Montrose

Montrose, North Montrose

3 Comments

This just in: Photos from a Swamplot reader show the wreckage at KHOUâ€™s 58-year-old Buffalo Bayou–side headquarters, abandoned since staff fled it for Houston Public Media’s less flood-prone Elgin St. newsroom shortly after Harvey. Following a few days of demolition, theÂ building at 1945 Allen Pkwy has been almost entirely leveled.

The second photo above shows the Service Corporation International building looming over the dead news building. An entity connected to SCI — a national funeral home business — recently acquired KHOU’s former 3.2-acre spot.

KHOU’s antenna — stripped of its lettering since February — is now the only thing that fronts the neighboring tower’s west side:

Breaking News

77019, Demolition, Montrose, North Montrose

Bars and Clubs

05/15/18 5:00pm

Wine Bar Headed for Doggy Day Care Bungalow at the Corner of W. Alabama and Graustark

Montrose, Renovations, WAMM

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Renovations are about to begin at 1304 W. Alabama in order to turn the shuttered dog boarding facility into a new wine bar. The former doghouse, dubbed Jackson’s Place, was originally converted from a 1928 bungalow. It advertised itself as a “cage-free pet resort,” and bakery that not only cared for pets, but also fed them with “yummy, all natural dog treats and pastries, made from premium ingredients.” The business closed down about 2 months ago, but an additional location remains open on Dunlavy 2 blocks south of W. Gray.

A lawn sign identifying Jackson’s Place has since been yanked from former its yard on the corner of Graustark St. — 2 doors down from hot dog restaurant Good Dogâ€™s Montrose location — and the building’s windows are now browned out with paper. A construction permit issued yesterday for the space names Light Years Wine as its new occupant.

About Us [Jackson’s Place]

Photos: Swamplox inbox

Hair of the Dog

77006, Bars, Montrose, Renovations, WAMM

05/03/18 10:15am

Inside a Hollowed-Out River Oaks Shopping Center Corner Where Perry’s Steakhouse Is on the Way

Montrose, North Montrose, Renovations, Retail

14 Comments

A reader sends photos looking inside a gutted corner of the southern River Oaks Shopping Center building east of McDuffie St. Formerly home to California Pizza Kitchen, Evolve Fitness Studio, Birraporetti’s, and Sherlock’s Pub, it’s now slated for a 2-floor Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille. A TABC notice has been posted on the storefront since March:

W. Gray & McDuffie

77019, Montrose, North Montrose, Renovations, Retail

05/02/18 11:30am

The Menil Drawing Institute: 6 More Months

Mandell Place, Montrose, Museums, New Construction, Quicklink

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THE MENIL DRAWING INSTITUTE: 6 MORE MONTHS Whatâ€™s been going on at the Menil Drawing Instituteâ€™s new building since its opening â€” originally scheduled for last October â€” was postponed over the summer? A lot of sensing and measuring: â€œItâ€™s extremely important to monitor the climate control and the humidity gauges for a number of months to make sure there are no deviations,â€ the museumâ€™s director Rebecca Rabinow tells the New York Timesâ€™ Andrew R. Chow., outlining what kind of ambiance is required for the paper works the structure will soon house. (Last yearâ€™s cold winter didnâ€™t speed things up either â€” reports the Chronicleâ€™s Molly Glentzer, killing off many of the new plants that had just been installed in the surrounding park according to the plan from landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.) Now that both the indoor and outdoor environments have been stabilized, the official opening date for the 30,000-sq.-ft. building designed by L.A. architect Johnston Marklee has been set: November 3. It will cap off a 3-year building process that began in place of the since-completely-demolished Richmont Square apartmentsâ€™ backsisde off Branard St. The new structureâ€™s first residents: 41 works on paper by Jasper Johns. [New York Times; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Menil Drawing Institute: Paul Hester/The Menil Collection

77006, Mandell Place, Menil Collection, Menil Drawing Institute, Montrose, Museums, New Construction

04/17/18 10:15am

Wharton Elementary’s 3-Story Add-On Now Looming Large Behind Original Schoolhouse on W. Gray

Montrose, New Construction, North Montrose, Schools

3 Comments

Wharton Elementary School’s 3-story backyard addition has moved upÂ steadily from its previous grade level since 2016 and is now standing tall behind the existing single-story schoolhouse at 900 W. Gray. The least-finished portion of the new building shown in the photo at top is where the school’s new glassy main entrance will go in supplement of the current one at the front of the existing building. North of the 3-story entry atrium facing Columbus St., the new first floor will house mostly administrative officesÂ — with some added classrooms above them.

A shady but still grassless courtyard separates the new structure from the old:

Schooling North Montrose

HISD, Montrose, New Construction, North Montrose, Schools

04/16/18 4:30pm

First Montrose Commons 2-Story Has a Checkered Bed and Breakfast Past

First Montrose Commons, Homes for Sale, Montrose

3 Comments

Two-tone design elements run the show at 4104 Greeley — from the front entry (top) to the dining room tableware (above). The 2,471-sq.-ft. house 2 blocks north ofÂ Richmond was built in 1920 and sold to its current owner about 60 years later.

It’s been a bed and breakfast dubbed the Robin’s Nest for nearly 30 years:

The Robin’s Nest

77006, First Montrose Commons, Homes for Sale, Montrose

04/05/18 12:30pm

What’s Going on Backstage at Waugh Dr.’s Former Video Central?

Montrose, North Montrose, Retail

6 Comments

A bunch of pipes arrived yesterday in the vacant field behind a pair of Montrose video stores, a Swamplot reader reports. Audio Video Plus shut down 6 years ago, next door to it on W. Clay is the warehouse home to the lesser known Astro Audio Video equipment rental store — also shuttered. The photo above shows the scene on Peveto St. behind the latter store.

Audio Video Plus neighbors another vacant storefront — Quintanilla Jewelers — in the strip mall on the corner of Waugh:

North Montrose

77019, Montrose, North Montrose, Retail

03/28/18 4:00pm

Fuzzy’s River Oaks Shopping Center Taco Shop Ceases All Restaurant Activity

Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

6 Comments

A closeup shot of the close-up notice now posted on Fuzzy’s Taco Shopâ€™s freestanding building — tucked behind the curved southernmost strip in the River Oaks Shopping Center — reveals that the restaurant has shut down indefinitely. The photo at top shows Fuzzy’s fronting a driveway to the shopping center’s back parking lot off Peden. The taco shop took over the space at the beginning of last year; it had been vacant since Pesca World Seafood shuttered in it 4 years prior.

Previously on Swamplot: Fuzzy’s Tacos Will Snuggle into the Former Pesca, Tinto’s Spot Behind the River Oaks Theater

Photos: Swamplot inbox

Peden St. Pad Site

77019, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

03/26/18 4:00pm

Montrose Blvd. Aqua Car Wash Wants To Add Mixed Drinks to Its Menu

Montrose, North Montrose, Retail, Signage

23 Comments

The Aqua Hand Car Wash & Detail on the corner of W. Dallas could get even wetter pending the TABCâ€™s permission for the business to serveÂ mixed drinks on-site. The photo above, sent in by a Swamplot reader, shows the 680-sq.-ft., butterfly-roofed buildingÂ where a notice naming Aqua Heights LLC as the applicant for a mixed beverage permit now hangs in the window.

The building went up on the long-vacant field at 1013 Montrose in 2011. Washing, waxing, and detailing take place in a parking lot to the east and south of the structure.

Wet Bar

77019, Car Washes, Montrose, North Montrose, Retail, Signage, TABC

East Montrose

03/22/18 9:45am

Les Noo’dle’s Nametags Replacing Les Ba’get’s on the Montrose Blvd. Restaurant Building Near W. Gray

Montrose, Renovations, Restaurants

2 Comments

The building on the corner of Montrose Blvd. and Bomar St. is showing signs of rebranding as Les Ba’get’s owners prepare to open a new, more pho-friendly joint in its place — dubbed Les Noo’dle. February 2 was closing day for the original Vietnamese restaurant; it’s now getting situated in a new Oak Forest shopping center on Ella Blvd. where it will double its space.

Apostrophe Intact

77006, East Montrose, Montrose, Renovations, Restaurants

03/12/18 10:30am

Cedars Tapas Bar Banners Now Providing Cover for Abandoned W. Gray Ship & Shield

Montrose, North Montrose, Restaurants, Signage

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Banners for Cedars Tapas Bar — the new restaurant on its way to 403 W. Gray — are now covering up both the plywood board on the building’s forehead and the sign left over from Ship & Shieldâ€™s tenancy in the space. The Viking-themed restaurant abandoned the building last December, and property owner Braun Realty is now waiting on the new Lebanese bakery to move in.

Braun bought the the 2,055-sq.-ft. restaurant building in 2016, the same year Ship & Shield took it over from Byzantio’s. Since then, the developer has put up a new retail building on the once-vacant lot just east of restaurant, near Taft St. Its west side is visible beyond Cedars’ sign in the photo above.

Photos: Swamplot inbox

North Montrose Makeover

77019, Montrose, North Montrose, Restaurants, Signage

Demolitions

03/07/18 1:30pm

Skinny Rita’s Patio Now Being Used as a Staging Area for Crews To Gouge Out Its Insides

Montrose, North Montrose, Restaurants

6 Comments

Skinny Rita’s is about halfway through its last standÂ in Montrose this afternoon, thanks to the excavator now parked on what used to be its patio. The health-minded Mexican restaurant at 607 W. Gray St. sat vacant since its owners closed the place down last February. Nine months later, The Platform Group snatched up the former cantina along with its neighbor, the Traci Scott Hair Salon (visible beyond the wrecking arm in the photo at top), where business is proceeding as usual despite the racket next door.

A few more angles on the tear down show piles of rubble getting ready to overflow the patio fencing:

Montrose Pair Minus One

77019, Bars and Restaurants, Demolitons, Montrose, North Montrose

03/05/18 4:45pm

New Montrose Restaurant Moving in Next to Coming Veterinarian, Bygone Viking Bar on W. Gray

Montrose, New Construction, North Montrose, Restaurants

1 Comment

Now that construction work on the new retail structure Braun Enterprises is developing at 311 W. Gray has headed indoors, a collection of building permits up on the window near the building’s northwest corner names one of its occupants: Me’Lange Restaurant. Last spring, theÂ Chronicle reported that a second location of Kirby fast food spot Viet’s Express would move into the new strip alongside an office of Feather & Fur Animal Hospital. Back then, the 18,221-sq.-ft. plot just west of West Gray Cleaners on the corner of Taft St. was still just a vacant lot; construction began later in 2017.

A parking lot that runs lengthwise behind the building wraps around its west side as it heads for the curb cut on W. Gray: