Washington Corridor

08/21/13 11:10am

‘Sports Bar With Class’ Replacing Sports Bar on Washington Ave

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

21 Comments

‘SPORTS BAR WITH CLASS’ REPLACING SPORTS BAR ON WASHINGTON AVE The prophecy foretold by that plagiarized message put up in July on Sawyer Park’sÂ marquee has come to pass: A new “sports bar with class,”Â Social Junkie, will be opening here on Washington Ave on Sept. 13, reports Culturemap. Social Junkie’s owned by Saleem Fernandez, who also ownsÂ Roosevelt Bar and 5th Amendment in Midtown. Fernandez tells Culturemap that this bar, like his others, will have a pretty strict dress code — and lotsa sports: “‘Tuesdays we will have a live video broadcast with a Texans player . . . . We will also have a live radio broadcast here — an a.m. sports radio station.'” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West

Bars, Old-Sixth-Ward, Openings and Closings, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Buildouts

08/14/13 10:15am

Pink’s Pizza Moving Into West End Strip Center

Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

9 Comments

A reader sends these new photos of the taped-up TABC sign in the window of the old laundromat at 1009 Moy St., shown above, where it appears a Pink’s Pizza will be opening soon. The photo at the top of the page shows the strip center endcap as seen from the corner of Moy and Center St., looking toward Washington Ave. a block to the south;Â T.C. Jester is a few blocks to the west.Â This new Pink’s will be the restaurant’s 4th inside the Loop; a 5th is on N. Shepherd in Garden Oaks. No opening date has been revealed. Another Pink’s is reported to be opening soon in that new retail center on Calhoun Rd. at the University of Houston.

Deliciousness Awaits [Pink’s Pizza]
Previously on Swamplot: Bigger Ed: How UH Is Shaping Up, UHâ€™s Dead-End Den for Cougars of Age

Photos: Lisa L. Riley

77007, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Ave., West End

Nightlife

07/31/13 11:00am

Sawyer Park Marquee Leaves Cryptic Reopening Message from the Great Bar Beyond

Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

16 Comments

A reader sends this photo from the Washington Corridor: Is Sawyer Park coming back from the dead this September? The 4-year run of the 2-story sports bar with a checkered past at 2412 Washington came to an end in February. But the marquee — plagiarized from that ubiquitousÂ Dos Equis ad campaign though it might be — suggests that something might be happening sometime soon. HCAD data show that the property hasn’t changed hands. Still, there aren’t any clues or further omens on the bar’s Facebook page or Twitter feed, and calls to Rockwood, what appears to be a design-build firm whose sign hangs from the bar’s terrace, haven’t been returned.

Good Food, Good Sports [Sawyer Park]
Sports Bar Sawyer Park Has Closed [Eater Houston]
Previously on Swamplot: When Pigs Fly: Sawyer Sportsbar Gets Its Wings, The Pigâ€™s New Gig: Sawyer Sportsbar

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77007, Bars, Nightlife, Old-Sixth-Ward, Openings and Closings, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Streets

07/19/13 10:05am

Why the Sidewalk at the Washington Ave Five Guys Burgers Isn’t Walkable

Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

23 Comments

Struggling to make themselves heard above the whoosh of traffic along the Washington Corridor, Better Houston’s Pedestrian Pete (a.k.a. one-time mayoral candidate Peter Brown) and visiting Harvard prof and city planner Peter Park take a very short stroll in this recently uploaded video. Their objective? To lament the guy wires, utility poles, and other hindrances for would-be pedestrians on the few feet of sidewalk they traverse in front of Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Buffalo Wild Wings in this strip center near Leverkuhn at 3939 Washington.

Improvements Along Wash Ave [Pedestrian Pete]

Video: Pedestrian Pete

77007, Pedestrians, Sidewalks, Streets, Walkability, Washington Corridor

07/15/13 11:15am

A Restaurant Renovation in the Old Sixth Ward

Proposed Developments, Renovations, Restaurants, Washington Corridor

13 Comments

A Swamplot reader writes in to confirm what the sign in the window suggests: “I talked to the people. Said its going to be a restaurant!” This 6,561-sq.-ft. 1925 former food store in the Old Sixth Ward sits at the corner of White at 2003 Union St., just south of Washington Ave. If you’ve got a really good arm, it’s a stone’s throw from Liberty Station. And it’s immediately south of that awkward triangular patch where planning firm Asakura Robinson and other neighborhood futurists plotted visions of a walkable Washington Corridor, with bike repair stations, local retailers, food trucks, and the like.

77007, Bars, Old-Sixth-Ward, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Restaurants, Washington Corridor

07/12/13 11:45am

Repairing the Broken Spoke: A New Bar in the Burned-Out Washington Ave Cafe

Openings and Closings, Renovations, Washington Corridor

3 Comments

A tipster tells Swamplot that the former Broken Spoke Cafe at 1809 Washington will soon be home to a new bar called the Caddy Shack. The cafe, located between Silver and Sabine in the Old Sixth Ward, closed last fall — and, unfortunately, soon after received the brunt of a fire that destroyed a vacant duplex next door.

Landmark Washington Avenue cafe goes up in flames: Fire burns nearby house down [Culturemap]
The Broken Spoke Goes Up in Smoke: Pictures and Video [Eating Our Words]
Previously on Swamplot: Breaking Through the Smoke at the Broken Spoke

Photo: Allyn West

77007, Bars, Old-Sixth-Ward, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Washington Corridor

Comments

06/13/13 1:00pm

Comment of the Day: Signs the Non-Plan for Washington Ave Might Have Been a Flop

by Swamplot

Quicklink, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

4 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SIGNS THE NON-PLAN FOR WASHINGTON AVE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FLOP “To be clear, I donâ€™t think it will turn into a dump. I just think the area has plateaued and will hold steady. Proximity to Memorial Park isnâ€™t that great unless you live right by the park and walk. Otherwise, it still requires getting in a car and parking. As the thrown-up townhomes age and the scene has moved elsewhere, people are going to question whether living in a hood with narrow streets, rare parking, older townhomes, a train track through the middle, and awkward access into Downtown is really worth $400k+. Those with that kind of money to spend on a townhome are going to want to be near the action.” [Brian, commenting on How About Washington Ave Jitney Rapid Transit?]

77007, Comments, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Comments

06/12/13 1:59pm

Comment of the Day Runner-Up: The Next Stage for Washington Ave

by Swamplot

Quicklink, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

3 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: THE NEXT STAGE FOR WASHINGTON AVE “Itâ€™s amusing to hear all of the talk about Wash. Ave. becoming the next ‘Richmond Strip.’ Ever since Washington became popular, people have made this quip. But it is simply not true. For one, itâ€™s a different time and completely different location. It is a major thoroughfare in the inner loop, and close to many popular and affluent residential areas. If it ceases to be a clubby/trendy destination, then all the better, since that is in all likelihood not the best use for the area. The surrounding areas have experienced large growth and will continue to densify. Washingtonâ€™s future will not be determined by the clubby bar scene, nor should it. It is a prime location for mixed use — restaurants, more casual bars, and residential. Houston is BIG, growing at a fast pace, and increasingly becoming populated by a younger generation who donâ€™t want to live in the â€™burbs. Areas like Washington will simply not revert back to their old ways and become ‘the next Richmond strip.’ The market will not let that happen.” [thedudeabides, commenting on How About Washington Ave Jitney Rapid Transit?]

77007, Comments, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Nightlife

06/11/13 4:45pm

How About Washington Ave Jitney Rapid Transit?

Interiors, Washington Corridor

Parking, Quicklink, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

16 Comments

HOW ABOUT WASHINGTON AVE JITNEY RAPID TRANSIT? It’s not as well-designed orÂ well-funded as the Post Oak Bus Rapid Transit that Uptown’s got in the works, but Houston Wave owner Lauren Barrash thinks herÂ jitney service could work for the Washington Corridor in a similar way:Â Having located about 900 available parking spots in city lots nearby, Barrash is proposing a kind of park-and-ride deal for Washington Ave visitors and employees to get to and from their destinations —Â and all for a small, even discounted fee. For one thing, Barrash tells Culturemap, it might be safer than walking late at night. But it also might stir things up again after what appears to be a lull in the action ever since thoseÂ revenue-generating Parking Benefit District meters went into effect in early March. Says Barrash, “There were no cars on Washington at all that first week.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Houston Wave via Facebook

Nightlife, Parking, Transportation, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Homes for Sale

06/10/13 11:00am

A Metal-Sided, Track-Side Kalitta Contemporary

by CALwords

19 Comments

Among a trio of metal-clad homes built a decade or so ago north of a Washington Corridor rail yard and a few blocks east of Heights Blvd. is this tilt-topped contemporary sited in a neighborhood someone decided to name Kalitta. Its stained concrete flooring on the first level glows beneath the furry exposed truss ceiling. The 2001 property showed up on the market last Tuesday, askingÂ $425,000.

77007, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Kalitta, Washington Corridor

Comments

06/07/13 2:00pm

Comment of the Day: One Way Washington Ave Could Go

Quicklink, Streets, Transportation, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

18 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: ONE WAY WASHINGTON AVE COULD GO “What is the plausibility of turning Washington Ave into a one-way, eastbound road with three lanes with one lane dedicated to on street parking? And then having Center St become the outbound counterpart â€“– three lanes, no parking, so that less additional right of way would be needed? [Vmel, commenting on Planning for the Future of Washington Ave]

Comments, Streets, Transportation, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Development Strategies

06/06/13 10:30am

Planning for the Future of Washington Ave

Proposed Developments, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

18 Comments

Local planning firm Asakura Robinson has released a 250-page study on the past, present, and future — as they would like to see it — of the Washington Corridor. The study seems to stem from Better Block Houston, a kind of experiment the firm performed in a vacant lot near their mural-stained offices on Washington and Silver: The street was transformed into a pop-up plaza: Food trucks rolled in, bike repair stations set up, and local retailers spread out. The study imagines this kind of pedestrian life happening along the entire length of Washington, from Westcott to I-45 and between I-10 and Buffalo Bayou.

77007, Development Strategies, Proposed Developments, Urban Planning, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor

Land Development

05/21/13 10:00am

What’s That New Drive-Thru on Washington Ave?

New Construction, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

20 Comments

A pair of Swamplot readers, employees at Hughes Hangar across the street and Kwik Lube next door, and the Facebook page ofÂ late-night weekend jitney service Houston Wave all have heard that this building going up on Washington Ave will be a new Sonic. But aÂ rep from the company can’t confirm the location, saying yesterday that there is nothing to add about “the specific possibility” of a Sonic here at 2720 Washington, and there doesn’t appear to be any tell-tale signage up yet.

77007, New Construction, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Corridor

05/01/13 2:45pm

Introducing the Washington Ave Parking District

Parking, Streets, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

11 Comments

Those light-blue dots? That’s where you’ll be able to pay toÂ park now on Washington Ave. The city’s first Parking Benefit District (or PBD) went live as of this morning, with dozens of these pay-to-stay meters installed between Westcott and Houston that will charge you about a buck an hour between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m.