January 6, 2009 – 4:45 pm
The Neighborhood Guessing Game is back — as promised — with updated rules for the new year!
The basics remain the same: Look through the interior photos in this post and try to guess what neighborhood the pictured property is in. Add your guess in the comments.
But here’s one of the things that’s changed slightly: From now on, the winner will be whoever names the correct neighborhood and backs it up with the best explanation.
Also changed: the rules for people who already know the pictured home — or who happen upon it on HAR or anywhere else during the course of the game. If you know the property, you now have only 2 options: 1) gloat about it privately; or 2) send us an email to prove you know the correct answer, then add a comment with the wrong answer but a convincing explanation — just to lead the other players astray.
If you do a particularly good job with option 2, you’ll get special recognition for your efforts. Please don’t try any other options if you’re already familiar with the property, because you’ll likely only ruin the game for everyone else.
That’s it! Are you ready to play?
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Read more about: Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game
January 6, 2009 – 11:51 am
Azzarelli’s Restaurant has fled the Tuscan-styled Villagio Town Center in Cinco Ranch, reports InsideKaty blogger Helen Eriksen — leaving behind a delinquent-rent notice on the front door . . . and some sort of lawsuit:
Inside the spacious eatery, napkins, bread plates and wine glasses are neatly arranged on the tables. Christmas decorations are also still in place but it’s unclear if the closing is permanent.
Efforts to reach [owner Frank] Triola were unsuccessful as of this blog posting. The person who answered the phone for the leasing agent, Villagio Partners, said she would have to check to see if someone could call me back because there is ongoing litigation in the matter.
Meanwhile, commenters have sighted a new Azzarelli’s just off the Katy Freeway:
However, driving down 1-10 heading west from Houston, the Barker Cypress exit has a new strip center and what do you know… Azzerelli’s is opening up a new restaurant! I think that the rent was very high at the Villagio Town Center and they are moving to a lower cost building. ??
Tuscan theming doesn’t come cheap. Another giveaway: the flashing “I-10 Location Coming soon!” notice on the Azzarelli’s website.
Photo: Azzarelli’s
Read more about: 77450, Cinco Ranch, Katy, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers, Theming
January 6, 2009 – 10:39 am
But maybe it’ll come back, with a new name! “In response to public outcry, the ambitious proposal to create the Trans-Texas Corridor network has been dropped and will be replaced with a plan to carry out road projects at an incremental, modest pace, a state transportation official announced today. ‘The Trans-Texas Corridor, as it is known, no longer exists,’ said Amadeo Saenz, Jr., executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation a forum in Austin. The state, he said, will carry forward with modifications to proposed projects and will rely heavily upon input from Texans through more town hall meetings and an updated Web site. He also made clear that, should toll lanes be added to various roads, tolls will be assessed only on those, and not existing lanes. The renewed effort now will operate under the name ‘Innovative Connectivity Plan.’ Saenz also said the state will continue to pursue various projects, including the Interstate 69 project. If, however, more lanes are needed along U.S. 59, the state will simply widen that roadway, Saenz said.” [Houston Chronicle]
Read more about: Cancellations and Delays, Freeways and Toll Roads, Proposed Developments
January 6, 2009 – 10:03 am
Remember that naming contest for East Downtown? A reader writes in:
I got an email from the East Downtown Management District saying that a name has been chosen for the district and the new website will debut on January 19th the website is www.eadohouston.com so I’m thinking the new name is EaDo?
The East Downtown District registered that domain name in July. Plus, EaDo would gibe with this little comment left on Swamplot last month.
So what were the runners-up? Perhaps: Edo, E.D.O., E-Do, or Eat-O? Next up: More naming competitions, for West Houston, Lower Kirby, and North Norhill!
Photo: Jackson Myers
Read more about: 77003, Downtown, East Downtown, East End, Names, Real Estate Marketing
January 6, 2009 – 6:10 am
How about starting the day with a little shaving? Here’s Houston’s home technique:
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Read more about: Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
January 5, 2009 – 3:36 pm
Ordinarily when a publication doles out annual awards to local establishments, it distributes certificates the winners can display proudly in their entrances, lobbies, or restrooms. The Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are a little different, in some instances because a large number of individuals and organizations can reasonably claim credit for the victory — and in others because the winners might be a little shy about celebrating this kind of recognition.
No problem: By popular demand, Swamplot is making award certificates for all the winners available to everyone, online! Each is downloadable in PDF format — and suitable for framing, displaying on break-room bulletin boards, or posting of a more impromptu fashion.
If you had a hand in the conception, creation, or promotion of any of the winners of this year’s Swampies, congratulations! A certificate celebrating your achievement is below. Print it out and display it proudly! If you weren’t part of a team responsible for any of the winners, but just want to make sure the award winners get the recognition they deserve, we hope you can make productive use of these certificates too!
Click on these links to get your Swamplot Award certificates, in 8 1/2″ x 11″ PDF format:
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Read more about: Swamplot Awards 2008
January 5, 2009 – 1:19 pm
He’s the display coordinator for Anthropologie in Highland Village. He has a degree in mortuary science, but his art makes frequent use of old doll parts and other objects he finds in flea markets and dumpsters. What does Brian Neal Sensabaugh’s home look like?
In(side) the Loop blogger Courtney gives us a tour of his “downtown” duplex. Sensabaugh, who’s from rural Arkansas, calls himself a “Ouijist”:
Found objects play a very important role in my work. Things cross my path for a reason. I am fortunate to be able to listen and bring these objects together in a harmonious balance that is agreed upon between the objects themselves and me, the artist.
A few scenes from Courtney’s photo tour, displaying some of Sensabaugh’s unique interior touches.
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Read more about: Furniture, Home Decor, Interiors
January 5, 2009 – 9:14 am
Here’s a 15,000-sq.-ft. plot of West U. land at the corner of Kirby and Plumb across the street from Rice Village, offered in 2 separate parcels for a total of $750,000.
We know what you’re wondering: Is there a closeup of the property?
And you’re in luck! The HAR listing provides one:
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Read more about: 77005, Land for Sale, Real Estate Marketing, West University
January 5, 2009 – 8:44 am
Following up on the overview of the controversy he and Carolyn Feibel published last week, Bradley Olsen provides this updated summary of all the offers made for James and Jock Collins’s 7,230-sq.-ft. property at the the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak Ln., adjacent to Boulevard Place: “In April 2002, the Uptown Development Authority offers the Collins brothers $289,000 for their property to widen San Felipe and for other purposes (they bought it for $363,750 in 1982). They declined. In February 2004, Uptown offers the Collins brothers $398,035 for their property. They declined. Wulfe & Co. begins negotiations with the brothers to buy the property in 2004. In early 2006 (one side says March, the other says May), Wulfe and Co. offered the Collins brothers $1.985 million, which included a $1.46 million cash offer plus financing of $525,000 over five years. The brothers declined that offer, both sides confirm. The brothers counter-offer by asking for $1.7 million in cash, according to Cary Gray, their attorney. In June 2006, Wulfe and Co. responded with a $1.46 million cash offer, which they withdraw in July, according to both sides. In October 2006, the city notifies the Collins brothers of its intent to seize the land through eminent domain powers. Before filing its eminent domain lawsuit, the city gives the brothers a final offer in May 2007 of $433,800. They declined. In February 2008, a panel of special commissioners appointed in Harris County Civil Court voted to award the Collins brothers $723,000. They declined. The legal proceedings between the city and the brothers are still ongoing and are in the discovery phase.” [Houston Chronicle]
Read more about: 77056, BLVD Place, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Eminent Domain, Galleria, Land Prices, Neighborhood Disputes, Parks, Proposed Developments
January 5, 2009 – 6:12 am
The best evidence we’ll be having a smashing new year: This cleanup list.
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Read more about: Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
December 31, 2008 – 6:12 pm
Happy New year! Swamplot is off for the remainder of the week, to rest up for an exciting year full of new features, plus plenty more Houston real estate, design, and neighborhood goodies.
Comments and the Swamplot tip line, of course, remain open. If you’re hunting for the results of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, browse on over to this page. We’ll see you back here on Monday!
In the meantime, enjoy these excerpts from a recent watery tour of Downtown, shot by Daryl D’Angelo from an inflatable canoe on Buffalo Bayou:
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Read more about: 77002, Buffalo Bayou, Downtown, Notices
December 31, 2008 – 4:11 pm
Swamplot mentioned the cancellation of Randall Davis’s Titan condo project in passing yesterday, announcing at the same time that the project had scored the first-place spot in the hotly contested Most Grandiose Development category of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. But really, if any 2008 event in Houston real estate deserves its own separate post on Swamplot, this is it.
Davis told the Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff that slow sales convinced him to shut down the 25-story highrise project. There’ll be no rearranging of the deck chairs, no putting the project “on hold,” no “My Heart Will Go On.” It’s all over.
But the Titan will be sorely missed.
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Read more about: 77056, Cancellations and Delays, Condos, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Theming, Titan, Uptown
December 31, 2008 – 11:41 am
Again with the fun pix from around town! First: What’s this little toy parking lot?
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Read more about: 77020, 77076, 77096, Construction Materials, Fifth Ward, Meyerland, Movie-Theaters, Parking-Lots
December 31, 2008 – 10:24 am
Late yesterday a reader wrote in expressing concern about the “very cool, worth saving, worth redoing in an intelligent way” 4-plex at 4311 Bettis Dr., just northeast of the stalled-out High Street project on Westheimer. The Bettis Apartments were designed by Robert Wilson in 1955, and are listed as “Most Endangered Moderns” on the Houston Mod website.
A few hours later, 3 properties with the address of 4211 Bettis showed up as demos in the city permit report. You can see them in this morning’s Daily Demolition Report below. The properties are described as the San Felipe Court Apartments . . . didn’t those go down some time ago?
4211 Bettis and 4311 Bettis must be different properties, right? Except HCAD has no entry for a 4211 Bettis. And 4311 Bettis is listed in the rolls as part of the “Trilogy on Bettis Street.”
Swamplot’s tipster provides this tip sheet about the apartments:
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Read more about: 77027, Apartments, Demolitions, Highland Village, Modern Design
December 31, 2008 – 9:13 am
It’s the end-of-the year rush. Hurry to get your buildings in now!
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Read more about: Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
