Swamplot Archives by Category: New Construction

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Friday, July 3, 2009

La Maison in Midtown: The Power of a Good Night’s Sleep

July 3, 2009 – 11:54 am

There’s a new $2 million bed and breakfast going up in Midtown? The Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff reports that the project’s developers were “able to persuade a lender” to finance construction of their 3-story “New Orleans-style” B&B, which has already broken ground at 2800 Brazos, at the corner of Drew St.:

“It was a little challenging early on in the process,” [developer Genora] Boykins said. “The thing that made the difference is we really didn’t give up on the vision we have.” . . .

That sort of positive thinking is apparently nothing new for Boykins, an attorney for Reliant Energy who serves on the Downtown Management District board of directors — along with her La Maison partner, Centerpoint Energy community relations VP Sharon Owens.

Kirbyjon Caldwell, the pastor of 14,000-member Windsor Village United Methodist Church, provides more insight into Boykins’s real-estate techniques in Chapter 3 of his now-decade-old bestseller, The Gospel of Good Success: A Road Map to Spiritual, Emotional and Financial Wholeness:

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11:54 am | 20 Comments | Read more about Financing, Neighborhoods: Corinthian Pointe, Neighborhoods: Midtown, Neighborhoods: Windsor Village, New Construction
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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Buffalo Modern: The New H-E-B in West U

July 2, 2009 – 9:17 am

Two new buildings designed by regional architecture stars Lake/Flato Architects will open in Houston in the next couple of months: Rice University’s new swimming-pool and palm-tree festooned Wellness Center . . . and this sleek new H-E-B on Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet.

Strangely, the San Antonio architecture firm didn’t get the late-nineties memo that specified an Alamo flavored Mission Revival strip and shopping center style for the inner Westpark corridor, and opted instead for a modern-looking hangar with a reflective butterfly roof, lots of glass, and a bunch of eco-features. Plus, fancy foods:

Buffalo Market will feature a Central Market Cafe on the Run, offering gourmet to-go items; a cheese shop with, for example, 54 varieties of bleu cheese; 2,000 varieties of wine; and a sushi and cooking demo station.

Half of the 68,000-square-foot H-E-B store will be devoted to perishables. Typically, supermarkets give perishables about one-third of the store space, [H-E-B and Central Market President Scott] McClelland said. There will be less general merchandise.

Buffalo Market will be similar to the H-E-B/Central Market hybrid in The Woodlands, only it will be an updated version, he said.

A few more photos sent in by a reader:

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9:17 am | 43 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: West University, New Construction, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Pumping the Pipeline, Flashing Lights in the Sky: New Skater Shower on Sabine St.

June 22, 2009 – 4:14 pm

The foundation for Open Channel Flow — a 60-ft.-tall public artwork built from steel water pipe and featuring a pump-it-yourself outdoor shower — is now in the ground at the Sabine Water Pump Station. Over the fence to the south is the new Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark. When the structure is complete, sweaty skaters — or really, anyone on the north side of Buffalo Bayou Park who’s looking for a quick wet thrill — will be able to stand over the 6-ft.-diameter stainless steel drain cover, yank the rubber handle on the adjacent pump, and get doused by “the equivalent of a few cups” of water, released from the showerhead hanging 30 feet overhead.

But dude: Don’t forget about the blinking light! A strobe at the very top of the structure will flash with each pump. Which will cue bored office workers viewing from Downtown to mark another notch in their cubicles.

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4:14 pm | 8 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Old Sixth Ward, New Construction, Parks, Public Art
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

That West Gray Tilt-Up Is Up

June 2, 2009 – 5:08 pm

A reader sends in a photo of the Arch-Con tilt-up office building going up at 1335 West Gray just west of Waugh, across from The Tavern on Gray — and asks:

This has got to be the first ever tilt up building inside the loop, right?

The 21,000-sq.-ft. building was planned to house the Houston headquarters for general contractor Arch-Con on the third floor, next to the terrace. Scraped bungalows will make room for an adjacent surface parking lot. The architect’s website notes there will be “additional parking on the first floor.” Stream Realty has two 7,466-sq.-ft. floor plates listed for lease.

Renderings of the finished building, from Ziegler Cooper Architects:

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5:08 pm | 16 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: Montrose, New Construction, Office Buildings
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Monday, June 1, 2009

A Look at the New Midtown Restaurant in the Mix

June 1, 2009 – 8:15 am

At last: That year-old, right-up-to-the-street, parking-garage-behind The Mix @ Midtown building at 3201 Louisiana gets a ground-floor tenant! Going into the buildout in the space at the southeast corner of Elgin, below 24 Hour Fitness: a new Japanese restaurant.

Want a peek inside?

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8:15 am | 12 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Midtown, New Construction, Restaurants
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Friday, May 29, 2009

New Fat Kroger Twins

May 29, 2009 – 5:14 pm
   

The largest Krogers in Texas will be opening late this year, 10 miles apart: “The 125,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace stores, which will both feature the same layout, will be located in Brazos Town Center in Rosenberg and at Waterside Marketplace in Richmond. . . . [Kroger's Gary] Huddleston says the Brazos Town Center store, located at U.S. Highway 59 and FM 762 in Rosenberg, will primarily serve the Richmond/Rosenberg market, while the Waterside Marketplace location, at Grand Parkway and Mason Road in Richmond, will serve the Katy market. Both Kroger Marketplace stores will feature a Fred Meyer Jewelers’ store as well as a large home furnishing section with Ashley Furniture.” [Houston Business Journal]

5:14 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: Richmond, Neighborhoods: Rosenberg, New Construction, Quicklink, Shopping Centers
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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Comment of the Day: I-10 and Bunker Hill Paving Report

May 21, 2009 – 4:42 pm
   

“. . . as someone who lives on Westview and who has lived in the area mentioned (or near it) for 15 years… let me tell you what was paved over. -Ditches on either side of Bunker Hill between Longpoint and Katy freeway. -Old Katy road, which had grass on both sides and a ditch. -A little shop (maybe a car dealership I dont remember) that was on an island between both sides of bunker hill, dirt and green was taken from there -the already mentioned quarry which was NOT all pavement. I went there often and it was very much dirt. Cars would get stuck there when it rained. -The daniel area that was also not all paved where those new apartments are (where there is standing water when it DOESNT rain due to poor drainage). This is not a flooding that hasnt happened in 20 years, the houses here are much older than 20 years… these houses are 50+ years old and it has NEVER happened.” [Alma, commenting on The Detention Battle of Bunker Hill: Flooding Above the New Katy Freeway]

4:42 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Comments, Flooding, Neighborhoods: Long Point Woods, New Construction, Quicklink
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A Peek Inside the New Downtown Sweatbox

May 20, 2009 – 7:27 pm

Out from Kirksey: new interior renderings of the built-and-named-by-Tellepsen YMCA now going up Downtown.

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7:27 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Neighborhoods: Downtown, New Construction
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Detention Battle of Bunker Hill: Flooding Above the New Katy Freeway

May 19, 2009 – 10:08 am

Some residents of Long Point Woods are blaming the new and well-paved 48-acre Village Plaza at Bunker Hill shopping center along the north feeder road of the expanded Katy Freeway for the late-April flooding that damaged many homes between Bunker Hill Rd. and Blalock, south of Westview. Abc13’s Miya Shay reports, opting not to mention the neighborhood or the development by name:

[Resident Barbara] Hunt says homeowners grew worried when a large development along I-10 and Bunker Hill [was] allowed to be built without additional retention, and when heavy rain fell, it ran off the parking lots and into their homes. . . .

But Mayor White says the developers didn’t get special treatment because the property was already covered in asphalt before the developers bought the land and began building.

“If something is built, and somebody buys it from somebody where it already has some paved over and is already developed, we don’t have new detention requirements,” said Mayor White.

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10:08 am | 10 Comments | Read more about Flooding, Neighborhoods: Long Point Woods, New Construction, Shopping Centers
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Monday, May 4, 2009

Buddhists Retreating to Houston’s Far Northwest

May 4, 2009 – 3:15 pm

Many of the buildings on the campus were completed last August, but this weekend marked the official grand opening of “one of the largest Buddhist developments in the nation,” just northeast of Hempstead. The American Bodhi Center, a new retreat on 515 acres off FM 2979 in Waller County, was created by the Texas Buddhist Association — in part to relieve crowding at the 1,500-family-strong Jade Buddha Temple in Alief.

Among the new buildings: the Memorial Hall pictured above. There’s also a new Meditation Hall:

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3:15 pm | 1 Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: Alief, Neighborhoods: Hempstead, Neighborhoods: Waller, New Construction, Religious Facilities, Waller County
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Friday, April 17, 2009

Augusta Demo and Storage

April 17, 2009 – 12:46 pm
   

The new owner of a small Galleria-area office building directly across the street from the parking garage for San Felipe Plaza plans to tear down the 2-story 1977 structure, which suffered a roof collapse and $2.7 million worth of damage from Hurricane Ike. “[Seller Robert] Clay is under the impression that a self-storage facility will be built there. In fact, four parties interested in buying the site wanted to build development storage units there, he says. [Hasad Development's Sam] Amber, the buyer, has developed several ProGuard Self Storage locations around town. However, a company spokesman in Houston would not comment on future plans for the nearly one-acre site. Based on buyer interest, Clay concludes that, ‘This location is a perfect private mini-storage location.’” [Houston Business Journal]

12:46 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Demolitions, Disaster Aftermath, Land Sales, Neighborhoods: Galleria, New Construction, Quicklink
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Monday, April 13, 2009

Out of Their League: Victory Lakes’ Battle of the Freeway Flank

April 13, 2009 – 4:00 pm

Some residents of 9-year-old Victory Lakes have been demonstrating against a La Quinta Inn proposed for the commercial strip that separates the recent master-planned community from the Gulf Freeway in League City, reports Rhiannon Meyers in the Galveston County Daily News:

[Developer Roy] Mease turned what was supposed to be an upscale suburb and high-end offices into a hub for big box retailers, fast food restaurants and hotels, Victory Lakes residents claimed.

“I’m opposed to these hotels,” resident John Calebrese said. “It’s just another step in the wrong direction of the promises made to the original homeowners of Victory Lakes … (The subdivision) is nothing like what was promised.”

But Mease said the subdivision, with its 14 big box retailers, brings in an “ungodly amount” of sales tax revenue for League City. There is no reason to oppose a hotel plotted for land far away from any Victory Lakes homes, he said.

A Hampton Inn and Candlewood Suites are already under construction. What’s wrong with La Quinta?

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4:00 pm | 14 Comments | Read more about Hotels, Neighborhoods: League City, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Sprawl
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Friday, April 3, 2009

Out in Discount Land

April 3, 2009 – 12:16 pm
   

Former Halliburton unit PathFinder Energy Services, now a part of Smith International, is building a new $20-million, 225,000-sq.-ft. tilt-up campus on 25 acres in Katy. “The center will be located near the northwest corner of Colonial Parkway and the Grand Parkway, next to the highly visible, 800,000-square-foot 99 Cents Only warehouse along Interstate 10. PathFinder’s site is across I-10 from where Houston-based KBR Inc. planned to build 900,000 square feet of office space to house most of its 4,500 local employees. The KBR project, which would have extended the Energy Corridor farther west, has been put on hold for economic reasons. PathFinder intends to consolidate hundreds of employees from four buildings it leases in Northwest Houston into the Katy-area site, which was acquired in December 2007 from an Interfin Cos. partnership.” [Houston Business Journal]

12:16 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Industrial Properties, Katy, New Construction, Quicklink
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Thursday, March 19, 2009

More AIG Bonus Photos: Right Back Atcha!

March 19, 2009 – 1:38 pm

The fog cuts both ways: Reader Stephen Cullar-Ledford sends in this view looking back at Downtown, taken from the AIG American General building on Allen Parkway yesterday morning.

. . . Along with yet another economy/fog/building metaphor, ripe for the captioning:

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1:38 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Economic Conditions, Highrises, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Neighborhoods: Memorial Heights, Neighborhoods: Montrose, New Construction, Office Buildings
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West Ave School of Loud but Muffled Knocks

March 19, 2009 – 12:39 pm

The River Oaks Examiner’s Cynthia Lescalleet says her recent tour of West Ave at the corner of Kirby and Westheimer “felt a bit like a campus visit for a really, really, ritzy college.” But wait, there’s more:

Rising seven-stories, West Ave. is hard to miss. The project by Gables Urban is massive and ambitious, and that’s only the first phase. The two-acre lot behind it, now used as a construction staging area, will be Phase II. Some day. It may spend the interim as overflow parking.

Further details about that Upper Kirby campus:

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12:39 pm | 22 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Upper Kirby, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Retail
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