ARNOLD INTERESTS
PRINCIPAL
The principal of the developer is Scott Arnold, an attorney. Mr. Arnold became licensed and opened his law practice in 1980 and specialized in civil trial law and personal injury work, and is Board Certified in both areas. He now primarily pursues his real estate development work through Arnold Interests.
EARLY PROJECTS
In the early 80’s Mr. Arnold bought and renovated his Montrose area, Houston residence and two historic homes in Galveston. He bought a burned-out shell of a turn-of-the-century structure on Washington Avenue in Houston and converted it into a bar and restaurant, which has been more or less continuously operating for almost forty years. Mr. Arnold then bought and renovated 3418 Mercer, an office building in the Greenway Plaza area of Houston, housing exclusively attorneys.
Also in the late 1980’s Mr. Arnold purchased, as 50% partner, 123 acres with half a mile frontage on the Brazos River in Fort Bend County, which is just outside Richmond/Rosenberg off US Alternate 90. That property is now sold and developed.
GALVESTON CRUISE SHIP NEIGHBORHOOD:
In the early 90’s Mr. Arnold began developing a ten block area in downtown Galveston, Texas, close to the Strand, the Railroad Museum, and later, the cruise ship terminal. His first purchase was an abandoned cotton baling complex, which was 10,000 square feet of masonry walls and floor. It was without mechanical, electrical, or plumbing and lacking the entire roof structure. Mr. Arnold developed the Galveston Brewery at that location, a brew pub. He designed and built the 10 barrel brewing system himself, rather than buying one prepackaged.
Acquired, renovated and now mostly sold in the neighborhood are other Arnold Interest projects: The original Galveston trolley barn, an artist studio, a metal warehouse, a very large cruise ship parking lot, and a “corner grocery” historic structure with an adjoining brick courtyard. After Hurricane Ike, Mr. Arnold renovated a small hotel he owned into two upscale clubs, “Voodoo Lounge” and the “Granite Room”, and which are now leased to two retail tenants. Still available for sale or development is a gray-shell Art Deco building, suitable for retail, bar or restaurant.
DOWNTOWN HOUSTON:
Mr. Arnold had early involvement in the current renaissance and revitalization of the Market Square/Courthouse area of downtown Houston. Mr. Arnold joined the Downtown Historic District on the Board of Directors in early 1995, having recently bought the 310 Main building, across from the Harris County Administration Building. Mr. Arnold, along with a handful of other developers, business owners and concerned citizens helped spark interest in this area of town. The Downtown Historic District established facade grants, education programs for potential new District residents and other programs designed to promote this area.
310 Main built in 1880, is a 10,000 square foot building and had the original elaborate Victorian facade covered in featureless concrete when Mr. Arnold purchased it. The middle third of this three-story building was collapsed and piled in a twelve foot tall pile on the first floor. The roofs were almost non-existent and there was no mechanical, electrical or plumbing functioning. A top to bottom renovation was done by Mr. Arnold as designer, owner and general contractor. Mr. Arnold built beautiful law offices on the second floor,
and leased the ground floor and the back portion of the second floor to the night club “Tonic”. This nightclub was among the most successful in Houston at the time. Mr. Arnold’s nightclub tenants included Bobby Heugel’s nationally recognised “Pastry War Tequila Bar”, and currently, Behind Closed Doors. Mr. Arnold was the first developer to build a project under the current Historic Preservation Ordinance and the first to receive the Certificate of Appropriateness from the Houston Archeological and Historical Commission. This project received attention in local newspapers and television interviews, along with mention in several national historical magazines. The restoration was one of the first on upper Main St., and helped spark the current frenzy of redevelopment in these four or five blocks. Mr. Arnold also acquired, stabilized, renovated the façade and sold 110 Milam, a 1860s building formerly part of the historic Magnolia Brewery, on the banks of Buffalo Bayou.
BALINESE ROOM PIER
The Balinese Room Pier in Galveston was famous throughout Texas and beyond in the 1940’s and 50’s as the center for elegant casino gambling, superb food and drinks, and stellar entertainment (Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, George Burns, Groucho Marx and many more). It was memorialized in song by ZZ Top in “Balinese”. It had been abandoned and neglected for almost 20 years when Mr. Arnold acquired the property in 2001. Arnold Interests transformed the legendary pier in Galveston into a retail and entertainment “mall”. Mr. Arnold restored the original “South Seas Ballroom” into a large live music venue featuring mostly classic rock and blues. The original casino was transformed into an Art Deco inspired reggae and rock club over the waves. There was also an icehouse/ fishing venue, a hair salon, an Internet/coffee cafe, massage, the “Seawall Bar”, an occult shop, a gambling room, special event halls and other great venues. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ike destroyed the pier entirely in 2008. Mr. Arnold renegotiated his 50 year lease with the Texas General Land Office and now has 140 feet of Seawall frontage near Landry Corporation’s Pleasure Pier, across from the Galvez Hotel, now available for lease or development.
TEXAS CITY SIXTH STREET
TEXAS CITY’S SIXTH STREET, the historic downtown of Texas City, is being redeveloped as a new “entertainment district” by the City of Texas City and entrepreneurial land and building owners and tenants. Arnold Interests is the largest landowner in the district, (except for the City) and our portfolio includes a dozen or more properties. Sixth Street is now newly landscaped, with great lighting, parking, paving and with exciting new concepts, public parks, event halls and other amenities.
We started the first new venue in the area, America’s Icehouse. It is based on an innovative structure composed of steel freight containers and a giant steel arch to form a light, airy, open pavilion.
Very simply, it is an old fashioned styled ice house with a large, rectangular, full-liquor bar, and a great deal of outside seating. It has a pool table, movie screen projection video for sports and movies, dramatic exterior lighting and very reasonable drink and beer prices.The Texas City America’s Icehouse location has a large outdoor band stand for live music, karaoke and performances, an outdoor movie screen, a food truck area, outdoor games of all kinds, children’s amenities, water features, landscaping and lots of cold beer and whiskey in a relaxed outdoor setting.
Mr. Arnold has invested heavily in this rapidly developing neighborhood, acquiring, in addition to the Icehouse site at 622 6th St. N, a 27000 sq ft shopping center (502/508 6th N), half of a city block on 6th and 2nd Ave, a commercial kitchen at 102/104 6th S, a gray shell 7000 sq ft masonry building at 201 6th N, a 1920s Art Deco pharmacy, now an event center at 221 6th N, and numerous vacant development land tracts, and more.6th Street is six blocks from Galveston Bay and poised for dramatic growth.
TEXAS CITY SIXTH STREET
Since Ike, Mr. Arnold has acquired, beautifully renovated and sold a “1960’s modern” two-story 8500 square foot office building in the best part of downtown Galveston. It has beautiful granite flooring, expansive glass and great design.
He has also restored and owns, several historic Galveston residential homes, on large lots near the beach, and/or the East End Historic District, with beautiful tropical landscaping and interior finishes.
OUR MISSION
ARNOLD INTERESTS is a real estate acquisition, development and management company based in the Houston/Galveston Bay area, and has been active since 1982. Its principal is Scott Arnold, an attorney. Arnold Interests specializes in the redevelopment of historic and architecturally interesting buildings.
We typically work on a neighborhood scale, re-imagining, reworking and supplementing the existing building stock to serve new and more upscale uses and markets.
Current opportunities include office buildings, nightclubs and restaurants, retail and raw land.
We have several solid gray shell structures, ready for interior finish out and value add.
We invite potential lessees, purchasers, investors, sellers of suitable properties and nearby property owners to browse these pages and work with us to improve our selected neighborhoods.