Adaptive Reuse

06/13/18 4:15pm

R Bar Stakes Its Claim to Former Montalbano Tire Shop’s Front Bumper on Houston Ave.

Bars and Clubs, First Ward, Rice Military

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The mark of shuttered Rice Military drinking spot R Bar is now cropping up in the site plan for Kaldis Developmentâ€™s planned redo of the former Montalbano Tire building (top photo) at 1302 Houston Ave.

Back in March, the signage came down from the sports bar’s previous and now-shuttered location in the L-shaped Memorial Dr. strip center half a mile west of Shepherd, where it mediated between Memorial Park Vision and the dental office of Dr. Catalina C. Johnson:

First Ward Redo

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Bars and Restaurants, First Ward, Rice Military

06/13/18 10:45am

What the Midtown Sears Looks Like Almost Entirely Unwrapped

Midtown, Renovations, Retail

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Almost all the metal siding that covered up the Midtown Sears building at 4201 Main has now been taken down, leaving behind rows of metal brackets used to mount the outer shell. Mayor Turner announced 2 months ago that the building would be turned into a startup incubation headquarters, and work to pull down the cladding began shortly after.

A few decorative details are now visible from the street, as shown below from Fannin:

2401 Main

77002, Adaptive Reuse, Midtown, Renovations, Retail

06/12/18 2:00pm

Astral Brewing Ready To Launch Renovations on N. Shepherd Warehouse Brewery

Bars and Clubs, Independence Heights, Proposed Developments, Renovations

A construction permit filed yesterday reveals that Astral BrewingÂ — the new beer venue headed to 4816 N. Shepherd — is beginning renovations to turn 9,208 sq. ft. of the 27,575-sq.-ft. warehouse building once home toÂ Southern Truck Pros into a hub for brewing and drinking. The structure’s parking lot off Shepherd is shown full of trucks in the photo above, taken back before the auto shop shuttered.

A site plan posted on the brewery’s Facebook page indicates a combination of public amenities and mission-critical brewing facilities included in the redo:

Independence Heights

77018, Adaptive Reuse, Breweries, Independence Heights, Proposed Developments, Renovations

06/08/18 12:00pm

Pet Resort Conversion Experts Refashioning the Rest of 34th St. Warehouse Trio into Dog Boarding Complex

Garden Oaks, Renovations

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When Paws Pet Resort finishes renovating the 2 warehouses south of its current one on Couch St. — east of Ella and in between 34th and 34th 1/2 streets — its total paw-print will include over an acre and a half of continuous land. Following about 5 years in the 6,000-sq.-ft. Garden Oaks warehouse building pictured above, the boarding house is expanding to the nearly twice-as-big former industrial building behind it at 3415 Couch St., as well as another smaller adjacent structure further south. The owners of Paws Pet Resort bought the soon-to-be-converted spaces last year — both of which sit off camera to the left.

Photo: Cortney K.

Paws Pet Resort

77018, Adaptive Reuse, Renovations

06/06/18 10:00am

East Downtown’s Houston Post Building Now Airing Out in Preparation for What’s Next

East Downtown, Mixed Use, Redevelopment

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Asbestos abatement crews are on the scene at the formerÂ Houston Post building on the corner of Polk and Emancipation that Lovett Commercial plans to redevelop. The photo at top from St. Charles St. looks east to show the building’s parking lot — now serving as a staging area for contractors that have been there all week, according to a Swamplot reader. The other shot views the building’s corner at Polk and St. Charles, which — according to a site plan put out by Lovett last May — would be demolished to make room for more parking.

Fronting all those parking spaces would be a CVS at Polk and Emancipation and a newly-constructed Sprouts Farmers Market off Bell St.:

Seeds of Sprouts?

77003, Adaptive Reuse, Asbestos, East Downtown, Redevelopment

05/04/18 10:45am

Party-Planners, Party-Goers Headed for the Acre-Plus Delta Fasteners Warehouse off the West Loop

Hempstead, Renovations

Black-tie renderings show off the porte-cochere that’ll soon front the former Delta Fasteners warehouse at 7122 Old Katy Rd., one door down from the West Loop. It’s one element in the batch of changes that party planning firm A Fare Extrordinare has slated to transform the building not only into its office, kitchen, and storage space — but also into an event space dubbed The Revaire. Inside the venue portion of the structure, 2 rooms — oneÂ 10,200-sq.-ft., the other 4,130-sq.-ft. — will be up for grabs by party-throwers.

Adaptive reuser Braun Realty had previously planned to turn the 57,925-sq.-ft. building — pictured below — into a festival marketplace including a brewery and food hall, but sold it to the events company last year:

The Revaire

77024, Adaptive Reuse, Hempstead, Renovations

04/18/18 4:30pm

Surefire Warehouse Transformation Has Soon-to-Be Workspace Down to Its Skeleton on Brittmoore Rd.

Renovations, Spring Branch

One week oil and gas equipment warehouse just north of the Katy that Work America Capital is converting into a place of business has been partially skinned. Its street-fronting side is now open and the illuminated sign that spelled out the Surefire Industries name atop the front entrance has been replaced with Burton Construction’s unlit banner.

Work America says the structure at 1336 Brittmoore will anchor a 25-acre business campus it’s developing, dubbed The Cannon. It’s slated to include co-working offices, as well as an event center, athletic facility, restaurants, retail and some sort of living space.

Here’s a view of what the barn-like structure will look like re-sidedÂ and with new windows:

The Cannon

77043, Adaptive Reuse, Renovations, Spring-Branch, Warehouses

04/13/18 5:00pm

Shuttered Midtown Sears Now Shedding Its Full Metal Jacket

Midtown, Renovations

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Crews are now peeling back the corrugated metal paneling that covers over the original faÃ§ade of the Sears building on the corner of Main and Wheeler, exposing some of the 1930s art deco details underneath. The plain skin was added onto the 4-story structure in the 1960s. It remained in place after the company that manages Rice Universityâ€™s endowment bought out Sears’ lease on the property 6 months ago and the department store closed in January.

Yesterday, Mayor Turner announced that an extensive redo of the building — overseen by Hines and designed by Gensler along with New York-firm James Carpenter — would transform it into a startup incubation center, the anchor of a 4-mile “innovation corridor” planned between Downtown and the med center. The vertical mosaic pattern pictured above on the south side of the building is one of the first hidden touches to see the light of day as part of the work that’s now beginning to restore the exterior.

Also uncovered is the row of metal beams used to mount the outer shell:

Art Deco Unveiling

77004, Adaptive Reuse, Midtown, Renovation, Restoration, Retail

04/13/18 3:00pm

Sawyer Yards’ Latest First Ward Warehouse-Turned-Art-Center Opens on Sabine St.

First Ward, Renovations, Warehouse Space

The former Haliburton manufacturing plant at 1907 Sabine St. is now the eighth structure to take on a post-industrial life by joining the group of First Ward art buildings collectively dubbed Sawyer Yards. Developer Jon Deal oversaw the redo of what he’s now calling Sabine Street Studios. Its new look consists of freshly-installed siding as well as added clerestory windows and doors along the parking lot on the corner of Silver and Spring streets. Spring Street Studios — another Sawyer Yards building — is just north across the street.

To the south, the building spans the entirety of Shearn St. between Silver and Sabine:

Done Deal

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Art Studios, First Ward, Warehouses

03/21/18 12:00pm

Smoosh, Teapresso Setting Up Next to Snooze in Lowell Street Market off Shepherd

Houston Heights, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Restaurants

In the wake of Snooze, 2 more businesses with names suggesting AM activities are on their way to the new Lowell Street Market on 18th St. between Shepherd and Durham. Radom Capital began transforming the 3-building former warehouse complex in something retail- and restaurant-ready back in 2016. Since then, SnoozeÂ has been the only restaurant to open in the development.

Building permits filed for the empty spots neighboring Snooze and Smoosh now show reveal the name of a third eatery that could be on its way to 718 W. 18th St.: Teapresso Bar. The Hawaiian tea shop chain has most of its current locations on Oahu, with a few on Maui as well. Lowell Street Market would be its first step onto the mainland.

The site plan below indicates all 3 buildings in the complex:

The Early Risers

77008, Adaptive Reuse, Houston Heights, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Restaurants

03/14/18 4:45pm

Gibbs Boathouse Redo Will Welcome Restaurants, Retail, Deck Seating Aboard the Corner of W. Gray and Montrose

Montrose, North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Retail

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The Oxberry Group is ready to rechristen the vacant Gibbs Boats building at 1110 W. Gray St. as RÃªve at Montrose: a new, patio-fronting shopping center. The boat business shuttered in the 11,696-sq.-ft. warehouse building it had occupied for 56 years after selling off the last of its fleet in 2014.

Major changes slated for the building now include a takedown of its shed-roofed portion closest to Montrose Blvd. In place of that area, outdoor seating — shown above in the rendering from Tipps Architecture — will line the street. A clock tower planted between the existing 1- and 2-story parts of the building would be its new high point. And at the north end of Gibbs’ former lot — next to the U-Plumb-It hardware store — a 2,630-sq.-ft. retail add-on would take the place of a yard once used for boat work.

The site plan below shows the addition (colored red) jutting out and separating the pedestrian plaza from a driveway to the planned parking lot:

RÃªve at Montrose

77019, Adaptive Reuse, Montrose, North Montrose, Retail

12/14/17 12:45pm

The First New Tenant in 7800 Washington’s Warehouse Redo Won’t Hang Around for Long

Openings and Closings

The former packaging warehouse at 7800 Washington — on its way to being reworkedÂ so that offices, furniture showrooms, and a restaurant can move into it, likely next year — already has a new tenant in place:Â The Study, a pop-upÂ gallery and shop selling prints, greeting cards, and design-y gifts.Â Los Angeles-based artist Jacqueline LevineÂ runs the store, which opened late last month in the southeast corner of the 66,000-sq.-ft. building.

Levine’s father, Larry Levine, is hoping a restaurant will take over the space once more of the building is ready for tenants. He’s the president of Levcor, the development firm that bought the building last year. The Study will be open through January, although it’ll take some holiday time off beginning on December 24.

The Study

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Cottage Grove, Openings and Closings, Popups, Redevelopment, Warehouses

12/12/17 3:30pm

8 Letters and a Big Eye Spell Out the Beginnings of Washington Ave Warehouse’s Transformation

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Study the photo at top carefully and you’ll see 2 eye-catching features that were installed in November: the gaping, cyclopticÂ sculptureÂ at the entrance to the parking lot outside 7800 Washington, as well as new letteringÂ spelling out THE STUDYÂ on the warehouse’s awning. DeveloperÂ Levcor bought the 66,000-sq.-ft. brick building — at that time home to Brian Thomas Display & Packaging — last year and filed construction permits in September to begin renovating it into a space for offices, furniture showrooms, and a restaurant.

Before and after views show how the building’s front side on Washington, just northwest of the Katy Fwy., will be transformed:

Cottage Grove

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Mixed Use, Redevelopment, Warehouses

12/06/17 3:15pm

Warehouse Removal Project Begins on Commerce St., Where the Block Will Extend to Canal

Demolitions, Mixed Use, Redevelopment, Second Ward

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A Swamplot reader sends photos of the partial demolition now underway along Commerce St. just off Colby in the Second Ward just north of East Downtown.Â Ancorian bought 3 warehouses between Commerce and Canal St. last November and plans to redevelop the site into a single dock-front buildingÂ with a parking lot along its west side. The new development, dubbed The Block, would consist of 44,000 sq. ft. ofÂ “creative workspace and retail.â€

Here’s an aerial viewÂ looking west along Commerce St taken from before the demolition.: