"When the real estate bust hit Houston in the '80s, the buildings went vacant and sat empty for 12 years," said Senior Designer Ric Guenther of Kirksey in Houston, TX. "Originally, the buildings were designed as precast and brick. They were fairly unattractive buildings, which were full of asbestos. In 1998, they were bought by a development group - TPMC Realty Services Group, Inc. out of Dallas. We got involved because we had a relationship with them from two other projects."
According to the architect, the developer essentially bought the land. "The concept was to renovate the buildings to Class A status and offer them back to the market," he said. The property, which is now referred to as Park Towers, is in a very fashionable area of Houston where new condominiums were recently built. "It's the Uptown area," said Guenther.