02/18/15 1:00pm

Proposed Oaks on Shepherd Shopping Center, 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., Independence Heights, Houston

Proposed Oaks on Shepherd Shopping Center, 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., Independence Heights, Houston

Update, 2/19: Weingarten says the brochure was a “vision book” that was released to the public in error.

“The time is right for redevelopment” of the Sears at 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., declares a brochure published online earlier this week by Weingarten Realty. The brochure, which appears to be part of a proposal to Sears, which owns the 11.7-acre western portion of the site, says the REIT plans to partner with the retailer to turn the sleepy department store and the Pine Forest Business Park directly to its east into a “wonderfully connected and designed retail shopping destination for Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and neighborhoods around it,” including a new grocery store and restaurants.

No site plan is included in the presentation, but Weingarten notes that it plans to keep “the 2nd longest operating Houston Sears” open in some form throughout the redevelopment. “Weingarten’s vision is to acquire adjacent land,” then “temporarily relocate Sears into an existing building” — the Family Bingo Center at 641 W. Crosstimbers — before scraping and redoing the whole site.

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Oaks on Shepherd
02/17/15 4:30pm

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Architect Lars Bang gets the credit for the curb-facing original section (above) of a 1959 Meyerland mod built for the Alan Finger family, which kept it for 40 years. It was architect David D. Foster, however, who handled the 1974 additions that gave the home its “U” shape, furthering the floor-to-ceiling windows encircling the pool and patio (top). The home is located 2 blocks south of S. Braeswood Dr. and east of Millbury Dr., 4 houses away from the S. Post Oak stem of the 610 Loop. Its listing last week quotesa $739,900 price tag.

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House of Many Fingers
02/17/15 1:15pm

Possible Locations for Houston Bullet Train Stations, Texas

The company planning to build a bullet-train linkup between Dallas and Houston today identified its preferred route for the hour-and-a-half journey. The alignment, which the Texas Central Railway calls the Utility Corridor because it makes use electrical utility right-of-ways in Harris, Waller, and nearby counties, roughly follows south of Hwy. 290 once it enters Harris County, along the BNSF tracks parallel to Hempstead Rd. It would head into Downtown along the Union Pacific tracks paralleling Washington Ave. In the map above, the route is shown in gold (the line in red shows the second-choice route, along a different BNSF right-of-way).

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Bullet Stops
02/17/15 12:00pm

Mr. Santos Fashion Designs, 2150 Westheimer Rd., Glendower Court, Houston

Mr. Santos Fashion Designs, 2150 Westheimer Rd., Glendower Court, HoustonConstruction on the lot behind the Mr. Santos Fashion Design HQ on Westheimer Rd. at Kingston doesn’t mean Mr. Santos is closing up shop. It just means that his neighbor, the St. Anne Parish, is adding onto its parking lot along Kingston Dr. The dress designer and tailor, who’s operated out of the former house at 2150 Westheimer Rd. just west of Shepherd for a mere 32 years, tells Swamplot his shop, which specializes in wedding dresses, isn’t going anywhere.

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The Cars of St. Anne’s
02/13/15 5:15pm

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It’s a different kind of ice house on this corner: A sparkle finish fittingly fashions a gem-like setting for the Quenton Elliott custom jewelry store in Upper Kirby’s Ferndale neighborhood. Stacks of glass block encapsulate the property, which anchors the furnishings end of a semi-retail block. Raze or remodel, shouts the listing posted earlier this week, noting a $799K asking price. It carries no details on the 1945 building’s interior other than to note that it’s livable as a residence but likely heading toward land ho.

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Ice Cubes
02/13/15 1:15pm

Proposed Saudi Arabia General Consulate of Houston, Wilcrest Dr. Between Richmond Ave and Meadowglen Ln., Westchase, Houston

“Does a building have diplomatic immunity to local ordinances if [its site] is deemed international soil?” asks Architect’s Newspaper reporter Jay Thomas, reporting on the variance request made on behalf of a new General Consulate of Saudi Arabia complex in Westchase — which Houston’s planning commission denied in December. The applicants for the variance appear to say yes, it does: “The Consulate should be considered foreign soil and should be allowed to develop the property as they have planned as long as it doesn’t harm the public in any way,” reads the application.

But the design team went ahead and applied for the variance anyway. Why?

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International Setbacks
02/13/15 10:45am

Houston Skyline Photo by Visual Contrabrand

Alice Barr and her KHOU camera crew spend an authorized-by-building-management evening on top of an unnamed Downtown hotel to feature the photography and highrise hijinx of the “rooftopper” who goes by the name of Visual Contrabrand. The photographer (pictured above) tells Barr he’s afraid of heights, and that even after climbing down, glances at some of the images he’s taken “still make my palms sweaty.” But that doesn’t stop him from finding a way to access various tall structures around town (“without destroying any property,” he says) and snapping daredevil pix with his Canon 70D.

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Night Pix
02/12/15 12:45pm

Frenchy's Barber Shop, 5106 Cedar St., Bellaire, Texas

Is H-E-B planning to build a new Bellaire store in the triangle-shaped block surrounded by S. Rice Ave., Bissonnet, and Cedar St., in the north corner of the Bellaire Triangle? This week’s Southwest News implies that the Texas-based grocery company is: “H-E-B has tentatively reserved Bellaire’s Civic Center auditorium on Feb. 24 for the Big Reveal: a new supermarket for Bellaire,” reads the page-one story, which also notes that engineers have submitted a planned development request with the city for an H-E-B at 5106 Cedar St., to be heard by the zoning commission on March 10.

But H-E-B Houston division president Scott McClelland tells Swamplot that the Cedar St. spot is only “one location we are considering. Because of the size and shape of the center, we would have to be innovative in our approach. We have not locked down firm plans at this time.”

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Bellaire Triangle
02/12/15 11:15am

NEW MONTROSE APARTMENT LISTING SERVICE ON A LEASH 2501 Whitney St., Montrose, HoustonInterested in seeing what kind of only-a-sign-in-the-yard rentals are available in Montrose, but don’t have time to walk the neighborhood with your dog to find them all and scoop up the phone numbers? No problem! Montrose Corgi Lady is doing it for you, and posting all the yard-and-sign pics she comes across (“Rentals I find while I’m out walking my dog”) on her new Tumblr. [Walkabout Rentals, via Reddit] Photo of 2501 Whitney St.: Montrose Corgi Lady

02/11/15 2:15pm

After a year and a half of redrawing, presenting, and tweaking, Metro’s “reimagined” transit plan was approved by the transportation agency’s board today. The interactive map above shows the whole system in all its reconfigured glory, including the new rail lines currently scheduled to begin running in April. Bus routes will switch over to the above route system in August.

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All Approved for August
02/11/15 12:30pm

Paint Samples, Astrodome, Houston

What’s next in Astrodome beauty treatments after the unused county stadium’s powerwashing late last year? How about a little color magic? As noted by the KHOU chopper sent out to record the incident earlier this week (which produced the image above), test paint patches recently appeared at the top of the vacant structure’s walls. In concert with the removal of the eighties-add-on stair towers and the latest grime-spray efforts, the painting of a dark bluish-black color on the upper sections of wall just below the roof would help return the stadium exterior to something closer to its original 1965 appearance.

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Sprucing
02/10/15 4:45pm

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Chalky white liners on a driveway in Village of Panther Creek make sure the home’s runway isn’t confused with the neighboring funway through the woods. The latter pathway is part of the 160 miles of hike-and-bike trails connecting neighborhoods throughout The Woodlands. This 1981 home is up the street from the cul-de-sac end of the neighborhood, located between the curve of S. Panther Creek Dr. and Woodlands Pkwy. The property’s listing last week carries a $165K asking price.

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Pathways
02/10/15 1:45pm

Greenleaf Gardens, 803 Kipling St., Audubon Place Historic District, Houston

The community garden at 803 Kipling St. in Audubon Place listed for sale earlier at the end of last month is set to be purchased by the City of Houston and turned into a neighborhood park, according to its owner. William Winkler tells Swamplot he and the city have settled on a price and he’s signed off on a letter of intent; he says he’s now waiting for a formal purchase contract. The 8,400-sq.-ft. lot at the southwest corner of Kipling and Stanford, known as Greenleaf Gardens since Winkler first built raised beds and leased them out in 2012, was previously the site of a 2-story home that burned in 2008. It’s still listed on MLS for $630,000.

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Greenleaf Gardens
02/10/15 12:45pm

Rice Stadium, Rice University, Houston

According to the manager of banished-from-FM KTRU, a new low-power transmitter for the student-run radio station is to be constructed on top of Rice Stadium — now that the FCC has granted permission to the university to return to the airwaves. The new surprise announcement heralds a return to broadcast radio for the student-run organization after several years of internet-and-app exile. Amid protests from students and alumni, Rice University’s administration sold off the radio station’s broadcasting capabilities — including its 50,000-watt transmitter in Humble — to the University of Houston in 2010.

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Not Humble
02/10/15 11:00am

Construction of Galleria Jewel Box, Galleria, Houston

Construction crews have begun digging into the surface parking lot along Westheimer in front of the Galleria for the construction of the fancy new pad site building mall owner Simon Properties is referring to as the “luxury jewel box.” Foundation work for the structure, which will sit in front of the Cheesecake Factory and house as many as 3 high-end retailers (Cartier and Chanel are portrayed in renderings of the structure from early last year), will be a little tricky — because underneath the surface parking lot lies the Galleria’s multi-story Blue Garage.

A Swamplot reader sends in the above photo showing the scene as it appeared yesterday; here’s the same view with a bit more of a zoom-out:

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Digging Deep