Buying and Selling

Buying and Selling
11/12/08 9:43am

Park Memorial: Just Sitting There

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Hazards, Rice Military
12 Comments

Walkway at Park Memorial Condominiums, Rice Military, Houston

All the residents have moved out, the court battle’s been lost, and the homeowners of the Park Memorial condo complex on Memorial Dr. at Detering are just waiting for a “secret” buyer, KPRC’s Ryan Korsgard reports:

The homeowners continue to pay mortgages, property taxes and association dues, plus pay for a new place to live. The city first posted notices over the summer for structural problems. Owners protested and went to court, but a judge sided with the city.

“The ruling by the courts basically reaffirmed the position the city had in regards to the safety and well-being of the tenants of this townhome,” Houston Public Works Department spokesman Alvin Wright said.

The city said it is illegal to stay without power or water.

Photos of Park Memorial Condominiums: HAR

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Buying and Selling
11/11/08 9:03am

Bill Heard Bid Heard

by
Quicklink, Retail, Sugar Land
8 Comments

BILL HEARD BID HEARD The Sugar Land location of bankrupted Bill Heard Chevrolet has a new owner. And the new place is gonna be . . . a car dealership! “[Jean] Durdin, who owns Parkway Chevrolet in northwest metro Houston, outbid fellow Houston dealer Mac Haik for the Heard store in southwest Houston. Durdin added more than $7.7 million to Haik’s original bid to buy the store for $20 million, not including vehicle and parts inventory. Durdin also outbid two other competitors, but [turnaround consultant Fred] Caruso declined to name them.” [Automotive News, via Swamplot inbox; previously]

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Buying and Selling
11/03/08 1:26pm

Dressed Up, Only To Get Messed Up: Is There a Word for It?

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Demolitions, Real Estate Marketing, Renovations
3 Comments

2524 McLendon St., Houston

Inspired by the not-so-unusual tale of the house at 2524 McLendon St. in Brentwood (which was apparently renovated, sold, and then demolished just last month), commenter Jimbo posted this challenge to Swamplot readers — which has so far gone unanswered:

Is there a suitable adjective for the activity of renovating a house to flip only to have the new owner demo it immediately?

An adjective? We’d settle for a noun.

It’s not Sisyphean because I’m sure they made money but there must be some fancy Greek mythology parallel for it.

Yeah, try Greek — or maybe Aztec . . . or some term from the mortuary business, or . . . Ayn Rand?

Photo of 2524 McClendon St.: HAR

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Buying and Selling
10/16/08 12:39pm

A Very Long Look at the Jim West Mansion

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Clear Lake, Historic Preservation
5 Comments

One more reason to get excited about the possibility of another Depression: It could save the Jim West Mansion in Clear Lake!

Two years ago, a real-estate company controlled by former Houston Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon bought the mansion with plans to subdivide its 41 acres for sale to developers. At one point, the mansion seemed about to be razed. At another, it seemed likely to become the centerpiece of a luxury complex for retirees.

But as of yet, no deal has solidified. And that’s where [Clear Lake schoolteacher Linda] Sansing finds a strange upside to talk of a new Depression: With credit tight, it seems unlikely that a for-profit developer will swoop in.

Great! But . . . will that make raising money for preservationists to buy the property any easier?

Linda Sansing’s nonprofit group, Preserved in Time, aims to raise $100,000 in earnest money, so it can make an offer on the mansion and some of its grounds. She figures that, ultimately, the group will need $11 million to buy the mansion and some of its land. Some of that money could come from opening the mansion to the pubic for rentals and tours. Some could come from grants. But she knows she has a long way to go.

Video: Preserved in Time

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Buying and Selling
10/14/08 3:29pm

Ready for the Open Seats

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Quicklink, Real Estate Agents
No Comments

READY FOR THE OPEN SEATS A reader reports that broker-agent Bill Baldwin is buying Karen Derr & Associates Realty. Owner Karen Derr has announced she’ll be running for Houston City Council in District H in an upcoming special election. Of course, the current occupant of that seat, Adrian Garcia, will need to cooperate by winning his race for Harris County Sheriff first. [Swamplot inbox]

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Buying and Selling
09/29/08 11:13am

Wachovia Damage: Just Enough for the Citi

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Retail, West University
No Comments

Wachovia Sign after Hurricane Ike, Kirby Dr., Houston

No need to remake this hurricane-battered sign after all! Wachovia Bank‘s retail operations are being bought by Citigroup, ahead of any FDIC action. Which means all 30 or so Houston-area Wachovia retail locations will become Citibanks before the year is out.

Photo of Wachovia Bank branch on Kirby Dr.: Swamplot Inbox

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Buying and Selling
09/25/08 7:37pm

All Those Washington Mutual Branches Now Belong to JPMorgan Chase

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Retail
2 Comments

Washington Mutual Bank Branch in Pasadena, Texas

Whoo hoo! Some bank-breaking news:

The exact structure of J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of WaMu’s deposits wasn’t immediately known, except that the New York bank, which has long coveted WaMu as a way to secure a footprint on the West Coast, will assume most of the thrift’s deposits and branches, as well as some other operations. Unlike many of the 12 bank failures that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has overseen this year, the J.P. Morgan-WaMu transaction isn’t expected to impact the agency’s national deposit-insurance fund.

Photo: Flickr user mlsnp

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Buying and Selling
09/12/08 3:02pm

Helpful Hints for Hurricane Ike Home Sellers

by
Hazards, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing
1 Comment

HELPFUL HINTS FOR HURRICANE IKE HOME SELLERS A special notice on the HAR home page: “As Hurricane Ike advances toward the greater Houston area, the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) urges homeowners to remove or secure all objects outside their homes that could become deadly projectiles in high winds. This should not be limited to patio furniture, barbeque grills and other large pieces, but include yard signs promoting home sales, contractor services, home security services and other messages.” Well sure, but won’t that make househunting a little difficult this weekend? [HAR]

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Buying and Selling
09/11/08 7:31am

Greenway Plaza: Not Going Down Easy, Up for Sale

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Commercial Real Estate, Greenway Plaza, Office Buildings
No Comments

Greenway Plaza, Houston

Morgan Stanley, having swallowed Crescent Real Estate Equities near the peak of the market last year, is having a little trouble digesting the REIT.

The Wall St. Journal reports that one of the Crescent properties Morgan Stanley is ready to spit out is . . . Greenway Plaza. An article by reporters Lingling Wei and Aaron Lucchetti finds a July estimate of $826 million for the 10-building complex.

Photo: Flickr user ShinyCrazyDiamond

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Buying and Selling
09/09/08 9:03am

Royce, Centex, and Roadkill: Touring New Construction in Katy

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Development Strategy, Homebuilders, Homes for Sale, Katy, Morton Ranch, New Construction: Residential, Real Estate Marketing
2 Comments

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pf-c5jVm1g 400 330]

Pay no attention to that dying possum by the side of the road! Lou Minatti takes a bike ride through a neighborhood of new Royce and Centex homes in Katy and finds lots of building going on — and plenty of “sold” signs!!! But . . . is anybody actually living here? And uh, some of those signs look awfully familiar — from a ride through this same area back in May.

After the jump: some of the same scenes, 4 months ago!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Buying and Selling
09/08/08 11:23am

The Solar Powered Shipping Container Sales Center for the Mirabeau B.

by
Condos, Construction Materials, Development Strategy, Environmental, Green Design and Development, Homes for Sale, Hyde Park, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing
3 Comments

Mirabeau B. Sales Center, 2410 Waugh, Hyde Park, Montrose, Houston

The new sales center for the Mirabeau B. is looking pre-fab! Now at the northwest corner of Hyde Park and Waugh: two 20-ft. recycled shipping containers, outfitted with a solar array on a digitally fabricated rack. The website for Metalab, the architecture firm in charge of the project, claims the solar panels will generate 180 kilowatt hours per month. What’s that figure converted to condo sales?

Oh, but selling condos is apparently only this structure’s day job for now:

Solar panels on the roof can fold shut at night or during bad weather, said Andrew Vrana from Metalab.

“We would like to further develop this as a solution,” he said. “People could have one of these made and put in their backyard and supplement their energy with solar power.”

Below: more pics!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Apartments
09/08/08 9:49am

The Michael B. Smuck Apartment Flips Begin

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Buying and Selling, Foreclosures, Glencairn, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing
3 Comments

THE MICHAEL B. SMUCK APARTMENT FLIPS BEGIN Triumph Land & Capital Management, the company that bought two other former Smucked apartment complexes, has already flipped a third: “‘The seller had bought the loan on Village at Loch Katrine, then foreclosed on it, then sold the property,’ says Russell D. Jones, vice president of Apartment Realty Advisors in Houston. He says Andrew Chong had signed the purchase agreement before Triumph Land & Capital foreclosed on the loan. Although Jones kept mum about the price, area sources believe the Village at Loch Katrine, situated at 16545 Loch Katrine Lane, sold for $6.5 million to $7 million.” [Globe St.; previously]

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Apartments
08/27/08 9:32am

The Lodge at Baybrook: Smuck Survivor

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Buying and Selling, Friendswood, Real Estate Investing
7 Comments

The Lodge at Baybrook, 19100 Glenwest Dr., Friendswood, Texas

Another apartment complex rescued from the clutches of famed real-estate investor and apartment-maintenance whiz Michael B. Smuck! This time it’s the Lodge at Baybrook, a 12-building, 322-unit compound on 13.7 acres just behind Baybrook Mall in Friendswood. Globe St.‘s Amy Wolff Sorter reports that Chicago-based Adams LaSalle Realty has bought the complex from Smuck’s bankrupt MBS Properties for “well below” the $28.6 million it first listed for back in 2006.

The Lodge at Baybrook was built just 9 years ago, but apparently there’s plenty of deferred maintenance for the new owners to take care of. No word of any impending name change.

Photo: CBRE

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Buying and Selling
08/19/08 11:40am

Condos Condemned: Park Memorial To Become Parking Garage Memorial

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Condos, Hazards, Rice Military, West End
15 Comments

Park Memorial Condos, 5292 Memorial Dr. at Detering, Rice Military, Houston

Sharp-witted observers, start your metaphors! Residents of the Park Memorial condos — who’ve been racing to sell their condo complex before any of the units start dropping into the parking garage that sits beneath them — have a new problem. City officials, terrified of a not-merely-figurative condo-market collapse, slapped bright orange notices on all the doors of the Memorial Dr. complex yesterday, notifying all 108 residents that they will need to permanently vacate their homes by September 15th.

The order came after a city inspector and an independent inspector both confirmed that the concrete parking garage structure underneath some of the condo units is in immediate danger of collapse. In late July, the city had warned residents that the garage “may experience catastrophic failure at any time.”

After the jump, a couple more photos of the condo campus . . . from the listing for a recent sale.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Buying and Selling
08/15/08 12:13pm

UH Second Life Campus: Much Better Than the First

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Commercial Real Estate, Online Resources, University of Houston
1 Comment

Welcome Center, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston Second Life Campus

The University of Houston is buying an island on Second Life! It’ll be used for the school’s Department of Health and Human Performance and the Texas Obesity Research Center.

Plans call for an interactive campus where students and professors adopt avatars to walk (or fly) around campus or teleport to any number of thousands of other islands.

Virtual doesn’t come cheap. UH paid $1,700 for the island and pays Linden Research another $300 a month in rent.

Not cheap?? You try renting an entire campus for $300 a month. You could hardly get a dorm room for that. But the best thing about UH’s new space is clearly its high quality design.

A virtual architect designed and built the campus as a very, very loose replica of the real thing “with better architecture,” says Associate Professor Brian McFarlin.

After the jump: More views of the beautiful UH-Virtual!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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