Riverside Terrace

77004, 77025, 77035, Attractions, Critters, Home Design, Riverside-Terrace, Willow Meadows, Willowbend

Homes for Sale

05/24/10 2:25pm

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Riverside Terrace Nice, or Just Nicey Nice?

Interiors, Price Adjuster, Riverside Terrace

27 Comments

The Swamplot Price Adjuster runs on your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.

Location: 2412 Wichita St., Riverside Terrace
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths; 3,400 sq. ft. on a 10,200-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $729,000
History: On the market for almost 8 months. Price cut $21K at the beginning of May

A reader who lives in the “crazy quilt of a neighborhood” of this Riverside Terrace listing thinks this recently remodeled home dating from 1946 is worth considerably less than it’s going for:

Priced, as you can see, at just under 3/4 of a million (!) in a neighborhood where homes sell for around 200K on average. What? I mean it looks nicey nice and all, but not THAT nice.

Or is it? “It looks great in person,” admits our correspondent, after a quick drive-by. Did you catch those front doors, “replicas of those at the Chinese Embassy”? Or . . . what’s behind them?

77004, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Price Adjuster, Riverside-Terrace

Home Design

01/25/10 12:58pm

When You Need To Go, But Just Can’t Bear To Part

Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing, Riverside Terrace

7 Comments

“Dual toilets in the Masterbath…very unique,” reads the caption on this photo in a listing for a Riverside Terrace home on Parkwood Dr.

But haven’t we seen something like this somewhere before?

Oh, yes.

But that just means this home, built in 1965, was way ahead of its time:

77021, Bathrooms, Home Design, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing, Riverside-Terrace

Environmental

08/05/09 1:39pm

More Excitement at that Chemical Waste Disposal Plant in the Back Yard

Hazards, MacGregor Terrace, Riverside Terrace

Good news for the residents of Grace Ln. who back up to that Griggs Rd. waste treatment and disposal facility run by CES Environmental Services! It’ll probably be a while before another thermal oxidizer ruptures and sends four-foot-wide metal pieces flying over their back fences again:

â€œI mean, this was metal that could have decapitated people,â€ [Grace Ln. resident and salon owner Kimberly Sadberry] said. â€œIt was sharp. We had to put it on a dolly to take it back, it was that heavy.â€

CES assured residents nothing like that would ever happen again, but less than two weeks later, another explosion occurred, she said.

Why the grace period now? Responding to complaints about intermittent explosions and noxious smells emanating from the plant — as well as the fiery death last month of a CES employee as he attempted to clean a tanker truck — police officers and federal agents raided the facility yesterday morning. And figuring out what’s really going on there might take a while:

77021, Environmental, Explosions, Hazards, MacGregor Terrace, Odors, Riverside-Terrace

Lower Westheimer

03/24/09 6:02pm

Openings and Closings: Bars and Barbecue

Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Rice Village, Riverside Terrace, Sugar Land

4 Comments

An update on recent comings and goings:

Now Open: “A small group of cocktail freaks,” including former Beavers bartender Bobby Heugel, have at last opened the doors of Anvil Bar & Refuge on the Westheimer Curve. The location was originally a Bridgestone-Firestone tire shop, but was known more recently as the home of the Daiquiri Factory and Sliders.
Closed: In advance of that new 25,000-sq.-ft. Spec’s opening up in the former Linens â€™N Things in Weslayan Plaza, owner Christopher Massie decided to shut down Cepage Noir, his considerably smaller wine shop on Times Blvd. in the Rice Village.

More twists and turns:

77004, 77005, 77006, 77479, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Rice-Village, Riverside-Terrace, Sugar-Land

Buying and Selling

03/03/09 6:14pm

Freeway Townhouse: New Owner Is Much More Flexible

Homes for Sale, Price Trends, Riverside Terrace, Townhomes

3 Comments

The last time the peachy little townhouse-by-the-freeway at 2232 Riverside Dr. was available for sale — in the good ol’ boom-boom days of May 2007 — the owner refused to make any repairs on the property, which was listed for sale at just under $500K. What’s up with it now?

A good year after it was sold (for a much lower price, about half[!?] of what someone paid for the next-door unit just a few months later), the 2003 townhouse with the front-row view of 288 went back on the market! And it’s still there.

77004, Buying and Selling, Homes for Sale, Price Reductions, Riverside-Terrace, Townhomes, Views

Riverside Terrace

01/30/09 12:25pm

“Out of the Blue”: A Gentle Introduction to Greater Riverside Terrace

77021, Riverside-Terrace, Southland Terrace

Southland Terrace

6 Comments

A Swamplot reader asks for some help with a recent discovery:

Accidentally came across a neighborhood with some rather large lot sizes and homes off of Scott south of U.H. east of 288…seemed â€œout of the blueâ€ considering some of the nearby neighborhoods. Think one of the streets was â€œbowling greenâ€. Please let me know what neighborhood/area this is as it looked nothing like Houston!

Environmental

12/11/08 1:23pm

Waste Processing: Smells and Explosions in MacGregor Terrace

Hazards, MacGregor Terrace, Riverside Terrace

Neighbors of a permitted, non-hazardous waste treatment and disposal plant less than a mile south of Riverside Terrace have been upset by the stench that regularly rises from the new facility. And last weekend there was a bit of an eruption at the CES Environmental Services plant at 4904 Griggs Rd.:

No one was injured in Saturday’s explosion, but it was the latest in a series of incidents involving the treatment facility, which is permitted to handle non-hazardous industrial waste, such as used oil.

The city has received more than 135 complaints about the plant this year, mostly related to the odors.

So what exactly landed in the yards along Grace Lane in McGregor Terrace? Exploded waste?

77021, Environmental, Explosions, Hazards, MacGregor Terrace, Odors, Riverside-Terrace

Homes for Sale

07/30/08 11:51am

Riverside Terrace Survivor: I Will Shine!

Real Estate Marketing, Renovations, Riverside Terrace

6 Comments

2213 Wichita St., Third Ward, Houston

You are, no doubt, entirely accustomed to finding perfectly pleasant homes listed for sale on HAR . . . as teardowns. Usually, a listing broker won’t even pretend to show off the virtues of a targeted house, limiting photos to exterior shots and including such enticing wording as “sold for lot value only,” “as is,” and the always alluring “do not disturb tenants.”

Which is why John Whiteside, who writes the By the Bayou blog, is especially appreciative of the “chirpy optimism” expressed in the listing for 2213 Wichita St., a home dating from 1930 and perched by the side of 288 in Riverside Terrace, on the market since the end of March. Next to this quaint photo of what looks like a well-roasted garage apartment are these encouraging words:

Owner started renovations on the large house with garage apartment off the freeway. Lot almost 10,000 sq. ft. Pick up this gem, dust it off, add polish and it will shine.

Sadly, you’re a little late to see this house shining its absolute brightest.

Below: More photos from the listing — including interior shots . . . and outdoor furniture!

77004, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing, Renovations, Riverside-Terrace, Teardowns

Art

06/23/08 10:36am

The Modigliani: Gated, and Very Close to the Med Center

Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Riverside Terrace, Texas Medical Center, Townhomes

12 Comments

The Modigliani, Townhouses on South MacGregor Way, Houston

Nancy Sarnoff reports that construction is about to begin on a new gated 52-townhouse development on South MacGregor, east of 288. The developer, Joseph Casimir of Cypresswood Capital, reports on the project’s website that the development

bears three distinctive yet integrated architectural flavors: Florentine, Venetian, and Romanesque, affording you a lifestyle of unparalleled comfort and understated sophistication.

The townhouse development is called The Modigliani, after an Italian artist who spent most of his adult life in Paris, and who died of TB at the age of 35, aggravated by persistent alcoholism and drug abuse.

The 4.3-acre site at 3028 S. MacGregor Way is next door to the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center and across the street from Brays Bayou. Casimir bought it in 2006 for $4.6 million, then demolished the 1936 Wright Morrow estate on the property. The previous owner, the UT Health Science Center at Houston, had intended to build a mental health outpatient facility on the site, but put it up for sale after encountering vocal opposition from neighborhood residents and State Rep. Al Edwards.

Below: Elevations and a site plan!

77021, Art, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Riverside-Terrace, Texas Medical Center, Townhomes

Home Decor

06/04/08 10:22am

Riverside Terrace Extra: Toilet Fish Included

Homes for Sale, Riverside Terrace, University Oaks

1 Comment

Bathroom with Toilet Fish Tank, 3838 Southmore Blvd., University Woods, Houston

“Fish tank in face bowl” is the actual caption to this photo in the listing for 3838 Southmore, in University Woods, by Riverside Terrace.

Face bowl?

The house has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths. Clearly, though, this one ought to count for more than just a half. The home is listed at $224,999 — bathroom aquarium included.

After the jump: How to get your own very private fish tank . . . without having to buy the whole house!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

77004, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Riverside-Terrace, Toilets, University Oaks

Land Sales

03/26/08 5:50pm

UH Southeastern Expansion: More Rail Frontage

Parks, Riverside Terrace

2 Comments

Rendering of Proposed Southeast Metrorail Line on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Between Griggs Rd. and Old Spanish Trail

Just a few blocks north of the site of the new Houston Texans YMCA, the University of Houston has bought 43 acres immediately southeast of its main campus.

The new UH land looks like it’s part of MacGregor Park, but whether it is — or was — was a matter of intense . . . legal interest. The property was originally part of a larger 110-acre parcel that was donated by the MacGregor family to the City of Houston in 1930. More recently, the donors’ heirs sued the city for violating the terms of that gift, which required that the city turn the land into a park. By 2002, the MacGregor heirs had won back rights to the wooded 41 acres between MLK and Spur 5, on the north side of Old Spanish Trail.

The MacGregor heirs’ sale of the property to UH for $25 million closed in February, according to a report by Jennifer Dawson in the Houston Business Journal. The new UH property is south of the gigantic Wellness Center, across ~~Buffalo~~ Brays Bayou.

The land gives UH a possible new entrance on Martin Luther King Blvd., but it’s also likely to give the campus a fifth light-rail station: a MacGregor Park stop will be the second station on the Southeast line, which begins at the new transit center planned for Palm Center.

UH buys piece of the park [Houston Business Journal]
Southeast Corridor Updates [Metro]
Where Training Will Begin: The Houston Texans YMCA at Palm Center [Swamplot]

Rendering of planned Southeast light-rail line on MLK, south of UH: Metro

77021, Land Sales, MacGregor Park, Parks, Riverside-Terrace, UH

Buying and Selling

11/20/07 11:06am

Beneath Roseneath: A Rising Tide Trims Sales

Flooding, Homes for Sale, Land Sales, Riverside Terrace, Streets

4608 Roseneath Dr., Houston

Why has this property in Riverside Terrace been floating aimlessly on the market for almost five months? Sure, it’s being sold “as is” — and the “is” apparently doesn’t merit an interior photo. But the home has four bedrooms, contains 2,875 square feet of living space, and is apparently salvageable. Plus it sits on a 11,100-square-foot lot on a “lovely, tree-lined street” in a part of town that’s been pretty hot recently, no?

77021, Buying and Selling, Drainage, Flooding, Homes for Sale, Land Sales, Riverside-Terrace, Streets

Buying and Selling

05/22/07 9:44am

Won’t Touch This: $492K Freeway Townhouse

Homes for Sale, Riverside Terrace, Townhomes

2232 Riverside Dr.

What happens when townhomes don’t crack half a million? Sellers get mighty cranky:

This unit has a great view of downtown. It features a large balcony, spacious rooms, high ceilings, both wood & carpeted floors, an elevator, fireplace, beautiful kitchen and much more! It is being sold ‘AS IS’. The seller will do NO REPAIRS.

Don’t want to deal with this kind of unwillingness to negotiate? For a mere $200K+ more, you can buy the townhouse next door. And that seller isn’t saying what will or won’t be repaired—at least not in the listing.

A nice view of 288 from the balcony, plus an interior photo, which you can scan for evidence of a need for repairs the seller won’t make, after the jump.