October 23, 2009 – 10:47 am
The Buffalo Bayou Partnership helped the City of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District acquire a just-under-2-acre site Downtown for $7.3 million last week: “The property, which is currently being used as a surface parking lot, is sandwiched between Buffalo Bayou on the north and Commerce on the south, stretching from La Branch to Caroline. Roughly half of the land was acquired from a 15-person investment group led by David Loftus. The other half was bought from members of the Loftus family. Loftus says he acquired the site in 2002 with plans to erect a parking garage. After hearing about civic leaders’ intentions for the land, Loftus says he decided to wait and sell it instead. The land will be used to widen the bayou in an effort to mitigate flooding. The site will also double as a park with hike and bike trails during dryer times. Both projects are a part of long-term visions for the bayou system.” [Houston Business Journal]
Read more about: 77002, Buying and Selling, Downtown, Flooding, Parks
October 12, 2009 – 10:40 pm
From his perch high in the (formerly AIG) America Tower on Allen Parkway, Swamplot reader Stephen Cullar-Ledford forwards this latest dramatic scene, which aches for suitably metaphorical captioning.
A few months ago it was fog, this afternoon it’s a rainbow over downtown . . .
Photo: Stephen Cullar-Ledford
Read more about: 77002, 77019, AIG, Downtown, Economic Conditions, Flooding, Highrises, Montrose, Office Buildings, Weather
August 31, 2009 – 1:42 pm
Robert Boyd’s original remarks on the scraping of the Wilshire Village Apartments briefly mentioned another older apartment complex that Matt Dilick redeveloped and now runs: the Bayou on the Bend Apartments, at 5201 Memorial, just west of Shepherd. Boyd’s link to discussions of that complex at ratings website Apartment Ratings sparked a quick note from a reader:
It looks like Apartment Ratings attracts tenants who want to complain, but it seems like most of the gripes about other apartments focus on managers who are hard to deal with, thin walls, neighborhood crime, that sort of stuff. Have you read the reviews of Bayou on the Bend?
Bayou on the Bend gets a 35 percent positive rating from readers who have written in to comment — certainly not the lowest number for a large Houston complex. Here are a few choice excerpts:
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Read more about: 77007, Apartments, Bayou on the Bend, Buffalo Bayou, Disaster Aftermath, Flooding, Hazards, Hurricane Ike, Memorial Drive, Mold, Swimming Pools
August 21, 2009 – 9:08 pm
How’s the street surfing in your neighborhood?
Photo: Flickr user jarrod-drew, via The High on the Hog Blog
Read more about: 77036, Flooding, Sharpstown, Sports, Streets, Transportation
August 19, 2009 – 10:36 am
The 2-story 1939 brick home at 1504 N. MacGregor Way, on the banks of Brays Bayou in Idylwood, has completed the Swamplot trifecta. In July of last year the home made its first appearance, as the subject of a Neighborhood Guessing Game (answer revealed here). In September, after the pre-Hurricane Ike storm surge brought about 2 feet of water in for an extensive tour of the first floor, the home was featured again: an after-Ike-cleanup poster house, still on the market for $359,000.
And then, this morning, a third and likely final showing on Swamplot: in our Daily Demolition Report.
A quick look back at the home’s better (and not-so-much better) days:
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Read more about: 77023, Brays-Bayou, Demolitions, Disaster Aftermath, Flooding, Hurricane Ike, Idylwood, Neighborhood Guessing Game
August 14, 2009 – 7:23 pm
“Also, over the past 50 years, high-impact building and roadway development have reduced the amount of permeable surface to accept stormwater, increasing flooding and pollution. Stream flow speeds in Houston, for example, have increased from under 5,000 cu ft per second in 1930 to about 27,500 cfs in 2000, says the U.S. Geological Survey. With stream-flow increases come a greater potential for flooding. The actual stream flow from 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison in Houston’s Brays Bayou peaked sharply at about 34,000 cfs, 20 hours from the start of runoff. This compares to a more gradual stream flow in 1915, before development. . . . Allison, which caused $5 billion of damage in Houston, would have been a nonevent even 50 years ago because the natural landscape would have absorbed the water, say sources.” [GreenSource]
Read more about: Flooding, Houston History, Land Development, Landscape
Reader Jeromy Murphy sends in this photo he took this morning along the banks of Buffalo Bayou, from the jogging path in Buffalo Bayou Park under I-45. What’s going on over there across the water?
While walking back to my office from a downtown meeting, I noticed workers installing new sod along the Bayou. I wonder how long this will last considering the weather report? Anyone along the ship channel need some new sod? It’s probably headed their way.
What’s wrong with a little sod freshening?
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Read more about: 77002, Buffalo Bayou, Buffalo Bayou Park, Downtown, Flooding, Gardening, Landscaping, Lawn Care
Galveston will . . . survive! “‘The current predictions for sea level are that it will rise somewhere between two feet and three feet over the next century,’ said [Rice University Oceanographer and Geologist John] Anderson. ‘I think most scientists would agree from about Jamaica Beach west will probably disappear by the end of this century.’” [11 News]
Read more about: 77554, Flooding, Galveston, Sea Level
The Harris County Toll Road Authority is hoping its first expanse of Permeable Friction Course asphalt will reduce accidents caused by hydroplaning: “Taking a pitcher, [HCTRA engineer Quinton] Alberto poured water on a one-foot square block of PFC asphalt sitting in a plastic tray. Instead of running off as it would on concrete or regular asphalt, the water was absorbed – almost instantly. The water then trickled to the bottom and out the sides. It works because the PFC asphalt is full of tiny holes and air pockets that allow rainwater to drain through it. On RM 1431 in Austin, TxDOT says the PFC asphalt is a big reason why there has been a dramatic decrease in wet-weather accidents. Before laying down the new pavement, wet weather accidents accounted for nearly 60 percent of all crashes. After the PFC, they accounted for less than 10 percent. In Harris County, the Toll Road Authority is using PFC for the first time, spending $4 million to pave a five-mile section of Beltway 8 between US 290 and SH 249. The authority picked the section because it said in just the last two years, there have been over a hundred injury accidents there, many in wet weather.” [11 News]
Read more about: 77040, 77064, Flooding, Freeways and Toll Roads, Hazards, Paving, Public Safety
The ravages of the Katy Prairie have taken their toll on the models and unburied treasure at Forbidden Gardens, reports Brittanie Shey:
In 1996, when the museum first opened, it must have been an amazingly detailed sight. But [Forbidden Gardens founder Ira] Poon and his builders didn’t account for the Houston heat and humidity, which ruined a lot of the hand-painted details. Each terra cotta soldier used to hold a wooden weapon in his hand, but reckless children would climb into the display and take the swords to play with. When the soldiers started to break or peel, it was impossible to order more because the molds had been destroyed. [Weekend manager Alicia] Mendez said she and coworkers spend a few hours each summer having at the displays with Gorilla Glue to fix what they can.
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Read more about: 77493, Critters, Flooding, Forbidden Gardens, Hazards, Katy, Weather, Williamsburg Parish
Comment of the Day: A Boost for the Bolivar Buyout?
“A large part of Bolivar is going to be turned into a nature preserve. FEMA is buying out many of the properties. . . . I suppose that buyout was made easier by the rate of foreclosures. . . .” [Raj, commenting on Where the Action Was: Houston Summer Foreclosure Map]