Sad news to share. I found out recently that they sold the property. My source says early August is when they will close the doors.
I had found out earlier this year that the property was up for sale. The numbers were depressing when I ran them to see if the business could be purchased and kept. I figure a pig would do a great job of running a pigpen. lol. No such luck. I estimated it to have a value of $3.5MM including the business and moderate fix-up to make it nice again. I didn’t see a nice way to raise $30K in revenue from $10 lockers and $20 rooms. You can’t get blood from a rock.
Rumor has it that the buyer acquired the other half of the block behind their parking. Supposedly they are going to build more high end apartments like Pearl on Elgin a couple of blocks away.
Smart money would buy out the Valero and China Cat diner behind Midtown and then you would have two blocks to build on….
So this means everyone will be going to Club Houston. I guess that’s good, but it may not work out so well. The crowd there isn’t as much fun and only one bathhouse left may tempt the City of Houston to begin a harassment campaign. Sigh. They are currently tax assessed at $2.7MM.
It has not been well run for a long time. One person said they thought the Club might offer more discounts now; another said this won’t happen because they don’t want the lower end crowd.
With no competition, it doesn’t seem like Club Houston will offer any additional discounts. Hopefully the staff at Club Houston will be a little less bitchy, but that’s just a dream.
Club Houston is nice, but I have better luck on Craigslist these days… 🙁
Please read the more recent posts before you knee-jerk a comment about this post from June. Apparently the deal fell through, or at least that was the rumor last time I checked.
The listing is no longer on Loopnet, the commercial MLS for Houston. It’s just as likely the deal closed and they entered a leaseback until the developer is ready to build.
Midtownespa Houston is NOT closing. They are still operating as of 8-24-16… the building is for sale buto the buisness remains open. Just like the bars in montrose they hve been for sale for years, no one bought them. Same with this place… so happy spa month!!! Yay
Wrong….. building was torn down. But thanks for engaging in the conversation.
October 2nd is last day- going….almost gone!
More luxury expensive apartments, just what Houston needs!
Right….. $2200/mo beehive living….. with free blinky lights.
Seems the end has cum for Midtowne Spa – Houston. Listings are gone from Squirt.com and other places. I drove by on Wednesday night and there were no cars in the parking lot. You could see lights on inside but no activity. This is really sad news, almost as sad as the condition of the club. I first visited in the Summer of 1996, and in the 20 yrs since, it didn’t seem much had changed. Thanks to this site, I knew the end was near and went one last time back in September. It is disappointing there was no big farewell bash.
I think they tore it down recently.
I just saw this to when verifying a Review submitted to CRUISING for SEX that Midtowne Spa was closed. As the site Editor, also living here it shows how out of touch I’ve been lately that I didn’t know — I actually live here!
Too many business and personal issues have kept me from going out and socializing the last couple years. That’s changing.
Thanks for you and your site — great writing! I’m going to add yours to a list of sites I follow either by RRS or by bookmarking them. Definitely want to read more from you!
Thank you. I’ll try to get back to writing more. the whole episode with the staff getting nasty on me after I wrote about the spa closing made me take a break from blogging.
It’s a sad day, indeed. I still cannot believe Midtowne is closed. It was the last place where cruising — genuine old-fashioned, get-your-adrenaline-pumping cruising — took place. Club Houston may be laughing all the way to the bank now that there is no competition. And yes, Midtowne may have been lackluster but it was a welcoming environment for all regardless of age, physical condition, or ethnicity. There was no farewell bash because despite it being the 21st century, there is still a stigma attached to admitting one frequents the baths. What others forget is the “bathhouse” is a state of mind. Pack of damned hypocrites!
Dallas one closed down on May 12, 2017 too
Some things have to change. If there are enough clients then another should open in lower cost area. But would there be the demand for the product. I have been able to frequent both Club Dallas and Midtown Spa Dallas and Houston. I would drive hours to be able to be myself for just a little while. Club Dallas uses to be
the upper scale lots of twinks just
running around. I have seen more action on a cruise ship steam room. But since the closing of Midtown the clientele has been diversefyed.
A new kinda bath house. Created like themed areas. They have some cool ones elsewhere. Each one offering it’s own special areas. From Club San Diego to David’s also San Diego to midtown spa in New Orleans also Club Aqua (I think) in. Miami. Allot of hot guys there. Put the best together.
Currently I have to drive 180 miles to Dallas or 240 to Houston.
I’m told that the building is still there and has been converted to mixed retail and office. It had an outer “skin” that was removed to make windows visible again? Does anybody know what the remodeling entailed, and I wonder what they did with the pool? Live in California now and have only been b ack once.
Apparently the owner retired, at least that’s what we were told when the Midtowne Spa in Austin closed in 2016.