COMMENT OF THE DAY: RELEASING THE WILSHIRE VILLAGE INSURANCE HOLD “. . . Why keep residents there? Insurance for an occupied commercial exposure is MUCH cheaper than a vacant one. Vacant buildings or sites have to be secured to prevent problems with the city and attractive nuisance lawsuits. Rent was coming in, even if it was minimal. All roads lead to the fact that it was financially advantageous to not change anything until time to do something else with the property.” [Hellsing, commenting on Wilshire Village Moving Day: They Shall Be Released]
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The latest from the drawn-out, soap-opera-worthy Wilshire Village kick-’em-out festival: A source tells Swamplot that owner Matt Dilick’s Commerce Equities has informed a tenant that electricity for the 8-acre complex will be turned off on March 28th.
Plus: complaints about what our source terms the “psychological warfare” waged against the remaining residents of the complex on Dunlavy and W. Alabama:
[Dilick] has never identified himself as the owner or contacted [any of the residents]. An army of COH inspectors was here as well as the Fire Marshal touring the property with Jay Cohen, to whom [residents have] paid rent for 20 years. Now [the complex has been] papered with fire hazard and code violation signs. It preys on your mind. Why can’t Dilick say he’s the owner and give . . . a proper eviction notice? Guess it’s cheaper to scare [them] out.
The source also claims a city representative had instructed residents not to pay rent for March, but also told them they could be evicted with only 24 hours notice. And then there’s a little rumor Swamplot’s source has heard — that the place will be bulldozed on March 29th.
Construction on the new 2-story, 5,200-sq.-ft. Sicardi Gallery was supposed to start last year, but architect Fernando Brave says the project was delayed after the owner decided she wanted the new building to be LEED-certified. New target for construction to begin: this summer.
That’ll be charcoal-colored zinc and masonry on the exterior. Inside, there’ll be three connected gallery spaces, and a library upstairs. Two large light wells included in the design were recently axed in favor of more display space. The parking lot will be in front.
The River Oaks Examiner‘s Michael Reed reports that “more than 10 families” are serious about leaving Wilshire Village . . . and they’ll be hosting a couple of eviction sales over the next 2 weekends to prove it:
“We are going to be OUT, but you don’t have to be … shop indoors at those apartments participating,†fliers being distributed for the event read.
Could that mean? . . . Yes, apparently:
A resident, told the Examiner that tenants had recently been given until the end of March to leave, and that the owner had agreed to help with the moving expenses.
“We haven’t seen anything in writing,†he said, but added that he is “reasonably pleased.â€
- Wilshire residents plan eviction sale [River Oaks Examiner]
- Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]
Photo of Wilshire Village window: Katharine Shilcutt Gleave
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHO OWNS WILSHIRE VILLAGE? “Dilick purchased the property in 2002. He was aware that prople still lived in Wilshire Village as the rent checks continued to come in. He/Flat Stone II Ltd./Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd. was not only a developer at that point but a property owner and a landlord. . . . here’s where the circus music gets cued. Jay Cohen continued to ACT in the capacity of property manager/landlord/owner for the next SEVEN years. It is highly unlikely that Dilick had no idea this was going on. Texas law considers a principal to be vicariously liable for the torts of agents committed in the course and scope of their employment. Was Jay Cohen actually employed as the Wilshire Village property manager or do we have a case of ostensible (“for all appearancesâ€) agency? If Dilick ALLOWED him to walk, talk and act like one, then a reasonable person could legitimately assume that such was the case. Jay Cohen made the statement to more than one resident, acting in the capacity of someone with the authority to do so, that they would not have to leave the property as stated in the eviction notice. Texas recognizes oral agreements as binding with 4 exceptions that must be in writing, but lease extension is not one of them. Implied authority is further conveyed by Cohen being cc’d on the notice. Looks like Lucy has some ’splainin to do, hmmm?” [Hellsing, commenting on Comment of the Day: Wilshire Village Town Meeting]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WILSHIRE VILLAGE TOWN MEETING “Residents met with an official of the City of Houston Police Department last night at a “town meeting†regarding the fate of Wilshire Village. They were informed that in the next 2 days the city will post orange notices for residents to vacate. They will follow up no later than the first week in March to remove personal items and toss them “on the side of the road, off the propertyâ€. Matt Dillick also reportedly has a request to a district judge to have anyone still on the property next week “removed†as well. Considering the age of those who were told they didn’t have to leave by Jay Cohen and now have 4 days to get out, I hope the authorities won’t feel the need to pull a Robbie Tolan on any of them.” [Hellsing, commenting on Comment of the Day: Wilshire Village Plan]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WILSHIRE VILLAGE PLAN “The notices from the fire marshall are actually Fire Hazard warning stickers not condemned notices. Yes, they are very different according to the Fire Marshall. The condeming of the property will take a little more time but I am sure the plan is in motion. According to the fire marshall when he was at the property on thursday we will still have till the end of the month to get out. After that it’s going to get messy for the people who decide to stay.” [Dawn, commenting on Wilshire Village Apartments: Okay To Stay?]
City officials have declared the Wilshire Village Apartments on Dunlavy and West Alabama a fire hazard, reportedly slapping these notices on all the buildings. Residents, here’s that number to call: (713) 865-7100. A little more here.
- Wilshire Village Apartments: Condemned? [Swamplot]
- Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]
Update, 4:30 pm: The West University Examiner‘s Michael Reed confirms the report:
The order from Senior Inspector Mike Thomas said “occupancy is dangerous to human life†and told those living there they were “directed by law to communicate in person or by phone immediately with the fire marshal.â€
A semi-anonymous reader just leaned hard on the caps lock key to post this comment about the Wilshire Village Apartments across from the Fiesta at Dunlavy and W. Alabama:
FIRE MARSHALL HAS SLAPPED “CONDEMNED” NOTICES ON ALL BUILDINGS!!!!
Might want to take some blankets over there – looks like a lot of elderly people will be sleeping under bridges pretty soon! Does this mean the Houston Housing Authority will now get involved??
Are any Swamplot readers nearby? Wanna give us the scoop?
- Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]
Michael Reed from the River Oaks Examiner documents a rumor floating around the Wilshire Village Apartments on W. Alabama at Dunlavy — that former-and-maybe-still-current owner Jay Cohen has been telling tenants they don’t need to leave after all:
Monday afternoon, there was confusion about the order to vacate on the part of another tenant, who would only talk to the Examiner if he were not identified.
The tenant said he and another resident had been told by Cohen shortly after the notices were issued that they did not have to move.
He added he was under the impression Cohen still had the controlling interest in the property.
Cohen could not be located for comment.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, the property’s owner is Alabama & Dunlavy, a limited partnership. The general partner — or manager — is listed as General Commerce Equities II. Limited partners are not a matter of public record.
- Amid confusion, eviction notices come to Wilshire Village [River Oaks Examiner]
- Previously in Swamplot: Wilshire Village Utility Work, Wilshire Village Update: “A Nice Messâ€, Wilshire Village Apartments: Actual Tenants Actually Being Evicted
Photo of Wilshire Village Apartments: Katharine Shilcutt Gleave
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: “A Nice Mess†[Swamplot]
- Wilshire Village Apartments: Actual Tenants Actually Being Evicted [Swamplot]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
It sure is hard to keep straight all those white-stucco Modern homes a few Houston architects keep churning out. Which probably explains the big “oops” in the latest issue of Houston Lifestyles & Homes magazine, a free publication distributed to “45,000 upscale homes in the Houston area.”
February’s cover story, “An Inside Outside House,” centers around the somewhat spectacular home local architect-builders MC² built for Barry and Sherry Johnson, along the edge of a fault line on a small lot adjacent to Memorial Park. The tall and narrow home, which features a three-story living space, slanted columns holding up a V-shaped roof, and third-floor balconies looking out over a pool, was featured in a Houston AIA home tour last year.
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?
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.
Is Gables Residential’s West Ave development doing so well already that plans are already in place to build the mixed-use development’s second phase? Or are the cause and credit markets so hopeless that architects of a once-hoped-for follow-on project decided they might as well post images of their design, since that’s the most exposure their work will likely ever get?
Ziegler Cooper Architects, designers of the 2727 Kirby highrise going up across the street, now have posted this image of a building on the company’s website. It’s identified it as West Ave Phase II.
And there’s this description:
