The Kirby Mansion, a 36-room Tudor Revival landmark that has loomed over Houston's Midtown neighborhood for a century, has new owners — and so far, nobody involved is saying what comes next. Harris County deed records show the 1.43-acre property at 2000 Smith St. recently sold to OB Texas Properties LLC.
Texas real estate non-disclosure laws keep private transaction prices out of public deed records, and the actual purchase price remains confidential, per Houston Business Journal. As Houston Public Media reports, the mansion itself covers roughly 20,000 square feet, while the full lot — per the Harris County Central Appraisal District — spans more than 60,000 square feet, large enough that portions of the property could potentially be developed without touching the mansion.
Who's Behind the Purchase
Public investor records show Omair Bashir, the registered agent for OB Texas Properties LLC, also serves as registered agent for Smith St C Store LLC and oversees a portfolio of 144 commercial and office properties across Houston managed through 35 corporate entities, according to Elementix. Houston Public Media reports that Bashir has business connections with Brake Time Corner Market LLC, a convenience store and gas station company, and already owns several gas station locations around the city.
Alcohol and hemp permits have been associated with the Smith Street property address. Houston Public Media separately confirmed that Smith St C Store LLC applied for and received a liquor license for the property this year. Neither Bashir nor his companies responded to requests for comment on potential development plans, and Greenberg & Company, which placed new signs on the property's fences after the sale, has not provided details about the site's future, per Houston Public Media.
A Quiet Replat Raises Questions
The sale has fueled speculation about commercial redevelopment on the block. Liquor-license filings have also surfaced, though no construction or demolition permits have surfaced.
Jim Parsons, programs and communications director for Preservation Houston, told Houston Public Media that his nonprofit has been in contact with the mansion's new owners but doesn't yet know their plans. “There's no indication so far of any redevelopment plans,” Parsons said. He added that Preservation Houston has seen no construction or demolition permits of any kind filed for the property, and the group is working to set up a meeting with a representative of the new ownership to discuss the site's future.
A Century of Reinvention on Smith Street
The mansion's roots stretch back to 1894, when J.S. Price built the original home on the site, according to Parsons as cited by Houston Public Media. Price later sold the property to timber and oil magnate John Henry Kirby, who hired architect James Ruskin Bailey to rebuild it in the 1920s; the home took its current form in 1926, per Parsons. An urban legend holds that elements of the original 1892 house may still be embedded within the current structure, Parsons said. Kirby, who lived from November 1860 to November 1940, lent his name to both the surrounding Upper Kirby area and Kirby Drive, and the mansion itself is considered one of the last remnants of Houston's old South End neighborhood, according to Parsons.
The building's uses have shifted dramatically over the decades. Between 1948 and the late 1970s, the mansion served for three decades as the local headquarters for the Houston-Harris County Chapter of the American Red Cross before being repurposed into commercial law offices, according to the Houston Business Journal. The property has been open to the public periodically in the past, Parsons said, though it hasn't welcomed visitors in at least a decade, and its current condition isn't publicly known. From the outside, Parsons said, the mansion appears largely intact, with no visible broken windows or roof holes, suggesting it is likely in a mothballed state that would probably need work to reactivate.
The Mansion's Brush With the Bulldozer
This isn't the first time the Kirby Mansion has faced an uncertain future. In August 2018, former owner Phillip H. Azar sold the property to Central Houston Auto Properties II LLC, whose owner originally planned to demolish the mansion to build a Cadillac dealership, according to PaperCity Magazine. The dealership plans for the mansion never materialized, sparing the structure for the time being.
Why Preservation Remains an Open Question
The property currently holds no legal protection or historic designation, Houston Public Media reports, and Texas recognizes three levels of historic designation: national, state and local. Under the City of Houston Historic Preservation Ordinance, designating a structure as a Landmark or Protected Landmark requires the property owner's approval, according to the City of Houston Planning and Development Department — meaning preservationists cannot act unilaterally to protect the mansion. A Protected Landmark designation can prevent a structure from being torn down, Parsons said, while historic designation more broadly can ease renovation or restoration for landowners, and a National Register listing can unlock historic preservation tax credits to help finance restoration done to a high standard.
Parsons said the mansion would qualify for any of the available historic designations, though all would still require the new owner's sign-off. “I do think that it's easy to sort of make the leap and suppose or fear the worst for the property, but we're remaining optimistic that the new owners recognize the treasure that they have and that hopefully they have a thoughtful redevelopment plan in mind,” Parsons told Houston Public Media.
