06/12/15 1:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: LET’S KEEP HOUSTON’S ODDBALL ORIGINALITY A LITTLE MORE ORIGINAL AND LOCAL, PLEASE Mythical Banana Bridge, Houston“Well, so much for the oddball originality that made Houston special. If you’re gonna rip off an idea, at least cover your house in wine corks or build an elaborate complex paying homage to the health benefits of bananas. Come on, people, you’re better than this.” [Amanda, commenting on Houstonians Are Attaching Their ‘Love Locks’ to Buffalo Bayou’s Rosemont Bridge] Illustration: Lulu

06/12/15 12:45pm

Construction of 350 Degrees Bakery, 2009 Polk St. at Chartres St., East Downtown, Houston

East Downtown residents have been following the construction of a 2-story steel-framed structure going up on the corner of Polk St. and Chartres St., just beyond the I-69 overpass from the backside of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Photos sent to Swamplot show some of the framing going up last week (above) and a more recent view from the frontage at 2009 Polk St. (below).

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350 Degrees and Up
06/11/15 4:15pm

HOUSTON’S LAST TEXADELPHIA HAS SERVED ITS FINAL CHEESESTEAK Texadelphia, 6025 Westheimer Rd., HoustonTexas cheesesteak sports bar Texadelphia has closed, a couple of readers tell Swamplot. The spot at 6025 Westheimer Rd., west of Fountainview, was the first and last of the Houston locations for the Austin-born franchise. This spot had been open for about 20 years. Photo: Jack S.

06/11/15 1:00pm

broadstone-tinsley-park-aerial

Former Brownfield Site at 801 and 1701 Gillette St., Fourth Ward, HoustonThe complicated transaction that allowed the city to sell the 10.52-acre brownfield site along Allen Parkway between the Federal Reserve building and Allen Parkway Village to an apartment developer was concluded in late April, the Houston Business Journal‘s Paul Takahashi reports. Alliance Residential paid $39.9 million for the property along Gillette St., where the city began operating a solid waste incinerator in the 1920s and later converted the site for use as its fleet maintenance facility. The company immediately sold the northern 6 acres to an unnamed private investor; Alliance now plans to build a 365-unit apartment complex on the southern half of the property, fronting Gillette and West Dallas St.

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Fourth Ward
06/10/15 2:00pm

Cupcake ATM, Sprinkles, 4014 Westheimer Rd., Highland Village Shopping Center, Houston

Here’s the new view looking left as you exit the back front door of the Apple Store in Highland Village. The long-promised Cupcake ATM at the back of Sprinkles is all ready for its grand opening tomorrow at 4014 Westheimer. Why buy cupcakes from a glorified vending machine when you can walk in the store and have one handed to you by a real live person?

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Sprinkles Redo
06/10/15 11:00am

A BETTER FENCE FOR THE AXIS APARTMENTS SITE Fence Surrounding Site of Axis Apartments, 2400 West Dallas St., North Montrose, HoustonThe construction fence surrounding the burned site of JLB Partners’ planned Axis Apartments at 2400 West Dallas St. in North Montrose is receiving an upgrade — from veiled chain link to wood plank. A reader who wonders if the property still qualifies as a construction site notes that the fence still blocks the sidewalk along W. Dallas. This photo shows the current intersection of the 2 fence types along Montrose Blvd. The apartments burned during construction last year. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox

06/10/15 10:00am

$150 HOUSE SELLER EXPECTS TO REFUND 500 IDENTICAL OFFERS 213 E. 23rd St., Houston HeightsThe real estate agent who’s been trying to sell his Heights bungalow for $150 tells reporter Paul Takahashi that — barring an “incredible surge” of new applications and fees before the June 13 deadline — he’ll be refunding the approximately 500 $150 offer fees he’s received so far for the property. For now, he says, he’s organizing his emails to filter out the more than 1,500 essays he received from would-be homebuyers who somehow got the idea that Wachs would sell them the 2-bedroom, 1-bath property even if they didn’t submit the required fee from the 500 or so who followed his instructions. All that sorting is “a time-consuming and boring” task, he tells Takahashi. Wachs had hoped the application fees would add up to the unspecified amount between $265K and $550 he figures his family’s home at 213 E. 23rd St. is worth. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo: $150 House