I looked at the Cobb-Burney house for my office. You can get it for around $600k, most likely, but would have to put about that much work into it to make it feasibly work. Plus, parking was going to be an issue and we thought about going down the hill and putting it below the house.
Then I remembered the historical folks and the issues you guys would cause so I walked away from making an offer. The owner wants to unload the building so if you guys want to keep it, you might hurry or I foresee it being torn down all together.
We are certainly aware of the owner's position, and hold out hope for the Cobb-Burney House. I'm disappointed, though, that anyone would consider walking away from a historic property based on presumptions that we "historical folks" would somehow sour the deal. Every property is different, and every adaptive reuse ought to have its day. From the neighborhood standpoint, we've been very encouraging of any use short of demolition. It's an unusual site, and would require some creative design, but noone should presume that any compatible use of the house wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. Please don't let that tar brush get too wide.
To John's point about reusing the ACH site, I couldn't agree more. The loss of that Charlie Adams-designed complex is a sore one. I can't argue with the value that ACH got out of the sale and the lives that will be transformed by the organization's mission. Our hope all along was that a developer would come along with the imagination to incorporate the mid-century works within a new design. Had I won the lottery... What we'll have is a pretty good residential mid-rise that will have to join us in the daily challenge of negotiating a Summit/I-30/8th Ave. interchange that has to rank among the most poorly conceived and executed transporation facilities in North Texas. There are days that I could get to work faster on a horse than by car. Maybe the increased density will focus attention on some solutions. One can only hope.
The residential conversion of the ACH library building is part of the overall development. It will serve as a nice buffer between the larger apartment block and the neighborhood, and we are grateful for it.