A result of the news yesterday that H-E-B will be moving from its Fountain View and Westheimer store to a new one on San Felipe in 2014 is the impending demolition of Tanglewood Court apartments, which stand on the 18-acre property bound by Fountain View, San Felipe, and Inwood. (The photo shows the apartments from the corner of Fountain View and Inwood.) Lynn Davis of Fidelis, which purchased the site in September 2011, tells Swamplot that notice has been given to residents that they’ll need to move by the end of March or early April. Buses from neighboring complexes, says Davis, have been shuttling them around to help them find a new place to live.
And once they’re gone, what, besides the H-E-B, will go in their place?
* * *
Davis says Fidelis is planning on selling about 5 acres of the property to a “multifamily group” for the construction of “high-end apartments.” Also, a one-story, 32,000-sq.-ft. spec retail building will be built facing Fountain View. H-E-B is still designing the new store, says regional president Scott McClelland, but it will resemble the “next generation format” like the Montrose Market; Davis says that the store will anchor the property and influence the designs of the other developments.
- Previously on Swamplot: H-E-B To Vacate Fountain View Store To Build Store on Fountain View
Photos: Swamplot inbox
12 Comments
Got a billion units in medical center or otherwise east of Montrose. cheap cheap. *plug*
Anyone living in an old two story garden apartment in that Briagrove area should keep a packed suitcase by the door.
It is nice to see HEB continuing to invest in new stores that have some architecture that will stand up over time.
RIP 3 Fountains. It was the last reasonable rent for that area in the mid 90s when I lived there.
Come on over to the east side, brothers!
Find the 2nd and 3rd wards before you can’t afford them, either.
When I moved to Houston in 2010 I got a 1-bedroom there for $626/mo. Walking distance from where I worked too. Good apartments, but time marches on.
I had the misfortune of living there in 2008. After going all summer with no AC and having my car towed by accident, I will be there to watch the rubble hit the ground. Thanks for wiping this cesspool off the map HEB!
I agree w/ Cody. I’d love to see an HEB along South Main across from Reliant.
Who didn’t live at Three Fountains at some point in their lives? I have good memories of said fountains prank foaming all over the street when they were functioning and well lit. For me it was home in the late 80′s as I commuted to school and worked night’s at a new Houston restaurant called The Olive Garden down the street with waitstaff party every night at Mama’s. Good times.
i’d love to have the people at HEB explain to us again why the oakforest/garden oaks/heights area doesn’t fit the bill for a NEW store? amazing they can re-locate this store that’s been open about 13yrs. but yet we’re stuck w/the pantry on 18th/tc jester b/c that’s what our demographic supports? um hello, have you seen the $550k mcmansions being built in OF?! sigh
H.E.B is a virus that you don’t notice until it takes over your whole body. They hate competition.
HEB is the new Wal-Mart
Am I the only one who’s noticed what HEB is doing? They’ve always been a lower-end grocer – competing with Fiesta. You can see it in the quality of their older stores. Only in the last 5 or so years have they decided to go after a more up-end market; with big, nice new stores that compete more with Kroger and Randalls.
.
They didn’t want to give up their share of the low-end market, so they came up with the Joe V’s concept – a store that specializes in what they think poor people want.
.
It’s all fine and dandy I guess. I just wish they hadn’t originally sold the Joe V’s concept as an altruistic thing.
@ jeeterbug: The new $550k mcmansions in Oak Forest are replacing other housing units one for one, and the types of households that are getting displaced were already reasonably well-off and were all also living in houses that were just as sufficient to accommodate large families as the houses that are replacing them.
By comparison, neighborhoods like Montrose, the Washington Avenue Corridor/Rice Military, and Uptown/Briargrove have been actively displacing small lower-income households with vast numbers of affluent households. I’d wager that there isn’t much of an increase in the number of people per household either, but the sheer number is increasing in a way that the deed restrictions in Oak Forest or Garden Oaks ensure will never happen there. Meanwhile, a $550k mcmansion in one of the single-family neighborhoods in those parts of town is often pushing the $1 million mark, and I’m sure that that also correlates to the types and profit margins of groceries that are purchased.
So if you’re wondering why you don’t have urban core amenities in the suburbs…it’s because you live in the suburbs. They got built out a long time ago, the retail base is already established, and improvements will be slow and incremental.