2100 Memorial

2100 Memorial Drive

Memorial Drive once was the busiest road in Houston during the 1960s prior to the opening of the Katy Freeway, but the road was removed from the freeway plan by the early 1950s and the Holiday Inn opened in 1969 (according to Harris County Appraisal District), within months of Katy Freeway opening. As a result, the hotel (already only one way to access the front of the hotel) was left with terrible access points no matter the direction, though I would guess it worked with downtown, rather than trying to advertise from I-10 (and crossing, at the time, three railroads).

The hotel, officially referred to the "Civic Center" Holiday Inn or (in later years) the "Memorial Plaza" Holiday Inn, had 13 floors (likely labeled "ground" and floors one through 12), and less than 300 rooms. (Sources vary on the rooms. The 1970 Hotel & Motel Red Book says 297 but an article in the Houston Post reported 271). It was also operated directly by Holiday Inns of America Inc. itself rather than being a franchised operation. Due to the 1980s economic downturn, the hotel closed in 1986 (indications it shuttered after year-end 1985), and by 1989 it was already considered to be converted to housing for the elderly (according to various articles), though renovation and reopening plans eventually fell through.

In 1998, the property reopened as 2100 Memorial (featuring 197 units made by combining rooms), and was at some point in the early 2010s repainted burgundy from beige. The flooding and subsequent fire control damage from Hurricane Harvey nearly closed 2100 Memorial until courts ordered the building to stay open and make repairs. Some residents did manage to move back in, but others left the building. An article from Houston Public Media mentions that there was still significant flood damage in the lower levels as well as other problems (bed bug infestation, asbestos in walls). In early 2020 the building was evicted and demolition began late November 2021. A newer, lower-rise building (but still 197 units) is to replace it.

Pictures taken in October 2018 by the author.

The Commons at Greenspoint

12001-12245 Interstate 45 (North Freeway)

Previously, this content was posted on the Houston Architecture Forums in two posts: "Children's Palace at Greenspoint Commons" and "The Commons at Greenspoint". Built in 1989 right at the time Greenspoint Mall (and the surrounding area) was declining, The Commons at Greenspoint was a modern power center some of the trendy "big box" stores at the time, though many folded by the early 1990s. A listing from the 1990-1991 directory outlined most of the addresses of the stores.

12001 - Media Play (originally built as Phar-Mor)
12009 - Suzannes Shops
12025 - Office Depot
12031 - Sportstown (a chain that went bankrupt in the mid-1990s)
12061 - Highland Superstore (went bankrupt in 1992 and closed all stores by the end of 1993)
12075 - Cloth World (opened 10,000 square foot store in 1990)
12145 - Houston Photolab (this is probably one of the smaller stores)
12159 - Hit or Miss (owned by the parent company of T.J. Maxx, but smaller)
12167 - Sound Warehouse
12175 - Marshalls
12181 - Pier One Imports (stand-alone store close to I-45)
12231 - Marcos Mexican Restaurant
12245 - Children's Palace (see above ad, closed 1992)

Notes from the Chronicle mentioned a few more things:
- Clothestime was here (clothing store), it closed in 1995
- By 1996, Media Play was closed along with other Houston locations ( Almeda Square, Memorial City Mall, Meyer Park Center, Presidio Square and Westchase Center.)
- There was also a store here called Computer City.
- When the center was sold in 1998 to be a telecommunications center, Office Depot was still there.

Greenspoint Technology Center, as it was known from 1999 on, even featured an outpost of Enron and other telecommunications companies but still resembled a strip mall. In 2013, new buildings were built on the parking lot and the property was sealed off from public access.

(Right click to see the image in full size)

UPDATE 06-10-2026: To help integrate this in with Carbon-izer's North Freeway page, the site is now "Digital Realty Houston", a data center.

17030-17050 Imperial Valley Drive

Woodvalley Apartments in its original form. (Houston Post, 6/1979) Our story starts in the present day, at least, present day as of this writing, when Biscayne at CityView (17050 Imperial Valley Drive), an apartment complex, was demolished in late 2025 and concluded in early 2026, with the former apartments to become greenspace. They had been flooded out in the 2016 Tax Day Floods and in Hurricane Harvey over a year later, and was bought by the Harris County Flood Control District, which condemned the property, with the last residents moving out in 2022. They were long seen as blight and slums representative of post-1980s Greenspoint.

But it wasn't always like this.

Woodvalley Apartments first opened in 1977 with 316 units and located at 17050 Imperial Valley Drive (the north side of the current property). It was typical of suburban apartments at the time, with this one in particular offering the perk of Channel Z. This wasn't a misspelling of Los Angeles-based Z Channel but rather a Houston-based channel for movies and only available at apartment complexes.

The apartment glut in Houston wreaked havoc on Greenspoint in particular (and Gulfton), and to help combat this, Woodvalley, which was considered to be "deteriorating" by this time, fought back. In 1985, it received a significant upgrade where it became "The Hollywood" and even in 1989 (according to the Houston Post article "Latest marketing ploy? A poolside beach") had 90% occupancy. This was more than a name change and a repaint, the new name came with "lush California landscaping", with other amenities including "fountains, reflecting pools, an outdoor poolside amphitheater, waterfalls, sand volleyball, lighted tennis courts and even an imposing entry gate". Even after hard freezes and the demolition of the apartment complex, those palm trees are still there.

The Hollywood ad, c. 1985 (Houston Post)
When I first wrote this post, there was a government document still online that had Section 8 apartments circa 1994-1996, and this was one of them under the name of Summerlin, which it adopted shortly after it changed hands in 1993.

By 2007 it adopted the Biscayne at CityView name, though I can't figure out when that happened.

Early Sunlight Apartments advertisement
The second apartment complex that was incorporated into Biscayne at CityView was Sunlight Apartments, opened in 1978, located at 17030 Imperial Valley Drive, and featuring 214 units (though one article mentions it having 244 units, still not sure about that). Sunlight Apartments had its first murder while the apartments were still under construction. Other than that, they had similar issues to Woodvalley (by 1982 it was already advertising remodeled units) and still had the Sunlight name until at least 1995. At some point it was incorporated into Biscayne at CityView, informally "Biscayne at CityView II".

Of course, there are still some gaps...when did the apartments really take a turn for the worse? When did Sunlight change names? But...at least we know some of the history.

UPDATE 06-30-2026: Overhauled article with new name (from "The Hollywood"). This had previously not seen updates since 2018.

290 / Beltway 8 Demolition - Wendy's

16055 Northwest Freeway

This is the second of at least three posts on a small collection of fast food restaurants which the author has taken a personal interest in, to be further explored in a future post on the Northwest Freeway site (this link will be updated soon to reflect that). The Wendy's was among the three fast food sites and others on the south side of Highway 290 to be leveled for road widening. According to HCAD, the Wendy's was opened in 1984 and had the "solarium" design as Wendy's had during that time. It is unknown if the tarp was put on the solarium before or after it closed, as the windows made it harder to heat and cool the building (there was no tarp in 2011). The restaurant closed around fall 2012, and was demolished within months of when these pictures were taken in March 2013 by the author. Previously, these photos appeared on Carbon-izer and Brazos Buildings & Businesses.

Street View of Wendy's still in operation