Former Home of East Montrose’s Fabled MuffinMan Bites the Big One



Also making
an appearance in this morning’s Demolition Report: the crumbs of East Montrose’s short-lived but storied MuffinMan restaurant. Back in the wacky late summer of ’10, the four-square-turned-duplex at 2310 Converse St. played host to what proprietor Jason Perry modestly claimed to be “the greatest penis shaped muffin restaurant Houston had” (Note: Perry’s description referenced the shape of the muffins, not of the building or its rooms; a 6-ft. sign he posted on the front lawn announced to his neighbors his earnest contention that a “four inch muffin is better than an eight inch cock.”)

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After a foreclosure and listing at the beginning of this year, Bank of America sold the property and its 6,182-sq.-ft. lot in March — for around $200K. According to MLS data, it sold again in August, for a price more than $50K higher. Perry’s experiment in opening an under-permitted late-night sobering-up hole had run into resistance from city health and code officials, as well as neighbors. Perry, who apparently owned the property under the name of a corporation, Carlyle Ultra, filed suit against the city in federal court after his restaurant was shut down, claiming the enforcement measures were unconstitutional. This past February, Judge Lynn Hughes threw out the case. A demolition permit for the 1940 building was approved yesterday.

Photos: HAR

6 Comment

  • We tried to buy it but it would have had to be all cash. You’d think a bank with a non performing property on their books would underwrite differently but they’d rather take a loss and dump it. So odd to me.

  • Cody,
    Wish you could have purchased it.
    Hoping to live in one of your re-dos one day!

  • Cody-
    What you have to realize is that just because BofA’s name is all over the deal, it doesn’t mean they actually own the loan, or even took one penny of loss on this deal. Most of the time, these loans are packaged and sold, and sometimes repackaged and sold again. BofA may still service the loan, but they have long since passed on the risk of loss to someone else.

    On top of that, BofA has a servicing agreement that spells out exactly how they are supposed to handle and defaults or foreclosures. They just want to liquidate and move on. Depending on a lot of factors, what you think is a “loss” might actually be a gain to BofA and/or whoever actually owns the loan, or a part of it. There’s no way to know without looking behind the curtain.

    And finally, the part of BofA that makes new loans, has little or nothing to do with the part of BofA that services existing loans (which may or may not even be BofA’s loans any more). If BofA were to make a new loan to a buyer of one of their “own” REO’s, if can open up a whole can of worms with regard to self dealing and conflicts of interest with whoever might actually own a beneficial interest in the REO property.

    It’s better for them to move on.

  • Sad. Developers shread another irreplaceable beautiful old home. Most new construction is caca anyway.

  • looks like we’ll be getting some sort of national “antique” chain in that location. HCAD records show the current owner being OLDE GOOD THINGS INC out of Scranton, PA.

    Here’s a look at their website: http://www.ogtstore.com