Redevelopment

77098, Apartments, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Historic Preservation, Lancaster Place, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

04/16/09 4:38pm

Okay, How About the Wilshire Village Apartments for Salvage?

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Lancaster Place, Redevelopment

6 Comments

The nonprofit Historic Houston Salvage Warehouse sure would like some of them nice materials that went into the Wilshire Village Apartments. But no dice:

“All efforts to contact owner have been a dead end,” founder Lynn Edmundson writes:

If anyone knows or can get in contact with the ownersâ€¦my crew could start immediately!!!

Hey, that would be great — because there’s apparently a Komatsu excavator hanging out in the parking lot on Dunlavy, looking for some action.

More from Edmundson:

77098, Apartments, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Lancaster Place, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

04/16/09 11:11am

Wilshire Village Speculation: Demolish, then Flip?

Demolitions, Historic Preservation, Lancaster Place, Land Sales, Neighborhood Disputes, Real Estate Investing, Redevelopment

18 Comments

The reader who provided this “tip” wouldn’t or couldn’t tell us where the information came from, so there’s no particular reason to take it seriously. But it raises a few interesting questions about the future of the 8-acre property at W. Alabama and Dunlavy that’s apparently soon to be the former site of the Wilshire Village apartments.

. . . So here it is:

The buzz in the air over the demolition of Wilshire Village is Mr. Dilick plans to try to sell the property soon after the demolition, word is he hasn’t the funding to develop this tract.

Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77098, Apartments, Demolitions, Financing, Flipping, Historic Preservation, Lancaster Place, Land Sales, Neighborhood Disputes, Real Estate Investing, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

04/13/09 10:46am

Owner Shocked, Shocked To Find Wilshire Village Apartments in Such Disrepair

Bankruptcies, Demolitions, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment

20 Comments

The Wilshire Village Apartments at Alabama and Dunlavy have been surrounded with a chain link fence topped with barbed wire since Friday, reports a Swamplot reader. And over at the Chronicle, Nancy Sarnoff confirms that the now-vacant complex is “set to be demolished.”

Swamplot readers may especially enjoy parsing this passage:

In 2005, the owner announced plans to tear it down and possibly build an upscale tower in its place.

Matt Dilick, a commercial real estate developer who controls the partnership that owns Wilshire Village, said the demolition process will start â€œrelatively soon.â€

â€œThe buildings are unsafe, and for numerous years prior groups have not kept the buildings maintained or the property up to city code,â€ he said. â€œThe dilapidated buildings are an eyesore to the public and to the numerous homeowners and businesses in the area.â€

Helpful hint: the “owner” who announced plans to tear down the complex way back in 2005 was . . . Matt Dilick.

Extra credit: Unwrap the sequence of events Sarnoff gently suggests in this passage:

77098, Apartments, Bankruptcies, Demolitions, Evictions, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

Leasing

04/01/09 2:43pm

Comment of the Day: Weingarten’s Black Eye

Quicklink, Redevelopment, River Oaks, Shopping Centers

14 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WEINGARTEN’S BLACK EYE “Maybe Mr. Alexander could solicit such basic needs tenants for the River Oaks Shopping Center; perhaps a local bakery and a quick-serve restaurant like the Black-Eyed Pea, for example? [Hellsing, commenting on And What About the River Oaks Shopping Center?]

77019, Comments, Leasing, Redevelopment, River-Oaks-Shopping-Center, Shopping Centers

Houston Heights

03/26/09 12:39pm

Floyd Trailer Park: “Not Pretty, but Right”

Redevelopment

14 Comments

Manson Floyd has a few things to say about that trailer park on 9th St., just west of Studewood in the Heights:

That park belongs to my Mother. She is 80 and on a respirator and has diabetes and the park is more an act of charity than an act of business. The renters do not pay on time, the City taxes the park more than the adjacent homes and yet she keeps it open. The Park represents what is very right and what is wrong with this country. . . .

77007, Houston Heights, Property Taxes, Redevelopment, Trailer Parks

03/23/09 5:02pm

Comment of the Day: Inventing the Heights Teardown

Homebuilders, Houston Heights, Houston History, Quicklink, Redevelopment

21 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: INVENTING THE HEIGHTS TEARDOWN “Correction– The tearing down of old homes to build new was pioneered by Sterling Victorian Homes in the mid-late 1980s. It began on the 400 block of 22nd Street. These homes look very modest by todayâ€™s standards. It is likely true that Allegro pioneered the building of Disney-fied Hummer homes with cheese closetsâ€¦” [Sheila, commenting on Scaling Back the Upscale: Allegro Builders, Downtempo]

77008, Allegro Builders, Comments, Demolitions, Homebuilders, Houston Heights, Houston History, Redevelopment, Theming

03/13/09 11:45am

This Time with Fair Warning: Galleria Bank Collapse

Galleria, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

5 Comments

This weekend’s Galleria-area bank implosion won’t be televised nationally, but you should be able to watch it happen live if you wake up early enough on Sunday. Preparations for the dynamite-fueled takedown of the Compass Bank building at 2200 Post Oak are just about complete.

A notice sent out last month to area businesses by Cherry Demolition says the implosion is scheduled for approximately 7:45 am on March 15th — which happens to be the 2,053rd anniversary, give or take a calendar adjustment, of the Julius Caesar demo. A few details:

Adjacent streets will be closed at approximately 6:00 am and re-open at 9:15 am. Streets to be closed are Guilford and Post Oak Boulevard between Westheimer and Ambassador Way.

So where’s the best vantage point for viewing this cathartic form of timely public theater gonna be?

77056, Condos, Demolitions, Galleria, Hotels, Implosions, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Uptown

03/11/09 5:41pm

Heights Kroger Stats: Double Plus Goods

Houston Heights, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

16 Comments

Following up on Swamplot’s story from yesterday, the Houston Press‘s Richard Connelly sizes up the bigger-and-better Kroger that’ll be going into the Merchants Park Shopping Center at the corner of North Shepherd and 11th St. in the Heights.

. . . says Kroger’s Gary Huddleston, the new place will be 96,000 square feet, more than double what the store is now.

That would make it the biggest Kroger in Houston, and almost as big as the 110,000-square-foot monsters the chain has opened in Pearland and Missouri City. . . .

The refurbished store should be finished in a year, he says. The current operation will remain open during the renovation, which will slow things down a bit.

The Heights Is Getting A Supersized Supermarket [Hair Balls]
Recession, What Recession? Kroger Opens a Huge Store in Missouri City [Eating Our Words]
Stripped: Heights Kroger Knocks Its Neighbors [Swamplot]

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77008, Demolitions, Grocery Stores, Houston Heights, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

03/10/09 9:32am

Stripped: Heights Kroger Knocks Its Neighbors

Houston Heights, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

62 Comments

A reader sends in photos from the southwest corner of North Shepherd and 11th St., where the Kroger is getting ready to expand into the site of a few vanquished neighbors:

the gas station that was in front of the kroger was demolished earlier this year and within the past couple weeks part of the strip center next to the kroger has started to be demolished. I called the kroger last week and the lady on the phone informed me that they are expanding and the store is going to be very nice – will have a starbucks, sushi bar, salad bar, etc and a kroger gas station will be built where the gas station was demolished. heights area residents can’t wait!!

77008, Demolitions, Grocery Stores, Houston Heights, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

Attractions

02/27/09 9:27am

The AstroLot: Houston’s Newest Transit Hub

Parking, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Reliant Park, Tourism, Transportation

2 Comments

THE ASTROLOT: HOUSTON’S NEWEST TRANSIT HUB Another scene from the active afterlife of the former theme park: “The 150 acre lot formerly known as Astroworld has been empty for a while, but is expected to be packed on Friday when it will be available for rodeo parking. . . . Lighting towers will be brought in and parts of the property not suitable for parking, such as areas with holes in the ground, will be marked off. There will be entrances along the 610 feeder between Kirby and Fannin and exits off of Belfort. After the rodeo, all entrances will be used as exits so all traffic will flow out of the lot. There are only about 12,000 parking spaces on the actual rodeo site. Officials welcome the new 5,000 space parking opportunity. . . . The lot is not paved and is bumpy, two factors that do not bother some rodeo patrons. . . . ‘We think it’s great that people will be able to cross the bridge and it will bring back memories of when Astroworld was here,’ [Andi Devera of the Fazeli Group, owners of the leasing rights] said. The Astrolot opens this Friday.” [abc13; previously]

77054, AstroWorld, Attractions, Parking, Redevelopment, Reliant Park, Rodeo, Tourism, Transportation

02/18/09 12:40pm

Lone Star Saloon Camo Replacement

New Construction, Nightlife, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Richmond

2 Comments

LONE STAR SALOON CAMO REPLACEMENT The owner of the Lone Star Saloon in Richmond says he’s going to demolish what remains of the 120-year-old building at 102 and 106 S. Third St. and build a “gorgeous” new 4,000-sq.-ft. nightclub in its place. A fire last November gutted the brick structure and destroyed displays of American Indian memorabilia collected and installed by the previous owner. “[Bill] Lindquist, who owns the Lone Star along with his wife, Beverly, said last month he will rebuild the Lone Star as a large one-room nightclub, with a bandstand, dance floor, large modern bar and a kitchen. . . . ‘Itâ€™s going to be a metal building, camouflaged not to look like a metal building,’ Lindquist said.” [FortBendNow, via Hair Balls]

77469, Demolitions, Fire, New Construction, Nightlife, Redevelopment, Richmond

02/11/09 3:43pm

Wilshire Village Utility Work

Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment, Utilities

4 Comments

A reader sends in this photo of the corner of Sul Ross and Woodhead, just west of the Wilshire Village Apartments, showing what appears to be work on wastewater lines connecting to the complex. Sul Ross dead-ends into a parking lot at the garden apartments at the end of the block.

The utility work was mentioned in this reader comment on Swamplot’s original story on Wilshire Village. Two weeks ago, tenants at the 70-year-old complex received mysterious notices demanding they vacate the property by the end of this month.

Wilshire Village Update: â€œA Nice Messâ€ [Swamplot]
Wilshire Village Apartments: Actual Tenants Actually Being Evicted [Swamplot]

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77098, Apartments, Evictions, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment, Utilities, Wilshire Village

02/10/09 9:50am

Wilshire Village Update: “A Nice Mess”

Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment

40 Comments

What’s really going on at Wilshire Village? Are tenants of the aging garden apartments at the corner of W. Alabama and Dunlavy actually being evicted?

Houston City Council Member Sue Lovell — and separately, at least one attorney — has reportedly told tenants of the complex that the eviction letter they received is not legally binding, since it was not signed by all owners of the property. Here’s the original report Swamplot received about the eviction notices last week:

We received information from two tenants at the site. Each received letters and/or cards from Alabama & Dunlavy, Ltd., 11144 Fuqua St., Suite 200, Houston, TX 77089 . The letters told them to vacate by the end of the month and that the electricty will be shut off on that date. The cards were signed by Matthew Dillick [sic], and the letters were cc’d to Mr. Jay Cohen, Mr. Clifton Hebert, and Mr. Howard Hebert (we don’t know who the Heberts are).

Matthew Dillick [sic] has had some interest in the property for several years. We had always been led to believe that Mr. Cohen continued to own the majority of the property, but when the tenant talked to Doug Anders in the Public Works Department, he implied that perhaps Mr. Cohen no longer maintained the majority interest in the property and that the majority has made other plans for the site.

So . . . who owns Wilshire Village?

77098, Apartments, Bankruptcies, Evictions, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

02/04/09 6:17pm

Wilshire Village Apartments: Actual Tenants Actually Being Evicted

Demolitions, Houston Architects, Lancaster Place, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

62 Comments

At least 2 tenants of the Wilshire Village garden apartments have received eviction notices from the owner, demanding that they vacate the property by the end of February, a source tells Swamplot. The notices, which were signed by Commerce Equities president Matthew Dilick, say that electricity at the property will be turned off after that date. Swamplot’s source also says that the city’s Public Works department is aware of plans for the site.

Wilshire Village is the classically modern but now classically decrepit yellow-brick complex at the southwest corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy, across from Fiesta. The 17 buildings were designed by local architect Eugene Werlin and completed in 1940. Wilshire Village hit a downward spiral in more recent years under the peculiar supervision of its previous owner, who reportedly fought off throngs of eager potential tenants in order to keep the 144-unit complex largely vacant — then declared bankruptcy in 2002 when he was unable to pay the taxes on the property.

Although reports that the 8-acre complex would be demolished have circulated for years, the timing of these eviction notices is a bit of a surprise, given problems other developers are currently having securing construction loans. Equally surprising to many others who have driven past the run-down apartments recently is news that actual tenants are still living there.