What’s in today’s grab bag of wreckage? Just these fine establishments:
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Commercial and Community Structures
- Subway, 3810 Wheeler St. 77004
- Second Church of Christ Holiness U.S.A, 4650 Knoxville St. 77051
- St. Jerome Catholic Church, 8825 Kempwood Dr. 77080
Residences
- 2221 Riverside Dr. 77004
- 2019 State St. 77007 (Old Sixth Ward Historic District)
- 516 Henderson St. 77007 (Historical Landmark Site)
- 1140 W. Cottage St. 77009 (Norhill Historic District)
- 428 W. 33rd St. 77018 (Garden Oaks; garage only; new construction by KW Homes)
Photo of 1140 W. Cottage St.: HAR
I think the State and Henderson historic properties are adjacent and both owned by Fenchurch Properties. Certificate of Appropriateness information at http://tinyurl.com/bhfzsj and http://tinyurl.com/al479p – in both applications, Fenchurch claimed it wants to turn the properties into green space. The Chairman of Fenchurch Properties is Thomas A. Reiser. Tom Reiser spent $1.2 million of his own money in a 2002 Texas House race against Chris Bell, and lost.
Aren’t these in the Historic Sixth Ward? and it looks as though 516 Henderson has a historic site designation… I’m going to check w/contacts in 6th Ward.
They are in the OSW. I thought there was some kind of restriction for tear-downs?
Brad – The city’s historic designation does not prevent someone from demolishing a structure or compelling them to build a structure that conforms to the neighborhood.
The property at 1140 W Cottage is in my neighborhood, which is also a historic district. I would prefer they rehab the existing home. Very disappointing.
Right. The OSW properties are in the OSW Historic District, but not the OSW Protected Historic District. So Reiser doesn’t need the the applications for certificates of appropriateness to be granted (and, per the links, the HAHC’s recommendation was that they not be granted). Essentially, he just needs to give 90 days’ notice of the demo.
The Fenchurch demolitions were outside the boundary of the protected historic district, and were both non-contributing structures. Fenchurch waited the required 90 days. The protected historic district wouldn’t have prevented the demolition of non-contributing structures. If this land was within the boundary of the protected historic district, it would only address what was built on the parcels, they would need to follow the design guidelines available on the city’s website.