Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:
Are we batting only .500 here?
- Midtown: There’s more new to the Houston House Apartments than just that exterior paint job. Catching an elevator has been a bit tough and there’s the occasional burst pipe or AC interruption, but otherwise the ongoing renovation is looking good so far, a resident reports: “The new carpet on the residential floors is a geometric pattern with a good mix of cool and bold colors. The units are looking much improved with new finishes and appliances. The appliances are pretty low end but definitely an improvement. The lobby’s looking great. The color-scheme there is a brown and orange and white palette. I’m not a huge fan of the two accent walls of orange dots but the new lettering and signage in the lobby is a great addition. I haven’t been up to the renovated 9th floor (lounge, gym and pool) in a while . . . but when I last saw it it was looking fantastic with a cleaned-up, opened-up, and really bright feel.“
- Melrose Place: Next act for the former Monarch Cleaners building at 2815 South Shepherd, known more recently as the Fox Diner, Cafe Serranos Cantina, Crome, and then Pravada, as several readers pointed out: former Textile chef Ryan Hildebrand‘s new triple threat, Triniti. MC²‘s design for the currently gutted restaurant will include a garden and — judging from some recent construction photos — some colorful applications of perforated metal panels:
Galleria: The HBJ‘s Jennifer Dawson 
ZOMG! Actual footage of actual Houston locations occupied by actual movie stars shows up in short B-roll segments of Terrence Malick’s new square-jaw feature, The Tree of Life. Sorry, no Brad Pitt here, but Sean Penn plays a pensive Houston-ish designer type who mopes around an unattributed Downtown: “A location where the crew spent considerable time was the PageSoutherlandPage office at 1100 Louisiana. ‘Our office is very cool. It’s an old banking lobby about eight stories high, so it’s a pretty dramatic space,’ says Nancy Fleshman, the engineering and architecture firm’s director of research. ‘
