[Wattleigh]

Moncrief-Lenoir Rehab / Meow Wolf

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/...th-side-118416

EXCLUSIVE: Inside A Century-Old Fifth Ward Building That Could Alter The Fortunes Of Houston's North Side

April 6, 2023
Maddy McCarty, Bisnow Houston

A storied property on Lyons Avenue in Houston’s Fifth Ward Cultural Arts District is getting a new life, complete with an attraction that could draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

The longtime home to Moncrief-Lenoir Manufacturing Co., which made sheet metal there from 1917 until the company ceased operations in the 1990s, will welcome the immersive, interactive art experience Meow Wolf — part of a development expected to help revitalize a once-neglected corner of the city.

Meow Wolf, an art and entertainment company that got its start in Santa Fe, New Mexico, operates locations in Las Vegas and Denver, with a Grapevine, Texas, location set to open this summer. Touting exhibits that “transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration," its Houston venue is scheduled to open in 2024.

The multimedia, multisensory experience offers something like "your brain on drugs," according to one Instagram user. But its Houston home also represents a concerted effort to reconceptualize a historic site in an area with huge untapped potential, its developers told Bisnow during an exclusive tour this week.

In the years after Moncrief-Lenoir Manufacturing Co. ceased operations at 2103 Lyons Ave., the property fell into the hands of a recycling company. More recently, it was under contract to a multifamily developer, which planned to tear the buildings down to make way for apartments, Ori Batagower said.

Batagower, The Deal Co.'s new development and acquisitions director, said the company made it a priority to get its hands on the property, buying it in 2020.

“We really rescued this from the wrecking ball,” Batagower said. “I mean, it would have been an absolute travesty.”

The Deal Co. is working to revamp the six buildings and 133K SF on the 6.8-acre property into a vibrant, mixed-use development that includes Meow Wolf, which is expected to bring in more than 750,000 visitors annually, if its properties elsewhere are a guide.

In addition to Meow Wolf, The Deal Co. is planning an inviting courtyard and spaces that could have tenants like restaurants, event venues, offices and art studios.