THE EMPTY LOT ON WESTHEIMER WHERE THE EDMONT WILL LAND 
This long-vacant lot at the corner of Westheimer and Kueter, next to the Central Houston Animal Hospital and the recently shuttered EJ’s Bar on Ralph St., has been tagged as the future home of the Edmont, a new restaurant being planned by the people behind Paulie’s and Camerata and a former chef at the Vallone’s steakhouse. Paul Petronella, David Keck, and Grant Gordon have hired Abel Design Group to cook up a new restaurant from scratch at 1634 Westheimer — the same site eyed 6 years ago as a possible spot for a 75-room hotel. The restaurant, scheduled to open sometime near the end of 2015, is being named after a different hotel that never existed, though: a Manhattan spot patronized by Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
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Montrose needs a hotel. Too bad these folks don’t pull together a hotel and restaurant combo called Edmont. Now that would be cool!
Yeah, it was, at one time, to be opened as The Montrose Hotel, by Austin’s Liz Lambert of Bunkhouse Group
http://bunkhousemgmt.com/
That would have been amazing, considering Montrose’ lack of hotels. I saw the plans and they were very cool. . . oh, well. Come on, H-Town!
I also saw plans for a smaller hotel around the corner, created from an old midcentury modern complex turned into a cool, hip hotel, sort of like the San Jose in Austin vibe. . .
Hotel would have been great there given the lot size. Has the EJ’s property been sold yet? pretty big footprint there between the two.
KueSter street. ;-)
Who needs hotels when you have Airbnb? I think that experience captures the Montrose vibe much more effectively than a hotel.
i too would really like to have seen a hotel there. i know there’s some great bed and breakfast type places around the montrose, but that would really help anchor the montrose as a good tourist destination, and probably one of the few hotels in Houston not placed specifically in a business district/freeway frontage location.
This is great news. That lot is a real eyesore which drags down the heart of the neighborhood. Hopefully the restaurant will be good!
@joel: “… help anchor the montrose as a good tourist destination”
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Where do you find tourists that want to look at McMansions and luxury apartments? I mean other than on the Swamplot comments section.
Montrose would be a great place for a tourist to stay. It’s close to the Museum’s, Hermann Park, the Zoo, the Galleria and of course if you’re gay; the nightlife. A small boutique hotel would have been perfect here; though I’m sure this restaurant will be excellent. I’m just glad we won’t have to look at this empty lot anymore.
I have heard rumors that this land was toxic and could not be built upon, thanks to buried chemicals from some long-ago dry cleaner. Heard that was the reason the hotel pulled out, actually. Really glad to hear that this is not the case.
Why does one HATE an empty lot?!
One of the owners of Edmont just died …but the swamplot nazis probably wont let me write this comment cause Im not on there nuts like Shannon