the parking lot in the afternoons. That's the way Berryhill got started. One of my friend's father was a manager at this Weingarten's in the 70's. He told me stories about the basement. He said they had the biggest sewer rats down there that anyone had ever seen. Maybe that's why they closed the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Haven't seen pictures, but I think that Weingartens was at University and Kirby, where the Gap is now.Yes. It was. I went to Rice from 1980 to 1985 and the Village is a lot different now. Weingarten's was indeed at University and Kirby, near where The Gap is. It was a very bad grocery store in terms of selection, but for a time it was open 24 hours. In my early Rice years before ATM's, cashing checks here was one of the easiest ways to get cash. Just down University across Kelvin was a free-standing Eckerd's. Next door to that was a shopping center built around the Village Theatre, which showed porn movies. The tenants were the University Men and Boys Shop, which sold polyester-y old-men's style clothes, and the World Toy and Gift Shop, which was run by cranky old ladies and had pretty much every toy made from 1955 on. There was also a gas station at the corner of University and Kirby, right by Weingarten's. IIRC both the gas station and the Weingarten's building stood empty for a surprisingly long time before construction of the Village Arcade development started in the mid-90's.PS. There was also a Weingarten's where the Fiesta at Dunlavy and Alabama is, and one on W. Gray across the street and just down from the River Oaks Theatre. Again, IIRC, the W. Gray one was one of the last and nicest ones they opened.Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Note dupe topics merged. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntheKnowHouston Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 (edited) On 3/27/2005 at 10:44 PM, citykid09 said: Shopping center to rise on hot corner Up-and-coming neighborhood said to be hungry for retail shops By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The name of the strip center is Washington Square. Also, the address is 4720 Washington Ave. While the referenced 2005 Houston Chronicle article does not include the name of the development or the address, it's clear this is pertaining to Washington Square. Washington Mutual bank operated in the center before closing a few years ago. I don't know why a certain moderator failed to modify the title to reflect this. Particularly when the same moderator took it upon themselves to edit the topic title last year and again this year. We all know who the mod is. It's the same one who edits the titles of all our topics when it's not needed It's the same mod who always edits everyone's topic titles to add "At" in the title (as shown in the above screenshot). It's the same mod who takes it upon themselves to edit topic title only to include periods in the addresses, unnecessarily capitalizes words that should not be capitalized (like "at," "on," etc.) The same mod who includes outdated and super long descriptors in nearly every topic title they excessively edit . And this mod does this for every single topic while hiding their online status. From the 2005 Houston Chronicle article:  Rob Johnson recently accomplished what few independent real estate developers can in the inner city. He bought enough land — on a hot corner, no less — to build a shopping center. Johnson's new project is planned for the northeast intersection of Washington Avenue and Shepherd Drive. ...Johnson's new center will have about 17,000 square feet. He still hasn't leased all the space, but Washington Mutual has agreed to anchor the project with a neighborhood branch. Construction will begin in May after existing buildings are demolished. https://www.chron.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/sarnoff-shopping-center-to-rise-on-hot-corner-1505740.php Edited September 24, 2023 by IntheKnowHouston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntheKnowHouston Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Maps of 4720 Washington Ave: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntheKnowHouston Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 April 2023 Google Earth images of 4720 Washington Ave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.