Ask Houstonist: Is the River Oaks Theatre really safe?

We've received the same questions you have about the future of the River Oaks Theatre. I have been citing Weingarten CEO Drew Alexander's comments in the Sept. 1, 2006, Houston Chronicle, Sec. B page 3:

[Alexander] acknowledged that Weingarten might raze the [River Oaks and Alabama theater] buildings. In the long term, the company is considering high-rise development of the two theater sites ...

The River Oaks Theatre's current occupant, Landmark Theatres, has time left on its lease, Alexander said. He speculated that the art-movie chain would not be able to pay market rates for the location when the lease comes up for renewal. He did not estimate what the rate would be. A residential or office tower on the site, Alexander said, '"would do a lot of cool things both for the shopping center and for city life. It would be more of a 24-hour destination. You could have sidewalk dining."

I am also sharing part of an October 9, 2006, letter to Greater Houston Preservation Alliance from Patty Bender, Sr. Vice President/Director of Leasing:

We hope this letter serves to ease fears surrounding recent rumors about the future of the River Oaks and Alabama-Shepherd Centers. Weingarten Realty Investors has not announced a redevelopment of either the River Oaks Shopping Center or Alabama Theater. We do intend, however, to continue to provide the same exceptional retail experience that our tenants and their customers have enjoyed for more than three decades.

From the start, whenever GHPA has raised the issue of the River Oaks Shopping Center, Weingarten has responded that it has "not announced" any plans. Now the company has announced plans for the first phase of the project and the plans are exactly what we have been saying they are.

Let me emphasize, the announced plans are for the first phase of the redevelopment. GHPA has always said that redevelopment of the shopping center will take place in phases and that the first phase would impact only the original section of the shopping center on the northwest corner of W. Gray and S. Shepherd, not the River Oaks Theater. Plans for the River Oaks Theater building will not be announced until after the theater's lease expires in 2010.

Here's the wording from Weingarten's press release: [Patty] Bender underscored the fact that the announced plan does not in any way impact the River Oaks Theater building.

Some members of the media have focused on this one sentence that is contained among the last paragraphs of the two-page news release. If the theater were being preserved, don't you think Weingarten would have focused much more attention on that fact, considering the amount of attention the issue has gotten? Again, the "announced plan" is only for the first phase of the project, not the phase that involves the River Oaks Theater.

Regarding the statement that "the announced plan does not in any way impact" the theater building, GHPA Executive Director Ramona Davis said, "Although construction of the Barnes & Noble store will not result in the demolition of the River Oaks Theatre, by chipping away at the historic sections of the shopping center, Weingarten is making it easier to justify future demolitions."

GHPA will continue to monitor the River Oaks Shopping Center, River Oaks Theater and Alabama Theater/Bookstop, and promote the preservaiton of these significant historic buildings.

Remember, you can still write Weingarten CEO Drew Alexander and Barnes & Noble CEO Stephen Riggio to let them know your thoughts on the River Oaks redevelopment (Barnes & Noble is the anchor tenant for the new section of the center announced last week) — see GHPA's website for their addresses.