Results tagged “demolition”

While doing your last little bit of shopping at the soon to be defunct Alabama Bookstop, you may have noticed more condos going up alongside the center (I know - surprise!!!). While we all hope that nasty crackshacks were torn down to make room for Lovett Homes' Kipling (patio) homes, something about the location was eerily familiar.

  With financial institutions going under right and left these days, it's comforting to know that sometimes "implosion" with regard to a bank just means "implosion." The Compass Bank building located at 2200 Post Oak in the Galleria area is scheduled to be demolished promptly at 7:45 a.m. on the morning of March 15th (yes, yes, we know it's the Ides of March...ooooh!). The building is recognizable for its 1960s architecture and prominent location in the Uptown district, where it is surrounded by steely monuments to 1980s excess. According to the permit from Cherry Demolition, streets immediately adjacent to the bank will be closed at 6:00 a.m. in preparation for the implosion and will be reopened after 9:00 a.m. Cherry Demolition doesn't often announce their projects in advance -- such as the recent implosion of the 11-story Montagu Hotel downtown -- so this is a rare treat for demolition junkies, or just those interested in watching something fall-down-go-boom. And the last high-profile implosion in Houston sparked debate from spectators convinced that they saw a mysterious figure darting through the Crowne Plaza hotel before it met its demise. What great urban legends will the Compass Bank implosion spawn? This Sunday morning will tell, so get there early! Photo of the West Pavillion Professional Building implosion courtesy of Flickr user That was my foot.

The 7,300+ square foot home on an over 145,000 square foot lot built for Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Mosbacher at 405 W Friar Tuck Ln. and designed by architect John Staub is no more. Swamplot's informative Daily Demolition Report noted that the home land is still listed for sale, but the permit was issued last Friday to tear down the house. The HAR listing also has taken down all interior photos of the house, but here are a few of them.

While the golden days of espresso and gelato with friends on the giant wooden deck at Dolce & Freddo are long behind us, the vacant building at San Felipe and Voss that once housed the popular Italian coffeehouse has stood neglected since its closure several years ago, a sad reminder of days past. Similarly, the wood-paneled, mid-century modern office buildings nestled around the former Dolce & Freddo slowly became abandoned and shuttered, blending into the heavy trees of the bayou around them over time.

It's no secret that Tom Horan isn't happy about the demolition of the River Oaks Shopping Center: Back in September, when wrecking crews took down the north arc of the historic complex, Horan was there to channel Joni Mitchell. And now that crews have begun construction on the building's replacement — a much larger shopping strip with an adjacent four-story parking garage that'll loom over Horan's back yard — he's back to remind us that he's still mad. From KHOU:

The article sums up the history of the house and its ownership - how Bob Cohen built his dream home, moved from the home after forty years because of declining health, the subsequent buy out (and saga) from lawyer John O'Quinn, then its demise at the hands of Marvin Granit. Granit did provide some comments for the article, which is more than the usual builder/developer schtick of having the PR department come up with a vague and stale one-liner for the public. He expressed his shock at how commonfolk would care what he did with his newly purchased property and threw in a dig relating it to socialism. According to the article, the home would have been exempt from a flood regulation if renovated:

...because the house sits in a floodplain, city regulations would have required the structure to be elevated, a costly and difficult procedure. Only listed historic properties are exempt from this regulation, but Granit refused to seek landmark designation for the house and went ahead with demolition.

He would have been eligible for tax breaks from the city as well. So Granit contemptuously bought a one of a kind house that was definitely a candidate for landmark designation in a quotidien neighborhood, but keep an eye on the empty corner lot - it will be interesting to see what Granit's own dream home looks like in the next year or so.

741 Rocky River is just down the street from the Ralph Anderson, Jr. house at 695 Rocky River that was torn down in early October, and 1314 South, while situated between works by Staub, Briscoe, and Watkin, couldn't escape the will of its new owner Jim Crane (yep, that Jim Crane). Oddly enough, Mr. Crane was involved in the renovation of the 1904 Commercial National Bank building that won a Good Brick Award in 2002 from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Paul McRae. In this photo, Mr. McRae shares with us an ever growing situation happening throughout town, the destruction of homes to make room for condos and McMansions. We'll let Mr. McRae tell us about it: Seriously, my neighborhood is being demolished one house at a time. As was reported here they are slowly and methodically tearing down or moving out...