If it doesn’t look like much of the 10-story building at 3400 Montrose Blvd. has been taken down yet, that’s because you’re looking at it (in the above photo, at least) from the front. Come around to the back side of the boulevard-facing office tower that featured Cody’s and later Scott Gertner’s Skybar on its top floor to see how far the demo has come along:
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Crews began their smashing with a couple of properties in back of the building, and are moving east through the block. Most of the parking garage that sat behind it is now gone, as you can see in this view from Hawthorne St. taken Saturday afternoon:
Replacing the structure will be a new building also called 3400 Montrose, but it’ll be a 30-story Hanover apartment tower set further back from the street.
- Previously on Swamplot: New 30-Story 3400 Montrose Tower Will Face Kroger, Show Montrose Blvd. Its Garage and Drive-Thru; Apartment Developer Buying Montrose Blvd. ‘Skybar’ Building; 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
Photos: Triton from HAIF
I’m assuming asbestos remediation is either underway or is gonna take some time before the building comes down.
Used to get my jeans at M2M here. I bought the best fitting pair of Skinner Levi’s here–best jeans ever!–as for the building it was always ugly, but the rooftop bar had an awesome view–the new apartment tower will be an improvement.
If I were able to have bought it, then Cody’s Skybar would have returned :)
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In all honesty, that was the ONE property I wanted to buy that my wife veto’d. Normally she doesn’t care what my company buys, but for some reason she was adamant that I not touch that thing (likely from hearing one-too-many horror stories involving the city).
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So all of Montrose has her to thank that a new awesome building is going there vs. the existing structure being modified to be used. See, one person can make a difference :)
I hope before they built the new building there they will thoroughly disinfect the area with bleach and a good antibacterial wash.
This is a win all around.
Oh lord, Cody! I think you have a somewhat inflated sense of yourself and your impact on anything.
@Lizzie D > Pretty sure Cody was referring to his wife as the person making the difference
Lizzie: It was 1/2 tongue and cheek, relax. I have a very humble sense of my impact. It’s very very very very small, in even the small area we work in and do try to impact. And any serious scale, our impact is small enough to be zero. BUT, there is a small chance that if my wife were on board, this property would not have been sold to Hanover and that new building would not have been built. That would have made a pretty big difference in Montrose at least.
It sounds as though there is a lot more to the Cody legend than appears in this story…
I’ve been reading Cody’s comments for over a year now and they’re measured, thoughtful, and hardly arrogant. I look forward to his comments because of his deep knowledge of building in Houston. I also respect that he doesn’t hide behind some absurd nom de plume or change his name after every post. Personally, I’d have liked to have seen what Cody would have done with that old barnacle of a building–although his wife probably saved him a major headache, of which he seems fully aware;)
@Cody: Problem with opinions is they are cheap and everyone can have at least one. Keep up the good work, let history judge.
It’s amazing to me how many people appreciate what Cody’s Skybar offered Houston, while it never seemed to inspire imitators. It’s remarkable how a little elevation can lend so much atmosphere to a place in a flat city like Houston. Even when the weather was hot & humid. It was a delight to hang out on the outdoor patio and enjoy the view.
Off on another tangent, it always struck me as surprising that The Peoples’ Republic of China should buy and extendively remodel the similarly ugly building across the street, in an era in which Montrose was still considered to be very bohemian (and gay).
Looking forward to a new tower, and another, and another…
Maybe we’ll get a street car system in this town one day.
Glen W.
Houston and streetcars? Been there, done that:
http://members.iglou.com/baron/interurban.htm
http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/27693-who-killed-houstons-streetcars/