Did I dream this?

[tinydancer]

I admit that I look on "that other site" once in a great while just for laughs. Someone asked if it was true that a closed sorority at Texas still owned their old house and planned to come back.
The only answer said no, but I swear I heard that somewhere before. Is this just all in my mind?

[shirley1929]

I can't imagine which one it would be?!? IIRC, the last chapter to close was AGD in the early 90's and I'm 99% sure they don't own their house any longer? It's changed hands a couple of times and might have even been torn down?

[Just interested]

Doesn't Sigma Delta Tau still own their house? I believe a fraternity is living there now. Sigma Delta Tau is renting a space for activities, etc but no girls live-in. I believe the old Gamma Phi Beta house has been torn down but don't know if they still own the property. Kappa Delta bought the Delta Zeta House when they recolonized back in the '80's.
Don't know about DPhiE that closed in the '80s.

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by Just interested

Doesn't Sigma Delta Tau still own their house? I believe a fraternity is living there now. Sigma Delta Tau is renting a space for activities, etc but no girls live-in. I believe the old Gamma Phi Beta house has been torn down but don't know if they still own the property. Kappa Delta bought the Delta Zeta House when they recolonized back in the '80's.
Don't know about DPhiE that closed in the '80s.

Interesting thought about SDT. I just went and looked at the tax records and Google maps (because I couldn't remember which house it exactly was) and it seems that Pi Kappa Phi has the old SDT house now. Either that, or it's been torn down for some huge condo complex, tough to tell from street view.

[homeward*bound]

I know a big mid-rise apartment complex sits on the site of our old house.

I think I can shed a small bit of light on the situation with the Sigma Delta Tau house since I am familiar with the investor that purchased the house from them. That happened about ten years ago, and they owned the house as a fraternity rental property up until maybe a year ago when they sold it to a fraternity.

I'll see if I can do some digging to find out if there are any houses still owned by sororities that are no longer there. One of my friends is a realtor who specializes in this area of town so she may know the answer. My gut tells me no since the real estate and property tax situations in west campus might make it difficult to hold onto a property for that long.

[tinydancer]

Thanks for all the ideas. I was thinking that it was a sorority that closed back in the 60s. I could certainly be wrong, though.

[Just interested]

Phi Mu or AOPi?

[tinydancer]

Could be Phi Mu. AOPi was in a private residence hall when I was there in the 70s.

[homeward*bound]

With the help of a dear friend who's a 1960s Delta Zeta alumna, looking through old UT yearbooks, and researching property records, I think I've determined the fate of the final houses of all the NPC sororities that are no longer at UT. I'm about 95% certain I've identified the location of each house, and they are no longer owned by those sororities.

Phi Mu - the building still exists and is now owned by a tutoring business.

Delta Zeta - the Kappa Delta house is now at that location. DZ sold the property to KD in 1980.

Phi Sigma Sigma - the site is now an apartment complex.

Delta Phi epsilon - the site is now a condo complex.

Alpha Gamma Delta - the site is now a condo complex.

Alpha Omicron Pi - the site is now a UT building.

Gamma Phi Beta - as I mentioned previously, our house is now an apartment complex.

History and architecture are two of my interests, so this was a fun little project!

[Just interested]

This was fun! Sad that property is so expensive in West Campus that the chances of another chapter at UT is difficult to contemplate unless a fraternity sells up. I know, several years ago we purchased the parking lot behind our house just to have the opportunity to add on in the future and to keep us from being so land locked. There is just no where to go.

[homeward*bound]

Originally Posted by tinydancer

Could be Phi Mu. AOPi was in a private residence hall when I was there in the 70s.

That was one thing I discovered in my research. AOPi moved from their standalone house to the Hardin Apartments during the 1971/1972 school year.

[tinydancer]

This has been fun, yet sad in a way. I know the only way to get a new sorority is to already own a house or buy an existing house in West Campus area. It will have to be some very well-heeled group.

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by tinydancer

This has been fun, yet sad in a way. I know the only way to get a new sorority is to already own a house or buy an existing house in West Campus area. It will have to be some very well-heeled group.

Yep...even "south" campus (where Alpha Phi and KKG are) is stacked with development. The (relatively) new AT&T conference center & hotel is across the street.

If the community would be open to supporting it (and that's a huge IF) I wonder if two groups joining together and buying land say north of campus would work. That way, there would be a similar situation to what KKG and APhi have going on being "different"? Food for thought. That area is pretty stacked as well, though.

[OrangeJacket]

We just had an informal 90s girls Alpha Phi reunion and we were all surprised by the development at the south end. Looks like the Kappa house was undergoing some extensive renovations.
I LOVED the location of the Phi house, and I lived there for 3 years. It was so close to campus and my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) used to come throw pebbles at my window when he walked by. I can understand why a northern location might seem a bit odd to pnms, but that might be the only place right now to expand geographically. Plus, it would be relatively close to SRD, Kinsolving, Fiji house, and some of the newer dorms....