The 1967 occupant of 3300 Main St., which previously housed the city code enforcement office, is currently getting its asbestos removed in anticipation of its impending demolition, according to a reader involved in the work. The structure and its parking lot grounds were bought from the city in 2011 by the Midtown Redevelopment Authority, who started trying to sell it in 2014; PM Realty (the developers of the glass-petticoated apartment tower at 2929 Weslayan, who are also currently working on the less-is-more-branded Ivy Lofts tiny condo complex in East Downtown) put the property under contract that year.

What’s going to take the code building’s place, between the new MATCH box theater collection and the Houston Community College buildings to the north on Main St.? The involved reader confirms that the rendering below shows the current design in place along the light rail line; materials from AECOM (a partner in the project) say the highrise should hold 336 apartments and 14,390 sq.ft. of retail space:

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The reader says construction should start in September after demolition wraps up. The design shown above has put on a few floors (and lost some corners) since the original designs by RTKL were passed around last fall:

Here’s another view of that older design, looking northeast:

The older rendering set also included a view of the building’s ground floor retail level:

Here’s a quick photographic jaunt around the block as it looked early last week, for streetscape comparison:

Images: Swamplot inbox (photos), AECOM (current rendering), RTKL (older renderings)

Trading Up in Midtown