North Montrose

North Montrose
08/23/13 2:15pm

Mama Fu’s Making Houston Debut in W. Gray Shopping Center

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Openings and Closings, Restaurants
11 Comments

Another Austin chain is moving inside the Loop: Mama Fu’s Asian House, which appears to pull its menu items indiscriminately from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Korea, is replacing the former Souper Salad at 1574 W. Gray. About a year ago, franchisee Steve Chappelear — who also owns 8 Buffalo Wild Wings here — said he was planning to open 18 Mama Fu’s in Houston; this would be the first.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Apartments
07/24/13 11:00am

The Sovereign Apartment Highrise Beginning To Stand On Its Own

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New Construction, North Montrose
11 Comments

A reader sends this photo of the construction progress of that Regent Square-ish residential tower the Sovereign. The 21-story, 290-unit building designed by Ziegler Cooper is going up on West Dallas between Rosine and Rochow, where some of the old Allen House Apartments used to stand.

The North Montrose site is just around the corner from Dunlavy, where other dirt is being pushed around to make way for Regent Square. The Sovereign, contrary to its name, was originally planned by Boston developer GID to become one of the uses in that mixed-use spread, but the 2 projects are listed separately on the company website. After the jump, you can see the renderings of the Sovereign that Swamplot published last summer.

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Land Development
05/31/13 3:00pm

There Will Be Wickets: Empty W. Dallas Lot in Play for Youth Sports Facility

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Montrose, North Montrose
26 Comments

It doesn’t seem that this grassy, fenced-in lot along Montrose between W. Dallas and Allen Pkwy. is going to change very much: All that scraping and dragging a few weeks ago was to level the ground for a cricket field, according to a contractor at the firm responsible for doing the dirt work. The Aga Khan Youth and Sports Facility, the contractor says, will comprise that cricket field, a pair of soccer fields, and a concession stand. In 2006, the Aga Khan Foundation purchased and demolished the Robinson Warehouse on this frequently flooded 11-acre property and said it was planning to build an Ismaili Center here.

Photo: Allyn West

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Land Development
05/10/13 12:05pm

What’s Going On at Montrose and Allen Pkwy.?

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Montrose, New Construction, North Montrose
27 Comments

A reader sends this photo of the site prep going on at the fenced-in empty lot that made a recent cameo in that Montrose Dancing Rollerblader featurette. Owned since 2006 by the Aga Khan Foundation, which has said it planned to build an Ismaili Center here on the flood-prone makeshift dog park on Montrose between W. Dallas and Allen Pkwy., the property hasn’t seen much activity — other than the dancing, of course — for awhile.

Until this week, that is. And now the reader wants to know what the deal might be: “Looks like a lot of development is happening in this block. I read . . . about the development on the AIG side [of Montrose], but now the other side, next to those Amli apartments, seems to be breaking ground on something large. Any idea what’s gonna be placed there?”

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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North Montrose
04/29/13 3:30pm

That Rollerblader Who Dances at Montrose and Allen Pkwy. Explains Why

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11 Comments

From Alex Luster, a submission for KUHF’s “This is Houston” curatorial video contest that documents another beautification effort of the streets of Houston.

Video: Alex Luster via YouTube

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Apartments
04/12/13 2:30pm

Comment of the Day: The River Oaks Shopping Center’s Coming Double Mocha Latte Problem

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Comments, North Montrose, Quicklink, Retail
41 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RIVER OAKS SHOPPING CENTER’S COMING DOUBLE MOCHA LATTE PROBLEM “Finger is adding 431 units next to Whole Foods, Regent Square is putting up 290 units down the street in their apartment tower, Hanover at W. Gray and Waugh will be 275 units, the Richdale development on W. Gray where the ballet used to be is supposed to be 160 units and this new one on Montrose and Dallas will probably be at least 250 judging from the size of the lot and the economics of apartment complexes. That makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300-1400 new units all within about a mile of each other. That will certainly impact traffic in the area. The bigger impact is going to be on retail in the area. A couple thousand more people are going to be living in the area, yet the retail layout is largely going to remain the same. Regent Square may finally get active and save the day with some needed retail and restaurants. But once all the apartments fill up, there will be long lines at Starbucks whether you are on the north side of W. Gray, southside or inside Barnes and Nobles.” [Old School, commenting on The Apartments Behind the Finger Apartments Behind the Montrose Whole Foods]

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Apartments
04/11/13 10:10am

The Apartments Behind the Finger Apartments Behind the Montrose Whole Foods

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Land Development, Montrose, New Construction, North Montrose, Proposed Developments
36 Comments

What’s going on here? From behind a window across W. Dallas, a reader sends this photo and wants to know. According to a construction manager on site, the work to this point has involved utility excavation for what will be, he says, “Class A apartments.”

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North Montrose
11/15/12 3:13pm

Coast Judged Clear, AIG Is Ready To Show Its Name Again in Houston

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Office Buildings, Real Estate Marketing
17 Comments

After slinking its nameplate away from a prominent site in North Montrose sometime after the company’s name became a not-so-revered household word in the aftermath of the late-noughts financial meltdown and the $182 billion in government bailouts it received (see sign-free photo at right from last month), insurance giant AIG has decided the froth has subsided enough that it can call itself AIG again. This week a new shroud disguising a new-again three-letter logo was lifted on the 42-story America Tower — er, AIG Building — in the American General Center at 2929 Allen Pkwy.

Photos: Candace Garcia

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Comments
10/31/12 5:45pm

Comment of the Day: Audio Video Plus Carol

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North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Retail
1 Comment

COMMENT OF THE DAY: AUDIO VIDEO PLUS CAROL “I’ve had a membership there for almost 30 years. As some have mentioned, many products of the obscure variety have NEVER come out on DVD, and may not for a while for legal reasons. These fine folks never got rid of ANYTHING!! They carry more foreign language and silent movies than most places (when places like this existed everywhere) carry titles. Another blow to the artsy side of Houston, is losing this Mecca for Movies. My last purchase there was a Carol Burnett barbie doll, dressed like her role in “Went With the Wind.” I got it for mom for Christmas.” [Rich, commenting on Audio Video Plus on Waugh is Clearing It Out]

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Montrose
10/26/12 8:26pm

Audio Video Plus Will Be Closing Up Shop More Often

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North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Retail
3 Comments

A steady stream of movie-minded customers — many bearing their lengthy wish lists of titles to snag — hit today’s preview of Audio Video Plus’s closeout sale. And learned that storefront operations at the shop at 1225 Waugh will be pretty much ceasing. But not entirely: Sales will continue from the location via the internet and randomly occurring open house days TBD, a store manager declared on Friday. Meanwhile, the rarely full parking lot is getting a bit more of a workout, as are the film collectors racing through the still-stocked aisles and vying for remaining packaged and rental copies of the “Movies and More” touted on a banner above the entry. The preview continues 11 to 7 Saturday.

Photos: CALwords

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North Montrose
07/19/12 3:43pm

Hark, a Fence!

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Proposed Developments, Quicklink
30 Comments

HARK, A FENCE! Six years ago the Aga Khan Foundation purchased and demolished the Robinson Warehouse at the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose Blvd., announcing plans to build a new Ismaili Cultural Center in its place on the often soggy 11-acre site. With the exception of the appearance last year of a construction trailer for the assembly of the Rosemont Bridge over Buffalo Bayou across the street, though, there’d been no action there since. Until this week, that is, as several readers have reported: Fence posts are going up around the lot, from Allen Parkway all the way back to and along West Dallas. “I am wondering if this is actually a sign of construction on the center or if they are just tired of people parking/running dogs on the property,” writes one correspondent. “I will be on the look out for Port-A-Cans.” Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Apartments
06/29/12 2:53pm

The Finger Apartments Behind the Montrose Whole Foods Market

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New Construction, North Montrose
32 Comments

From a perch in the American General Life Building off Allen Parkway, a reader sends this view of the “HUGE property” at 2900 West Dallas, behind the new Whole Foods Market on Waugh. Construction work has been going on for about a month, reports the photographer. Going up: 431 apartment units in a 6-story block from the Finger Companies. Judging from these 2 renderings of the project, the apartments won’t end up looking much like the Whole Foods or the American General office campus directly to the north:

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Apartments
06/28/12 1:05pm

Regent Square-ish Apartment Tower Possibly Breaking Ground in 2 Weeks

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Highrises, North Montrose, Proposed Developments
15 Comments

A reader passes onto Swamplot an unconfirmed report that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Sovereign, the 21-story apartment tower from the developers trying to kickstart Regent Square that Swamplot reported on back in April, is scheduled for July 11th. That date’s not too far off from the June window predicted in a Houston Business Journal story earlier this month. The site is a cleared lot on West Dallas St. between Rosine and Rochow, where a surviving portion of the Allen House Apartments was recently demolished.

Is the Sovereign the first piece of GID Development’s long-stalled Regent Square development? It fits within the massive North Montrose mixed-use project’s eastern boundary, but the 4-year-old drawings for Regent Square show only low-rise apartments on that spot. On the other hand, the 2 projects are listed separately on the Boston company’s website. And the proposed 290-unit highrise appears to sport more modern look in its renderings than the images of brick-caked structures still floating around in old Regent Square drawings.

Here’s a view of the site from the 1000 block of Rochow, looking toward West Dallas:

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