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Hotels

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Is this time the charm for the long-vacant all-but-freeway-sideÂ former hotel atÂ 801 Saint Joseph Pkwy.,Â on at least its 3rd round of intended redevelopers since it was vacated inÂ 1998? The building began its career in the early 1970s as a Holiday Inn, later becoming a Days Inn before being turned into Heaven on Earth hotelÂ by a group founded by embraced-then-renouncedÂ Beatles spiritual advisor Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.Â That group eventually shut down their increasingly dilapidatedÂ hotel and turned the place into a Vedic school before code violations forced the structure’sÂ not-just-for-summer vacation; the spotÂ has been courted by fickle would-be-remodelers on and off ever since.

But some workÂ permits have been issued this year to the most recentÂ owner, SFK Development, which bought the site in late 2012 per county records, and Catie DixonÂ reported last fallÂ that the building will be turned into a SheratonÂ (an assertion backed up by some more recent tidbits from the structural scrutinizers over at HAIF).Â Meanwhile, reader Garrett Robles reports that the site is now the most active he’s seen it in 5 years of wandering around the area.Â RoblesÂ sends thisÂ set of recent photos peering at, around, and into the ground floor of the structure:

Rebuilding Heaven on Earth

77002, Adaptive Reuse, Downtown, Hotels

08/10/16 10:15am

Empty Chirps Chicken and Rice Box Getting Filled Back Up in the Heights

Houston Heights, Renovations, Restaurants, Retail

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Former Chirps Chicken and Rice, 300 W. 20th St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008

Former Chirps Chicken and Rice, 300 W. 20th St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008 A reader caught sight of someÂ recent stirringsÂ at the southwest corner of W. 20th St. and Rutland, where food truck The Rice Box looks to be setting up a second non-mobile operation in the former home of Chirps Chicken and Rice. Braun Enterprises snapped up the 1,584-sq.-ft. buildingÂ in mid-2015, when Chirps flew the coop; a TABC permitÂ for the dry zone address was issued to Black Dragon Private Club — anÂ entity listingÂ The Rice Box as a trade name — in early May.Â Braun also owns theÂ retail strip across Rutland, which replaced those Baptist Temple buildings that were demolished in 2013; the photo above was taken from the Zoe’s KitchenÂ at the corner.

Previously on Swamplot: The Retail Thatâ€™s Replacing the Razed Heights Baptist Temple Buildings

Photos: Jason B. Cockerell (top), Chirps Chicken and Rice (bottom)

Rutland Remake

77008, Adaptive Reuse, Food Trucks, Houston Heights, Renovations, Restaurants, Retail

08/09/16 4:00pm

Grace Presbyterian’s Retail Strip Converts to Rubble in Westchase

Westchase

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Demolition of Belt West Shopping Center Northern Building, 10220 Westheimer Rd., Westchase, Houston, 77042

Belt West Shopping Center, whichÂ previouslyÂ housedÂ both Grace Presbyterian’sÂ coffee shop The Well and Shelby’s Liquor, has beenÂ returningÂ to dust of late, per a reader’s leafy photo of the site fromÂ this morning. The western end of the 1975 strip (largely hidden from the northwest corner of Westheimer and Seagler roads by 2 other retail strips and a Shell Station) has also been home toÂ some of the operations ofÂ Project C.U.R.E. — a nonprofit named by the late JulyÂ demolition permitÂ as an occupant, which collects and donates medical supplies to the developing world.

Both the church’s Facebook page and a church representative reached by phone this afternoon indicate that the church-owned property will remainÂ a part of the Grace Presbyterian fold. The shots below from Seagler showÂ the stripÂ midway through its retail-to-ruins transition last week:

Plans To Rise Again

77042, Churches, Demolitions, Retail Strips, Westchase

08/09/16 10:30am

City Offering Emergency Library Rides Again Today as Heat Index Refuses To Come Down

Maps

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For at least the 3rd time this summer, the city is backÂ inÂ emergency heat plan modeÂ in the face of the in-the-shade 105 to 110 heat indices forecast across the areaÂ yesterday afternoon (and again today, from 1 to 7 pm). The plan kicks in when indices hang around 108 for more than 1 day in a row. A chat with the folksÂ atÂ 311 will get you a ride to one of the nearest air-conditioned chillout centers, mapped above — the majority are public libraries (marked in yellow), with a few municipal multiservice centers thrown in for color (namely blue). The list of centers is also brokenÂ out by postal codeÂ on the city’s emergency website, along with each spot’s operating hours — in the processÂ providing a quick review ofÂ how some ofÂ those turn-of-the-decadeÂ library hours cuts shook out.

Heat Advisory Continues for Houston [abc13]
City of Houston Heat Plan In Effect [City of Houston]

Map of emergency cooling centers: City of Houston

Reading is Cool

City of Houston, Libraries, Maps, Weather

Downtown

08/08/16 3:45pm

Bombay Indian Grill Continues Time-Honored Tradition of Leaving That Spot at 706 Main St.

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Empty 706 Main St., Downtown, Houston, 77002

Once again, 706 Main St. is clearing outÂ —Â here’s aÂ shot of the freshly unwrapped restaurant space in the base of the Great Jones Building.Â The light-rail-side storefront just south of Capitol St.Â was taken over in 2014 by Bombay Indian Grill (not to be confused with the nearby Bombay Pizza Co. 2 blocks to the south) in the wake of a string of restaurant turnovers averaging less than 2 years apiece of tenure.

A reader spotted someone boxing up the leftovers early last week, and sent the photo above this afternoon showing the space sans signage.Â The restaurant was previously marked in place in April floor plans from Midway, which is currently remodeling and repackaging the Great Jones Building together with the former Gulf Oil building as The Jones on Main:

Still Jonesing Downtown

77002, Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

08/08/16 1:30pm

Honey Art Cafe Moving Into Former Shepherd Check Cashing Store, Looking for Some Cash

Montrose, Shepherd Curve

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Honey Art Cafe space, 3516 S. Shepherd Dr., Montrose, Houston, 77098

Some yellow and white stripes have appeared recently at the northwest corner of Shepherd Dr. and Richmond Ave., just north of the similarly colored Subway signage. The upside-down Vs mark the spot where Honey Art Cafe is setting up shop in the former home of Ace Cash Express, next to Cigar Emporium in the retail strip bookended by Mattress Overstock and Accents By Phillipe. Longtime readers may be interested to note that the storefrontÂ is beingÂ painted up and built out by art duo Lulu Lin — which includes the same LuluÂ whose doodles and digital paintingsÂ often jazz up Swamplot’s Comments of the Day.

The pair is pulling their Houston Art Lessons business out of its River Oaks Shopping Center home toÂ expand both the size and scope of operations under the new name; on top of regularÂ classes, plans for the new spaceÂ include galleryÂ shows, artsy food and drinks, and meetups for creative types. The cafe is also looking for a leg upÂ from the local InternetÂ — the duo’sÂ Kickstarter campaign, which is offering sweets, art, and classes in tradeÂ for some help with buildout costs,Â is running from now through early September.

Sweetening Up S. Shepherd

77098, Montrose, Restaurants, Retail, Shepherd Curve

08/08/16 10:45am

Seiwa Market Kinda Opens in Future Japanese Restaurant Row on Dairy Ashford

Westchase

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Seiwa Market in Ashford Village Center, 1801 S. Dairy Ashford Rd., Westchase, Houston, 77077

The credit card machines at the new Seiwa Market at 1801 S. Dairy Ashford Rd.Â weren’t up and running yetÂ as of Friday, butÂ the Japanese grocery storeÂ did openÂ its doors this weekend to cash-only customers as part of aÂ test run soft opening. The market and its internal food court options will eventually be flanked by other Japanese restaurants, from the looks of things:Â Ramen House Ichi is currently under construction next door, andÂ the Seiwa store manager toldÂ the HBJ last monthÂ that a high-end JapaneseÂ seafood houseÂ is planned for the sameÂ shoppingÂ center somewhere on the other side.

A reader snagged a few shots of the scene inside Seiwa’s spaceÂ in Suite 116 of the late 1970s Ashford Village Center shopping strip, across from the Dairy Ashford Roller Rink:

Sushi To Come

77077, Grocery Stores, Openings and Closings, Westchase

Brookesmith

08/05/16 4:30pm

76-Year-Old Brick Building Across from Former North Main Theater Is Ready for Its Stuccover Too

Historic Preservation, Norhill

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3715 N. Main St., Norhill, Houston

Workers have begun attaching wire netting to the faÃ§ade of the 4,344-sq.-ft. retail-turned-office building at 3715 N. Main, which county records indicate was built in 1940 and a nearby residentÂ believes once served as a post office for the adjacent neighborhoods of Norhill and Brooke Smith. The netting isÂ in advance, it appears, of a new stucco or stucco-like overcoat for the brick-front structure.

The Iglesia de Restauracion, an affiliate of El Salvador-based pentecostal ministry Mision Cristiana Elim Internacional, bought the building last fall; previously it served as the law offices of voting-rights attorney Frumencio Reyes. In stuccoing the structure, the neighborhood church will be following the pattern established earlier with the successiveÂ stuccovers of its own main sanctuary building, the former North Main Theater across the street at 3730 N. Main.

Here’s how that movie theater, which was built in 1936, once looked:

Famous Beige Overcoat

77009, Brooke Smith, Historic Preservation, Movie-Theaters, Norhill, Stucco, Theming

08/05/16 11:15am

A Wetter Way To Follow the Story of Houston’s Historic Sprawl

Home Decor, Houston Data, Houston History, Sprawl

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Houston: A Story of Sprawl in 5 Coasters, by Data Design Co.

Have you seen this video (at top) from the city’s planning and development department? It’s silent, severalÂ years old, and not the flashiest portraitÂ of HoustonÂ available on YouTube. But in a compelling series of images, itÂ shows how mightily the city’s official boundaries have grownÂ — simply by tracking Houston’s annexation history, decade by decade.

But now there’s a more active way to appreciate Houston’s historically bulging waistline — one that could even help increase your own in the process (depending on your choice of beverages). Each of the 5 laser-cut acrylic coasters in Data Design Co.‘s limited-edition set (shown in the photo above) is etched with an outline of this ever-expanding city at some point in its history.Â Designers Brian Barr and Matthew Wettergreen had the setsÂ manufactured in Houston by Post-Studio, and are now offering them for sale for $60.Â Buy a set, and try one beverageÂ on each over the course of an evening of thirst-quenching, and you’ll allow yourself to drink inÂ a progressive view of thisÂ city’s expansive growth.

Pushing Boundaries

Furnishings, Home Decor, Houston Data, Houston History, Sprawl

Downtown

08/04/16 4:30pm

The Odds on a Pierce Elevated Comedown

Freeways and Toll Roads, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

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THE ODDS ON A PIERCE ELEVATED COMEDOWN Map of Proposed I-45 Rerouting, Downtown Houston Writing in theÂ latest issue of Texas Architect magazine — which is now debuting a redone website with a new web address and a new all-articles-are-now free policy — Ben Koush surveys the prospects for the raised section of I-45 nowÂ dividing Midtown fromÂ Downtown:Â “While there have been some plans floated around to convert the decommissioned section of the Pierce Elevated into Houstonâ€™s version of the Highline, most people I spoke with didnâ€™t think that was going to happen, simply because TxDOT needs the money it could get from selling that right of way to private developers. Some still hold out hope that at least some of the land or maybe even a small section of the elevated roadway could be made into a public green space.” [Texas Architect; previously on Swamplot]Â Plan of “currently approved scheme” for I-45 rerouting around downtown, showing possible green space: SWA Group

Downtown, Freeways, I-45, Midtown, Pierce Elevated, Proposed Developments

08/04/16 11:30am

Novel Approaches to Houston

Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing

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NOVEL APPROACHES TO HOUSTON Downtown Houston Noting the “daily clash” of old and new, local and immigrant, and very rich and very poor around these parts, “the tawdriness of those who control the city’s worst quarters,” and the density of terrific raw materialÂ for stories, Mimi Swartz wonders — as she considers 3 new novels set in the Bayou City — why Houston hasn’t served as the setting of more great fiction: “Anyone from Charles Dickens to Edith Wharton to Tom Wolfe would have or should have killed for the chance to take Houston on. And yet, so far, few have stepped up. The hands-down best novelist on Houston is Larry McMurtry; the best of his books set here —Â Moving On, All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, Terms of Endearment, and The Evening Star — evoke the place with affection and authority. But McMurtryâ€™s last Houston book came out in 1992.” Worth mentioning since then:Â short stories by Antonya Nelson; a few scenes in Justin Cronin’s vampire trilogy, The Passage; Alicia Erianâ€™s novel Towelhead; and thrillers by Attica Locke. Still, she notes, “with Houston, every writer is pretty much starting from scratch.” [Texas Monthly] Photo: faungg [license]

Books

Demolitions

08/04/16 10:30am

With the Toppling of Kicks, the Era of Indoor Soccer on Shepherd Has Come to a Crashing End

Magnolia Grove, Redevelopment, Rice Military

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Demolition of Kicks Indoor Soccer, 611 Shepherd Dr., Rice Military, Houston

Here’s a view ofÂ the scene this morning atÂ 611 Shepherd Dr., which until late last year was the home of Kicks Indoor Soccer. The metalÂ structure that housed the indoor artificial-turf field and bar is being kicked to the curb in anticipation ofÂ a new apartment complex planned byÂ Mill Creek Residential, which is now in control ofÂ the full blockÂ bounded by Shepherd, Floyd, Blossom, and Durham, lodged between Rice Military and Magnolia Grove.

Photo: Mosaic Clinic

Kicks Out

77007, Demolitions, Magnolia Grove, Redevelopment, Rice Military

08/03/16 4:00pm

Houston’s New Official Message to Immigrants: Welcome, Y’all!

Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing

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HOUSTON’S NEW OFFICIAL MESSAGE TO IMMIGRANTS: WELCOME, Y’ALL! Welcome to Houston sign, Chile Long derided by some illegal-immigration opponents as a “Sanctuary City,” Houston appears now to be rebranding itself to suit. The city’s Office of International Communities, along with 2 area nonprofits, are joining to label Houston an official â€œWelcoming Cityâ€ for immigrants and refugees, focused on welcoming and integrating new Americans. In joining the nationwide Welcoming Cities and Counties initiative, Houston is joining such hotbeds of newcomer friendliness as Boise, Idaho; Crete, Nebraska, Salt Lake County, Utah; Dayton, Ohio; and Memphis, Tennessee (not to mention Austin, LA, NYC, Chicago, and other likely suspects). Participating community groups intend to create a plan for Houston to “improve the lives of immigrants moving to Houston” and present it to Mayor Turner in November. [City of Houston; Welcoming America] Photo of sign in Chile: Pipe Loyola M

City of Houston, Mayor Turner, Real Estate Marketing

08/03/16 12:00pm

Champions House of Animal Excrement Update: The Vomiting Visitors, the Sacrificed Pig, and the Helpful Neighbor

Homes for Sale, Huntwick Forest

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5623 Willow Walk Ln, Champion Forest, Houston, 77069

5623 Willow Walk Ln., Huntwick Forest, Houston

5623 Willow Walk Ln., Huntwick Forest, Houston Has it really been a whole year since the famed house at 5623 Willow Walk Ln. in Huntwick Forest — toutedÂ by its salesÂ agent, Paul Gomberg, as “the Filthiest House in Houston” — first appearedÂ on the market? No, butÂ the Chronicle‘s Darla Guillen has providedÂ a “one year later” update on the storied property a full 4 months early. And really,Â with some of theÂ newestÂ pungent and juicy details she reports, why wait?

Gomberg first put the property on the market last December, detailingÂ the home’s assembled collections of condiments, garbage, and animal deposits. “The foul stench of animals & their waste products permeates,” the listing summary noted, and at least oneÂ photo description included the always-colorful descriptorÂ “feces galore.”Â InÂ early January, Swamplot featured one of the tamer images from thatÂ listing as its Home Listing Photo of the Day. Later that week, Gomberg came out with thisÂ videoÂ tour of the property: