Snooping around county records, HBJ reporter Shaina Zucker discovers that apartment developer Hanover Company has placed the long-vacant 10-story office building at 3400 Montrose Blvd. under contract. The developer wouldn’t respond to Zucker’s questions, but an officer of the Montrose Management District hints strongly that Hanover plans to tear down the structure across Hawthorne St. from Kroger and build — surprise! — “luxury apartments” in its place: “There’s no way they could remodel.†Scott Gertner’s Skybar — and Cody’s before it — once occupied the building’s top floor.
- Potential buyer under contract to purchase iconic Montrose tower [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: Redo Plans for the Office Building at 3400 Montrose Blvd., Will 3400 Montrose Rise from the Dead?, Stone Panel Leaps to Montrose Blvd. Sidewalk from Former Skybar Balcony,Everybody Out: The Ghost Town at 3400 Montrose, Comment of the Day: A 3400 Montrose Blvd. Inspection Report, Why Scott Gertner’s Skybar Is Leaving the Montrose Sky, Scott Gertner’s Skybar Closing, May Take the Whole Building with It
Photo: Swamplot inbox
3400 Montrose
Sometimes I wonder if that abandoned building is just used to spy on the Chinese embassy across the street.
This place was a dump when I last entered it (my chiropractor used to practice here). I was always scared to enter it, thinking it might either collapse on me or some maniac might be roaming the empty halls. I’ve liked what Hanover has done in the village and am curious to see what they have in store for Montrose.
30-Story residential high-rise going up; Solomon Cordwell Buenz assigned as the architect. Work begins sometime next year.
this is a real shame. a part of houston will forever be lost when this eye sore is torn down. isn’t there anything we can do to rehab it?
I hope it will be a 30 story tower. This site should be built to the max and not turned into a midrise ticky-tacky pile like an Alexan.
Great news for the neighborhood – not only does it remove an eyesore, but it should breath new life into the whole Westheimer and Montrose scene. And it may even improve the traffic picture by forcing an upgrade to the Hawthorne/Montrose intersection.
Based solely on the Solomon Cordwell Buenz Website, they do not appear to be in the “ticky-tacky” business:
http://www.scb.com/apartments
This is most decidedly good news.
The downtown view from up in the air on Montrose is hard to beat.
I was hoping for a good swanky hotel with a good bar and restaurant. The area definitely needs it. There is still hope of something like that on the corner of Westheimer and Montrose
Good riddens to that eyesore. Now time to focus on updating the nearby strip center (SW corner of Westheimer/Montrose) and the stretch of Westheimer Yupon and Montrose. Slick Willies and Cherryhust Center could be amazing … combined with the interesting collection of bungalows along the curve. Some real opportunity for something unique.
Great memories from the Skybar days. I always thought that the building could be saved but hopefully something great will take its place. Please … not a parking lot.
Great news. Hanover builds a quality product.
Swamplot… Must be bowing down to its advertisers…
Yea!!!!!!!!!!! More soulless towers…with first floor retail, hipsters rejoice!
Agree that this is great news. Having an abandoned, vandalized, outdated building filled with asbestos isn’t good for anybody in the neighborhood. It’s a perfect spot for more walkable living with amazing restaurants, grocery, drugstore and clubs all nearby. The only thing missing in Montrose these days is a retail presence. I prefer the building was for condos, but the fact is that the city needs more rental housing so developers will continue to build while they can.
Maybe this will encourage someone to buy that abysmal strip center at Westheimer / Montrose and rehab it into something great.
You really could not beat the view of downtown from the Sky Bar.
Good to hear that SOMETHING is being done with this eyesore. It would be marvelous if they could recreate the SkyBar on the roof level with a separate, express elevator entrance. Think big my friends…
> Maybe this will encourage someone to buy that abysmal strip center at Westheimer / Montrose…
Someone already has. Always check the Swampie archives!
They are waiting for tenant leases to expire, though alas that will not be for a couple of more years, at last report.
http://swamplot.com/strip-center-at-the-corner-of-westheimer-and-montrose-sold/2012-06-19/