Vermont Commons

Restaurants, Vermont Commons

03/17/17 11:00am

Hot Bagel Shop Finally Scoots Over into Wiggly-Eyebrowed Strip Next Door

by Katie Schon

5 Comments

Hot Bagel Shop at 2015 S. Shepherd Dr., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77006

Former Hot Bagel Shop on S. Shepherd Dr., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77006 The long predicted southerly shift of The Hot Bagel Shop has come to pass: a banner above the endcap of the wavy new commercial strip at 2015 S. Shepherd Dr. proclaims the spotÂ now open,Â and the old location is all wrapped up in white paperÂ and cardboard. The farÂ corner on the first floor of the new shopping center — purportedly part 1 of 2 — is occupied by Zen Japanese Izakaya, but the other units in the 2-story structure appear to be, as yet, vacant:

Fresh Baked on S. Shepherd

77019, Moving, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Shepherd Commons, Vermont Commons

11/01/16 10:45am

KFC Flies the Fairview Coop

Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Vermont Commons

11 Comments

KFC at 2359 S. Shepherd Dr., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77019

The Colonel is still hanging around by the door, but KFCÂ is in the process ofÂ leaving the building at 2359 S. Shepherd Dr., a few readers report. The spot at the corner with Fairview Dr.Â has been sporting now closed signage, and the location has already been eradicated from the annals of KFC’s store database. The chicken shop’sÂ decommissioning follows the late-June sale of the property to an entity called 2359 S. Shepherd, which shares a Smith St. address withÂ Crosspoint Properties (responsible for the redevelopment of a number of Midtown and properties, including the building that now houses Reef and Proof).

The drive-thru sits just south of the Shepherd Place office tower (onceÂ theÂ siteÂ of those 1960s lesbian barÂ raids, in its pre-highrise days), and across Shepherd from the former Arby’s, converted to the Inner Loop’s first-ish Dunkin’ Donuts back in 2013.

S. Shepherd Retreat

77019, Fast Food, Land Sales, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Vermont Commons

10/24/16 12:30pm

Riel Restaurant Trying To Get Real on Fairview in Former Te House of Tea

Montrose, Renovations, Restaurants, Retail, Vermont Commons

2 Comments

Riel Restaurant under construction at 1927 Fairview, Montrose, Houston, 77006

French-Canadian-Ukrainian-Texan fusion restaurant Riel is still being installed atÂ 1927 Fairview St., formerly home to Te House of Tea and Trudy’s Boutique Re Sale at the corner with Woodhead St. A reader snagged the shot above yesterday afternoon, showing the formerÂ mid-60’s retail strip dressed upÂ in green construction fencing and still sporting thatÂ above-it-all street number signage.Â Ex-Reef chefÂ Ryan Lachaine lastÂ saidÂ in September that the placeÂ should beÂ opening some timeÂ next month.

Chef Ryan Lachaineâ€™s Riel Will Blend Ukranian, French-Canadian And Texas FareÂ [Eater Houston]
Previously on Swamplot:Â What’s Brewing in the Former Te House of Tea in Hyde Park;Â McGowen Cleaners For Sale on Fairview Near Restaurant-Slated Former Te House of Tea;Â Te House of Tea on Fairview Closes Thursday, But You Can Still Buy a Piece of It This Weekend

Photo: Mosaic Clinic Dermatology

Fairview Preview

77006, Adaptive Reuse, Fairview, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, Vermont Commons

08/19/16 4:15pm

Raising Cane’s Now Raising the Midtown Banner in Vermont Commons

Vermont Commons

8 Comments

Raising Cane's, 1902 Westheimer Rd., Vermont Commons, Houston, TX 77098

Catty-corner toÂ the middle schoolÂ both formerly and henceforth to be knownÂ as Lanier, another spatÂ of place-name confusion is brewing: A reader notesÂ that the Raising Cane’sÂ (whose Vermont Commons branch sits on the corner of Hazard St. and Westheimer Rd.Â on the lot previously vacated by Martha Turner Properties)Â has been pledgingÂ its affections to Midtown. But is the message one of tribute or defection? “Do they think they’re in Midtown?” wonders the tipster. “Is there something else I’m not getting?”

Previously on Swamplot: Raising Cane’s Is Almost Ready To Grab the Corner of Hazard and Westheimer with Its Chicken Fingers;Â Raising Caneâ€™s Putting Its Chicken Fingers on Westheimer Again, This Time at Hazard; Corner of Hazard: The Fall of Martha Turner Properties

Photo of Raising Cane’s at 1902 Westheimer Rd.: Swamplot inbox

Midtown Creep

77006, Fast Food, Midtown, Montrose, Names, Restaurants, Vermont Commons

07/12/16 4:15pm

Newly Sold McGowen Cleaners Building Getting Liquored Up on Fairview St.

Vermont Commons

1 Comment

1931 Fairview St., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77019

TABC Notice at 1931 Fairview, July 2016 A different kind ofÂ sign hasÂ popped up at the corner of Fairview Ave. and Morse St., notes a reader — the 1961 building that formerly housed McGowen Cleaners (shown above earlier this year decked out in NewQuest Properties sales banners) now sports a notice that the new owners have applied for a handful of food, beverage, and mixed drink permits from the TABC. The sign names Vibrant Living LLC as the applicant for the licenses; an entity by the same name (headquartered in the address of office and retailÂ developer Barnhart Interests)Â purchased the 3 adjacent lots at the corner from former Cleaners owner and operator George Groschke in May.

What’s Cooking in Montrose

77019, Adaptive Reuse, Alcohol Licenses, Dry Cleaners, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, TABC, Vermont Commons

03/29/16 11:00am

McGowen Cleaners For Sale on Fairview Near Restaurant-Slated Former Te House of Tea

Vermont Commons

5 Comments

1931 Fairview St., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77019

Just aÂ few blocks northwestÂ from the ballroom in the works on Woodhead, a reader sends a shot of the former McGowen Cleaners at 1931 Fairview St., now up for saleÂ by NewQuest Properties. The cleaners closed shop on Friday the 13th back in November, though they allowed stragglingÂ clients to come by for their left-behind clothes throughÂ the end of last year.

The once-actually-on-McGowen business’s 3090-sq.-ft. former building (on a 15,000-sq.-ft. lot)Â is surrounded to the north and east by townhomes, and by older homes and duplexes to the south and west; 1Â block down Fairview is the former Te House of Tea, which the reader reports just gotÂ a new parking lot where its back garden used to be.Â NewQuest’s Â sales flier for the McGowen Cleaners property also shows the Te’s spot taggedÂ for a new restaurant:

Fairview Fare

77019, Buildings for Sale, Montrose, Restaurants, Vermont Commons

Bars and Clubs

05/30/14 12:45pm

The Folks Operating the New Marfreless Are a Bunch of Posers, Say the Folks Who Used To Run the Bar

Lawsuits, Leasing, Vermont Commons

3 Comments

Marfreless, 2006 Peden St., River Oaks Shopping Center, Houston The former operators of Marfreless — the oh-so-dark bar that hid behind the unmarked blue door under the stairs in back of the River Oaks Shopping Center for more than a decade until shutting down in the middle of last year — filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the group that later renovated the space and opened a bar of the same name inside it in January of this year. In essence, the suit claims that the bar’s current operators are imposters, and are using the Marfreless name in its former leased location — and claiming to have reopened it — without permission. â€œMarfreless was temporarily closed in March of 2013, when it transitioned to new ownership, the third in its distinguished lifetime,â€ reads the new Marfreless website, created by the bar’s current operators. But the lawsuit claims that isn’t true. “Despite these representations by Defendant,” reads a filing by Marfreless Ventures, LP, “no such ownership transition has ever taken place.”

The Lawsuit Behind the Bar

77019, Bars and Clubs, Lawsuits, Leasing, River-Oaks-Shopping-Center, Vermont Commons

Parking

05/12/14 11:30am

The River Oaks Shopping Center’s New Parking Meters

77019, Parking, River-Oaks-Shopping-Center

Quicklink, Retail, Vermont Commons

20 Comments

THE RIVER OAKS SHOPPING CENTER’S NEW PARKING METERS Parking Meter at Peden St. at McDuffie St., River Oaks Shopping Center, Houston Hooded, solar-powered parking overseers have arrived on streets surrounding the River Oaks Shopping Center on West Gray St., reader James Glassman notes. Here’s a photo of a meter dressed in a blue cape, awaiting orders to undress on Peden St. at McDuffie. [Previously on Swamplot]Â Photo: James Glassman

04/02/14 2:15pm

An Office Tower Is Moving in Next Door, So It’s Time To Leave

Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Vermont Commons

10 Comments

2244 Welch St., Vermont Commons, Houston

2244 Welch St., Vermont Commons, Houston There’s what looks to be a moving truck parked in front of the home at 2244 Welch St. today, right next door to the building site at 2229 San Felipe St., where a giant crane is already in the process of constructing a 17-story Hines office building across the street from River Oaks. UH professor Richard Armstrong, who with his family rented the home, had complained to the media last month that the continual noise and diesel fumes and earth-moving going on next door was making it difficult to live there. A couple weeks later, Armstrong announced that financial assistance from Hines would help him move to a new home in Pearland.Â “This individual story may have ended,” a neighbor notes to Swamplot, “but there are many more neighbors left to deal with the ongoing noise and construction paraphernalia.”

Previously on Swamplot:Â With Help from Hines, Family Living Next Door to Highrise Construction Site Exits to Pearland;Â Neighbor Has a Few Problems with That 17-Story Office Building Going Up Over the Side Fence;Â Lawsuit Wonâ€™t Stop Construction of Hinesâ€™s San Felipe Tower â€” At This Time;Â The Scene on San Felipe: Hinesâ€™s Friendly Neighborhood Skyscraper Is Going Up Now;Â Dear Hines: Weâ€™d Settle for a Residential Midrise, Please;Â Hines Not Stopping San Felipe Skyscraper;Â Hines Develops Website To Explain 17-Story San Felipe Development;Â â€œStopâ€ Signs Oppose 17-Story Hines Office Building on San Felipe;Â A Look Around San Felipe at the Randall Davis Condos and Planned Hines Office Building Site;Â Hines Plans a Shiny New 18-Story Office Building Across San Felipe from River Oaks

Photos: Swamplot inbox

River Oaks Neighbors

2229 San Felipe, 77019, Highrises, Montrose, Moving, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Vermont Commons

03/24/14 11:00am

With Help from Hines, Family Living Next Door to Highrise Construction Site Exits to Pearland

Highrises, Montrose, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Vermont Commons

15 Comments

View of Home with Highrise Construction Crane Next Door, 2244 Welch St., Vermont Commons, Houston

The UH professor whose experiences living next door to the vacant-lot-turned-highrise-construction-site across the southern border of River Oaks made for a colorful teevee news report and an EPA complaintÂ has called an end to his protests of the rumbling, diesel fumes, and building and patio cracks caused by the giant craneÂ that showed up next door (pictured above). With an unspecified amount of financial assistance from Hines, the developers of the 17-story office tower going up at 2229 San Felipe, Richard Armstrong and his family will be moving from 2244 Welch St. to a new home in Pearland early next month.

His media appearances “got the attention of Hines and Gilbane Construction,” Armstrong reports in a letter posted to an online news group focusing on the tower’s construction. “Fundamentally, there isn’t much that can be done,” he writes, “given the pace and scale of this construction. . . . We have loved this house and the neighborhood — up until December. This is a wonderful pocket for people who want access to everything the inner loop has to offer. Unfortunately, other people are discovering our secret. So we’ll just have to roll with the changes.”

It appears that Armstrong’s “roll” will be bankrolled — at least in part — by Hines.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors — To Move Away

2229 San Felipe, 77019, Highrises, Montrose, Moving, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Vermont Commons

03/11/14 4:45pm

Neighbor Has a Few Problems with That 17-Story Office Building Going Up Over the Side Fence

Montrose, Neighborhood Disputes, Office Buildings, Vermont Commons

27 Comments

Details of 2244 Welch St., Next Door to Construction Crane for 2229 San Felipe Office Tower, Vermont Commons, Montrose, Houston

Details of 2244 Welch St., Next Door to Construction Crane for 2229 San Felipe Office Tower, Vermont Commons, Montrose, Houston What more quintessential closeup image of Houston is there — the kind you really aren’t likely to come across too many other places — than the one that shows a 17-story office tower under construction right next door to a single-family home? So when you hear of a Montrose resident complaining that the huge and noisy construction crane planted just a few feet beyond his fence to construct the “boutique” building at 2229 San Felipe is causing cracks in the concrete patio and the interior walls of his home, that the smell of diesel is overwhelming whether he’s in the back yard or inside on the ground floor, and that the fumes and noise from the regular Saturday concrete pours cause regular headaches for family members — well, it kinda does make you sit up and pay attention, if not simply to marvel at the unique properties of Houston development regulations and practices that allow such remarkable juxtapositions in our midst.

Still, the owner of the home at 2244 Welch St. might be forgiven if he doesn’t get so philosophical about the wondrous scene arrayed before him. “No representative of Hines has EVER come to us to express any concern about what they are doing,” he wrote over the weekend to an online newsgroup. “Even the construction workers admit they are not comfortable with the position of this crane. So everyone else got paid off, just not us I guess.”

This past Saturday, he filed a report about the situation with the EPA. What happened next?

Next Door to 2229 San Felipe

77019, Construction Safety, Hazards, Montrose, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Odors, Office Buildings, Sound, Vermont Commons

Bars and Clubs

03/07/14 10:30am

The Bar on South Shepherd Dr. Where the Pants Went on Backward

Houston History, Vermont Commons

1 Comment

Shepherd Place Office Tower, 2323 S. Shepherd, Houston Why would patrons at Rita Wanstrom’s Roaring 60s bar at 2305 S. Shepherd Dr. — just north of Fairview — regularly retreat to the bathroom to put their pants on backwards? In the late 1980s, the site of the nightspot, along with a few neighboring buildings, was replaced with the Shepherd Place office tower pictured above (an enterprise that reportedly bankrupted former governor John Connolly and a few other investors in the project). But back in the uh, roaring sixties, the bar was a famed lesbian hangout — subject to regular police raids focused on female zipper placement.

Lesbians in the Roaring 60s

77019, Bars and Clubs, Houston History, Nightlife, Vermont Commons

Neighborhood Disputes

02/28/14 1:30pm

Lawsuit Won’t Stop Construction of Hines’s San Felipe Tower — At this Time

Office Buildings, Quicklink, River Oaks, Vermont Commons

17 Comments

LAWSUIT WON’T STOP CONSTRUCTION OF HINES’S SAN FELIPE TOWER — AT THIS TIME Aerial View of Proposed 2229 San Felipe Office Tower, Vermont Commons, Houston Yesterday a Harris County judge issued an order denying the request of some neighbors of 2229 San Felipe across from River Oaks for a temporary restraining order halting construction of the 17-story Hines office tower going up on that site. The neighbors had filed suit last week, complaining that (among other things) the building would interfere with their privacy, cause unreasonable traffic delays, devalue theirÂ own nearby properties, and erode the character of the neighborhood. “Unfortunately, Harris County does not make transcripts of arguments at the hearing available online,” writes the tipster who sent Judge Michael Gomez’s order to Swamplot, “but this could be a sign that Judge Gomez may be less receptive to the Plaintiffs’ arguments than those that were heard in the Ashby highrise case.” Maybe. Twice on the signed order, after the word “denied,” the judge added in the phrase “at this time” by hand. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo:Â Hines

77019, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, Office Buildings, River Oaks, Vermont Commons

01/17/14 12:15pm

The Scene on San Felipe: Hines’s Friendly Neighborhood Skyscraper Is Going Up Now