Redevelopment

Featured Posts
04/06/15 1:45pm

On Taft St. Near Welch, Where a Utility Pole Can’t Get Out of the Way Fast Enough

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Fourth Ward, New Construction, Redevelopment, Streetscapes, Utilities
4 Comments

Driveway and Utility Pole, 2115 Taft St., Montrose, Houston

A couple of readers have sent in pics of the curious driveway installation at 2115 Taft St. just south of Welch St. just over the eastern border from Montrose, on the former site of the Taft St. Coffee House and Ecclesia Church. The utility pole dates from the lot’s former inhabitants; the courteous flatwork has been built around it for later patching. “In case you are wondering,” writes one of our tipsters, “the space on either side is not wide enough for a car to pass, nor does the driveway go all the way through to the next street.”

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The Townhomes Are Coming
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Featured Posts
04/01/15 4:30pm

Aldi in, Birria de Chiva Out, Baskin-Robbins Safe at the Corner of Beechnut and Bissonnet

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Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Robindell, Shopping Centers
7 Comments

Robindell Shopping Center, 6751 Bissonnet St., Robindell, Houston

Robindell Shopping Center, 6751 Bissonnet St., Robindell, HoustonFor Trudi’s Birria de Chivo and other now-shuttered mainstays of the east corner of Bissonnet and Beechnut in Robindell, just down the road from Bayland Park, it’s all over except the asbestos-clearing and smashing. Going up in place of the 1956 Robindell Shopping Center, according to Sharpstown Civic Association, will be a new Aldi grocery store.

The site plan below for the center at 6751 Bissonnet St. predates the Aldi announcement, but shows a possible arrangement of freefloating buildings to replace the about-to-be-demolished retail row now backing up to Albacore Dr.:

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Robindell Shopping Center Redo
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Avalon Place
03/09/15 1:00pm

These Tall and Upper-Crusty $1.7 Million Pelican Townhome-Style Mansionettes Will Replace the Mimosa Lane Apartments

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New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
10 Comments

Rendering of Mimosa Place, 2415 Mimosa Dr., Avalon Place, Houston

HBJ reporter Paul Takahashi has details on the gated compound of 18 homes Pelican Builders is planning to fit onto the about-an-acre site of the recently vacated Mimosa Lane Apartments and Argonne Forest Apartments at the corner of Mimosa Dr. and Argonne St., behind the Huntingdon condo tower in Avalon Place. And — surprise! — they’ll be very similar to the townhouse-style structures in Pelican’s Bancroft Place compound 2-1/2 miles to the west, which was designed by the same architect, the Hopkins Company.

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Avalon Place
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Apartments
03/04/15 11:45am

Trammell Crow Planning To Plant Another Alexan Apartment Complex on Former Cornelius Nursery Site on Dairy Ashford

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Energy Corridor, Redevelopment
11 Comments

Cornelius Nursery, 1200 N. Dairy Ashford Rd., Energy Corridor, Houston

Remember the Cornelius Nursery at 1200 N. Dairy Ashford Rd. just south of I-10, which closed down at the beginning of the year? (The photos here show the establishment, which sat at the corner of St. Mary’s Ln., just before its final uprooting.) The 3-acre property, it turns out, had been bought by an entity set up by Trammell Crow Residential in early December. A new complex called the Alexan Ashford Apartments is slated for the site. At least that’s the plan.

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Ashes to Ashford
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Apartments
03/02/15 1:15pm

Clearing Out the Greenway Gardens Apartments; Is a New Marquis Coming?

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Demolitions, Greenway Plaza, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
5 Comments

Greenway Gardens Apartments, 3131 Timmons Ln., Greenway Plaza, Houston

Greenway Gardens Apartments, 3131 Timmons Ln., Greenway Plaza, Houston

It sure looks like demolition is a-coming for the Greenway Gardens apartments at 3131 Timmons Ln. near Greenway Plaza. Either that or the 43-year-old 10-building apartment complex is undergoing a rather brutal first phase of a renovation — as portrayed in the photos shown here, which were taken late last week. The 3-story complex sits on 6-and-a-half acres between W. Alabama St. and Richmond Ave.

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Greenway Plaza Demo
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Featured Posts
02/23/15 12:15pm

The Story of Three 5-Story Townhomes on the Site of One Storied Hyde Park Tree

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Hyde Park, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Townhomes, Trees
40 Comments

Sign for Kensington at River Oaks, 1705 Waugh Dr. at Peden, Hyde Park, Montrose, Houston

Former Oak at Future Site of Sign for Kensington at River Oaks, 1705 Waugh Dr. at Peden, Hyde Park, Montrose, Houston

If you’re wondering what horticultural death incident inspired the recent orange graffiti defacing the sign heralding Carnegie Custom Homes‘ townhome project at 1705 Waugh Dr. in Hyde Park (shown in the pic at top), an earlier photo of the site sent to Swamplot (below it) shows the estimated 120-plus-year-old oak tree whose removal sparked a yellow-ribbon-festooning and protest by neighbors back on Pearl Harbor Day. The tree, which stood at the corner of Waugh and Peden, in front of the former Waugh Dr. Baptist Church, was chopped down on December 9th.

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Kensington at River Oaks
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Featured Posts
02/19/15 11:30am

Weingarten: Tearing Down North Shepherd Sears Was Just Our Suggestion to Sears

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Garden Oaks, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Shopping Centers
12 Comments

Proposed Oaks on Shepherd Shopping Center, 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., Independence Heights, Houston

Sears, 4000 N. Shepherd St., Garden Oaks, HoustonA scheme to demolish the 1949 Sears building at 4000 N. Shepherd Dr. and the Pine Forest Business Park behind it and replace it with an “Americana”-themed shopping center headlined by a new Sears store and a supermarket is only part of an unsolicited proposal sent to the national retailer, a representative of Weingarten Realty tells Swamplot. A brochure describing aspects of the proposal, which would replace the Streamline Moderne department store between Garden Oaks and Independence Heights with a higher density shopping center that the body copy implied would be styled in a manner akin to the residential designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, was posted online by the publicly traded REIT earlier this week.

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Oaks on Shepherd
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Featured Posts
02/18/15 1:00pm

Weingarten Wants To Turn Streamline Moderne Sears on North Shepherd Into Prairie Style Shopping Complex

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Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment, Shopping Centers
43 Comments

Proposed Oaks on Shepherd Shopping Center, 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., Independence Heights, Houston

Proposed Oaks on Shepherd Shopping Center, 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., Independence Heights, Houston

Update, 2/19: Weingarten says the brochure was a “vision book” that was released to the public in error.

“The time is right for redevelopment” of the Sears at 4000 N. Shepherd Dr., declares a brochure published online earlier this week by Weingarten Realty. The brochure, which appears to be part of a proposal to Sears, which owns the 11.7-acre western portion of the site, says the REIT plans to partner with the retailer to turn the sleepy department store and the Pine Forest Business Park directly to its east into a “wonderfully connected and designed retail shopping destination for Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and neighborhoods around it,” including a new grocery store and restaurants.

No site plan is included in the presentation, but Weingarten notes that it plans to keep “the 2nd longest operating Houston Sears” open in some form throughout the redevelopment. “Weingarten’s vision is to acquire adjacent land,” then “temporarily relocate Sears into an existing building” — the Family Bingo Center at 641 W. Crosstimbers — before scraping and redoing the whole site.

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Oaks on Shepherd
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Apartments
02/02/15 1:00pm

After-Party Pics from the Last Mimosa Farewell Tour, in Avalon Place

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Avalon Place, Evictions, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment
5 Comments

Mimosa Ln. Apartments, 2415 Mimosa Ln., Avalon Place, Houston

Mimosa Ln. Apartments, 2415 Mimosa Ln., Avalon Place, HoustonLast call came for the Mimosa Lane Apartments a couple of months ago — residents of the 1960 garden apartment complex in Avalon Place (along with those of its neighbor, the Argonne Forest Apartments) were given notice in early October of an end-of-November clear-out. That was apparently plenty of time to get word out about a goodbye party or 2.

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A Garden Apartment Sendoff
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Buying and Selling
01/22/15 12:45pm

What’s Eating Los Dos Amigos and Premo’s Grocery on Washington Ave

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Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor, Woodcrest
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Los Dos Amigos Mexican Restaurant, 5720 Washington Ave, Woodcrest, Houston

Los Dos Amigos Mexican Restaurant, 5720 Washington Ave, Woodcrest, HoustonThe last date to order cheese enchiladas at Los Dos Amigos, the Mexican restaurant that’s stood at 5720 Washington Ave at the corner of Birdsall for the past 39 years, is February 28th. In early December, the longtime owners of an L-shaped group of parcels spanning the entire north side of the Washington Ave block between Birdsall and Malone — along with an adjoining “L” around the corner facing Birdsall (see map above) — sold the whole thing to a developer out of Dallas operating under the name of a partnership calling itself OSF Washington. Among the other entities linked to the buyers: Vintala Partners, which has developed apartments in the past.

Also on the block and going away: the Premo’s Grocery building at 5702 Washington. The entire site, including both buildings and parking lots, measures 26,675 sq. ft.

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Developers from Dallas
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East Downtown
01/21/15 5:00pm

The Most Explicit Photos You’ll See of Townhomes Taking Over East Downtown Industry

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Redevelopment, Townhomes
16 Comments

Demolition of International Mailing Systems, 815 Live Oak St., East Downtown

Sure, we all know the future of East Downtown is townhomes, and that the industrial structures that once dominated that landscape are on their way out. But have you seen a set of photos that better illustrates the transformation than this gallery of views taken by reader Jeff Peoples this morning? It shows the demolition of the former International Mailing Systems warehouse building at 815 Live Oak St. Not much more need for them to be close to downtown.

You can see the townhomes marching from the background of the above photo, smashing everything in their way.

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International Mailing Systems Gone
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Apartments
01/19/15 11:15am

New Alexan Blaire House Will Eat Blair House Apartments on Bellaire Blvd.

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Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Southside Place
18 Comments

NEW ALEXAN BLAIRE HOUSE WILL EAT BLAIR HOUSE APARTMENTS ON BELLAIRE BLVD. Blair House Apartments, 4139 Bellaire Blvd., Southside Place, TexasEven though the location isn’t specified, there’s enough detail in a press release put out by Bluerock Residential Growth REIT last week announcing its joint venture with Trammell Crow Residential to build a 269-unit apartment complex “2 miles from the Texas Medical Center” to identify where the new construction will take place. And to know that if it goes forward, it will spell doom for the Blair House Apartments, next door to the Palace Bowling Lanes, at 4139 Bellaire Blvd. in Southside Place. The biggest giveaway: The new project’s name, Alexan Blaire House, which combines Trammell Crow’s multifamily brand with a can’t-quit-it developer addiction to adding a trailing ‘E’ wherever it might stick. Plus, both Blair(e) houses sit on 4.16 acre sites. The existing 12-building complex of 2-story structures was built in 1963. [Bluerock Residential, via Houston Business Journal] Photo: Apartment Science

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Demolitions
01/15/15 1:30pm

Serial Renovator Decides To Knock Back a Couple in Midtown, Start from Scratch

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Midtown, New Construction, Redevelopment, Townhomes
21 Comments

Excavator, 1707 Holman St., Midtown, Houston

The Komatsu has arrived at the doorstep of this 1941 bungalow at 1707 Holman St., in the southeast corner of Midtown. Once it disposes of the property, the excavator will work its way through another home abutting this one’s back yard — at 1706 Francis St. And once the land is clear, Jared Meadors and Tony Tripoli will start building this development of 6 close-but-not-touching townhouses fronting a long driveway extending all the way from Holman to Francis:

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New Townhome Row
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Demolitions
01/09/15 10:45am

The Last Words of Fly High Little Bunny

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Redevelopment, Retail, Upper Kirby
3 Comments

Fly High Little Bunny, 3120 S. Shepherd Dr., Upper Kirby, Houston

From the Swamplot reader known as Googlemaster comes this parting photo of jewelry store Fly High Little Bunny at 3120 S. Shepherd Dr., featuring — in the view from Sul Ross St. — a new mural. The building stands in the way of a new drive-thru building meant to add heft and balance to a new CVS Pharmacy going in at the corner of Shepherd and West Alabama St. Sunday was the last day of business at the shop.

Photo: Googlemaster

Resistance Is Futile
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