Looks like the glassy structure above will be jumping gardens, per the announcement last week from the wedding venue formerly known as the Gardens of Bammel Lane (which took the new name Gardens of River Oaks late in July). The conservatory building will head north to the Gardens at Madeley Manor in Conroe once the Bammel Ln. venue shuts down in December. The rest of the garden’s structures and landscaping will likely be removed by less delicate means to make way for the planned 26-story Villa Borghese highrise, depicted below with Downtown peeking over its shoulder from the east:
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Here’s the planned view of the tower from the corner of Bammel Ln. and Earl St., where the Hairitage Salon was located before its May closing:
The Gardens were bought up along with the rest of the pre-1950s properties on the block by the middle of last year; the 46-unit condo tower designed by Kirksey Architecture was officially announced late last month by Europe-themed residential and parking lot developer Giorgio Borlenghi, who tells Nancy Sarnoff that the project won’t go forward until at least 23 of the customizable multi-million-dollar units are sold. Try not to mix the project with Borlenghi’s other 26-story 46-unit Kirksey-designed tower of multi-million-dollar condos: the Belfiore, now pretty much wrapped up over in Uptown:
- About the Gardens [Gardens of River Oaks]
- Borlenghi Bullish on New High-Rise Despite Oil Crunch [Houston Chronicle]
- New Projects (including Villa Borghese and Belfiore) [The Interfin Companies]
- Previously on Swamplot: The Uptown Condos with the Italian Name; Borlenghi: Houstonians Unclear on the European Concept
Images: Gardens of River Oaks (photo), Kirksey Architecture (renderings)
Well …. the design doesn’t appear too obnoxious (neighbors’ opinion may vary) and they DID save the glass house si I guess I won’t be throwing any stones.
As a 17 year Bammel St. resident, living a block from Bammel Garden… IMO no matter how lovely this 26 story, lavish, monolithic concrete and glass structture appears in concept sketches, IF built, it will overwhelm the infrastructure of this boutique neighborhood! There is currently NOT enough street width to support existing traffic patterns or heavy rain runoff, yielding deep flooding streets during storms. We are living in the shadow of all this due to Upper Kirby’s, West Ave over-development!!! This building represents more thoughtless efforts to clear out charming, older UK neighborhoods to make way for richer, higher prop. tax paying residents. :/
Are they really doing nothing to save all of those old houses?
It’s sorrowful that they are tearing it down. But I guess after a while you have to accommodate for what people in this generation want. Which is out with the old in the new.I feel they could have kept a couple of the old structures.
Looks like they are saving all the old houses! http://swamplot.com/small-flock-of-bungalows-getting-shepherded-around-at-bammel-ln-highrise-site/2017-05-22/
This was such a precious space… what a shame it is gone!