Note: Updated below.
So tell me, whatever happened to . . . those Wilshire Village Apartments? Houston photographer Sarah Lipscomb stumbled across a couple of classic interior shots of the then-new apartment complex while poking through old photos a few months ago with her aunt, Johnna Lee Muller.
Writes Lipscomb:
They didn’t have internet in those days but they got to smoke, read magazines and look at globes.
Another view of home entertainment in the early 1940s, Wilshire Village-style:
A few of the Wilshire Village apartment buildings have been leveled already. A Swamplot reader sends in a few photos from the scene near the corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama, taken this weekend and earlier today:
The West University Examiner‘s Mike Reed reports that portions of the brick walls of at least two buildings on the 8-acre site of the Wilshire Village Apartments at Dunlavy and West Alabama have been hauled away. (Yes, Swamplot commenter OkieEric made similar observations earlier this week.)
And then there’s that sign that’s gone up on Dunlavy, which kinda takes all the guesswork out of it.
Photo of Wilshire Village Apartments: Mike Reed, West University Examiner
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TREES OF WILSHIRE VILLAGE “Actually, it seems that efforts *may* be taken to spare at least some of the trees on the Wilshire Village property. From my vantage point across the street, I can see orange plastic fencing surrounding a number of trees…I can also see at least two bulldozers on the property, as well as a lot of broken-up pavement in the parking lots behind the apartments. I fear that the end is near and that I am soon bidding farewell to an old friend–but if we *do* see some of trees spared, that is at least some solace.” [M. Martin, commenting on Wilshire Village Apartments: Actual Tenants Actually Being Evicted]
Here’s a little video sent to Swamplot from this morning, showing what appeared to a reader to be the beginning of the end for the Wilshire Village apartments. But in a comment to that post, Lynn Edmundson from Historic Houston reports this demo work isn’t really all it’s been cracked up to be:
I just returned from the site…and it looks like they are just breaking up the surface concrete. The contractors on the site are installing plumbing/water lines…and are not with the demolition company.
New plumbing lines? What for?
Meanwhile, Historic Houston Salvage to the . . . rescue? Edmundson adds:
With the permission of the contractors on the site, someone with me was able to look into one of the apartments and there is beautiful oak flooring still inside the apartments waiting to be reclaimed!
Video: Swamplot inbox
BREAKING APARTMENTS NEWS: DEMOLITION BEGINS AT WILSHIRE VILLAGE A reader reports the long-anticipated demolition of the Wilshire Village apartments at the corner of Dunlavy and W. Alabama has begun: “At 7:19 AM this morning demolition started. It is one single piece of equipment.” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot]
Fenced and forlorn, the Wilshire Village Apartments at West Alabama and Dunlavy are ready for the wrecking. But . . . not yet. Swamplot reader Robert Boyd sends a few pics of the lonely scene from this weekend:
As noted in today’s Daily Demolition Report below, 20 structures of the Wilshire Village garden apartments at the corner of Alabama and Dunlavy received demolition permits yesterday.
Aren’t there only 17 buildings in the complex? Maybe everyone’s just trying to be extra sure to get them all.
If you’re coming late to this story — or if you just feel the need to relive all the excitement, mystery, and wackiness surrounding the long decline, eventual abandonment, and destruction of a 69-year-old Montrose icon — you can read all of Swamplot’s posts on the topic here. For full effect, start at the earliest story, at the bottom of the last page, and work your way backwards. And don’t miss the many entertaining and informative comments contributed by Swamplot readers along the way.
Photo of Wilshire Village Apartments, 1701 W. Alabama St.: Jim Parsons, from GHPA’s Houston Deco
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHICH WILL ROLL FIRST? “Speaking of demolition, the Chicken ‘n’ Egg Roll building is still standing. On the day of the supposed demo, there was a little Bobcat or mini-dozer in the parking lot. A couple days later I noticed a CoH red tag in the window. But the building is still there. Wilshire Village is still standing, too, for the most part. The windows are gone, gaping, and empty, meaning that the interiors have been exposed to the weather (such as it is these days). Some of the buildings have been tagged. The complex used to just look old, but inhabited. Now it looks vacant and sad, very sad.” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Meat Beater]
NO, THE WILSHIRE VILLAGE APARTMENTS DIDN’T CATCH ON FIRE TODAY But the much smaller West Alabama Place apartments catty-corner to them, at 1648 W. Alabama, did: “Officials said eight upstairs units were damaged either by fire, smoke or water. The fire appeared to be in the attic above the units.” No injuries have been reported. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: NAME MY NEIGHBORHOOD “. . . my husband and I call our neighborhood ‘no man’s land.’ It isn’t Museum, it isn’t Montrose, it isn’t upper Kirby, it isn’t Southhampton, it isn’t River Oaks. What is it: Between Shepherd, W. Alabama, Dunlavy and Richmond. We are orphans.” [miss_msry, commenting on Regent Square Cemetery Condo Tower: 28 Stories, 2 Faces]
All those Inside-the-Loop guesses meant some of you weren’t too far off the mark in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game.
The most popular guess was West University, made by 4 of you. The Heights, Winlow Place, and Woodland Heights each attracted 3 guesses. There were 2 guesses each for Rice Military and Highland Village. The rest? Southampton, Southgate, “the area behind the River Oaks shopping mall on West Gray, bordered by Shepherd to the west, Westheimer to the south and Montrose to the east,” “the Hyde Park area behind River Oaks Center,” “the Post Oak/Woodway corridor,” Nantucket, West Lane Place, Montrose, “High End Montrosian,” Mandell Place, “near the Village,” “that vague area between Kirby and Shepherd that is neither River Oaks nor Montrose,” “Audubon Place – around there or east of Montrose at least,” the east side of Montrose, Lynn Park, Weslayan Plaza, “between W. Alabama and 59, somewhere between Shepherd and midtown,” “Kingwood-ish,” “southeast of the Medical Center, off Parkwood,” Midtown around Brazos and Main, “Southmore/Wheeler/288ish,” the Museum District, The Woodlands, Westmoreland, Riverside, Southmore, “on the way to that old cemetery . . . I drive down to get to Lockwood via Leeland . . . near Wayside” (?), St. George Place, “around the Museum District – but east of Montrose,” “along the Gulf Freeway on the east side,” Midtown, and East Houston.
Who was the winner? LT, who humbly asked if “between W. Alabama and 59, somewhere between Shepherd and midtown” was too broad a guess. Not if it’s the only one that’s correct! LT went on to marvel:
I just can’t [get] over how CLEAN the place is – I don’t know anyone with kids who has as little clutter as these people.
Congratulations, LT!
Two players deserve honorable mentions for smart catches. JT, for going that extra step to guess that the house is a “red brick Georgian”; and Starkeshia, for deducing that this was “a new house meant to look old.”
Meant, in fact, to look like this:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WILSHIRE VILLAGE PAYMENT DUE “I forgot to mention that with regard to the loan Dilick took out to pay for taxes on the property four years ago, sources have reported that the bank set a deadline of early April 2009 for him to take steps toward paying back that loan. In demolishing the apartments and selling the land, Dilick would be able to pay back the loan and make a profit as well. . . . As to the comment, ‘This is private property. The owner should be able to do with it as he sees fit,’ the problem is that Jay Cohen, who inherited the property from his parents, still holds 80 percent ownership. Sadly, he was duped or forced by circumstance into signing over managing control to Dilick. . . .” [dredger, commenting on Comment of the Day: Grand Unified Wilshire Village Conspiracy Theory]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GRAND UNIFIED WILSHIRE VILLAGE CONSPIRACY THEORY An “anonymous news reporter/non-resident” explains all the wacky goings-on at Wilshire Village — complete with a detailed timeline. Here’s an excerpt, but if you love real-estate soap operas, settle in with a snack and read the whole finger-pointing thing: “. . . The original owner, Jay H. Cohen, inherited the apartments and property from his parents, who had the apartments built in 1940. In November 2005, Matthew Dilick partnered with Cohen under a partnership called Alabama & Dunlavy, Ltd., taking out a loan to pay for taxes. Through this partnership, Dilick was able to obtain general partnership status to make management decisions, and his widely published plan all along has been to demolish the buildings and sell the land. Before the apartments could be demolished, they would have to be vacated. But the original owner Jay H. Cohen maintained majority ownership and wished to keep the buildings standing. Toward that goal, Cohen obtained two repair permits in January and February 2009 and set electricians to consistently making electrical repairs over the course of the next couple of months. . . . Questions: If the buildings were demolished and new condos were built, would the City of Houston stand to profit by the increased value of the land and therefore increased taxes? Was the City of Houston working in coordination with Alabama & Dunlavy, Ltd to cause the buildings to be vacated? Why were Cohen’s repair efforts disregarded by Alabama & Dunlavy, Ltd. and the City of Houston? Has everything been legit? . . .” [dredger, commenting on Wilshire Village Is Ready for Its Closeup]
Note: Story updated below.
Over at Wilshire Village, all appears on track for one of those classic salvage-free start-over-the-weekend demos — the kind this town is famous for! A pre-demo sewer-disconnect permit for the apartments was pulled yesterday. And a Swamplot reader has sent in a photo report:
I saw that one of your commenters had noticed the Komatsu in the parking lot of Wilshire Village. It’s from Ambush Demolition, so that’s not a particularly good sign. There are numbers spray-painted on the sides of at least some of the buildings there and orange cable (and gas line?) markings on the sidewalks . . .
Will Wilshire Village’s actual demo permit be purchased sometime today? You’ll get a definitive answer . . . in next Monday’s Daily Demolition Report, right here on Swamplot!
Now, about that closeup:
