In 2019, Lovett Commercial bought Houston's historic 254,808-sq-ft Folgers plant; 7 years later, a $10 million reuse project was turning it into an arts and school hub

Historic industrial buildings can take on fresh purposes as neighborhoods change around them. In Houston's East End, one former coffee plant is being transformed into a school and arts-focused community destination, offering the almost century-old property a new role.

The historic Folgers Coffee Plant at 235 N. Norwood St. is being redeveloped as the Frank Liu Jr. Academy of Music and Arts, called FLAMA. The tuition-free, open-enrollment public charter school is set to open in 2027 and will serve students from pre-K through eighth grade.

The project is being developed by Houston-based Lovett Commercial and is planned to honor Frank Liu Jr., the late son of Lovett Commercial owner Frank Liu. Liu Jr. passed away in 2022 and was required to establish a school that brought together academic education and creative expression.

From coffee plant to school and arts hub

The property, situated just south of Navigation Boulevard in Houston's Second Ward, is an almost 255,000-square-foot industrial building dating to the late 1930s. As per the Houston Chronicle, the building was functioned by Folger's through the 1960s before later being linked with Continental Coffee Products and Farmer Brothers Coffee Co.

Lovett Commercial bought the property in 2019 for $10 million and leased it back to Farmers Brothers Coffee Co. for three years. The company gradually ceased production at the facility in 2021.

Lovett is currently incorporating the historic structure into a huge development named Fabrica, which is envisioned that includes art, music and commerce.

OMA leading the adaptive reuse project

Lovett Commercial has chosen the global design firm OMA, or Office for Metropolitan Architecture, to lead the project. Houston-based RDLR Architects is supporting the design.

The school is envisioned as a three-story "learning landscape" in which learning, making and performing are associated. The wider Fabrica development will offer those educational and creative uses together with commerce.

OMA partner Jason Long explained the approach to preserving and modifying the former coffee plant.

OMA has earlier worked with Lovett Commercial on POST Houston, the adaptive reuse of the former Barbara Jordan Post Office. The downtown project transformed the 500,000-square-foot building into a dining, office, retail and performing arts complex in 2021.

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Dr. R. Scott Allen to lead FLAMA

Dr. R. Scott Allen has been chosen as FLAMA's founding superintendent. He earlier served as principal of Houston ISD's Kinder High School for the Performing & Visual Arts and most recently worked as managing director of the Arts Schools Network, a nonprofit organization connecting leaders and educators from arts schools.

FLAMA is working toward an August 2027 opening.

A school in a changing Houston neighborhood

The former industrial region surrounding the school has been encountering revitalization, with creative office spaces, townhomes, shops and restaurants appearing in the Second Ward.

Allen said the neighborhood's history and ongoing changes make it a significant setting for the school.

The school is planned to serve as more than an educational facility. Plans call for free afterschool activities, wraparound services and meals via community partnerships, while school leaders envision the facility as a community hub and resource center.

$20 million pledge supports FLAMA

The Frank Liu Jr. Foundation has pledged $20 million to support the school in its initial years of operation.

FLAMA has also established partnerships with the University of Houston, Rice University, Houston Christian University and the University of Houston-Downtown. The institutions are anticipated to support with teacher training, curriculum development and other support.

As per the June 22 news release, the school's mission is concentrated on placing music and art at the heart of children's education.

"FLAMA is built on a simple conviction: that music and art belong at the forefront of how children learn," as per June 22 news release.

The same release explained the motivation behind the project:

"Before his untimely death, Frank Liu Jr. recognized how arts education ignites intellectual curiosity and supports academic outcomes; his lifelong wish was to create a school where academic rigor and creative expression work in tandem," the release reads. "Today, thanks to state approval, tremendous community support, generous donors, and the dedication of some of the city's top educators, FLAMA begins its own journey to do just that."

A broader community vision

FLAMA's plans go beyond the traditional school day. In addition to music and visual arts being included into learning, the school will provide free afterschool programming, wraparound services and take-home meals when required.

Project leaders say the facility is intended to become a resource for the surrounding community as the Second Ward remains to evolve.

The transformation of the former Folgers facility therefore features both an adaptive reuse of a historic industrial building and the creation of a fresh educational destination.

Source: Yahoo News and Realty News Report