Parking

06/29/11 11:52pm

Comment of the Day: Parking Equality

Parking, Quicklink, Streetscapes

27 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: PARKING EQUALITY “Public street Parking Permits should be illegal. The City should not be allowed to give a select few individuals exclusive rights to use public property. Iâ€™m surprised no one has sued the COH over this ridiculous practice. What if a neighborhood group signed a petition to only allow themselves to use the local public park, public pool, or public jogging trail because they were too crowded with â€œoutsidersâ€? Public means public. If you want private use of the street then buy it or build you own. Our taxes pay for all the public streets and all of us should be able to drive or park legally on them whenever we please.” [Jon, commenting on Comment of the Day: Street Parking in the Heights]

Comments, Parking, Streetscapes

06/28/11 11:47pm

Comment of the Day: Street Parking in the Heights

Houston Heights, Parking, Quicklink, Streetscapes

60 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: STREET PARKING IN THE HEIGHTS “West of Studewood in the Heights has a lot of unpermitted off street parking facilities on public right of ways or parking pads on streets without curbs. These are ditches that are covered up with cars parked on them. Heights residents will tell you that you cannot park in front of their houses on their pads. That leaves the houses without parking pads open to all the parking. I forsee lots of problems with residents telling people they cannot park in front of their houses when these new places come in. And yes, I see my neighbors telling people to move their cars every day. The Parking Wars are coming.” [Studes2nd, commenting on More Heights Second Locations: Sonoma Wine Bar Aims for Studewood]

77007, 77008, Comments, Houston Heights, Parking, Streetscapes

06/27/11 4:37pm

Comment of the Day: Houston Restaurants Need That Strip Center Magic

Melrose Place, Parking, Quicklink, Restaurants, Strip Centers

3 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON RESTAURANTS NEED THAT STRIP CENTER MAGIC “Good luck to Triniti, it will need it. Just watching locations across the city for many many years, Iâ€™ve determined that a restaurant has a huge chance of failure when it doesnâ€™t have parking out front. Donâ€™t know if Houstonians just want to see if someplace is crowded â€¦ but thatâ€™s why some places are snakebit.” [CJ Yeoman, commenting on Swamplot Street Sleuths: Whiff!]

77098, Comments, Melrose Place, Parking, Restaurants, Strip Centers

06/27/11 10:45am

American General Clamps Down on Wayward Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot Action

Parking, Retail, Streets, Traffic

25 Comments

As of Friday evening, new we’re-gonna-tow-you-if-you-park-here signs have been installed along D’Amico St. just north of the new Waugh Dr. Whole Foods Market, reports the Swamplot correspondent who’s been monitoring the parking situation there — and taking in the scene at the new store: “I think the traffic and mass crowds might be worth it,” was the first conclusion, even before the clampdown. These photos, showing the new signs and an American General security detail along D’Amico just west of the office complex parking garage, were taken on a later visit Saturday morning after a follow-up shopping expedition — where our correspondent happily scored 50 bucks’ worth of soda and candy.

Previously on Swamplot: Later on Opening Day: Whole Foods Montrose Afternoon Parking Report

Photos: Swamplot inbox

77019, Grocery Stores, North Montrose, Parking, Retail, Streets, Traffic

06/22/11 7:15pm

Later on Opening Day: Whole Foods Montrose Afternoon Parking Report

Openings and Closings, Parking, Retail, Streets, Traffic

18 Comments

“I don’t know about the Whole Foods parking lot,” writes a Swamplot reader, “but it’s certainly getting real on D’Amico!” Here’s a photo sent in with that report, taken just past the American General Center garage north of the new store on D’Amico St., shortly after 4 pm. But there was plenty of neighborhood-street spillover earlier, too: “Around lunch time, if there was a curb there was a car . . . on both sides along D’Amico, bumper to bumper from the light to just under the garage.” How long will this sort of thing keep up? Our tipster imagines AIG American General will soon put out no-parking signs “along any parts of the street that is their property, such as along the entrance to a parking lot across from whole foods and by the garage. Other areas on the campus have no parking signs where people tend to stop. I know you can’t park within a certain distance to a stop sign, does the same apply to stop lights? If so, some people risked a ticket just to get some groceries! It would be cheaper to pay for parking in the AIG lot or the garage visitor parking.” And no rush, folks. Those free chicken breast coupons are good until next Tuesday.

Previously on Swamplot: Opening Day: Itâ€™s Getting Real Crowded at the Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot, Beer, Wine, Art, and BBQ on Tap: Hereâ€™s Your New Whole Foods Market, Montrose, This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend,

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77019, Grocery Stores, North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Parking, Retail, Streets, Traffic

06/22/11 11:11am

Opening Day: It’s Getting Real Crowded at the Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot

Openings and Closings, Parking, Retail

18 Comments

I’ve been waiting here like 10 minutes, man! No, no no . . . this is my parking space man. Just like the video already? “Despite all that concrete, there is not a single space available as I look out the window,” reports a reader who’s been monitoring today’s grand opening of the new Whole Foods Market on West Dallas and Waugh from an office window high above — and has already started grumbling about the potential evening traffic: “The parking lot has been full all morning.” This photo was snapped around 10:15.

Previously on Swamplot: Beer, Wine, Art, and BBQ on Tap: Hereâ€™s Your New Whole Foods Market, Montrose, This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend, North Montrose Whole Foodsâ€™ Rendezvous with Groceries, Austin Powers the New North Montrose Whole Foods, The New Whole Foods at West Dallas and Waugh, Whole Foods Galleria and North Montrose: Still on Track, In and Around the New North Montrose Whole Foods, A Few Signs the Montrose Whole Foods Market Is On Its Way

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77019, Grocery Stores, North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Parking, Parking-Lots, Retail

06/16/11 2:41pm

This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend

Openings and Closings, Parking, Retail

11 Comments

Okay, okay! It ain’t exactly here, but y’all want to see this, so here ya go. North Montrose’s little bit in this game doesn’t open until . . . this weekend.

Previously on Swamplot: North Montrose Whole Foodsâ€™ Rendezvous with Groceries, Austin Powers the New North Montrose Whole Foods, The New Whole Foods at West Dallas and Waugh, Whole Foods Galleria and North Montrose: Still on Track, In and Around the New North Montrose Whole Foods, A Few Signs the Montrose Whole Foods Market Is On Its Way

Video: Fog and Smog Films

77019, Grocery Stores, North Montrose, Openings and Closings, Parking-Lots, Retail

Demolitions

05/06/11 1:29pm

H-E-B’s Quick Buffalo Grille Breakfast

Parking, Retail, West University

4 Comments

From reader Josh Burdick come these graphic images from this morning’s speedy takedown of the Buffalo Grille — the last remaining portion of the shopping center that stood at the corner of Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway before the H-E-B Buffalo Market took it over. Can H-E-B chew up this breakfast spot and spit out a few more parking spots for grocery shoppers fast enough? A bit more of Burdick’s bite-by-bite coverage:

77005, Demolitions, Parking, Retail, West University

Parking

05/03/11 7:28pm

You Oughtta Park in Pictures

Quicklink

26 Comments

YOU OUGHTTA PARK IN PICTURES Do you like to park illegally in handicapped spaces? Have you always wanted to appear in a commercial? If you work it right, Wednesday could be your lucky day! Richard Connelly reports that a video crew from the city’s municipal channel plans to follow parking-enforcement officers around Houston tomorrow as they “stake out some of the handicapped spaces that are frequently used illegally.” The channel plans to use footage from the first parking scofflaw they find in a new public service announcement, warning people — that’s right — not to park in designated handicapped spaces illegally. And you could be featured! Special bonus: You’ll also be the first-ever recipient of the new increased fine they’re handing out for this little parking technique. It’s now $500, up from $205, effective today. [Hair Balls] Photo: Flickr user dswagner

Crime, Parking

Development Regulations

11/17/10 1:04pm

Was It All Just a Dream? Montrose’s MuffinMan Packs It In

East Montrose, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Parking, Restaurants

16 Comments

“Sometimes I look back and wonder WHAT WAS I THINKING,” writes Jason Perry in a press release he sent to local media outlets announcing the closure of his late-night and after-hours establishment near Montrose and Fairview — and its coming reincarnation as a perhaps quainter little bistro. “Did I really open a penis shaped muffin restaurant, did I really spend more than half of a million dollars on a restaurant that promised to toss peoples salad[?]â€

Housed in a 1940 foursquare at 2310 Converse St., the MuffinMan, which opened only a few months ago, actually promised customers a bit more than that. Perry’s possibly NSFW farewell-to-muffins press release explains it best:

77006, Development Regulations, East Montrose, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Parking, Restaurants, Signs

11/10/10 3:46pm

Comment of the Day: The Shopping Center with the Most Parking Spaces Wins!

Parking, Quicklink, Shopping Centers

13 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE SHOPPING CENTER WITH THE MOST PARKING SPACES WINS! “Reducing the number of parking spaces at this store would not encourage people to walk to get their weekly grocery shopping, it would just encourage them to drive to a different store.” [Jimbo, commenting on What the New Montrose H-E-B Is Gonna Look Like]

Comments, Parking, Shopping Centers

Institutional Buildings

10/28/10 2:12pm

Two New Towers for the Harris County Hospital District

Kashmere Gardens, Medical Buildings, New Construction, Parking, Texas Medical Center

No Comments

Budget considerations ended up cutting the number of floors in the new ambulatory care center the Harris County Hospital District is about to build at its LBJ General Hospital campus north of 610, but the district is still calling the planned 3-story building a tower. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Ambulatory Care Tower (the low building shown in the center of the rendering above), a single-story connecting building that will link it to the existing hospital, and a similarly towering 3-story parking garage took place yesterday at 5656 Kelley St. on land owned by the district, portions of it the site of condemned housing lots.

Also claiming tower status, but with the extra credentials of 2 additional floors (with what looks like a little elevator cap at one end for good measure): the separate Ambulatory Care Tower the district is building on a former surface parking lot next to the hospital administration building at 2525 Holly Hall west of Almeda, closer to the Texas Medical Center. That building (pictured below) will house specialty clinics now located at Ben Taub as well as a radiation therapy center. A new 9-level parking garage serving both buildings opened last month:

77026, 77054, Hospitals, Institutional Buildings, Kashmere Gardens, Medical Buildings, New Construction, Parking-Garages, Towers

Galleria

10/13/10 1:08pm

The Latest Version of the Galleria Whole Foods Market

Parking, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail

11 Comments

That’s 3-and-a-half levels of parking artfully hidden behind the extended forehead of the new Galleria Whole Foods Market in this latest rendering being waved by the developers of Blvd Place. Also obfuscated: your view of that little mustache of strip-mall-valet-style parking in front, behind those hedges facing Post Oak. But most Whole Foods shoppers will be parking in a separate 300-car underground garage, and will feed into the store on a moving sidewalk. The parking levels above are meant to serve an additional 140,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurants, and office space Wulfe and Co. is hoping to fill in this portion of its scaled-down redevelopment project. But so far no leases have been signed, reports the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff.

This Whole Foods has now been marked back up to 48,500 sq. ft. — about 25 percent larger than the chain’s Kirby location, but down from the 78,000 sq. ft. originally announced 4 years ago. The latest construction start date: next summer.

Plan for new Whole Foods takes shape [Houston Chronicle]
Blvd Place coverage [Swamplot]
Previously on Swamplot: Taking a Bite out of Whole Foods, Whole Foods Galleria and North Montrose: Still on Track, Galleria Whole Foods Parking Puzzle Solved, The Sleek Strip, the Ritz Tower, and the Path to Whole Foods: A Closer Look at Boulevard Place, Uptown Whole Foods: Still on Track, Apparently, Is Whole Foods Coming to Boulevard Place . . . or Not?

Rendering: Wulfe & Co.

77056, BLVD Place, Grocery Stores, Mixed Use, Parking, Parking-Garages, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Whole Foods

Commercial Real Estate

09/23/10 1:02pm

Old Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel To Be Torn Down for the Views and Parking Spots

Demolitions, Downtown, Hotels, Office Buildings, Parking

43 Comments

Brookfield Office Properties announced giddily yesterday that the real-estate company has bought the 28-story long-vacant former Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel at 711 Polk St. Downtown — just so it can tear the property down. The once-swank hotel achieved a small measure of fame as the Beatles’ Houston crashpad . . . and was also apparently graced with an overnight stay by Kennedy avenger Jack Ruby. But the building has sat vacant for the last 24 years. Brookfield owns the 35-story office building directly to the northeast (at 1201 Louisiana), which has long offered tenants closeup views of the decaying structure. But it looks like only the building’s underground features will remain:

“Our tenants in Total Plaza will experience views of downtown that they never had before,” announced Brookfield’s Paul Layne, “and access to three levels of below-grade parking.” The company says it has no particular plans for further development of the site once the building is demolished.

In 2007, Omni Hotels and an Atlanta company called Songy Partners announced plans to create an all-suites hotel in the structure, which had been cleared of asbestos in the late nineties. The development was meant to include meeting space, restaurants, and a wellness and fitness center. But the project stalled. More recently, the property was put on the market for more than $8 million.

A few scenes from the hotel’s earlier days: