Featured Posts

Home Decor, Interiors, Tanglewood, Taxes

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Interior, 4950 Woodway Dr. Penthouse 2, Houston

This baroque 8th-floor penthouse condo in the Campton at Post Oak building at 4950 Woodway Dr. north of the Galleria has been available for rent at $9,500 a month since last September (marked down from the whopping $11,500 it began with in August). But there a few things you might want to know about the 3,948-sq.-ft. pad before you sign any lease: First, the unit’s owner since 2010 is Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson — who (in case you’ve been on a news blackout for the last several months) last November pled no contest to charges of “recklessly assaulting” his 4-year-old son with a wooden switch, and was suspended from the NFL for the remainder of the season. Second: Peterson hasn’t been paying his taxes on the property; after court proceedings at which Peterson failed to appear, a tax auction was approved by a district court a few days before Christmas.

Running Back To Pay?

77056, Condos, Condos for Lease, County Tax Auctions, Home Decor, Penthouses, Tanglewood, Taxes

01/12/15 3:00pm

The Future of Midtown Art and Theater Productions Is Now Framed in Steel

Institutional Buildings, Midtown, New Construction

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Construction of Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, 3400 Main St., Midtown, Houston

Here’s a pic showing construction of the new midtown arts center, taken from the corner of Holman and Main St. last week. And the folks behind MATCH are happy to walk you through the steel-outlined spaces of the building-in-progress, designed by Lake Flato and Houston’s Studio Red: “The breezeway is on your left; the cafÃ© is at your feet and the backstage corridor for Theatre A stretches into the distance on your right where you can see the plumbing stub outs for the laundry and the Theatre A dressing rooms. The high steel in the foreground at 12 o’clock is Theater A and the high steel off to the left at 10 o’clock is Theatre D. The dirt area to your left is the future home of the South building where the offices, gallery and rehearsal rooms will be.”

Construction of the facility at 3400 Main St. is expected to be complete by fall, with or without the last $2+ million of the $25 million budget the organization still needs to raise.

Photo: MATCH

MATCH Going Up

77006, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, New Construction, Theaters

01/12/15 1:46pm

Kirby Dr. Fast-Food Joints at North and South Blvds. Show Off Their Street Oak Buzzcuts

Restaurants, Streetscapes, Trees, Upper Kirby

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Reopened Wendy's Restaurant at 5003 Kirby Dr., Upper Kirby, Houston

Burger King and Diminished Oak Tree at 5115 Kirby Dr., Upper Kirby, Houston

A regular Kirby Dr. street-tree watcher sends in this pair of recent images showing the Wendy’s drive-thru at 5003 Kirby Dr. (at the far western end of oak-tree-bedecked North Blvd.), which reopened after renovations the week before Christmas, and its neighbor a few driveways down, the Burger King at 5115 Kirby Dr. (at the far western end of similarly shaded South Blvd). The photos show the aftermath of a series of chainsaw incidents that took place last year.

The daring but probably not death-inducing trimming of the lone surviving Kirby Dr. street tree in front of Wendy’s (shown at top) took place after the franchise’s owner, Ali Dhanani of Haza Foods, paid the city a $300,000 settlement for the nighttime removal of 6 other oaks on city property surrounding the restaurant shortly before Halloween. A report in November indicated that the city’s legal team was investigating the more aggressive paring of oak limbs in front of the neighboring Burger King, as well as another Burger King owned by Houston Foods, the second-largest Burger King franchisee in the country, which is run by Dhanani’s brother, Shoukat Dhanani.

Previously on Swamplot:Â Looking into Houstonâ€™s Burger King Tree-Hacking Problem, Beginning Right Down the Street from the Kirby Dr. Wendyâ€™s; Days After $300K Treecutting Settlement, Workers Are Back on the Job at the Kirby Dr. Wendyâ€™s; City Nets $300K Settlement for Late-Night Kirby Dr. Wendyâ€™s Oak-Axing Incident; City Reportedly Planning Legal Action Against Kirby Dr. Wendyâ€™s Late-Night Tree Whackers; Kirby Dr. Wendyâ€™s Renovation Crews Chop Down North Blvd. Street Oaks Overnight;Â The Burger King Live Oak Amputation Mystery Deepens;Â Mysterious Oak Beheadings at the Yale and 610 Burger King

Photos: Swamplot inbox

The Giving Trees

77098, Fast Food, Restaurants, Streetscapes, Trees, Upper Kirby

Alief

01/12/15 12:30pm

Alief Home of Intensive Interior Gardening Returns to Market Houseplant-Free

Gardening

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Interior, 13630 San Martin Ln., Pheasant Trace Village, Houston

13630 San Martin Ln., Pheasant Trace Village, Alief, Houston Last May, photos of what appeared to be an intensive indoor plant-growing operation appeared with the MLS listing for the 1992 5-bedroom home atÂ 13630 San Martin Ln. in the Alief-area neighborhood of Pheasant Trace Village. All horticultural-themed photos were removed from the listing, however, after one of the images (above) was featured on Swamplot. The home sold in October for $125,000 — $10,000 above its asking price.

After a “remodeling from top to bottom,” according to a new listing, the new owners have placed the property back on the market, with nary a hint as to what may or may not have been photosynthesizing inside previously under the stares of all those grow lights. New AC units and coils come with the property now too. Offered for lease at $1,995 a month, or for sale for a quick $219K.

13630 San Martin Ln. [HAR; for lease; previous listing]
Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Matrix [Swamplot]

Grow House Price Grows

77083, Alief, Flipping, Gardening, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Pheasant Trace Village

01/12/15 11:15am

When the Information Superhighway Was Just an Exit Off Memorial Dr.

Houston History

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Still from the Internet Show, Showing Memorial Dr., Houston

Sure, you might vaguely recognize the Houston street scene shown above, but maybe you’re unclear about what kind of modem you need to make the hard right turn from Memorial Dr. onto the information superhighway? “Maybe you’ve read or heard about the internet, but you’re still not exactly sure what it is? Well if that’s the case, don’t worry. In no time at all you’ll be able to impress everyone with your amazing techno-savvy.” Just by watching this hour-long 1995 PBS program sponsored by Compaq (and Viewers Like You) all about this crazy new Internet thing:

Renovations, Theater District

Houston in the Early Internet Era

Houston History, Landscape, Memorial Drive, Online Resources, Videos

Downtown

01/09/15 5:15pm

A Skylit Tour of the Alley Theatre Redo, Now in Progress

by CALwords

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alley-theatre-hard-hat-06-2

Above the renovations that have been opening up the bunker-likeÂ Alley TheatreÂ all the way from its sub-basement to (new) fly loft, the revamped skylight — distinctive triangles kinda forming a series of “A’s,” for Alley — now appear in high relief (top). A hard hat tour for the media Thursday showed off portions of the $46.5 million project, which was designed by Studio RED Architects.

Construction kicked off in July 2014 and plans to wrap up for an October 2015 debut. Here’s a peek at what’s been going onÂ behind the behind-the-scenes:

The Inside Story

77002, Alley Theatre, Renovations, Theater District, Theaters

Homes for Sale, Indian Trails, Interiors

01/08/15 5:00pm

Crisscrossing a French Indian Trail Home Asking $1.9 Million

by CALwords

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14-buffalo-ridge-10

14-buffalo-ridge-02

The high beams are on — and so are a lot of tilted-grid details — at a 1999 custom home in the Indian Trail neighborhood of Memorial. Double-pane windows, interior paint, and a few other tweaks since its March 2014 change of hands, at $1.674 million, have prepped it for a New Year’s re-debut that’s asking $1.895 million. The meticulously clipped property has Chimney Rock Rd. as a side neighbor to its slightly bulbous lot on a cul-de-sac cross street located north of Woodway Dr.

Beaming and Gleaming

77056, Homes for Sale, Indian Trails, Interiors

Buying and Selling

01/08/15 1:00pm

Highland Village Shuffle: Walgreens Getting Ready To Cross Westheimer, River Oaks Baptist School Pushing South

Highland Village, Retail, Schools

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Walgreens, 3900 Westheimer Rd., Highland Village, Houston

Sources tell Swamplot that the River Oaks Baptist School is buying the building occupied by Walgreens at 3900 Westheimer Rd., at the southern end of the school’s campus on Willowick Rd. The school will reportedly use the 1.8-acre property vacated by the drug-store chain (and pictured above) for a “possible parking garage and secondary exit onto Westheimer.”

Walgreens won’t be leaving the Highland Village area, however. Workers are already transforming the former Fresh Market grocery store at 3745 Westheimer Rd. (pictured below) into a new Walgreens. It’s currently scheduled to open in March:

Rice Epicurean to Fresh Market to Walgreens

77027, Buying and Selling, Highland Village, Retail, Schools

01/07/15 12:15pm

World’s Largest Air Conditioning Manufacturer To Build Giant Comfortplex at Northern Reaches of Katy Prairie

Hockley, Industrial Properties, Proposed Developments, Sprawl

Hockley, Industrial Properties, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Sprawl

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WORLD’S LARGEST AIR CONDITIONING MANUFACTURER TO BUILD GIANT COMFORTPLEX AT NORTHERN REACHES OF KATY PRAIRIE Proposed Daikin Industries Comfortplex, near Hockley, Texas Ah, Houston industry! Oil may be down, but air conditioning is booming — and ready to do its part to further our fine city’s sprawl-ward spread. Ralph Bivins reports this morning that Japanese HVAC giant Daikin Industries, which paid $3.7 billion back in 2012 to buy Houston’s Goodman Global, will build a $417 million, 4,000,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing and logistics campus on virgin prairie southeast of Hockley, off U.S. 290 a good 3 miles west of the Grand Parkway. Dubbed the “Comfortplex,” the facility (portrayed in the rendering above) will consolidate current company operations in both Tennessee and Texas, and increase the company’s Houston-area workforce to approximately 4,000 employees. The Comfortplex will replace an existing 525,000-sq.-ft. Goodman air-conditioner factory near Loop 610 and 290 when it opens in 2016, Bivins notes. The company produces ducted and ductless AC systems under the Daikin, Goodman, and Amana brand names. [Realty News Report] Rendering: Daikin Industries

Apartments

01/07/15 10:00am

Developer of Houston Senior Living Communities Foiled in Bid To Overthrow Government of West African Country

Greenspoint

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The Austin-based developer of 3 Houston apartment communities was arrested Saturday in Virginia for his role in a failed coup of the West African nation of Gambia. According to an affidavit prepared by an FBI special agent,Â Cherno M. Njie provided funds for the ill-fated venture, and was to have been installed as Gambia’s president if it had been successful. Prior to the surprise military venture in his native country, the University of Texas graduate served asÂ the tax credit manager of the Texas department of housing and community affairs, which during his tenure awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax credits to developers of affordable housing.Â Njie resigned from the agency in 2001 following the bribery conviction of a board member and founded Songhai Development, whose later contributions to the Houston landscape include the Chelsea Senior CommunityÂ (pictured at the bottom of this story) and the Little York Villas apartments near Acres Homes and theÂ Langwick Senior Residences (pictured at top)Â near Greenspoint. He also served as president of Songhai’s sister company, CMB Construction.

In 2011,Â 3.2 acres of landÂ Njie donated next to the Langwick project at Langwick Dr. and W. Hardy Rd. were turned into a park designed for senior citizens — named Ida Gaye Gardens, after Njie’s mother. (The photo at right above, posted on Songhai’s website, shows Njie at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the park with Greens Bayou Corridor Coalition’s Regina Lindsey.)

From a Greenspoint Park to a Gambia Coup

77060, 77088, Acres Homes, Apartments, Greenspoint, International Intrigue, Military Coups

01/06/15 1:30pm

Frank Liu Getting Ready To Plant 538 New Homes on Famous Fifth Ward MDI Superfund Site

Fifth Ward, Pollution, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Toxic Sites

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Variance Sign for Living Green, MDI Superfund Site, 3617 Baer St., Fifth Ward, Houston

Signs have gone up around the former metal foundry site at 3617 Baer St. in the Fifth Ward indicating that a hearing is scheduled for this Thursday to get city approval for the latest rejiggering of homesites on the 35-acre tract. Developer Frank Liu of Lovett Homes, InTown Homes, and a few other local builder brands plans to put a total of 538 homes (down from 589) on the EPA-monitored property, known as the MDI Superfund Site after the last owner of the metal-casting operations, Many Diversified Interests, which shut down in the early 1990s (previously, the plants were owned by TESCO). The property, which lies just south of I-10 about 2 miles of east of downtown, was listed on the EPA’s list of priority Superfund sites in 1999, after tests showed the soil and groundwater was contaminated with lead and other hazardous metals.

Living Green

77020, Fifth Ward, Hazards, Pollution, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Superfund-Sites, Toxic Sites, Variances

01/05/15 2:45pm

USPS Now Says It Will Close and Sell the Heights Post Office

Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Public Buildings, Quicklink

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USPS NOW SAYS IT WILL CLOSE AND SELL THE HEIGHTS POST OFFICE A new public notice taped to the door of the Heights Finance Station post office at the corner of Heights Blvd. and 11th St. last Friday indicates the U.S. Postal Service has moved on from “considering” moving out of the property and is now prepared for a full-on “disposal” action: “This property has been determined by the Postal Service to be excess and is no longer necessary for Postal operations,” reads the notice, which also indicates that “Postal Service policy requires the property to be sold at Market Value.” Though public comments are still being encouraged, it typically takes more than a few discouraging words to prevent a local post office from shutting down. The 6,161-sq.-ft. building at 1050 Yale St. sits on more than an acre of land. [Previously on Swamplot] Photos: Swamplot inbox (post office); Nick Panzarelli (notice)

77008, Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Public Buildings

Demolitions

01/05/15 1:30pm

Report: Frozen-in-Time Former Las Alamedas Restaurant Location off I-10 Is Being Ripped Apart

Memorial, Restaurants

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Former Las Alamedas Restaurant, 8615 Katy Fwy., Hedwig Village, Houston

We’re still awaiting photos of the scene — both to confirm and to allow everyone to revel in the destruction — but a regular tipster informs Swamplot that the building backing up to Buffalo Bayou on the south side of I-10 near Voss Rd. that until mid-2009 housed the Las Alamedas Restaurant is being demolished. The back side of the building has been ripped open, the reader reports;, but as of a visit yesterday the front of the building remained intact.

Now It’s Never Coming Back

77024, Demolitions, Memorial, Restaurants

01/05/15 12:15pm

Pin the Pitched Roof on the Meadowcreek Village Mod