SKANSKA HELPING HOUSTON CLUB TO EARLY EXIT
A year after Downtown’s Houston Club Building fell into foreclosure, the U.S. division of Swedish construction firm Skanksa has at last bought the 63-year-old building at 811 Rusk. But the new owner isn’t saying yet whether it plans to tear down the 18-story property. A company representative tells Nancy Sarnoff, though, that it will be “very difficult†to update and repair the structure. In any case, Skanska is letting tenants’ leases expire, and is helping the Houston Club itself relocate to “another downtown building†in February 2013, 2 years before its lease is up. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo : Silberman Properties
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I guess it’s not the best time to convert to downtown housing, but it would be an ideal location. It could be something very special.
#1, I got dibs on the ballroom– it would make for a fab closet.
It’s a shame this may not be restored, because it could be a great building in Houston with a lot of history. Downtown is changing so fast….
http://www.thesquarefoot.com/houston/houston-brownfield-redevelopment
Meh…I’m normally all over preservation, but not really for this building. We looked at it a couple years ago when moving offices. It doesn’t offer much for views, the parking is expensive and mandatory valet (which has the other nice effect of creating a morning clog on Rusk and Travis), office tenancy is low (for those reasons, prolly among others). The architecture itself isn’t particularly significant. And at least the ballroom of the Houston Club has been in need of some spiffing for some time. So even though I went to my senior prom there…meh.