Adaptive Reuse

11/11/11 5:59pm

Weingarten Decommissions the Alabama Theater: Is Trader Joe’s Out of the Picture?

Development Strategies, Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Interiors, Leasing, Retail, Upper Kirby

14 Comments

In a late-Friday afternoon press release that doesn’t mention Trader Joe’s at all, Alabama Theater owner Weingarten Realty is announcing that the company has begun construction on the landmarked 1939 Art Deco building at 2922 S. Shepherd to “create a more desirable space for future retail tenants.” What does that mean? Apparently, removing the few elements of the interior that made the building suitable as a movie theater: The entire screen wall along with the murals flanking both sides of the screen, and the auditorium’s sloped floor.

77098, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Development Strategies, Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Interiors, Leasing, Renovations, Retail, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

11/11/11 12:37pm

New Arts Complex Planned for Abandoned JCPenney at West Oaks Mall

Alief, Art, Commercial Real Estate, Interiors, Leasing, Malls, Proposed Developments, Retail

18 Comments

How did an artist out of L.A. convince the owners of Houston’s West Oaks Mall to turn the vacant building of former mall anchor JCPenney into a 100,000-sq.-ft. department-store-sized arts complex? Well, it helps that the building — at the northern crotch of the West Houston mall — has been sitting vacant for 8 years and has received no major retail anchor interest in the 2 years Pacific Retail Capital Partners has owned the property. It also helps that the artist, Sharsten Plenge, is a Pacific Retail employee — and that her father is the firm’s managing principal. But Plenge tells Swamplot the company is behind her novel rehab concept, which is currently her main focus at work.

77082, Adaptive Reuse, Alief, Art, Commercial Real Estate, Interiors, Leasing, Malls, Proposed Developments, Retail

11/04/11 1:21pm

The Auditorium of the Former Alabama Theater Is Now a Giant Sandbox

Historic Preservation, Interiors, Renovations, Retail, Upper Kirby

8 Comments

If any ghosts of Alabama Theater moviegoers were still intent on haunting the spaces once occupied by their old seats, they’d be buried in sand by now. A Swamplot reader and theater buff shows us the current state of the building’s innards — as seen yesterday from strategic views through the front and rear glass doors. On its way to a new level and Trader Joe’s-worthy surface, the auditorium’s basement and raked floor have been transformed into what now appears to be the city’s largest indoor sandbox. (From the photos, it looks like only a single motorized sand toy gets to play in it, though.)

A new, permanent concrete floor ordered by the owners of the landmarked 1939 Art Deco building, Weingarten Realty, will replace the removable raised-floor system put in place in the early 1980s, when the theater at 2922 S. Shepherd Dr. was transformed into the Alabama Bookstop bookstore.

77098, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Demolitions, Historic Preservation, Interiors, Movie-Theaters, Renovations, Retail, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

10/24/11 5:42pm

City Acre Owners Plan To Transform Their Eighties Victorian Home into an Eastex Freeway Brewpub

Epsom Downs Place, Nightlife, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Restaurants

6 Comments

More details about City Acre Brewing Co., the brewery the owners of this home adjacent to the Eastex Freeway just south of Parker Rd. plan to open late next year: Chron beer blogger Ronnie Crocker says Matt Schlabach and Meredith Borders had envisioned turning their 2,700-sq.-ft. home at 3421 Folger St. into a brewery when they bought it back in July 2009 for $210,000. The freeway-side oddity took 6 years to build and was completed way back in 1983. Schlabach’s vision: a bar taking over his foyer and guest bedroom in front; customers lounging on couches upstairs, sitting at tables on the front porch, or milling about the garden acreage.

77093, Adaptive Reuse, Breweries, Epsom Downs Place, Renovations, Restaurants

10/17/11 4:01pm

An Alamo Drafthouse at SculpturWorx? Not SoÂ Fast

Commercial Real Estate, First Ward, Proposed Developments

6 Comments

According to an unattributed report published today on Culturemap, beer-and-movie pioneer Alamo Drafthouse plans to open its ~~second~~ third Houston-area location at 2500 Summer St. off Sawyer in the First Ward, in David Adickes’s former SculpturWorx compound. But a spokesperson for the movie theater’s owners would neither confirm nor deny the plans either to Culturemap or the Chronicle. And Phil Arnett — who with partner L.E. “ Chap” Chapman announced plans last year to buy and redevelop the 3-building, 3-acre compound and convert portions of it into commercial space — tells Swamplot there’s “nothing definitive” about any Alamo Drafthouse plans. Representatives of Triple Tap Ventures, the theater’s parent company, did look at the space, but nothing’s come of it yet, Arnett says.

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Commercial Real Estate, David Adickes, First Ward, Movie-Theaters, Proposed Developments

10/11/11 8:57am

Architect Tells Texas Historical Commission Alabama Theater Entrance Terrazzo Will Probably Stay Put

Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Renovations, Retail, Uncategorized, Upper Kirby

8 Comments

According to the Greater Houston Planning Alliance, which heard the news from the Texas Historical Commission — which heard the news from the project’s architect in Dallas — current plans for turning the former Alabama Theater into a Trader Joe’s now call for the terrazzo flooring at the theater’s Shepherd Dr. entrance to be left in place. Building owner Weingarten Realty apparently still has plans to move the front doors 7 or 8 ft. further toward the street, though; according to the GHPA, an accessibility consultant has advised project architect Don Sopranzi that there is no problem with the existing floor’s slope. Weingarten received approval from the city last month to scrape up the swirly patterned flooring outside the entrance and replace it with concrete.

77098, Accessibility, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Renovations, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

10/06/11 2:59pm

Retired Tomball Supermarket Launching Second Career as VA Clinic

Katy, Leasing, Medical Buildings, Openings and Closings, Tomball

3 Comments

Independent grocery store Klein’s Super Market closed down in April, after doing business in Tomball for 89 years — almost half of them at the corner of West Main St. and Buvinghausen. Next up for the 31,628-sq.-ft. vacant space at 1200 West Main: New life as a “community-based outpatient clinic” for the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. The Veterans Administration has signed a 20-year lease for the property, Congressman Michael McCaul announced today. Renovations are expected to be completed next summer; the clinic should open to patients next fall. Also announced: a similar clinic at 750 Westgreen Blvd. in Katy, in an existing medical building.

Locations for Katy, Tomball VA clinics announced [Katy Times]
The end of an era: Klein’s Super Market to close doors at end of April [Tomball Potpourri

Photo: Jesse Smith

77375, 77450, Adaptive Reuse, Grocery Stores, Katy, Leasing, Medical Buildings, Openings and Closings, Tomball

10/06/11 1:12pm

GHPA to Weingarten: We’ll Fix That Trader Joe’s Terrazzo Problem for You

Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Upper Kirby

35 Comments

At a city historic commission hearing 2 weeks ago, a representative of Weingarten Realty noted that the swirly patterned terrazzo flooring at the front entrance of the former Alabama Theater was sloped a half-percent too steep to meet current accessibility standards, and therefore will have to be removed to allow Trader Joe’s to move into the space. Not a problem for the noted preservationists at Weingarten, the building’s owner — the company plans to rip out the decorative design and replace it with a brand new concrete surface for its new tenants.

Too bad for fans of the original front vestibule design of the 1939 Art Deco theater at 2922 S. Shepherd, which is listed as a protected landmark: The commission approved Weingarten’s plans. But the helpful folks at the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance decided to do a little homework for the building’s owners anyway.

77098, Accessibility, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Historic Preservation, Houston Landmarks, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

09/26/11 5:13pm

What Would Stay and What Would Go in a Trader Joe’s Alabama Theater Clearance

Historic Preservation, Interiors, Retail, Upper Kirby

7 Comments

Trader Joe’s hasn’t yet signed a lease for the former Alabama Theater location at 2922 S. Shepherd it’s considering for its first-ever Houston store. But the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance has scouted out a few details on what would likely stay and what would likely go in a Two Buck Chuck-ified Art Deco theater interior. Staying: the building’s mezzanine and lighting, though with “some modifications.” Going: the Shepherd-side entrance vestibule of the 1939 building, including original enameled panels and poster frames and the swirly-patterned terrazzo flooring — which is sloped too steeply to meet current ADA requirements, according to the city’s planning director. A Weingarten Realty spokesperson says current plans are to replace the terrazzo with concrete. Also, the mural shown above — which formed the right cheek of the theater’s movie screen (later the magazine section of Bookstop) — is slated for removal.

Whatâ€™s next for Houstonâ€™s Alabama Theater? [GHPA]
Previously on Swamplot: Trader Joeâ€™s Showing at the Alabama Theater: Approved, Trader Joeâ€™s at the Alabama Theater: New Sign in Front, Cheese in Back

Photos: David Bush (terrazzo) and Jim Parsons (mural)

77098, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Historic Preservation, Interiors, Retail, Upper Kirby

09/22/11 4:44pm

Trader Joe’s Showing at the Alabama Theater: Approved

Commercial Real Estate, Historic Preservation, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Upper Kirby

9 Comments

Changes to the exterior of the Alabama Theater proposed by Weingarten Realty to accommodate grocery store Trader Joe’s debut appearance in Houston were approved today by the city’s Archeological and Historical Commission. Because it’s a designated city landmark, the commission’s approval is required for changes to the building’s facades (though an alternate wait-90-days-and-you-can-do-whatever-you-want option is also available). Trader Joe’s or Weingarten’s plans to restore, alter, or strip the innards of the Art Deco building at 2922 S. Shepherd Dr., though, won’t require any commission approvals — only construction or demo permits.

77098, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Commercial Real Estate, Grocery Stores, Historic Preservation, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

09/22/11 12:00pm

New Montessori High School Taking Over Museum District Linen Warehouse

Museum District, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Schools

No Comments

Note: Story updated and corrected.

The Post Oak School’s brand-new Montessori high school will open next year in the former Party Cloths building at 1102 Autrey St., just west of Montrose Blvd. at the edge of the Southwest Freeway. The single-story building, which dates from 1975 and sits on a third-of-an-acre lot, was purchased recently after a year-long search for a Museum District location; Post Oak High School officials announced the deal and the campus address this morning. The private school plans to spend $700,000 renovating the 6,000-sq.-ft. linen-service company building, and begin the 2012-2013 school year with a 9th grade class and maybe a 10th grade class of about 20 students each.

77006, Adaptive Reuse, Museum District, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Schools

09/21/10 2:11pm

Opening Fire in the League City Circuit City: The Arms Room Gun Store Stretches Out

League City, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Retail

16 Comments

On hand for the weekend’s grand opening celebration of the Arms Room firearms store’s move into the former Circuit City off the northbound I-45 feeder south of FM 646 in League City: a fire spinner and juggler, a clown handing out balloon animals, a booth from ESPN 97.5 FM, a barbecue stand, a cake decorated with toy pistols, “a few blonde, tattooed girls handing out free Arms Room merchandise,” . . . and Houston Press reporter Craig Hlavaty. He notes the store’s owners originally had wanted to move into a former Academy sporting goods store down I-45, but didn’t get a great welcome there:

“The lease holders didn’t want any guns being shot in their strip center, so we walked away from them,” says [Kathleen] James. The only thing holding that line of stores intact now is a Chinese buffet and a Subway sandwich shop.

Sucks for them. The 20,000-sq.-ft. former big-box electronics store at the Jameses ended up buying at 3270 Gulf Fwy. South allowed them to include a 15-lane indoor gun range (kinda like a bowling alley, “but you don’t have to change your shoes,” quips general manager Travis James), along with a gun shop, a section devoted to antique firearms, and room for an on-site gunsmith.

77573, Adaptive Reuse, Attractions, Big Box Stores, League City, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Retail

09/15/10 4:55pm

David Adickesâ€™s Big-Headed Summer Street Studio Getting aÂ Redo

Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, First Ward, Historic Preservation, Proposed Developments

18 Comments

The launching pad for I-45’s Mount Rush Hour, that presidential muck circle in Pearland, and more outsize sculpture projects has a buyer. David Adickes — creator of the giant Sam Houston of Huntsville and the disembodied cellist in front of the Lyric Center Downtown, and yes, the original owner and projectionist for sixties psychedelic Commerce St. hangout Love Street Light Circus — is selling his SculpturWorx compound off Sawyer St. to Phil Arnett and L.E. “Chap” Chapman. Arnett and Chapman are best known for turning an old staple manufacturing building down the street from the original Goode Co. Bar-B-Q on Kirby into the Bartlett Lofts. Their plan for Adickes’s 78,175 sq. ft. of warehouse space at 2500 Summer St.: keeping the “artist flavor” (and most of the tenants) of the old buildings, while renovating the property and using up to 22,000 sq. ft. of it (Adickes’s first-floor studio, for example) as commercial space — maybe including a restaurant or two.

77007, Adaptive Reuse, Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, David Adickes, Development Strategies, First Ward, Historic Preservation, Houston Architects, Proposed Developments

04/29/10 2:55pm

Comment of the Day: You See a Worn-Out Fourplex, I See a West Gray Bar Waiting To Happen