- 457 Edgewood Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LET’S KEEP HOUSTON’S ODDBALL ORIGINALITY A LITTLE MORE ORIGINAL AND LOCAL, PLEASE “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
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).
HOUSTON’S LAST TEXADELPHIA HAS SERVED ITS FINAL CHEESESTEAK Texas 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.
Which neighborhoods were hardest hit by last month’s floods? Try looking at this map to find answers. Zoomed out as it is, you can see some overall patterns. But to get a sense of the scope of the devastation in certain Houston neighborhoods, you’ll want to zoom in. Into this part of Meyerland, for example:
The 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.
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?
A BETTER FENCE FOR THE AXIS APARTMENTS SITE The 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
$150 HOUSE SELLER EXPECTS TO REFUND 500 IDENTICAL OFFERS The 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