The 36-room Tudor Revival structure at 2000 Smith St. lay in a pile of concrete and timber by morning. Crews working for OB Texas Properties LLC completed the demolition on Nov. 2, 2024, despite a temporary stoppage by city inspectors. The building, originally built for businessman JS Price in 1894 and later expanded by lumber magnate John Henry Kirby, had never received formal historic landmark status.
The timeline reveals a bureaucratic scramble that failed to save the structure. Inspectors arrived on Oct. 30 to find crews had already destroyed half the building without a permit. They halted the work, but the owner, Omair Bashir, secured the necessary authorization later that same day. By the time the machinery resumed, there was "not much left," according to ABC13.
Bashir’s company, which also owns the Brake Time gas station chain, filed plans for a gas station and convenience store on the site. He did not comment on the redevelopment. Preservationists had warned of the impending loss as early as 2018, noting a prospect buyer’s intent to raze the home, but the structure stood for eight more years.
Jennifer Kapral, executive director of Preservation Houston, expressed frustration over the loss of craftsmanship and history. "We're losing it to a gas station and convenience store," Kapral told Houston Public Media. She indicated that advocacy groups are now collaborating to push for policy changes to shift the city’s culture regarding historic preservation.
A vigil held Sunday night by Mister McKinney's Historic Houston marked the final community effort to save the mansion. The house had not been open to the public in over a decade, though Preservation Houston’s Jim Parsons had noted it appeared "mothballed" in early October. The site will now undergo construction for the new commercial development.