COMMENT OF THE DAY: INSIDE THE STANFORD FINANCIAL GROUP OFFICES AT 5050 WESTHEIMER “I have been through this building and it is decorated entirely in a (expensive) mahogany-green marble color scheme, put in place about 10 years ago. There is a large Palladian skylight with an ornate stair connecting the upper levels. Sir Allen’s office was huge with floor to ceiling wood paneling with some impressive wood coffers on the ceiling. Allen wanted all the offices around the world to look the same, so they all used this exact same color scheme. The furniture was of the not-so-inspiring big heavy mahagony type and the art on the walls were bad Audubon print reproductions. What was so wierd about the office was how empty it was. This was 2002 and there was almost noone in the building, despite the extreme amount of money that he spent renovating it. There were rows and rows of empty offices and the parking garage had the same empty feeling. There was a private dining room and a commercial kitchen in the building also, with a full time chef (food was great!). The whole building seemed as if it was supposed to present an image of old money grace and prestige, but somehow, it just wasn’t quite right.” [mt, commenting on Westheimer Office Building and All: Allen Stanford Says Sell!]
Sign up for the Newsletter
Tag: Buildings for Sale
The 3-story, 62,000-sq.-ft. office building across from the Galleria that was once the headquarters for the Stanford Financial Group will at last go up for sale. Accused Ponzi schemer Robert Allen Stanford, awaiting his trial in a Conroe jail cell, had opposed the sale of any real estate owned by the corporations he controlled until 2 weeks ago, but subsequently changed his mind. A court ruling last week makes it official.
The office building at 5050 Westheimer sits on 1.6 acres and includes a 285-space parking garage. Also to be sold by Dallas court-appointed receiver Ralph Janvey in “stalking horse auctions”: Stanford’s Sugar Land airplane hangar, as well as other properties in Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What about those condos in the Stanford Lofts Downtown?
City officials are discussing a possible sale of the former basketball stadium now occupied by the nation’s largest megachurch, reports the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff. When Lakewood Church took over the Compaq Center (formerly the Houston Summit) from the city in 2001, the institution prepayed the entire $12 million rent amount of the 30-year lease, and spent considerably more than that on renovations. The city won’t see any more income from the property for 22 years. According to the agreement, Lakewood has the option of extending its lease for a second 30-year period, for $22.6 million.
How much could the city get for the little church by the Southwest Freeway?
Hidden among the pix of this new Spring Branch listing: more evidence of Houston’s snoozy real-estate market. Details:
Drastic reduction by $105k! Bargain hunter where r u? . . . can easily convert to commercial use for clinic,office,corner store,washertia. High traffic area . . .
We’re hoping that’s a plain ol’ residential use pictured in the bedroom here.
And who’s sleeping in that other bed?
Do we have a winner of that free one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance?
Oh, yes we do!
Your guesses in this week’s game were all over the place: “south of Rice University between Holcombe and University, either side of Greenbriar,” Montrose, Fondren Southwest, Briargrove, “outer Memorial toward the Energy Corridor,” Nottingham Forest, Westchester, Meyerland, “along Long Point,” “off Navigation,” the neighborhoods north of Channelview,” Flintstone, Jersey Village, greater Champions, Clear Lake, “around Westpark, just outside the Loop,” “HBU/Chimney Rock vicinity,” Southwest Houston, Alief, Sharpstown, Bellaire, Deer Park, Richmond, near Pecan Grove, “290 and Beltway-ish,” Spring, Tomball, Conroe, “Spring Branch West, in the area bordered by Hammerly, I-10, Gessner, and the Beltway,” Magnolia Park, Baytown, Galena Park, “off Hempstead Highway,” Montgomery, Hempstead, “around Stuebner Airline,” “the near Southeast side,” Champions/1960, Hobby Airport area, and Pasadena.
The winner — for the second time this year — is MariaO, for this entry:
Definitely this monstrosity must be on a busy street, in an area that saw some building in the early 60s and then they kept on adding “features†throughout the decades. And it is not in an expensive area, or they would have redone the metal staircase in the entry. And several other things.
I’ll guess the northwest side, perhaps off Hempstead Highway?
Got a friend or family member you’d like to have join you as an RDA member, MariaO?
So many colorful guesses this week! This remarkably accurate one from elnina earns a close second place:
I think this is modern two story residential building from the 60’s. The house is large, and the owner, maybe in construction/remodeling business converted part of it to office space, maybe with a separate apartment and rented out.
Upstairs area looks definitely more contemporary, with updated windows and new floors, light and bright. But the remodeling is still in progress – the big room has new pergo floors but still old wood paneled walls in different color.
The sliding door from the living room upstairs leads to big terrace, and maybe to the partially enclosed whirlpool.
The other part of the house is more traditional, with lots of paneling and mirrors, brick wall accents, stone fireplace, old fashion wet bar and tile/terrazzo floors. The bathroom is a headache – he can’t decide which direction he wants to go (lol)
Definitely outside the loop but inside the Beltway, probably in semi-residential area.
It could be around Montgomery, Hempstead or Stuebner Airline – just a wild guess.
Also very close: Jeff, who went with “290 and Beltway-ish,” then added:
I think they pieced together remnants of several homes left in their yard after Hurricane Ike.
A special commendation goes to Porchman, who wrote to Swamplot with the actual listing, then threw out only this note of encouragement to fellow players:
Hard to believe it’s one house!
But it is! Well, sorta . . . kinda . . . maybe . . .
WEINGARTEN WAREHOUSE SALE Weingarten Realty is continuing its multi-year property selling spree. The REIT is trying to unload a big chunk of its industrial properties, which make up a quarter of its holdings, but are typically easier to sell than retail centers: “Weingarten owns or has a stake in 18.6 million square feet of industrial properties in six states, with approximately 7 million square feet in the Houston area. Of the local holdings, nearly 890,000 square feet is up for grabs. In Houston, two properties with a total of 211,000 square feet are under contract for sale and another two facilities with 349,000 total square feet were expected to go under contract this week, according to Landwermeyer. Spec’s became the first local buyer when it acquired a 201,000-square-foot building last week. But as a core asset, that property would not have been sold had it not been for Spec’s existing retail ties to Weingarten.” [Houston Business Journal; more on the sale to Spec’s]
Waiting patiently on the market since last October: the landmark Old Humble Antiques & Collectibles shop at the corner of E. Main St. and N. Avenue C in downtown Humble — still available for the same ol’ price of just under $600K. Comes with a 3,500-sq.-ft. living space above, plus a 2-car garage with a separate apartment above it tucked around in back.
Listing photos still show a bit of Humble memorabilia inside. Is haggling allowed?
A househunter sends in a Washington Terrace find:
I’d hate for anyone to miss out on this former funeral home that could be used for “private living.” It comes complete with your very own chapel and it looks like it has plenty of garage space. Plus, it’s “near everything that’s good in Houston.” I bet there’s plenty of stainless steel in the kitchen and a giant walk in refrigerator!
It’s the former Jackson Mortuary building, at the corner of Wheeler and Live Oak. And there’s still plenty of light inside:
Art exhibitionist Mr. Kimberly visits that former Buddha Light Monastery ranch-house-plus-temple combo near 288 and Beltway 8 that was featured on Swamplot late last month, and reports:
The for-sale property had a big, unkempt lot, a cute house, a large garage/shed building, the temple structure and separate bathroom facilities. For a working artist with a desire to be removed from the Houston inner loop, this would be a great place to create far (but not too far) from the city and its distractions. Live in the house, make art in the garage, display it in yard or covert the temple to a gallery (easy!). When we stopped by, it looked like a black church congregation was looking at the property. It would be perfect for that too.
- Sunday Driving: Seeing the Sights Otherwise Not Seen [Neon Poisoning]
- 13210 Land Rd. [HAR]
- Buddha Light Monastery: Now Even Lighter [Swamplot]
Photos: LoopNet
A little more than $40K has come off the asking price of this Texas Buddhist Temple off Almeda-Genoa, in the high northeastern crotch of 288 and Beltway 8. The 3-room, 1850-sq.-ft. building comes with an adjacent 3-bedroom, 2-bath ranch house and what looks like enough parking for several 18-wheelers.
Also on the 2.5-acre property: a 31×22 storage building and “bathrooms” behind the temple.
The solar-powered portable building fashioned from recycled shipping containers that’s been waiting patiently at the corner of Hyde Park and Waugh since last September isn’t just the sales office for the Mirabeau B. condo. It’s also a prototype.
Designers Joe Meppelink and Andrew Vrana of Metalab have teamed up with ttweak Renewables (creators of the Mirabeau B.’s sales graphics) and Harvest Moon (the condo’s developer) to market the structures, which they call SPACE. That stands for Solar Powered Attractive Container for Everyone — though more likely it’ll be for companies that want a sales center that also works as a big green sign.
Nancy Sarnoff reports that the U.S. Postal Service is putting its entire 16-acre downtown facility on the market, including the classic modern main building. The building was designed by Houston’s own pseudo-brutalists Wilson, Morris, Crain and Anderson in 1962, when precast concrete fins were all the rage.
There are a few stipulations to the sale:
Whoever buys the property at 401 Franklin must build a replacement processing facility for the postal service, as well as provide a retail location near the existing site where consumers can mail packages and buy stamps.
- Downtown Houston post office up for sale [Houston Chronicle]
The Fiesta on the corner of Studewood and 14th St. in the Heights still has “a couple more years” left on its lease, but Weingarten Realty has put the property up for sale.
The 28,466-sq.-ft. grocery store sits on a 1.76 acre site. Also included: 2 neighboring lots off Algregg St. used for parking and a third with a bungalow-turned shop on it.
Ready for the market: the site of the Great Tuscan Wedding Fantasy Crash of ’08! Listing agent Bill Burge says the sellers of the wedding venue in Garden Oaks once known as the Tuscany Gardens and Villa will be asking $4.5 million.
The Tuscany of Garden Oaks, at 835 W. 34th St., was built from the ashes of the famed Bill Mraz Ballroom, by Titus Inc. — operators of that other wedding stage set on Chimney Rock, Bella Terrazza. Titus of course is better known as the company that stranded all those brides and grooms without the $2 million in deposits they had paid for their weddings before Hurricane Ike hit. (Though maybe the company isn’t quite so well known: HCAD lists the property’s owner as “Tutus Inc.”)
We all know the ending: Rachael Ray swooped in and gave that big de-Tuscanized group wedding in the middle of the baseball field at Minute Maid Park — and 33 couples got to get married on teevee for free! Happily ever after, right? Well, almost.
Morgan Stanley, having swallowed Crescent Real Estate Equities near the peak of the market last year, is having a little trouble digesting the REIT.
The Wall St. Journal reports that one of the Crescent properties Morgan Stanley is ready to spit out is . . . Greenway Plaza. An article by reporters Lingling Wei and Aaron Lucchetti finds a July estimate of $826 million for the 10-building complex.
- Morgan Stanley’s Waning Crescent [Wall St. Journal, via Swamplot Inbox]
Photo: Flickr user ShinyCrazyDiamond
