Ambitious redevelopment means saying goodbye to beloved San Antonio flower shop

2 years ago 287

A section developer plans an ambitious multimillion-dollar renovation astatine a historical Midtown building, signaling the extremity of a beloved angiosperm store and antique store aft 72 years.

Headwall Investments purchased the 21,152-square-foot spot astatine 2101 McCullough Avenue successful July, says president and CEO George J. Wommack. The abstraction volition beryllium converted into a modern bureau abstraction that inactive preserves the aged historical features of the building.

The gathering volition clasp overmuch of the archetypal McCullough facade that's acquainted to predominant customers of Allen's Flowers.

Wommack is the erstwhile laminitis and CEO of Petro Waste Environmental LP, an lipid and state coagulated discarded processing and disposal institution successful the Permian Basin. Petrol Waste was sold to Waste Management successful 2019 and present Wommack leads Headwall, a San Antonio-based concern firm.

Wommack is calling the aboriginal bureau abstraction "The Allen" — a motion to the angiosperm and antique store that's presently connected its mode out.

Headwall Investments purchased the spot successful July from Lisa Marie Allen, the proprietor of Allen's Flowers & Gifts and Best Wholesale.

A trove of antiques and flowers

Allen's Flowers & Gifts and Best Wholesale has been astir since 1950, but the beloved store volition halt selling flowers connected October 30 and beryllium retired of the abstraction by November 13, Allen says.

The showroom is simply a warmly lit depository of antique woody cabinets, delicate china sets, handmade tables, dense crystal vases, vibrant lipid paintings, and Christmas wreathes and garland. Even with the big modern euphony playing passim the building, the abstraction is stoically quiet.

This is Allen's showroom arsenic it sits today. Filled with antique, handmade furniture.

Each portion of furnishings and decorative point gives disconnected an aerial of "please beryllium careful." You person to beryllium cautious to marque your mode backmost to Allen's office, wherever she sat astatine her table moving erstwhile MySA visited the abstraction this week. She says this is wherever you'll find her six days a week.

Allen's is fundamentally her home, and it has been since she started moving with for the household concern successful 1976 erstwhile she was conscionable 23. Now 68, Allen said she sold the gathering due to the fact that it's clip for her to retire.

The Allen household has a agelong past successful the Alamo City, opening erstwhile Allen's Flowers & Gifts and Best Wholesale was primitively opened by her mother, Grace Louise Mauermann Allen, who was the archetypal florist and decorator. After attending Jefferson High School and Hockaday Junior College successful Dallas, Grace Allen past erstwhile onto the University of Texas astatine Austin wherever she earned a bachelor’s grade successful art.

The showroom besides features lipid paintings curated by Lisa Allen.

Her creator oculus extended beyond florals, and Grace Allen adjacent trained famed creator Diego Rivera's students astatine the McNay Art Museum. Grace Allen's oculus for decorations and arrangements were beloved by the community, conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic the store.

Allen says her parent astir went into movie concern aft producers came to San Antonio to instrumentality Grace Allen and San Antonio-born Carol Burnett to Hollywood by train. Allen's grandfather, San Antonio's two-term politician Gus B. Mauermann, put a halt to that.

"She was a large beauty," Allen says. "He stopped the bid and said nary girl his is going to Hollywood."

Her parent died successful 2016 astatine the property of 92.

On the near is the archetypal proprietor of Allen's Flowers Grace Louise Mauermann Allen, Lisa's mother. On the close is Lisa's begetter Charles Allen. This photograph was taken astir 1972, Lisa says.

Allen's first-ever decorating occupation was for the Kodak Company astir Christmas 1976. Just earlier the project, her father, Charles Allen, had a changeable astatine the property of 51. The occupation was hard, Allen said, but she intelligibly had her mother's oculus for decorating. Once completed, she was handed a $50,000 check.

"I came backmost and handed the cheque to my dada and helium told me, 'I'll ne'er person to interest astir you and the household again,'" Allen says.

Lisa Allen is perfectly successful her constituent -- antique furnishings and cautiously placed angiosperm arrangements.

Allen went connected to decorate and make arrangements and effect baskets for large section clients similar the Cavender and McCombs families. Some of the antique pieces she uses to decorate costs upwards of $6,000 oregon higher. As a result, Allen's inactive brings successful a wealthiness of antithetic types of customers, though she is discrete astir her lawsuit list.

Now, Allen's is having a blowout merchantability to effort and liquidate its antique pieces to beryllium retired of the gathering successful November.

Gus Mauermann Allen, Lisa's brother, helped tally the wholesale information of Allen's Flowers. Gus' grandfather, besides named Gus Mauermann, was erstwhile Mayor of San Antonio.

Preserving 'warm and welcoming'

Allen says she's going to miss the customers astir of all, but she believes the gathering is successful bully hands.

"They're going to support the gathering beautiful, and lukewarm and welcoming, which is what I wanted," Allen says.

This is The Allen viewed from Ashby Street.

Most of the abstraction volition beryllium converted into offices, but Wommack says helium intends to sphere the Allen's showroom, which volition beryllium the main introduction mode to The Allen.

"We conscionable deliberation it's a beauteous operation and has immoderate truly neat architectural elements to it," Wommack says. "We're taking that gathering and we're going backmost to conscionable the bare bones of it for the astir part."

Here is simply a look astatine the showroom that volition greet visitors, and volition beryllium utilized to showcase the historical space's look arsenic good arsenic its surrounding offices.

Wommack says not lone are they honoring the angiosperm shop's history, but besides the wood and leather furnishings shaper WR Dallas, the furnishings shaper operated retired of the McCullough gathering opening successful 1929.

The atrium volition location what looks to beryllium an indoor eating and recreational abstraction for customers and tenants.

A caller listing connected Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has a projected outgo of $4.4 million, which is taxable to change. Wommack says that outgo volition beryllium supplemented with the assistance of historical taxation credits.

Wommack hopes to statesman operation arsenic soon arsenic November. Studio 8 designed the renderings for the The Allen. Jones Lang LaSalle volition negociate the task and grip leasing.

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