Tax Credit Program Highlight: Hendley Market

History

Hendley’s Row, a Greek-revival style commercial row which housed the William Hendley & Co. shipping company, was built in 1855-58. William Hendley & Co., established in 1845 by the Hendley brothers, John L. Sleight, and Philip Gildersleeve, spearheaded early maritime commerce in Galveston through cooperation with the Texas and New York Packet Line. During the Civil War’s siege and later Union-occupation of Galveston, the row’s cupola (since removed) served as a garrison for Confederate and Union soldiers. The row’s four buildings, though separated by fire walls, share a brick façade and granite ornamentation. The Hendley Row complex was long vacant and had once been threatened with demolition, but survived and remains the oldest standing commercial building block in the Strand District.

Rehabilitation Project

This project came at the heels of a recent rehabilitation to another portion of the Hendley Row block. This building’s historic design is characterized by a dramatic central skylight that carries sunshine down through a two-story atrium, which has a structural glass floor at the second floor level that allows the Hendley Market space below to receive natural light. The market space on the first floor was not altered, but the vacant second and third floor were slightly reconfigured around the historic atrium for use as apartments. New air conditioning, electrical and plumbing were routed to service the apartments, and kitchens, baths, and a new rear egress stair were installed. Existing historic features such as original heavy molding, doors, windows, and wood flooring were retained as part of the character of the spaces. Some plaster walls had unfortunately been stripped down to the brick by a former owner, which would have been permitted as new work, but was allowed to remain as part of the larger rehabilitation project.