- 9518 Crosby Wy. [HAR]
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Sienna Plantation
If you thought it was kinda adorable how those 2 same-owner mattress stores are snuggling up right next to each other at the corner of Westheimer and Montrose Blvd. in Montrose, you’re sure to be enthralled by the suburban version of the same like-kind pair-up down about Sienna Plantation, what with their separate, straight-laced façades and separate showrooms. Mattress Firm has been open for a couple years already at 8741 Hwy. 6 South in Missouri City; the same company’s slightly larger Mattress Pro just opened up next door at 8735 last month. Better yet, the buildings are for sale, together!
Bedroom Community
- 3510 Bahia Ct. [HAR]
FORT BEND PARKWAY WILL GROW SOUTH, STAY AWAY FROM THE LOOP 
The Fort Bend County Toll Road Association plans to start construction of a $20 million, 2.3-mile southern extension of the Fort Bend Parkway from Hwy. 6 to the Sienna Parkway later this year. (The Hwy. 6 underpass will cost an additional $20 million). Plans to to build a 3-mile-long northern extension the Fort Bend Parkway — from Rte. 90A through Westbury, so it connects to the southwest corner of the 610 Loop — have been on the books for more than a decade, but Harris County officials aren’t interested in building it. [Houston Chronicle] Map: HCTRA
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GUESSING GAME MARKDOWN “This home was custom built as wheelchair accessible. The features noted are the obvious accessibility features. What makes this home a great example of universal design are the lack of thresholds and the curved radius walls which lessen the chance of crashes, but they also look great! The owners are not handicapped at all and are relocating. They now cannot imagine having shower doors and thresholds to trip over in their next home. The price has been reduced to $555,000.” [Thomas A B Johnson, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: First Chair]
Are all the votes in? Okay, then. We have a winner!
First, a big thank you to Robert Gadsby’s brand-new Bedford Restaurant in the Heights, for sponsoring this week’s prize: a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant.
Now your guesses for this week’s home: They were all good. You doubled up on Clear Lake, Cypress, Bentwater, Missouri City, Kingwood, Lakes on Eldridge, and Memorial. Sugar Land got 3 guesses. The rest: Silverlake, Cinco Ranch, West University, Spring Valley, “somewhere east of champion forest, south of spring cypress, north of cypress creek, and west of i45,” the eastern portion of Cypresswood and Louetta near I-45, Cypress Estates, “Kickerillo, Energy Corridor-ish,” Lakes of Parkway, April Sound, near Lake Conroe, “northwest, north of 290, outside of 1960,” Richmond, Pecan Grove, River Oaks, Upper Kirby, Cole’s Crossing, Copperfield, near the Sweetwater or Sugar Creek Country Clubs, Sugar Lakes, Barker Cypress and I-10, Bellaire, Atascocita, Linkwood, Braes Heights, Twin Lakes, Summerwood, Spring, Montgomery, Humble, Friendswood, Pasadena, Dickinson, “Highway 90a between Stafford and the little regional airport,” and Tomball.
Lots of new participants this time. See? It’s not hard! Unless, of course . . . you want to win!
No player narrowed this one down to the actual neighborhood name. But of the two players who mentioned Missouri City, CK had the better explanation, and wins the $100 gift certificate to Bedford. Congratulations! The runner-up was houstonre.
The standout entries, of course, were from flake, who earns an extremely honorable mention for visualizing the hidden wheelchair:
The shower was redone so a chair can get in it. The kitchen counters were lowered and made so a wheelchair can fit underneath comfortably – microwave, sink (plumbing exposed out of necessity) now all within easy reach. Front-loading new washer/dryer put in as well. Also explains the large barca-loungers in LR & bath. And no area rugs to trip up wheels. Mom or Dad is the disabled one – not Grandma.
and later:
ooh, ooh, the light switches are lowered as well. I think they worked with the original builder before the house was built. This just doesn’t feel like a remodel.
Excellent work! Alas, picking up on those clues didn’t lead to the actual location.
Now: A little more about that house!
To counter the all-shutterings edition of Openings and Closings posted on Swamplot earlier this week, here’s a mostly debuts version:
- Opening: With the opening of Bryan Caswell’s Little Big’s, Montrose’s late-night restaurant row is complete — at least on weekends, when the burger shack will be open until 3 a.m. Writes Katharine Shilcutt in Eating Our Words:
In addition to sliders, fries and shakes, Little Big’s also offers wine and beer at extremely reasonable prices, which will all but ensure their popularity. Once the large, welcoming patio is completed, it’s a sure bet that this will be the new hot spot in Montrose.
This Little Big’s is in the former Ming’s Cafe on Montrose just north of Westheimer; the next one will be in Hermann Park.
There’s more!
MAYBE SIENNNA IS AVAILABLE? Marketing new themed apartments has got to be tough these days — all those great Southern European-y names are already taken! “Out-of-state developers thought they had coined a great name for their senior living apartments in Katy. Then they found out a nearby master-planned community had already claimed the same name. A joint venture led by Georgia-based Formation Development Group LLC broke ground in May on The Sienna at Cinco Ranch apartments at 24001 Cinco Village Center Blvd., west of Houston. But the site was a little too close for comfort to the Sienna Plantation master-planned community located south of Cinco Ranch in Fort Bend County. So Formation Development formulated a slight change of plans — The Sienna at Cinco Ranch is now going to be called The Solana at Cinco Ranch. ‘There was a little bit of confusion,’ says Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for the development firm. ‘They wanted to have something that was going to be unique to their property.'” [Houston Business Journal]
Houston’s middle-age spread continues:
- Just north of I-10 at the Grand Parkway, Kickerillo is starting a large residential development called Grandeur Park. It’ll be across the street from The Grand, Simon Property Group’s new mall. Homes there will cost 300 to 600 Grand.
- Houston will soon stretch to Sealy:
Silvestri Investments of Houston has purchased 1,375 acres just west of Firethorne, which is a mile south of Interstate 10 on FM 1463.
The new owner will hold the land for future development.
“With the historical trend of development in Houston, it was only a matter of time before someone purchased land in the next logical pattern of growth,” said Michael Carroll, president of Riverway Properties, who brokered the deal. The price was not disclosed.
- Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Development Company has bought Sienna Plantation South. What we’ll get there: about 7,000 single-family homes on the 3,827-acre site. Included in that total: 300 acres for offices and retail, 100 acres for schools and churches, and 1,000 acres of parks and open space. No breakdown available on the acreage of cul de sacs, lakes, or driveways.
- The fourth Del Webb retirement compound in Texas will be near Richmond, at Highway 59 and Thompson Rd. Fifteen hundred homes on 500 acres. You’ll need to be at least 55 years old to live there, and drive at least 55 to get there.
- It’s tough building slabs in Texas City:
After what developers described as a “minor slowdown,†the 574-home Grand Cay Harbour project in Texas City is back on track.
Persistent rain during the summer was part of the problem. But project manager Norman Reed didn’t elaborate about what other factors led to a long stretch of inactivity at the development. The project is on 250 acres beside Galveston Bay at the end of the Texas City levee system.
And don’t you worry about flooding after the construction’s done. This gated community will keep out the tides, too.
- Kickerillo Closes on Land Deal for a Community at I-10 and the Grand Parkway (PDF) [Kickerillo Companies]
- Commercial market still active [Houston Chronicle]
- Project targets older adults [Houston Chronicle]
- North Texas Real Estate Company Buys Sienna Plantation South [Fort Bend Now]
- Grand Cay Harbour sails ahead after delay [Galveston Daily News]
Plan of Grandeur Park: Kickerillo Companies
