This Week in Demolition we see the busiest Non-Residential Demolition list in quite some time! Starting off with smaller news, the original home of C&D Scrap Metal is slated to come down after sitting vacant since the $2 Bills were relocated to Bingle Road in 2016. Towards the center of town we find an unusual address 6100 Main, which any Owl Alums will quickly recognize as home of Rice University. The school announced in April of this year that they plan to replace the Abercrombie Engineering Lab with a new facility. Speaking of rice, our feature this week is the transition of the former Shadowdale Grain Elevator facility in West Houston into the new home of a Mega Church. While no Lakewood, or Second Baptist Hope City Church, which currently meets across various campuses comprised of rented spaces (including a satellite campus in Tanzania), is aiming for accommodating up to 2000 congregants in the new facility. According to Hope City Church the purchase price for the facility was around $20 Million, and they closed on the deal during the summer of 2019. Although constructed as a grain elevator site, the buildings and silos have been used by a self storage company for at least the last 20 years. In 1990 the Grain Elevator experienced a severe explosion which blew the roof off of the central shaft and started a fire, while no one was hurt or killed, the fact that this happened next to a residential area likely led to a good amount of push back towards continued operation of a grain elevator. However, the large concrete structures have continued to provide a second purpose as a great advertising piece over the years. Hope City seems to support this theory and is banking on the silos “Creat[ing] a visibility and branding opportunity for our campus“. Renderings and concept art have shown a large lighted sign being attached to the remaining silos, leaving the residents in the neighborhood behind living in the shadow of Hope City.
This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post.
Residential Demolitions
501 Lovett Blvd, Houston, TX 77006– Montrose, 1920s Colonial Mansion, Guest House Only, Photos
960 Marina Dr, Humble, TX 77339– Forest Cover Townhomes, Destroyed by Harvey, bought out by HCFCD, Photos
5615 Val Verde St, Houston, TX 77057– Westheimer Estates, Duplex also 5613, Photos
1344 Lamonte Ln, Houston, TX 77018– Oak Forest, 1940s Western Style Backyard, Photos
324 E 28th St, Houston, TX 77008– Sunset Heights, Photos
5609 Val Verde St, Houston, TX 77057– Westheimer Estates, Photos
1037 North Ln, Houston, TX 77088– Lincoln City, Photos
5614 Ludington Dr, Houston, TX 77035– Westbury, 1950s Ranch, Photos
4212 Center St, Houston, TX 77007– Magnolia, 1920s?, Photos
1606 Ronson Rd, Houston, TX 77055– Spring Oaks, 1950s Ranch, Photos
2221 Morse St, Houston, TX 77019– Plainview, Photos
7028 Avenue N, Houston, TX 77011– Central Park, Photos
1611 Alamo St, Houston, TX 77007– Burns, Garage Apartment Only
2030 Deams St, Houston, TX 77093– Croyden Gardens
4806 Rockwood Dr, Houston, TX 77004– University Oaks
6219 Linton Rd, Houston, TX 77008– Timbergrove Manor
1009 Niagara St, Houston, TX 77051– Brookhaven
9717 Pelsey St, Houston, TX 77029– Fidelity
7048 Avenue N, Houston, TX 77011– Magnolia Park
1353 Candlelight Ln, Houston, TX 77018– Oak Forest
1129 E 23rd St, Houston, TX 77009– Sunset Heights
8318 Sunnyhill St, Houston, TX 77088– Washington Heights Annex
434 Mignon Ln, Houston, TX 77024– Memorial Bend
977 Lucky St, Houston, TX 77088– Lincoln City
1521 Antoine Dr, Houston, TX 77055– Shadyvilla
6505 Langfield Rd, Houston, TX 77092
Non-Residential Demolitions
1140 Lumpkin Rd, Houston, TX 77043– Shadowdale Storage, former Grain Elevator complex
3602 W Fuqua St, Houston, TX 77045– Former Gas Station Likely a Gulf, most recently an auto repair shop, Listing
8730 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77063– Splash Car Wash
815 W 25th St, Houston, TX 77008– Former C&D Scrap Metal
6100 Main St, Houston, TX 77005– Rice University Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory, Being Rebuilt
2350 CityWest Blvd, Houston, TX 77042– Bank Drive-Thru
Is 501 Lovett being torn down? It’s supposed to be a Korean Steakhouse. Here is the blurb about from the Houston Chronicle……
Keverry on Montrose LLC purchased a 5,447-square-foot building at 501 Lovett Blvd. from American Youth Hostels for a BORI restaurant, according to Davis Commercial. Hyon Sook Lee of the R. Alex Group represented the buyer. Mark Davis of Davis Commercial represented the seller. The building will be developed as the second location for BORI, a South Korean steakhouse at 1453 Witte Road in Spring Branch. Opening is planned in late spring of 2021.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/texas-inc/article/Retail-wrap-Scooter-s-Coffee-Van-Leeuwen-Ice-15825259.php
Looking at the COH permit site, it seems like it might be receiving an interior tear down and rebuild. Not sure how big the structure is but the new building permit is for 3000 Sqft.
I took a few pics of the Cherry Demolition crew salvaging the terra cotta roof tiles and the Energy sculpture by the main entrance to the Abercrombie building at Rice.
Awesome! Feel free to shoot ’em over to [email protected] if you want them featured on the blog!