Featured Posts

Adaptive Reuse
12/06/17 3:15pm

Warehouse Removal Project Begins on Commerce St., Where the Block Will Extend to Canal

by
Demolitions, Mixed Use, Redevelopment, Second Ward
2 Comments

A Swamplot reader sends photos of the partial demolition now underway along Commerce St. just off Colby in the Second Ward just north of East Downtown. Ancorian bought 3 warehouses between Commerce and Canal St. last November and plans to redevelop the site into a single dock-front building with a parking lot along its west side. The new development, dubbed The Block, would consist of 44,000 sq. ft. of “creative workspace and retail.”

Here’s an aerial view looking west along Commerce St taken from before the demolition.:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Second Ward Redo
, , , , , ,
Boulevard Oaks
12/06/17 12:15pm

The Real Demo at the 4949 Convenience Store Is Finally Complete

by
Demolitions, Redevelopment
No Comments

The 4949 Convenience Store, heir to the Sunrise Grocery spot on the northeast corner of Bissonnet and Shepherd, has been demolished — this time in its entirety, and with a little less fanfare. Back in September, crowds gathered to watch ceiling-mounted wrecking balls bust up parts of the building’s interior as part of a “site specific, kinetic installation” by artist Trey Duvall.

Cherry Demolition’s more conventional performance took place yesterday, a reader tells Swamplot; the photo at top shows the lot after it was cleared out this morning. A 3-story office building with a street-level cafe is planned for the site.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Boulevard Oaks
, , , ,
Avondale
12/05/17 3:30pm

Shredded House Left Behind at the Tree Where Michelangelo’s Once Lived

by
Demolitions, Montrose, Proposed Developments
1 Comment

There’s nothing left standing at Michelangelo’s Restaurant since its demolition yesterday — except for the tree that used to grow in its dining room, visible in the photo at top. The restaurant’s days had been numbered since March, when its owners sold the building and adjacent parking lot on Westheimer to a developer with plans to build a gym-anchored strip center.

The gym will be Houston’s first Spenga fitness studio, brought here by a Chicago-based chain that signed a 4,011-sq.-ft. lease for the replacement building’s entire second floor back in June. Here it is up above street level:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Avondale
, , , , , , ,
Conroe
12/05/17 11:30am

The Mark of H-E-B Appears in Plans for a Harper’s Preserve Shopping Center

by
Proposed Developments
3 Comments

H-E-B is making a bright red appearance in a leasing brochure for The Market at Harper’s Preserve, a proposed shopping center that would go up along the entrance to the mostly-residential Harper’s Preserve development off Highway 242, 2 miles east of I-45. The site plan at top shows the supermarket anchoring a 28-acre retail area that would occupy the northeast corner of the partly-built, 800-acre community. Also included in the image: 2 buildings marked as banks, 2 as fast food, a gym, gas station, and 5 other structures.

A spokesperson for H-E-B said, “At this time it is premature for H-E-B to comment on specific plans for this parcel of land. However, we can share that we are excited about the prospect of building a new store to serve the growing Conroe community.” The site plan below shows one neighborhood of Harper’s Preserve called East Village, as well as the location of the shopping center, labeled “Mixed Use” at the top right corner:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

East of The Woodlands
, , , , ,
Featured Posts
12/04/17 2:03pm

Your Best Look Yet at the Shiny Highrises Fitting Between Allen Parkway Village and the Federal Reserve

by
Fourth Ward, Proposed Developments
12 Comments

The renderings and site plan shown here give the clearest view yet of what DC Partners and Chinese firm Tianqing Real Estate Development have planned for their proposed 6-acre mixed-use development at Allen Pkwy. and Gillette St., now dubbed The Allen. The image at top shows a 42-floor tower, home to both a Thompson hotel and private condominiums, fronting Allen Pkwy. A 3-story retail building is depicted to its right; behind it is an office tower. The site plan also shows a future apartment tower and medical office building toward the back of the complex.

The development is planned across Gillette St. from the Federal Reserve building, on the northern portion of an industrial site that was home to one of the city’s first garbage incinerators. A pedestrian bridge linking the development to the bayou is absent from the rendering at top, but indicated in the site plan as well as other images of the complex:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The Allen
, ,
Featured Posts
12/04/17 12:30pm

Where the Chemical Weapons Were Stored, Just Off Beltway 8

by
Houston Ship Channel, Toxic Sites
3 Comments

Included in ProPublica’s effort to identify and map every abandoned munitions facility in the U.S. — especially those that might still harbor toxic waste, residue from chemical weapons, or explosives: Houston’s own San Antonio Ordnance Depot, the original boundaries of which straddle Jacintoport Blvd., just east of Beltway 8 and immediately north of the Houston Ship Channel.

The 4,850-acre former depot and ordnance demolition facility was sold to the Ship Channel’s governing authority in 1964. It counts as one of 62 current or former military installations in Texas still containing hazardous waste, but according to Department of Defense documents is not scheduled to be cleaned up entirely until 2084.

Photos of San Jacinto Ordnance Depot bunkers: arch-ive.org

Along the Ship Channel
, ,
Adaptive Reuse
12/01/17 1:30pm

Alterations Begin on McGowen Cleaners, Soon To Be Vibrant

by
Hyde Park, Renovations
2 Comments

Work has begun outside the former McGowen Cleaners — closed since 2015 — on the corner of Fairview and Morse streets, the site of the planned Vibrant restaurant. Last May, Vibrant’s owners bought the 3,909-sq.-ft. brick building, along with 2 adjacent neighbors to the south; they plan to open their Lake Flato-designed restaurant inside the corner building in March. The above rendering shows a patio that would be cut into its corner — and a garden lining the street, where chunks of chopped-up pavement now lie.

The rendering also shows tall windows being created where clerestory windows currently face Fairview. The clerestories are visible in the center of this photo of the 1931 Fairview St. building from last year, when the property was up for sale:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Lake Flato in Hyde Park
, , , ,
Featured Posts
11/30/17 1:00pm

Was It a Good Idea to Derail I-10?

by
Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink, Transportation
37 Comments

WAS IT A GOOD IDEA TO DERAIL I-10? Earlier this week Harris County Judge Ed Emmett appeared to pass judgment on one aspect of the Katy Fwy. widening completed almost a decade ago: “We cannot go back in time and undo some poor decisions, but we can learn from those decisions. One of the most glaring mistakes was the failure to convert the abandoned Katy rail line to commuter rail. Think about it, we had a straight shot from Katy all the way into Downtown.” But ripping up the tracks did not render a future rail line along the path of I-10 completely impossible, notes Dug Begley: “Though the rail line was removed, Metropolitan Transit Authority paid for overpasses along I-10 to be built to rail standards, meaning that if the region ever wanted to use the freeway for light rail, that is possible. Larger, commuter, trains, however would not be able to operate in the freeway.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: cemaxx (license)

, ,
Featured Posts
11/29/17 5:00pm

Local Office, Local Coffee Coming to Local Office Building Next to Local Bar on Bissonnet

by
Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Renovations, West University
2 Comments

Work is almost complete on Pipeline Realty’s conversion of the 2-story office building at 2617 Bissonnet (seen at top in a recent photo) into a new second-story coworking space called Local Office. The 13,500-sq.-ft. building, pictured above before the 2 trees standing in front were removed and larger windows were poked into its north and west facades, previously served as the offices of Industrial Audio/Video.

Local Office, due to open sometime next month, will be joined early next year by a ground-floor coffee shop, labeled “Local Coffee” on the rendering below but more likely to be a third outlet of the growing local Cavo Coffee chain:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Offices of West University
, , , , , ,
Featured Posts
11/29/17 12:45pm

Where House of Pies Will Land in The Woodlands, Just Across the Street from The Woodlands Mall

by
Openings and Closings, The Woodlands
6 Comments

The fourth branch of 50-year-old diner House of Pies is on its way to the shopping center just north of The Woodlands Mall. Like its predecessors, the location will operate in a free-standing building — this one the former home of a Black-eyed Pea restaurant (pictured above), which closed late last year.

House of Pies will join a Chili’s, a Jason’s Deli, Jack-in-the-Box, a Guadalajara Hacienda, a Starbucks, a Smoothie King, an AT&T store, and 2 gas stations lining the perimeter of the Target shopping center:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The Upper Crust
, ,
Featured Posts
11/28/17 5:00pm

Saint Arnold’s Fifth Ward Beer Cathedral Now Taking Shape on I-10

by
Fifth Ward, New Construction
No Comments

The steel is up for the cathedral-like beer-entertainment complex that Saint Arnold is building across Semmes St. from its Lyons Ave. brewery. The view at top shows what you’ll see now if you look southeast from the corner of Semmes and Lyons. Bocce courts and a multi-purpose lawn will sprout in the foreground. An extended cupola will have lettering that spells out the brewery’s name.

The complex’s restaurant, shown in the recent rendering above, will include stained-glass images of holy figures and murals featuring brewing iconography:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Beer Gardening
, , ,
Demolitions
11/28/17 11:30am

What The Kroger on OST Looks Like Now That It’s Completely Disappeared

by
1 Comment

The Kroger once on the corner of OST and Cambridge St. is now demolished. These photos taken by a Swamplot reader last weekend look south toward a cluster of UTHealth buildings, right past where the supermarket stood before its Halloween-era teardown.

The parking lot was left intact during the demo.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Gone Grocery
, , ,
East Downtown
11/27/17 3:15pm

EaDo’s EaDog Park Opens Its Dog Gates Today

by
Parks
5 Comments

Yo dawg, they heard you like dog parks. So they put a dog park in EaDo and called it . . . EaDog Park.

The fenced-off big-dog, little-dog assemblage is on the Bastrop St. right-of-way at 2216 Polk St., between Hutchins and Emancipation Ave.; the official opening is this evening.

Photo: EaDo Houston

Ruff Neighborhood
, , ,
Buildings for Sale
11/27/17 2:30pm

A Flood-Ready NYFD Cabin Compound Hideout in the Friendswood Woods

by
Friendswood
3 Comments

11 partly-elevated cabins off Deepwood Dr. are on the market for $69,499 to $89,499 each, or $680,000 for the whole set. The mini-neighborhood was built between 1955 and 1960, reportedly for members of the New York Fire Department who came to Friendswood (at that time, home only to a small community) for training exercises. Each house is partially, if not entirely, built on stilts.

The lowest address number, 1301, sits halfway down Deepwood, across from the Friendswood Public Works Department. From there, the complex extends southeast. 7 properties, including 1311 Deepwood, shown at top, front the road. The other 4 are accessible only by unpaved paths that branch off into the wooded area adjacent to and behind the street.

The largest, 1,300 sq. ft. at 1315 Deepwood, is one of those 4:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Stilted Listings
, ,
Featured Posts
11/27/17 1:00pm

Upstairs in the New Pharmacy Building Where UH Will Be Birthing Its New Medical School

by
Institutional Buildings, University of Houston
1 Comment

Where’s the University of Houston going to put its new College of Medicine? In the top 2 floors of this new structure behind the campus Rec Center, pictured here as construction completed this summer: the new Health and Biomedical Sciences Building 2. The College of Pharmacy is expected to complete its move into lower floors of the building by the end of this year. The adjacent tower (shown in the upper right of the photo below) is the 4-year-old Health and Biomedical Sciences Building (soon to be known as HBSB1), which, together with the older but also-attached Armistead Bldg. at the corner of Calhoun and Wheeler, houses the school’s College of Optometry.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Campus Med Center
, ,
« Previous Page Next Page »