The Rice (Houston, Texas)

USA / Texas / Houston / Houston, Texas / Texas Avenue, 909
 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, apartment building, 1913_construction

The Rice (formerly the Post Rice Lofts and the Rice Hotel, and briefly Rice Urban Lofts post-Post), is a historic building located at 909 Texas Avenue in Downtown Houston, Texas. It was constructed in 1912 on the site of the former Capitol building of the Republic of Texas, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The old Capitol building was razed in 1881 by Colonel A. Groesbeck, who subsequently erected a five-story hotel, which he also named the Capitol Hotel. William Marsh Rice (the founder of Rice University) purchased the building in 1883, added a five-story annex, and renamed it the Rice Hotel.

Rice University then sold the building in 1911 to Jesse Jones, who demolished it and built the present 17-story structure on the site. The "new" Rice Hotel building opened on May 17, 1913.

For many years, the Rice Hotel was one of Houston's grandest, and a downtown landmark. The hotel featured fine dining in the Flag Room, a casual first-floor coffee shop, and the underground Rice Hotel Cafeteria, known for its signature dish, Rice Pudding. It had a variety of retail shops, including a lobby news stand, a hat store, and Bilton's Fine Jewelry.

The Rice Hotel has had numerous famous guests, including President John F. Kennedy, who spent the night at the hotel before traveling to Fort Worth, and then Dallas, in November 1963.

The hotel became the Rice Rittenhouse Hotel in 1975, before closing in 1977.

It was reopened in 1998 as the Post Rice Lofts, luxury loft apartments, with the lobby, ballroom, and indoor pool completely restored. In 2014 it was sold, renovated, and renamed The Rice.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   29°45'38"N   95°21'46"W

Comments

  • Graduation, class of `972, San Jacinto High School held, it graduation, 1972;
  • The Rice had a loose Cobra on the third floor July 2015 that made all local news stations
This article was last modified 2 years ago