North Montrose

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Just a few blocks down the street from that River Oaks Shopping Center highrise site, a reader checks in this week on the French-esque midrise apartment complex that’s been slowly coming togetherÂ atÂ 1916Â W. Gray St. The Houston Ballet’s converted clothing factory headquartersÂ made a grand exit fromÂ the site back in the pre-oil-bust days; since then the project has beenÂ rechristened from Graybelle toÂ Le Palais,Â and this sketchy view of a facadeÂ has been circulated by the developers:

Gargoyles in the Wings

77019, Apartments, Construction, Gargoyles, Midrises, North Montrose

04/11/17 1:15pm

The Viking Restaurant That Took Over Byzantio’s Is Getting Some Strip Mall Neighbors

North Montrose, Restaurants, Retail, Strip Malls

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Planned Retail Strip at 403 W. Gray St., Fourth Ward, Houston, 77019

Ship & Shield at 403 W. Gray St., Fourth Ward, Houston, 77019 The yet-unbuilt retail strip planned for the empty landÂ next to Ship & Shield (the Viking-themed restaurant and bar that replaced Byzantio’s last fall) is now fully leased out, Katherine Feser notes. The planned 4,316Â sq. ft. are set to be occupied by a second location of Houston restaurant Viet’s Express and a second location of Hawaiian animal hospital Feather and Fur. The project isÂ anotherÂ show of new construction from serial adaptive reuser Braun Enterprises, which bought both the restaurant space and the adjacent lots from Byzantio’s previous owners over the summer.

If the retail strip turns out to look much like those leasing fliersÂ that’ve been floating around this spring,Â the layout will be mostly business in the front, parking in the back —Â plus a strip or 2 of pervious paving off to the sides:

2 Tenants for North Montrose

77019, Commercial Leases, Fourth Ward, Leasing, New Construction, North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail Strips, Strip Centers

Apartments

03/14/17 5:15pm

Midrise Apartments Set To Sprout from the Rubble at W. Gray and Taft

New Construction, North Montrose

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construction at 299 W. Gray St., North Montrose, Houston, 77019

That empty lot at the southeast corner of Taft and W. Gray streets has been getting itsÂ concrete skin broken up and cleared out lately, a number of readers note, as earlyÂ work for the Alta at West Gray apartment midrise and itsÂ basement parkingÂ gets going. (The particularly dramatic shot above of the Downtown skyline peering overÂ the wreckage was captured during the Friday morning mist by reader MontroseResident, though a few other camerasÂ were on the scene before and after.) Until 2009 the siteÂ housed the Good Neighbor Healthcare Clinic (a conversion of another ex-Weingarten’s grocery, according to the business); Good Neighbor had plans to buildÂ aÂ midrise healthcare and community center on the site, but ended upÂ sellingÂ the land to serial Alta developers Wood Partners early last year. The new plan for the site may look something like this:

Alta Altitude

77019, Apartments, Midrises, New Construction, North Montrose

02/17/17 3:30pm

Skinny Rita’s W. Gray Spot Follows March Grand Opening with February Grand Closing

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Former Skinny Rita's at 607 W. Gray St., North Montrose, Houston, 77019

Former Skinny Rita's at 607 W. Gray St., North Montrose, Houston, 77019 The large and unambiguous letters now hovering out front of the newÂ North Montrose version of semi-diet Tex-Mex joint Skinny Rita’sÂ are accompanied by a small lockout notice, a rain-spattered reader notes this afternoon. The For Lease By Landlord declarationsÂ have replaced the restaurant’s logo onÂ both sides of the freestanding sign on the property at 607 W. Gray St. (across the road from now listed as in-contract Cecil’s Pub); another banner is hung on the fence facing the restaurant’s parking lot, in view of the Skinny Rita’s logo still up on the side of the building:

North Montrose Lockup

77019, Buildings for Lease, North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

Homes for Sale

11/30/16 6:30pm

Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The High Dive

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1025 S. Shepherd Dr. #404, North Montrose, Houston, 77019

1025 S. Shepherd Dr. #404 [HAR]

77019, Condos, Home Listings, Homes for Sale, North Montrose, Pools

09/30/16 4:30pm

Whole Foods Montrose Scraps Parking Lot Parklet To Make Room for Parking Lot Spaces

North Montrose, Parking

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Whole Foods Montrose, 701 Waugh, North Montrose, Houston, 77019

View of New Whole Foods Market, 701 Waugh Dr., North Montrose, Houston From the AIGÂ tower neighboring to the north, a reader peers down behind the construction fencing now up at the corner of Waugh Dr. and D’Amico St., in an effortÂ to figure out whatÂ might be gettin’ realÂ in the Whole Foods Montrose parking lot. An employee tells Swamplot over the phone that the storeÂ is planting additional parking spaces on top of what was previously a walkway lined with grassÂ and picnic tables, adding parking has been a squeeze on the weekends (which lines up pretty well with earlier reports from the scene). The rep also saysÂ that the tables (positioned across Waugh from BMW service garageÂ Bavarian Machine Specialties and catty-corner to the health-and-beauty-shop-laden strip center across D’amico), were almost never used.Â Permits for the pave-over were issued at the end of May.

Previously on Swamplot:Â Later on Opening Day: Whole Foods Montrose Afternoon Parking Report;Â Opening Day: Itâ€™s Getting Real Crowded at the Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot, Beer, Wine, Art, and BBQ on Tap: Hereâ€™s Your New Whole Foods Market, Montrose, This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend,

Photos: Randy Saad (top), Swamplot inbox (bottom photo showing opening day, 2011)

Leaner Green

77019, Greenspace, Grocery Stores, North Montrose, Parking, Parking-Lots, Parks

05/26/16 1:30pm

Braun Marking Territory for Pet and People Food Stores on W. Gray

North Montrose, Restaurants, Retail, River Oaks

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River Oaks collection redevelopment, 1705 W. Gray St., North Montrose, 77019

The Panera marker previously spotted all by itsÂ lonesomeÂ in the leasing flier for Braun Enterprises’ redevelopment of 1705 W. Gray has picked up a companion in the form of the Kriser’s Natural Pet logo. The marker for the grain-averse pet supplyÂ and grooming store now appears on the freestanding former home of International Hair Salon &Â Nail SpaÂ (shown above), previously marked up in Braun’s renderings as a possible coffee shop.Â

The reader who snagged the shot above also spent some time sniffing around the back and sidesÂ of theÂ complex (to be known as the River Oaks Collection). The wall in the shot below is starting to get its coat of grey paint cleaned off to match theÂ mottled brickÂ exterior shown inÂ the redo renderings:

River Oaks Collecting

77019, Adaptive Reuse, North Montrose, Restaurants, Retail, River Oaks

04/26/16 12:00pm

Braun To Fold Panera Bread into Its River Oaks Collection

North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail, River Oaks

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Braun's River Oak Collection, 1705 W. Gray St., North Montrose, Houston, 77019

Here’s a look at renderings ofÂ redeveloper Braun Enterprises‘s plans for some of its holdings just east of the intersection of W. Gray St. with Dunlavy down the street from the River Oaks shopping Center. The view above shows preliminary plansÂ for theÂ makeoverÂ of 1705 W. Gray St., which has also been collectingÂ various light building and demo permits issued for the past few months.

The drawings currently on Braun’s leasing fliersÂ (dubbing the center the River Oaks Collection) shows a Panera Bread settled in at the cornerÂ onceÂ occupied by Zephyr Hair and Chateau Grooming.Â Other potential future businesses are depicted in a more minimalist manner; the words books and boutique appear on the second floor space previously housing Passport, Photo & Visa Service Center, while salon and restaurant fill out the ground floor offerings.

Below is a site plan of the center,Â including the freestanding former home of International Hair Salon & Nail Spa, on the right across a driveway:

Brauning on W. Gray

77019, Adaptive Reuse, North Montrose, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, River Oaks

02/08/16 12:00pm

New Dunlavy Traffic Signal Rising by Cemetery on Allen Pkwy.

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New Signal at Dunlavy St. and Allen Pkwy., Buffalo Bayou Park, Houston, 77019

The metal arm of a future traffic signal is now reaching out of the ground across a few westbound lanes of Allen Pkwy. at the intersection with Dunlavy St. The new crosswalk will protect foot traffic on the way to bayou-side party-venue The Dunlavy and to the Adath Yeshurun Cemetery next door.

The stoplight fits into the larger plans to revamp Allen Pkwy., in part intending to dial down the road’s speeds from not-quite-freeway to next-to-a-park levels. The redo also aims to make it simpler for both cars and people trying to make their way to all the new park infrastructure and improvements along Buffalo Bayou.

A drawing from early last year shows the plan view of the finished intersection at Dunlavy:

Crossing Over

77019, Buffalo Bayou Park, North Montrose, Parks, Proposed Developments, Streetscapes, TIRZs

12/10/15 4:29pm

Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Backsplashers

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1324 W. Bell St., Bottort, Houston, 77019

1324 W. Bell St. [HAR]

77019, Home Listings, Homes for Sale, Interiors, North Montrose

Demolitions

12/02/15 11:15am

What’s Going Down Behind Teala’s on West Dallas

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Building behind Teala's, 3210 W Dallas, North Montrose, Houston, 77019

A reader sends this photo of an excavator at work yesterday on a house behind the former Teala’s Mexican Restaurant at 3210 W. Dallas in North Montrose. Teala’s — not to be confused with nearby Tila’s Restaurante and Bar on the Shepherd curve — changed hands in mid-September. Teala’s closed around the same time.

The new owner of the 20,000 sq. ft. parcel underneath the restaurant is an entity connected to NewQuest Properties, which specializes in retail development.

Making Way

77019, North Montrose, Restaurants

Bayous and Waterways

06/30/15 12:45pm

Finding Buffalo Bayou’s Lost Lake and Its ‘Morning Glory’ Hole, Almost Ready for Business

by Swamplot

Buffalo Bayou Park, New Construction, North Montrose, Parks, Restaurants

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The Dunlavy, Lost Lake, Buffalo Bayou Park, North Montrose, Houston

The Dunlavy, Lost Lake, Buffalo Bayou Park, North Montrose, Houston A reader sends pics of 3 notable newÂ features near the western end of Buffalo Bayou Park that appear to be just about complete: The multi-purpose private event space known as The Dunlavy, overlooking a restored and upgraded pond now called Lost Lake — and its signature central feature, a bell-mouth spillway to suck up the overflow, referred to more commonly as a morning glory. That’s the hole in the middle of the water feature; if you look closely at the photos of it below you can see the odd sight of the tip of a construction ladder peeking out at the top:

Disaster Aftermath, North Montrose, Quicklink

And the Dunlavy, Almost Done

77019, Buffalo Bayou, Buffalo Bayou Park, Event Spaces, New Construction, North Montrose, Parks, Restaurants

Apartments

06/10/15 11:00am

A Better Fence for the Axis Apartments Site

by Swamplot

6 Comments

A BETTER FENCE FOR THE AXIS APARTMENTS SITE Fence Surrounding Site of Axis Apartments, 2400 West Dallas St., North Montrose, Houston The construction fence surrounding the burned site of JLB Partners’ planned Axis Apartments at 2400 West Dallas St. in North Montrose is receiving an upgradeÂ — from veiled chain link to wood plank. A reader who wonders if the property still qualifies as a construction site notes that the fence still blocks the sidewalk alongÂ W. Dallas. This photo shows the current intersection of the 2 fence types along Montrose Blvd. The apartments burned during construction last year. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox

77019, Apartments, Disaster Aftermath, Fences, North Montrose

Attractions

06/09/15 3:00pm

Houstonians Are Attaching Their ‘Love Locks’ to Buffalo Bayou’s Rosemont Bridge

by Swamplot

25 Comments

rosemont-bridge-downtown-locks

Last weekÂ in gay Paris, authoritiesÂ removed panels from the Pont des Arts that had been weighted down byÂ hundreds of thousands of attached padlocks — installed there since late 2008 by visiting couples (and sure, probably an obsessed stalker or 7)Â who soughtÂ to commemorateÂ their passions with a lockup and a ritual toss of the key into the River Seine below. Meanwhile, hereaboutsÂ in North Montrose, the “Love Lock” scene on the Rosemont Bridge over Buffalo Bayou just west of Downtown appears to be just getting startedÂ — the Buffalo Bayou Park version appears to beÂ well behind copycat venues in other cities. While crossingÂ the longer section of the bridge yesterday,Â Twitter user marathonjohn foundÂ 20 to 30 locks attached to the pedestrian crossing’s supports. Here are pics of a few of the ritual lockups he spotted: