Already busy with 3 local apartment projects, including one just beginning construction next to the new Whole Foods on Waugh, a 399-unit development to replace the Montrose Fiesta on Dunlavy, and another on the site of the old Art Institute of Houston building at 1900 Yorktown, developer Marvy Finger says he’s planning to build Downtown as well, reports Real Estate Bisnow ‘s Catie Dixon. In the works: an 8-story midrise at the corner of Texas and Crawford St. Yes, that’s the site of the 1926 Ben Milam Hotel, a long-vacant 10-story building remembered as the first Houston hotel ever to feature air conditioning.

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This wouldn’t be the first time Finger has targeted a building designed by his namesake (but apparent non-relative), Joseph Finger, architect of Houston’s City Hall. In 1999 the apartment developer bought and demolished the shuttered 1937 Jeff Davis Hospital on Allen Parkway, designed by Finger and Alfred Finn; Houston’s Federal Reserve building was built on the property after he flipped it. In 2001 he announced plans to restore and reopen the 1927 Finger-designed former Plaza Hotel at 5020 Montrose Blvd. Instead, a different developer turned it into an office building.

Photos of Ben Milam Hotel: HAIF user Ron4tx (top and bottom); Flickr user NicoleH (middle)