Bute, James, Company Warehouse
a.k.a. Dakota Lofts
711 William St., Houston, TXThe James Bute Company Warehouse, built in 1909-1910 and named for the business' founder, was the largest warehouse in Houston at the time of its completion. The work of well-known turn-of-the-century Houston architect, Olle J. Lorehn, the James Bute Company Warehouse relates to Houston's economic development, particularly as a regional wholesale distribution center, in the first decade of the 20th century. It is the primary remaining property representing the career of an 19th-century immigrant entrepreneur associated with Houston's wholesale trade, construction and real estate development. The property also reflects the impact of rail transportation on Houston's cultural, economic, and urban development by virtue of its date of construction, size, and location in the city's historic warehouse district. The property meets criterion A in the areas of Commerce/Trade, Industry/Processing/Extraction, and Transportation, and National Register Criterion c in the area of Architecture as a locally significant example of early 20th-century warehouse architecture, by an important Houston architect.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.