RADICAL EATS REPLACING LOWER WESTHEIMER’S PULLED-OUT ROOTS 
The Near Northside vegan dive Radical Eats is closing and relocating across town to the recently closed Roots Bistro on Westheimer, reports Gastronaut Katherine Shilcutt. (Roots closed in early June after some bungling of its marquee.) Shilcutt adds that Radical Eats owner Staci Davis sees the move to this less “scruffy” space as a chance expand her menu to include dishes that use meat, cheese, and eggs, a culinary move not without consequence: “She admitted that some of her diehard vegan customers were furious with her decision, even calling in to a radio show she was appearing on as a guest and lambasting her on-air. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, with a rhetorical shoulder shrug.” [Culturemap; Gastronaut; previously on Swamplot] Photo of 507 Westheimer: Allyn West
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: ODE TO THE FAMILY GAS STATION, RECENTLY DEPARTED 
“Yes, it was a sad day. I’ll have a hard time driving down 14th street from now on. I shed a few tears seeing it knocked down. To the [commenter] who suggested it be moved to the park –– it was offered but no takers.
Grandpa’s dad owned the property and grandpa Fred Schauer began running the station when he was a kid (before he was 16 I think). I remember when he got his 50 years Gulf pin. He ran the station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week. But then Gulf stopped delivering to independents who couldn’t support giant tankers and giant loads of gas. That was the beginning of the end. My uncle ran it with some generic gas for a few years after that but the gas market had irrevocably changed.
That station has been closed for many years now and despite the quaint ideas how it might be used (I’ve had a few myself), the business realities today are different. (Just ask the MAM’s ladies what renovations are required for a permanent location for a snowcone shop and you’ll soon understand.)
Both Fred and Hazel have been gone for many years now and the property passed on. This isn’t about greedy real estate developers just realities. Property values soar, taxes soar, maintenance soars, and land use changes. People don’t buy an expensive piece of land to live in a 1100 sf house. The two small adjoining houses will be demolished as well and I’m sure I’ll morbidly drive over to see.
I’m sure the new owners will build a lovely home, and I sincerely hope they’re happy there.” [twyla davis, commenting on The End for the Historic Heights Schauer Filling Station?] Illustration: Lulu
FEDERAL MONEY ROLLS IN FOR UPTOWN’S POST OAK BRT 
One of the last few items on Uptown’s to-do list was crossed off Friday: The Houston-Galveston Area Council voted to allocate about $62 million in federal scratch to help pay for the construction of bus rapid transit along Post Oak Blvd. This money, along with continued revenue from Uptown’s recently enlarged tax zone, will fund the estimated $177 million project that, like light rail, will run 60-ft. buses in dedicated lanes between 2 transit centers. Uptown Management prez John Breeding tells the Highwayman that construction could begin as early as 2015. But one notable dissenter, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, doesn’t seem convinced this whole public-transportation thing is gonna work out: “I am afraid we are going to look up in 10 years and say ‘What did we do that for?’ I think I know Houstonians enough to know they are going to want to drive.” [The Highwayman; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Uptown Management District
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THOSE MCMANSIONS ARE GIVING TIMBERGROVE A NEEDED LIFT “Those pics for the Shirkmere listing show some example samples of McMansions in Timbergrove and the floors appear to all be raised 3-4 feet above grade. I like those simple 50s homes but, considering the flood potential, the raised McMansions are an upgrade of the neighborhood in more ways than 1.” [Dana-X, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Trulley, Madly, Deeply]
AN ONLINE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR HOUSTON’S WOULD-BE PRESERVATIONISTS 
The Planning and Development Department has just launched a website that helps navigate the finicky process of historic preservation. It’s still under construction, of course, but the website works like a manual, explaining, among other things, how to plan a project and obtain those all-important Certificates of Appropriateness. If you’re not into the nuts and bolts of preservation, the website includes a map of the city’s 17 historic districts — including Glenbrook Valley, where this mod at 7919 Glenview was recently restored. Each district is given a little narrative treatment, with drawings of architectural styles and descriptions of pertinent building features included. And if you have no idea what a modillion or a soffit is, there’s even a glossary. [City of Houston Historic Preservation Manual; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Benjamin Hill Photography
SUPER BOWL FEVER SPEEDING UP ASTRODOME DECIDERS 
If it seems kinda arbitrary and sorta abrupt, that June 10 now-or-never deadline for Astrodome ideas that the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation set, it might be because another deadline is looming larger: February 2017, when Reliant Stadium will play host to the Super Bowl. Kiah Collier reports that once the Commissioners Court hears back from the various county agencies asked to study the $194 million plan to convert the Dome into a convention center, a public vote could happen as early as November. Still, that would give the county only 39 months before the big game to execute the conversion that’s estimated to take at least 30. Judge Ed Emmett tells Collier: “If we don’t have it this year [the New Dome Experience] won’t be ready in time for the Final Four and the Super Bowl and I hate to miss those opportunities.” [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: HCSCC
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY, FOLKS, CONDITIONED AIR IS JUST THE BEGINNING! “‘Yes sir, Houston is a city of modernity, a city on the move. (pause for a drag on a cigarette) From the time you arrive at the handsome new air terminal equipped for a new era in transportation, to your check-in at the completely air-conditioned Shamrock, the crown jewel of the southwest, you’ll find that can-do spirit everywhere you look. Cruise along the city’s extensive network of freeways, and, what’s that? (cigarette) It’s the infrastructure that provides — powers not only your vehicle, but the nation –– the largest concentration of chemical production and oil refining anywhere. The heartbeat of the beacon of democracy. And it’s all in Houston, a city on the go. Houston: the city of tomorrow. (cigarette) (Stock production music swells to a triumphant closing fanfare, helicopter shot on the Houston skyline, and scene).'” [MJ, commenting on Comment of the Day Runner-Up: Dropping In on Houston in 1957]
HINES INTERESTED IN BUILDING RESIDENTIAL TOWER ON DOWNTOWN BLOCK NEAR MARKET SQUARE PARK 
Culturemap reports that Hines is under contract to buy up a Downtown block and is planning a residential tower. How big a residential tower? Ralph Bivins doesn’t say. The block is bound by Prairie, Preston, Travis, and Main, catty-corner from Market Square Park; it’s directly across Preston from street artist Gonzo247’s Treebeards mural. It’s unclear from Bivins’s report whether Hines would build on the entire block and tear down the existing buildings — which include Frank’s Pizza and the recently closed Pepper Jack’s (and closed Cabo before that). If it seems as though Hines has been busy of late, it’s because Hines has been busy of late: The developer has also said it’s considering building a 20- or 22-story residential tower next to the Asia Society Texas Center, a 17-story office building off San Felipe, an apartment complex at the old Westheimer Cafe Adobe site, and a 41-story office tower at 609 Main. Update, 2:15 p.m.: A rep from Hines says that, though it’s too early to comment on the details of the proposed “multifamily development,” it would replace only the surface parking lot on the block in question. [Culturemap; Houstonia Magazine; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Market Square Park: Swamplot inbox
FROM NO SUCH HEIGHTS: DOWNTOWN’S NEXT APARTMENT BUILDING TO RISE JUST 5 STORIES 
Developer Alliance Residential has shared with the Houston Chronicle this rendering of the comparatively puny 5-story apartment complex it says it plans to build on the Downtown block bound by Bell, Leeland, Main, and Fannin. That block now is a surface parking lot. The 207 units planned for this complex, if built, might be rather overshadowed by the 30-story Houston House Apartments catty-corner from here and the 24-story SkyHouse that’s under construction just one block to the south. Alliance rep Bart Barrett tells Nancy Sarnoff that construction could begin as early as this fall, once the sale of the property is complete. [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Alliance Residential Company
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY GIVE UP ON TOURISM NOW, WHEN WE’RE SO CLOSE? “The appeal of San Antonio as a tourist destination is completely lost on me. Riverwalk is poorly done and the Alamo doesn’t exist (and is not a point of pride in any case). Do they really get that many tourists who are not there for a convention? I honestly believe that if they turned the Astrodome into an indoor ski center and updated the Spacecenter then that + great food + Schlitterban + Menil + reasonable prices makes Houston worthy of a 1-week family vacation in the summer.” [Patrick, commenting on Comment of the Day: Houston Is Not a Destination]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: DROPPING IN ON HOUSTON IN 1957 “Here’s a film from 1957 I have uploaded to YouTube. Briefly it shows what a trip to Houston is about: Arrive at the airport, stay at the Shamrock, visit the oil industry, leave. That’s certainly what my family did in the ’50s – although we did visit the Zoo!” [Michael Bludworth, commenting on Comment of the Day: Houston Is Not a Destination]
GAINING IN HOUSTON’S GAYBORHOODS 
So home prices are rising in urban areas — no surprise there. But nowhere are those prices rising faster than in so-called “gayborhoods.” That’s according to Jed Kolko, crunching the numbers for Trulia: “Neighborhoods where same-sex male couples account for more than 1% of all households (that’s three times the national average) had price increases, on average, of 13.8%. In neighborhoods where same-sex female couples account for more than 1% of all households, prices increased by 16.5% –– more than one-and-a-half times the national increase.” Prime Property’s Nancy Sarnoff adds that in Houston in Rosedale prices are up 16 percent and 14 percent in Hyde Park, where the 1920s Jackson Blvd. bungalow shown here is for sale for $425,000. [Trulia Trends; Prime Property] Photo of 1223 Jackson: HAR
OLD-SCHOOL CHICKEN WINGS TRYING WHERE CARLOS MENCIA’S MODERN MEX FAILED 
Pluckers Wing Bar will be moving into the vacant building at 1400 Shepherd in the West End, one of the 3 Maggie Rita’s locations that comedian Carlos Mencia and Santiago Moreno decided earlier this year to close. Some attributed Maggie Rita’s struggles to a stated misunderstanding of the tastes of some of its patrons; Moreno told Eater Houston that women care only about margaritas. Meanwhile, this will be the 16th Pluckers — a guy-friendly concept that sticks to sports, beer, and Dr Pepper-flavored chicken. Know thyself, eh? After all, reports Prime Property’s David Kaplan, “Pluckers was started by two University of Texas freshmen in a dorm room.” [Prime Property; Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Panoramio user Wolfgang Houston
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON IS NOT A DESTINATION “The population of Orlando in 1950 was @ 140k. Vegas was @50k. Walt Disney bought up a bunch of cow pastures and swamp land to build Disney World. Vegas was just a place for nuke bomb scientists to live safely away from a-bomb test ranges before Bugsy Siegel showed up and bought desert land that no one wanted to build casinos (dooming Galveston as a gambling venue, ironically). Anyone wanting to build a tourist-worthy venue in Houston will go broke just trying to buy the land. Houston is a great place for visitors. Everyone I have ever hosted had a whale of a time. But, when those folks go home, they don’t tell their friends “you should visit Houston.’ They say ‘if you are ever in Houston, you should . . .'” [Old School, commenting on Comment of the Day: Where To Put a Tourist Gauntlet in Reliant Park]
GIGGLING CO-FOUNDERS OF NATION’S LARGEST PRIVATE PRISON FIRM RECALL HIJINX BEHIND THE CONVERSION OF HOUSTON’S OLYMPIC MOTEL TO IMMIGRANT DETENTION CENTER 
And that motel is still standing, says a rep from Corrections Corporation of America; you can drive by the history yourself at 5714 Werner Rd. — just north, incidentally, of Independence Heights. Of course, the motel doesn’t seem to be taking reservations; the phone has been disconnected. But if you can’t book a room in the building, you can watch these fellas — CCA founders Tom Beasley and Don Hutto — reminisce about it. Though CCA’s practices have been called into question recently by Grassroots Leadership and Hair Balls, you wouldn’t know it from the fondness with which Beasley and Hutto tell the story of flying to Houston on New Year’s Eve in 1982, seeing the motel sign, and fixing up the place for the INS. It was quite a turnaround: Just a few weeks later, on Super Bowl Sunday, Hutto says, the facility was open, processing “87 undocumented aliens” its very first day. You can watch the video here. [Hair Balls; Grassroots Leadership; CCA] Video still: CCA
