The demolition of Houston’s historic 130-year-old Kirby Mansion has sparked outrage among residents after the property’s $9.3 million sale was linked to convenience store and gas station company Brake Time Corner Market.
Public records indicate that Omair Bashir, the company’s president and co-owner with his brother Usman Bashir, was connected to OB Texas Properties LLC, which purchased the landmark around October 1.
By late October, the 36-room mansion at 200 Smith Street had been demolished. The Tudor Revival property was considered one of the last surviving homes of its kind in Houston.
The Bashir brothers’ business dates back to 2004, when their father opened his first Houston convenience store.
Omair joined the family business first, followed by Usman in 2014. At that time, the company operated about five stores, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The business has since grown to roughly 300 locations, including 48 CEFCO and 62 EG America stores acquired through expansion, the outlet reported.
In September 2025, Brake Time announced plans to open about 35 additional convenience stores by the end of the year, including three in Houston.
Plans filed in June with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation outlined a $2 million project by the company. The proposal included a site called “Braketime Smith Road” within the mansion’s former property boundaries, according to public records.
Public records linked Omair Bashir, the company’s president and co-owner with his brother Usman Bashir, to OB Texas Properties LLC, which purchased the landmark around October 1
Plans filed in June described a $2 million project that would bring “Braketime Smith Road” to the mansion’s property boundaries
The 36-room mansion at 200 Smith Street, one of Houston’s last remaining Tudor Revival homes, was demolished in late October
The plans call for a one-story, 6,143-square-foot convenience store on the 13,254-square-foot property, according to the Chronicle.
Hi Tech Auto Reality LLC filed the plans, listing Omair as a contact. The project is expected to be completed by October 2028.
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However, representatives for Omair had previously indicated that the mansion site was intended to be leased to law firms and used for office space, Preservation Houston told the outlet.
“We wish the owner had been transparent and honest about the plans for this property and willing to discuss preservation options,” Jennifer Kapral, executive director of Preservation Houston, told the Daily Mail.
“We offered to explore ways to give this building a future. We also asked for the opportunity to document it and discuss salvaging irreplaceable materials if demolition went ahead. We received no response. Houston deserves better than this.”
Jim Parsons of the nonprofit told the Chronicle that the mansion occupied only about a quarter of the property, adding that the new development “could have been built alongside the mansion.”
“But apparently not,” he added.
Kapral told Houston Public Media that the site will most likely be converted into a gas station.
Representatives for Omair had said the mansion site was intended to be leased to law firms and used for office space, according to Preservation Houston
The home was owned by John Henry Kirby (pictured), a lumber mogul
‘We’re losing it to a gas station and convenience store, from what we can tell from all the permits,’ she told the outlet.
Parsons told the Chronicle that the mansion being demolished for a gas station is ‘salt in the wound.’
The original home was built in 1894 by JS Price, who later sold it to lumber mogul John Henry Kirby. Kirby then rebuilt the property into the home that is currently being destroyed, Houston Public Media said.
It stood as one of the last remaining remnants of the old South End neighborhood.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Brake Time Corner Market for comment.