New Construction

Featured Posts
08/16/16 10:15am

Used Car Vending Machine Germinates in Former Big Tex Nursery Lot

by
Memorial, New Construction
8 Comments

Carvana, 10939 Katy Fwy., Memorial, Houston, 77079

The frame of the octagon-footed tower now rising at 10939 Katy Fwy. suggests that Carvana’s first Houston used vehicle vending machine may be a few stories taller than the 5-story Nashville machine that opened last year (the one featured dispensing a car in the mostly-online company’s noisy promotional video). Reader Tyler Battenfield sends the rainy day update above, showing the tower rising in place next to a more down-to-earth part of the structure, as shown in the construction plan preview that made its way to Swamplot back in early March:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Katy Fwy. Auto Auto Dealership
, , , ,
Featured Posts
05/24/16 12:30pm

Former Medical Inn & Suites Site Now Being Revived After Momentary Flatline Across from NRG Stadium

by
New Construction, Reliant Park
5 Comments

9000 Main St., Reliant, Houston, 77025

That’s 5 stories of sticks now stacked up at 9000 Main St., the triangular former site of the Medical Inn & Suites complex that met its unmaker late last year. The property was bought in 2013 by an entity named Shree Shriji LLC, which shares an address with the Days Inn & Suites near Hobby Airport at 9114 Airport Blvd. The land sits a half block north of Broadmead Dr., directly across Main from Superbowl-prepping NRG Park’s parking lot (the one spanning between Murworth Dr. and McNee Rd.).

The land wasn’t empty for long following deconstructive operations — but another reader did manage to snap a view of the property back in January, when the freshly emptied spot provided a clear view all the way to the since-sold land 2 parcels north, where Regency Car Wash holds soapy court:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

More Rooms on Main St.
, , ,
Featured Posts
05/04/16 10:30am

Green Card-Funded Ivy District Now Germinating Along 288 on Formerly Presidential WaterLights Site

by
New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Pearland, Proposed Developments
1 Comment

Plan for Ivy District, Pearland, TX, 77583

Ralph Bivins tells Swamplot that lots of dirt is being shoved around on the foreclosed former site of the WaterLights District project, west of 288 and just south of the Beltway where all those heads of former heads of state used to hang out. Pearland’s Ivy District is now being planted on the site instead: plans for the $300-million development include a multifamily complex, condos, a senior living community, townhomes, office buildings, and room for retail.

Part of the project’s funding will come from the EB-5 visa program, which allows wealthy foreigners and their immediate families to immigrate to the US in exchange for a necessary investment expected to create at least 10 jobs. Sueba USA and Beijing-owned American Modern Green are developing the site; American Modern’s parent company Modern Land of China has worked on projects in China (including Steve Holl’s twisty Linked Hybrid in Beijing) and Vancouver, but the Ivy District is its first US venture.

American Modern Green bought the land straddling the Harris-Brazoria county line back in late 2012 following the 2010 foreclosure. Here’s the breakdown of what will go where, per the current plans on the Ivy District’s website:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Planting in Pearland
, , , , , , ,
Downtown
03/02/16 10:15am

Scenes from the Set of HSPVA’s Upcoming Downtown Campus, Now In Progress

by
New Construction, Redevelopment
11 Comments

New HSPVA Building at Austin St. and Texas Ave., Downtown, Houston, 77002

The first act of construction of the new downtown facilities for the High School for Performing and Visual Arts featured an extended solo by a lone excavator supported by a small cluster of white vehicles, per photos of the site released yesterday. Work on the former parking lot bounded by Austin, Capitol, Caroline, and Rusk streets got the go-ahead in late February now that some budget issues are settled, according to HISD.

Here’s a ground-level shot that introduces a few more characters to the production — in this scene, the Excavator meets with the Man in Yellow, as a Blue Semi observes in stony silence:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Encore on Austin St.
, , , , , , , ,
Featured Posts
02/22/16 10:30am

Former Bakery Razed as Jefferson Davis Claims New Territory in Northside

by
New Construction, Northside, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Restaurants
5 Comments

Houston Bakery & Cafe, 1035 Quitman St., Northside, Houston, 77009

The past caught up with Houston Cafe & Bakery’s former location at the corner of Tackaberry and Quitman streets last week. The Mexican cafe and panaderia departed to a more northern, more strip-center location at 2435 Fulton St. back in 2015, when Houston ISD bought the Quitman property. A demo permit for the site was issued last Thursday, and by Friday the scene above was already playing out.

Across Tackaberry, soon-t0-be-renamed Jefferson Davis High School is in the early stages of a redo that will upgrade its 1926 building and add some new facilities for the school’s culinary arts and hotel management specialization. Finalized designs from Bay-IBI aren’t out yet, but a community meeting is planned for Thursday of this week, and demo work on some nearby houses has already been going on to make room for expansion.

Here’s a peek at a preliminary site plan from back in 2014, which shows the campus expanding across Tackaberry all the way to Fulton St.:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Tackaberry Takeout
, , , , , , , , , ,
Featured Posts
02/18/16 1:15pm

New Seafarers International Union Hall Laying Foundations on Former Second Ward Cement Facility

by
New Construction, Office Buildings, Second Ward
6 Comments

Future Seafarers International Union Hall, 501 N. York St., Second Ward, Houston, 77003

A reader shipped over these shots of the new Seafarers International Union Hall under construction at 501 N. York St., just south of the crossing of Buffalo Bayou (and of the name change to Hirsch Rd.). An entity called Seafarer’s Building Corporation bought the land from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership in March of last year; the bayou folks snagged it in 2001 from construction materials producer Lafarge, which acquired it as a General Portland cement facility in 1989. The property sits a block down N. York from bayou-side Tony Marron Park, itself immediately upstream of the Dan-Loc Group machining plant.

A close-up of the rendering posted at the job site at the corner with Freund St. shows an access ramp stretching along the N. York side of the property, as well as what appears to be a partially covered upstairs patio:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Coming Together on N. York St.
, , , ,
Featured Posts
02/04/16 4:30pm

What’s Sprouting in the University of St. Thomas’s Former Sports Fields on Yoakum Blvd.

by
New Construction, Schools, University of St. Thomas
8 Comments

Center for Science and Health Professions, University of St. Thomas, 3800 Montrose Blvd, Houston, 77006

Center for Science and Health Professions, University of St. Thomas, 3800 Montrose Blvd, Houston, 77006

Here’s a peek from Colquitt St. at the early stages of the new science and healthcare center shooting up where the University of St. Thomas’s athletics fields used to be. Construction kicked off back in November, and at least part of the complex is expected to be ready for action some time in 2017. First off the line in Phase I should be the nursing school, along with the biology and chemistry departments.

No signs yet on the site of the winding astronomy tower that appears to be floating up through a hole in the trellis canopy enclosing the complex’s central courtyard, in the renderings from EYP. The planned tower would send students spiraling up above the center’s roof to an astronomy observation deck. The glassy base of the structure is shown hovering above a water feature:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

To Astronomical Heights
, , , ,
Demolitions
01/25/16 5:00pm

Excavator Glimpsed at Wright-Bembry Park by Night

by
New Construction, Parks, Renovations, Shady Acres
1 Comment

Wright-Bembry Park, W. 23rd St., Shady Acres, Houston, 77008

This after-dark snapshot of a lone excavator hunched atop a pile of its own debris comes from Wright-Bembry Park last Friday — tear-up work at the Shady Acres greenspace, located between W. 23rd and W. 24th Sts. west of Durham Dr., began last Monday, according to a reader’s report. The work is part of a redo of the entire park, as shown in the plan below (oriented with west at the top of the frame):

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Shady Acres
, , , , , ,
Braeswood Place
01/21/16 4:45pm

Starbucks Brewing at Former Gas Station Site on Brays Bayou

by
Meyerland Plaza, New Construction, Restaurants, Retail
11 Comments

Future Site of Starbucks, 4660 N. Braeswood Dr., Braeswood Place, Houston, 77096

A pile of dirt is heaped up at the northeast corner of N. Braeswood Blvd and the West Loop feeder road this afternoon, next to a sign announcing the upcoming arrival of a Starbucks to the site. The lot held a Citgo station before demolition in mid-2013; a reader notes that construction crews have been poking around at the site for at least the past 3 weeks.

The blocky facade of the Halstead apartment complex can been seen in the background of the above snapshot — down the street to the east, the Halstead and next-door Meritage complex are slowly being joined by a midrise residential development going up at the corner of N. Braeswood and Frankway. East of that is a Proguard Storage facility and the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Coffee on 610
, , , , , , , , ,
Featured Posts
01/21/16 10:00am

An Early Peek at the Galleria’s New Saks Fifth Avenue Space and the Restaurant Inside

by
Galleria, Interiors, New Construction, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
12 Comments

51Fifteen, 5115 Westheimer, Galleria, Houston, 77056

While you’re waiting for that Galleria redo to wrap up, renderings have been released of the new home of 51Fifteen, the upscale bistro tucked into the existing Saks Fifth Avenue location along with its sister bar Bar 12 (currently located “amidst the men’s fashion selections”). The restaurant will follow Saks 5th Avenue to its new home, landing in its own swanky new space designed by the Contour Interior Design folks. The restaurant’s website is now booking events at the new location for dates as soon as April 2016.

Here’s a rendering from Beck Architecture of the new Saks building’s boxy exterior, slated for the spot where the Galleria III used to be:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

51Fifteen at 5115
, , , , ,
Bars and Clubs
01/14/16 10:15am

Not-on-Kirby Kirby Ice House Gets the Blues between Richmond Ave and W. Alabama

by
Homeowners' Associations, New Construction, Upper Kirby
10 Comments

Construction of Kirby Ice House at 3333 Eastside St., Upper Kirby, Houston, 77098

Down the street from Lamar High School, the would-have-been-Little-Woodrow’s now going instead by Kirby Ice House (“A Neighborhood Pearl”) is setting up shop at 3333 Eastside St., between the parking lot used for the weekly Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market and the Bammel Park townhomes. A post to the establishment’s Facebook page earlier this week shows that the under-construction building has just finished turning an icy blue, and the accompanying caption says that work is moving into “the detail phase”.

The bar’s across-the-street neighbors include nonprofit women’s career services center Dress for Success and the main building of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston — both groups expressed concern about the bar’s location in 2014 after the president of the Bammel Park Homeowner’s Association sounded a neighborhood-wide email alarm. Dress for Success filed a protest of the ice house’s TABC license that July; the license was issued in December of that same year.

A rendering of the building’s exterior shows the ice house standing next to a townhouse-free field:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Ice on Upper Kirby
, , , , ,
New Construction
12/29/15 12:00pm

Farm-Themed Planned Community Ripening along the Western Grand Parkway

by
New Construction: Residential, Pecan Grove, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
1 Comment

FARM-THEMED PLANNED COMMUNITY RIPENING ALONG THE WESTERN GRAND PARKWAY HousHarvest Green, 618 Vineyard, Bluff Hollow Ct, Richmond, TX 77469ton’s first farm-centric master-planned community is moving forward on the Grand Parkway along Oyster Creek in Richmond, writes Paul Takahashi of the HBJ. The Harvest Green residential community will be structured around working farms and themed accordingly throughout: in addition to opting for a backyard planter (available in L-shaped or rectangular), residents can elect to work a plot in a 5-acre community garden, part of the 300 acres of farmable land that will be associated with the development. Not sure what to do with a backhoe? An on-site farmer will offer classes in both agriculture and nutrition. Those less keen to get their hands in the dirt will be able to visit the farm-to-table restaurant instead — or simply partake of the edible landscaping. Johnson Development has recently opened model homes at the site, and is currently constructing non-model homes as well. [HBJ] Photo: Johnson Development  

, , , , ,
Apartments
12/28/15 10:00am

Inside the Fully Extended Elan Heights Midrise on White Oak Bayou at Taylor St.

by
Interiors, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Woodland Heights
21 Comments

Elan Heights Apartments, 825 Usener, Woodland Heights, Houston, 77009

Just in time for the holiday season, the residential floors of the Elan Heights midrise apartments (officially located at 825 Usener St.) have been packaged up in a shiny new layer of building wrap. A sign outside the construction site announces an early 2016 opening for the 327-unit complex, nestled in next to Mango Beach snowcone shop and Little Buddy gas station and convenience store on White Oak Dr. (bottom left in the aerial photo below):

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Wrapping Up in Woodland Heights
, , , ,
Featured Posts
12/22/15 3:45pm

Checking In at Newly Upgraded (and Once-Again International) Hobby Airport

by
Glenbrook Valley, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Parking, Redevelopment
5 Comments

Hobby Airport New Parking Garage, 7800 Airport Blvd, Houston, TX 77061

Direct flights to Cuba from the US are back on the table (probably, eventually) per last week’s agreement between Havana and the State Department — and whenever that happens, Southwest Airlines is looking to get in on the action from its newly-minted international concourse at Hobby Airport. The concourse has been launching passengers to Central America and the Caribbean since its mid-October opening, which marked the airport’s return to the international game for the first time since IAH opened in 1969.

Other major additions to Hobby include a 3,000-spot parking garage (shown above) still partially under construction on one of the former EcoPark lots, just west of the original garage (now labeled the Red Garage). The new structure (known as the Blue Garage) is rising in phases: Phase I opened just in time for Thanksgiving, and the rest of the structure should be ready to receive rather less anxious travelers some time next year. The pedestrian bridge shown in the photo above connects Level 3 of the new garage to the newly-expanded Terminal area:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Park and Fly
, , ,
Attractions
12/09/15 11:30am

Flying Over the Typhoon Currently Under Construction Next to Katy Mills Mall

by
Katy, New Construction
2 Comments

Typhoon Texas, 555 Katy Fort Bend Rd., Katy, TX, 77450

No need to evacuate the area, but aerial footage from the developers shows the Typhoon Texas waterpark currently brewing at 555 Katy Fort Bend Rd, just south of I-10 on 43 acres of Katy Mills Mall-adjacent land. Ground was broken on August 20, and the park (pictured conceptually above) is slated to make landfall on May 27, just before the start of Atlantic hurricane season.

Aquatic amusements will include a 1,500-ft. lazy river, facilities for slideboarding (which turns going down a waterslide into a competitive sport), facilities for regular sliding, a 48-foot-tall play structure, and a 27,000-sq.-ft. wave pool. (That’s larger than the one at the New Braunfels Schlitterbahn, for those of you keeping score.) Typhoon backers hope that the park will become a regional draw along the lines of the 3 Schlitterbahns, Spring’s Splashtown, and Astroworld (RIP).

This oddly-soothing drone video captures the sense of calm over the developing theme park:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Suburban Hurricane Hunting
, , ,
« Previous Page Next Page »