Friday, May 18, 2012

Comment of the Day: Your Basic Housemoving Deal

   

“We’ll be moving a small house in the Heights off a lot that we are clearing for construction. Basically the removal company pays you $10 for the structure, and after they move it they scrape the lot to a demo standard. So you save the demo costs, maybe $5k, and you recycle the house. The house we bought was the childhood home of the man we bought it from — it had been in the family for decades — so it felt like the decent thing to do; the savings will be used to upgrade my future oven, and not much more, given the cost of building a new house.

The movers sell the house for $20k—$30k, maybe more if its in good shape. So as long as their own costs for the demo and the move are less than the sale price, they make out okay. The houses tend to be used as rentals, starter homes, hunting camps, etc.

It takes a good deal longer to clear a lot this way compared to a straight demo, and you run the risk that the structure will never sell. But if you have a bit of patience it’s a good deal.” [KG, commenting on Bungalow on the Loose: Duplex Splits West Drew in the Middle of the Night]

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A Day for Houston To Celebrate Demolition

   

A mere 189 homes and businesses will be knocked down beginning Saturday, designated by Mayor Parker as the city’s third annual Demo Day. That number is down a bit from last year, when the city marked the occasion by beginning the destruction of more than 400 structures deemed blighted (it took a while). Members of the Houston Contractors Association will be donating their bulldozing services for the citywide event. Most of the structures appeared on Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Reports this week; the city’s official list is here (PDF). The mayor will be on hand at 4007 Ebbtide St., just behind Madison High School, to make sure that home gets the smashing it deserves. Photo from last year’s event: Houston Contractor’s Association

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Bungalow on the Loose: Duplex Splits West Drew in the Middle of the Night

Part of its roof already lopped off and broken free from its brick-fireplace anchor, about half of the 1910 duplex at the corner of W. Drew and Crockett in East Montrose made a break for it last night. A Swamplot reader on the escape route sends in these photos of the scene:

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The Numbers on That 35-Story Tower Planned for Weslayan and West Alabama

Here’s a better look at the 35-story designed-in-Dallas residential tower PM Realty Group is putting on the northeast corner of Weslayan and West Alabama, where the State Grille and rebel predecessor Confederate House stood until a few years ago. Inside, at last report: 250-ish fancy apartments, a 3,000-sq.-ft. fitness center, a parking garage attached at the belly, and 12,500 sq. ft. of restaurant space on a bottom floor or two. The tower is being called either 2900, 2801, or 2800 Weslayan, depending on whether you follow that sign posted on the property earlier this year, a recent correction applied to it (below), or the project’s bid documents, which went out late last month and are due soon.

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Daily Demolition Report: Busy Bodies

These knockdowns will help initiate the building digestion process.

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Headlines: Convention Center Hotel List Narrowed; Conroe High Tiger Turns Blue

Photo: Montgomery County Police Reporter

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Comment of the Day: The Cry of the Institutional Fundraiser

   

“It’s all well and good to have a foundation, but what’s the fun of being a billionaire if you don’t have some buildings with your name on it?” [Robert Boyd, commenting on Midtown Arts Center Interim Design Review: How Do You Like It Now?]

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Not-so-Local Treasures on the Westheimer Strip

   

Included in the lawsuit filed yesterday by Houston and Harris County attorneys against the owners of Treasures, which labels the Westheimer strip club a public nuisance and attempts to shut it down: allegations that the venue is a site of “human trafficking” — of dancers from Vegas. From Cindy George’s report: “The trafficking allegations stem from police probes revealing that some of the dancers are transported from Nevada to Texas, then from club to club within Houston, and reside in Galleria- area apartments and condos ‘where they are maintained by the pimps,’ [city attorney David] Feldman said at a news conference. . . . ‘They masquerade as legitimate businesses, but these high-end strip clubs like Treasures really are hubs of human trafficking,’ he said, later noting that the establishment averages $20 million in annual alcohol sales. ‘Treasures happens to be the most prominent of these clubs. It’s the largest. It is clearly the most visible and most notable and prominent. . . . We are hopeful that with this action, we serve notice not only on Treasures, but the other clubs out there that Houston-Harris County is not going to put up with this type of criminal activity.’” [Houston Chronicle]

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The East Downtown Enron Mills Mall That Might Have Been

   

Long before he sold the land where the brand-new BBVA Compass Stadium for the Houston Dynamo soccer team now sits to the city, former council member and longtime land speculator Louis Macey had a deal ready to go that would have turned the vacant land into some sort of close-to-Downtown entertainment venue, Catie Dixon reports: “He ended up with six blocks around Bastrop and Texas, which attracted the attention of Katy Mills and Enron. They agreed to buy the site if he could get 12 blocks and an exit ramp off the highway. (He convinced TxDOT to put in the Polk Street exit.) The deal fell through at the last minute . . .” Macey began buying up the properties in 1997. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Real Estate Bisnow

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Up for Grabs: Holcombe Gold Ribbon Spot

The all-day buffet line for Filipino dishes and Mongolian stir fry just west of the Med Center could be winding down. This standalone building at 2416 W. Holcombe, home to Gold Ribbon Bake Shop and Restaurant since the mid-nineties, has been listed for lease by Pipeline Realty. Located in the shadows of a recently completed storage facility, the property shares a back parking lot with an adjacent medical office. There are 48 parking spaces by day and another 40 after office hours. Interestingly, a sign on the door says the place is hiring, seeking new hires who speak English and Tagalog.

Photo: Pipeline Realty

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Daily Demolition Report: Cavalcade of Destruction

So much excitement leading up to their grand finale:

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Headlines: Leaked Texas City Outlet List; Galleria Construction Buzz

Photo of Texas City Tanger Outlet Center: Tanger Factory Outlet Centers via Galveston County Daily News

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Comment of the Day: Working in the East End, Attending Midtown

   

“. . . In the East End, there is Talento Bilingue, Frenetic Theater, Box 13, El Rincon Social, Super Happy Fun Land, Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, Kalinen Contemporary, and probably some things that I’m missing. That’s a pretty good set of arts spaces, but it’s very spread out (from near 59 all the way out to Broadway). What is definitely going on in the East End is that a lot of artists have living and/or work spaces there (even though they have exhibits, both El Rincon Social and Box 13 are primarily studio spaces). But that’s not the same as being a destination for people to see art/performances.

Whereas the Midtown/Museum District arts area is much more compact –– only 1.5 miles from the Midtown Arts Center to the MFAH — and in between you have the Continental Club, Inman Gallery, Bryan Miller Gallery, Art Palace, Devin Borden Gallery, War’House, the Houston Center For Contemporary Craft, Lawndale, the Ensemble Theatre, the MFAH — and that’s just on Main St.

. . . If I was a scrappy young arts group looking for a physical home, I’d look out in the East End before Midtown. You just aren’t going to get things like Super Happy Fun Land, Frenetic Theater or Box 13 in Midtown.” [Robert Boyd, commenting on Midtown Arts Center Interim Design Review: How Do You Like It Now?]

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Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Boosted Roost

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Trader Joe’s Less-Loved Cousin Moving into Houston in a Big Way

   

Aldi isn’t exactly Trader Joe’s without the hype, but the 2 grocery chains are owned by sister companies from Germany. (Aldi Nord operates 1,200 stores in the U.S., mostly in the eastern half; Trader Joe’s is owned by Aldi Süd) Both of them specialize in private-label products. And they’ll be traveling in some of the same circles too: While Trader Joe’s is opening a measly 3 stores in the Houston area this year, its bigger and cheaper cousin has just announced a much grander Houston-opening gambit (after plans for a store outside Katy’s Oak Park Trails subdivision were met by protests from some neighbors earlier this year). The company now says it plans to invest $100 million to open 30 new Aldi stores in the Houston area over the next 3 years. And at least 10 of them should be open by next spring. There are already 37 Aldis in Texas, mostly near Dallas and Fort Worth. [Instant News Katy; PR Newswire] Photo: Garth Schweizer

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