POST OFFICE SALES: NEVER MIND Those gargoyles-on-sticks facing Downtown from Randall Davis’s Metropolis condo building get to keep their view. Nancy Sarnoff reports that two post offices offered for sale earlier this year (including the River Oaks P.O. adjacent to the Metropolis) have been taken off the market: “‘Bids were just so low we stopped that project for the time being,’ said Charlie Phillips, postal operations analyst for the [U.S. Postal Service]. Those properties are at 1900 West Gray at Dunlavy and 2802 Timmons, near West Alabama.” No report yet on the outcome of bidding for the Downtown Post Office at 401 Franklin St. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
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River Oaks
Strictly speaking, Starbucks number 3 at the corner of West Gray and Shepherd is the new “Barnes and Noble Cafe” inside the just-opened bookstore. But we all know who calls the shots there.
And now we know: The universe is without end.
NO, YOU CAN’T SEE KEN AND LINDA LAY’S RENAISSANCE-Y HIGHRISE CONDO The storied full-floor unit on the 33rd floor of the Huntingdon at 2121 Kirby is at long last on the market . . . for $12.8 Million: “The condo sale is being handled privately by Beau Herrold, Linda Lay’s son from her first marriage. Tours are by invitation only . . . When a Chronicle reporter expressed interest in seeing the condo, so as to best to describe the Italian renaissance decor and ‘villa-style living’ touted in a real estate flier, Herrold had only one comment. ‘I bet you would.’” [Houston Chronicle]
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:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE ELUSIVE ESSENCE OF RIVER OAKS “What the hell is ‘A River Oaks style Tuscan beauty’? Can you just add a couple million to the sales price of a house by adding the words ‘River Oaks’ to the description? . . .” [Bernard, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Blue Bonnet Spread]
NOW HAWKIN’ WHAT’S LEFT: SMITH & HAWKEN ARE OUTTA HERE Scotts Miracle-Gro, which bought the Smith & Hawken chain 5 years ago, is uprooting all 56 of the high-end brand’s stores, including one at the edge of River Oaks and another on Six Pines Drive in The Woodlands. “Apparently the expensive garden and really expensive garden store is shutting down. The website is already closed to orders and store liquidations start today. Should be interesting to see what happens to the store next to Ouisie’s Table on San Felipe.” [Swamplot inbox; more from the Houston Business Journal]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: BOOKSTOP FULL STOP “A few comments from a reliable source who actually knows a few things about River Oaks SC and Alabama Theater. 1. Barnes and Noble owns Bookstop. They are closing it to move to the new location at ROSC. 2. Weingarten has no intent of demolishing the Alabama Theater. They have been marketing the space for re-use. They intend to restore the facade when a new tenant signs on. 3. The new portion of ROSC was designed by Altoon + Porter (of the Fashion Show flying saucer mall in Vegas fame) out of Los Angeles. Weingarten did not want the usual EIFS crap that the Houston architects do. 4. Weingarten’s long term interest in ROSC is to achieve the highest and best use for this property. They want to bring a higher density to the center that they feel is appropriate for its location. 5. Before the crash last fall they were working on a plan to improve the walk-a-bility of the ROSC through landscaping and art. I believe the project is on hold right now. Its interesting how everyone is in favor of density (less driving and more walking) except when it affects something in your backyard. If you don’t like the scale of the building or the lack of protection of historic structures in the city, call the mayor and the planning department. Disclosure: I do not work for Weingarten and don’t always agree with their decisions, but thought that this info would be useful. Flame on everyone!” [mt, commenting on Coming Soon to the River Oaks Shopping Center]
Writing in the River Oaks Examiner, Cynthia Lescalleet has a few updates on the River Oaks Shopping Center. Here’s what Swamplot has pieced together:
- That well-trafficked space across the atrium from The Gap on the south side of West Gray will soon have a new tenant. Yes, this is the spot previously occupied by clothing retailer Harold Powell (whose parent company, Harold’s Stores, declared bankruptcy in November). Before that, it was occupied by M. King Interiors (which skipped out in the night a few years earlier, according to reports), before that Mesa Restaurant (ditto), and apparently way before that a restaurant called XIT. A new 6,200-sq.-ft. Mutual of Omaha Bank will be moving into the space soon.
- Meanwhile, across the street, Barnes & Noble will be opening in its brand hulking new building around October 1st.
What else?
Swamplot readers have a few things to say about Greenwood King’s latest fancy-neighborhood market report, which came out yesterday! Our regular GK watcher notes that the separate breakdowns for new construction and existing home sales introduced in last month’s edition have been abandoned. Still:
The news is relatively bad. Sales volumes are down sharply all over town. 17% more high end listings than last year . . . River Oaks, Tanglewood, Boulevard Oaks, and Memorial Close In are all over 12 months of inventory. . . .
The 17% higher inventory is reflective of a market of motivated sellers. By definition, a high end homeowner should not “have to†sell unless there has been a life change (divorce, death, job interruption). Everyone knows the housing market is weak in 2009, so…. the only class of sellers on the market are those having cash flow problems or those who have to sell due to a life change. There are almost no trade up sellers right now.
Memorial has 19.1 months of inventory
. . . as big $3-5 million white elephants sit there waiting for the landscapers to come and cut the lawn for the week. It takes a good $20,000 a month to live in one of those monsters. I guess the supply of willing millionaires just isn’t going to match the number of mega mansions. It will take some time, but they will soon move onto bank balance sheets and then to the auction block.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WEINGARTEN’S BLACK EYE “Maybe Mr. Alexander could solicit such basic needs tenants for the River Oaks Shopping Center; perhaps a local bakery and a quick-serve restaurant like the Black-Eyed Pea, for example? [Hellsing, commenting on And What About the River Oaks Shopping Center?]
AND WHAT ABOUT THE RIVER OAKS SHOPPING CENTER? His company’s stock down more than 70 percent since last year and the 2009 calendar wiped clean of all new development projects, Weingarten Realty president and CEO Drew Alexander tells analysts and investors the REIT is gonna survive. “The key to the survival? An increase in cash on the balance sheet and a continued ‘focus on tenants that sell basic goods and services,’ Alexander commented. Those tenants include grocery stores, dry cleaners, quick-serve restaurants and value chains such as Ross, Marshall’s and TJ Maxx.” [Globe St.]
Annie Sitton documents Ligne Roset’s surprise weekend move from that fancy strip mall on Kirby to . . . the River Oaks Shopping Center? Uh . . . wasn’t the mod French furniture store supposed to be moving this April . . . to West Ave?
And what does this move mean for Design Source, West Ave’s prize showroom of showrooms, that Ligne Roset was supposed to headline?
IS THAT THREE BROTHERS BAKERY ON THE LINE? A spokesperson for Weingarten Realty reports the company has “a number of good prospects” to lease the second-story space in the semi-curved replacement building that caused all that fuss over at the River Oaks Shopping Center. Earlier this week, Tony Vallone announced he’s backing out of plans to open a new Italian restaurant in the space: “. . . the recent flak between neighbors and developer Weingarten Realty on such points as the building’s setbacks and the use of the patio were not factors in pulling the plug, he said, adding the discourse was full of misinformation. Vallone said, for example, rumors were circulated that the patio would have been used, at times, as a band venue, which would not have been the case. ‘I would never do anything to jeopardize the relationship with the neighborhood,’ Vallone said.” [River Oaks Examiner; previously]
Weingarten’s Planning Commission victory earlier this month doesn’t resolve everything for the westernmost of two replacement retail buildings now under construction at the River Oaks Shopping Center. First, reports Mary Ann Acevedo in the Houston Business Journal, that last-minute compromise left a few neighbors grumbling:
. . . some of the neighbors are not pleased that they didn’t have an opportunity to review the final agreement after Weingarten’s most recent changes prior to the Jan. 8 hearing with the Planning Commission.
According to [neighbor Janet] Moore, Weingarten had told the group it would deliver an advance copy for their review.
“They presented us a signed, unmarked copy at the hearing and had no one available authorized to negotiate changes to the agreement,†Moore says. “Some of the neighbors are disappointed with a few of the changes in the agreement.â€
On, Jan. 13, Weingarten presented the neighbors with a revised agreement that Moore says does address some of those concerns, although the parties continue to work out the details.
Next, that Vallone restaurant planned for the building’s second floor and balcony — which at one point was referred to in Weingarten’s marketing materials as Il Tavolo (and is labeled Adagio Vino in the renderings) — may not be a done deal yet:
There was no showdown over the River Oaks Shopping Center variance request at yesterday’s Planning Commission hearing. In talks prior to the meeting, Weingarten Realty used its mad skillz to assuage the most vocal neighbors with a few minor changes to the patio-topped porte-cochere facing Shepherd Drive — already under construction — that violated the setback:
. . . reduce the size of the balcony seating and enclose the seating area. That will result in a 30-inch encroachment into the area of the 25-foot setback.
Lower the 10-inch signage on the west side of the building facing Shepherd Drive.
Will remove external LED lights on the west side of the building and turn off flashing security box lights inside the parking garage.
Variance . . . granted! The screencapture above shows the revised, enclosed balcony shown at the hearing, which will be a part of Tony and Jeff Vallone’s new Il Tavolo restaurant and wine bar.
Weingarten knows how to keep more than just a noisy upstairs wine-bar quiet, notes abc13’s Miya Shay:
