Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission

8/14/2019 Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission

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Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission Meeting Date: November 19, 2009

AGENDA ITEM: IfSITE NAME: HPO File no. 091106SITE LOCATION: 801 Pizer Street Norhill Historic District

CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESSCity of Houston Planning and Development Department, Development Services

Owner: Gregory Spence and Li Zhao Applicant: SameTime Date 90-day

Frame Accepted WaiverOct-25-2009 Jan-23-2010

SITE INFORMATION:Lot 18, Block 210, East Norhill Subdivision, City of Houston, Harris County, Texas. Thebuilding on the site is a one-story, wood frame house with brick veneer with attached two story addition.

TYPE OF APPROVAL REQUESTED:The owner and applicant requests approval of a certificate of appropriateness for the following work:

Demolition of historic one-story house and rear two story addition.

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE:

The property is contained within the boundaries of the Norhill Historic District, which was designated as a cityhistoric district by the Houston City Council on June 14, 2000.At the time of the Norhill Historic District survey, thehistoric one-story Bungalow, built circa 1935, was classified as contributing. The building has a two story rearaddition which begins at the rear wall of the historic building and which could easily be removed.

William C. Hogg developed the neighborhood in 1923. He took a unique approach to the development by plattinglots for houses with restrictive covenants, a separate commercial district, and allocated space for a park andschool. Other unique features of the neighborhood are the park-like esplanades intersecting NorhillBoulevard. Construction in the Norhill neighborhood reflects the national building trend of the early 1920s, whichfocused on the bungalow style of architecture. The vast majority of the type of housing constructed in theneighborhood represents the varied types of the bungalow style, including: Colonial Bungalow, English Bungalow,

Spanish Bungalow, Hip Bungalow, Pedimented Bungalow and the Bungalow cottage. Norhill even has severalBungalow duplexes. Between 1905 and 1925, the bungalow became one of the predominant house forms inHoustons suburban neighborhoods.

APPROVAL CRITERIA FOR DEMOLITION:Sec. 33-247. Same--Demolition of landmark, protected landmark, contributing structure, potentially

contributing structure or within archaeological site.(a) The issuance of a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of a landmark, a contributing structure or apotentially contributing structure, or for demolition of a building, structure or object on or in an archaeological siteshall be subject to the establishment by the applicant of an unreasonable economic hardship or the establishmentof an unusual and compelling circumstance.

(1) Determination of an unreasonable economic hardship shall be based upon the following criteria:

S D NA S - satisfies D - does not satisfy NA - not applicable

(a) That the property is incapable of earning a reasonable return, without regard to whether the return isthe most profitable return, including without limitation, whether the costs of maintenance orimprovement of the property exceed its fair market value; The Norhill neighborhood boasts oneof Houstons highest market values per square foot of existing living space. The building


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was purchased in May 2009 for a price which was between $150,000 and $200,000 accordingto the Houston Association of Realtors Multiple Listings Service. According to Harris County

appraisal District records the property had a 2008 appraisal value of $195,000 and has a 2009appraised value of $214,500, which represents an increase in value from the date ofpurchase.

(b) That the property cannot be adapted for any other use, whether by the current owner, by apurchaser or by a lessee, that would result in a reasonable return; and Many homes within theNorhill Historic District have been rehabilitated for contemporary use. The prevailingbuilding size within the neighborhood is approximately 1,000 square feet and many of thesehistoric buildings have been adapted for modern lifestyles through the construction ofsensitive additions to the rear of the historic buildings, many of these additions havingadded significant new square footage to the original building.

Furthermore, to demolish the historic building is not conducive to maintaining or enhancing

the historical and architectural significance of the Historic District. Continued demolitionsimpact the long-term status of the historic district in maintaining its historical andarchitectural significance. Only appropriate restoration of the existing historic buildings willmaintain and/or enhance the existing city historic district.

(c) That efforts to find a purchaser or lessee interested in acquiring the property and preserving it havefailed. The subject property was recently purchased and there is no evidence that theproperty has been offered for sale to someone who would rehabilitate the historic building.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Denialof the certificate of appropriateness as requested by the applicant.


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Site Location Map

Not to Scale


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Photo of Existing House

Courtesy HAR


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Photo of Existing House


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Photos of Existing ConditionSubmitted by Applicant


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Photos of Existing ConditionSubmitted by Applicant

Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission

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Transcript of Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission