Renovations

Midtown
04/25/12 11:47am

Austin Rejection Artist and Bar Partners Opening Midtown Nightclub

by
Nightlife, Proposed Developments, Renovations
18 Comments

Two-time The Bachelor star Brad Womack is planning to open a nightclub with his business partners in Midtown Houston, right across the street from the Metro Midtown apartments, at the corner of Bagby and McIlhenny. Womack’s twin brother Chad, brother Wes, and partner Jason Carrier — they call their company Carmack Concepts — own Sixth St. bars Chuggin’ Monkey, Dizzy Rooster, Molotov, and Dogwood in Austin. Their Houston bar, which they’ll call Dogwood Houston, will be a transformation of a small 1956 commercial building at 2403 Bagby St.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , ,
Comments
04/17/12 11:17pm

Comment of the Day: Dimension Doom 101

by
Quicklink, Real Estate Investing, Redevelopment, Renovations
4 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: DIMENSION DOOM 101 “The floorplate is the set of measurements and parameters that you have to design the floor plan within. If its too large or too small, too narrow or too wide, or if the elevators and stairs are awkwardly situated, it will make the floor plan inefficient in terms of squeezing the most net rentable area from the gross floor area. In addition, what often happens is that there are awkward rooms within apartment units that have little functional utility, which then affects the rent per square foot that can be achieved from those units. To compensate, the developer must purchase the property for a lower price than if the building were ideally configured. But if these adjustments to the financial model drive the value of the property below the value of the land (which is determined by the model for new construction) net of the cost of demolition, then the old building is not the highest and best use. It is doomed. Problems such as these are common in situations where a building gets re-purposed for a completely different use.” [TheNiche, commenting on Finger Going After Finger’s Ben Milam Hotel Downtown]

, , , ,
Comments
04/11/12 11:13pm

Comment of the Day: Setting the Standards Too High

by
Montrose, Office Buildings, Quicklink, Renovations
1 Comment

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SETTING THE STANDARDS TOO HIGH “Have people gone from midgets to monsters in the few years that this place went from being fully occupied to empty? Before it closed were people banging their heads on the roof? did any of the previous tenants died of melanoma due to asbestos? Should we blow up any building that has asbestos in it? Do you realize that would be just about every building in the city? I realize the ceilings are lower than what is considered to be in style today, but that doesn’t mean the place needs to be torn down. The price of the building, plus the cost of demo, is much higher than the land alone was worth. There is no way that the value of the structure doesn’t warrant it being saved. If you clean the place up and turned it into offices, it would be full in about 15 seconds. Low ceilings and all. It’s not the asbestos or low ceilings keeping it from being taken care of and fixed up. It’s unrealistic expectations of what the building needs to be in order to be considered satisfactory to the city.” [Codys bar, commenting on Will 3400 Montrose Rise from the Dead?]

, , , ,
Commercial Real Estate
04/11/12 1:14pm

ARCO Office Going Down; Downtown Houston Club Building Will Stay Put

by
Demolitions, Downtown, Energy Corridor, Office Buildings, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Renovations
4 Comments

ARCO OFFICE GOING DOWN; DOWNTOWN HOUSTON CLUB BUILDING WILL STAY PUT Dismemberment of the former ARCO office building west of Eldridge at 15375 Memorial Dr. should begin sometime within a month or two, Catie Dixon reports. What will new owner Skanska USA do with the 21-acre site — rumored as a possible location for the new Phillips 66 headquarters? Skanska is currently hunting for an architect to provide a master plan, Dixon writes, “potentially with a couple of offices.” Meanwhile, the other pre-owned office building purchased recently by the Swedish construction firm appears safe from the wrecking ball: The company’s regional manager tells Dixon he expects to begin remodeling the Houston Club building at 811 Rusk St. downtown by the end of 2012. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Houston Club building: Silberman Properties

, , , , , , , ,
Montrose
04/10/12 10:58am

Will 3400 Montrose Rise from the Dead?

by
Office Buildings, Quicklink, Renovations
24 Comments

WILL 3400 MONTROSE RISE FROM THE DEAD? On assignment a couple of months ago to document the office building at 3400 Montrose that once housed Scott Gertner’s Skybar, photographer Patrick Bertolino wrote that the 10-story vacant structure across Hawthorne St. from Kroger reminded him “of what a building might look like after a zombie apocalypse, minus the zombies.” But, um, zombies always come back, don’t they? And now here’s a hint that something might be stirring: Workers were giving the parking structure behind the building a new coat of paint yesterday, reports Swamplot picture-snapper Candace Garcia. Photo evidence above. [Patrick Bertolino; previously on Swamplot] Photo of parking garage: Candace Garcia

, , ,
Clear Lake
03/28/12 12:23pm

Hakeem Olajuwon’s Dream for the Jim West Mansion: Flagship Clothing and Furniture Store?

by
Historic Preservation, Houston History, Houston Landmarks, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail
23 Comments

Update: Olajuwon’s DR34M store is now open.

Hakeem Olajuwon hasn’t officially announced what he plans to do with Clear Lake’s landmarked Jim West Mansion, which he bought along with the surrounding 41-acre property at 3303 NASA Pkwy. in 2006. But a teaser website suggests that the former Houston Rockets center intends to transform the oil and cattle baron’s former estate — which served for a time as NASA’s Lunar Science Institute — into a flagship store for DR34M, the clothing line he introduced before a New Year’s Eve Rockets game in 2010, but that hasn’t drawn much attention since.

“The DR34M Spring 2012 Collection will launch online and in our new Houston flagship store,” announces the website at Dr34m.com. It’s illustrated with a photo of the 17,000-sq.-ft. Italianate mansion, which was designed by Houston city hall architect Joseph Finger and completed in 1930 not far from the current site of Houston’s Johnson Space Center. “We are busy designing a new line of clothing, collaborating on a collection of leather bags and accessories and sourcing modern furniture,” reads the brief copy, which is accompanied by Olajuwon’s signature.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , , , ,
Demolitions
03/22/12 4:33pm

There Won’t Be Much Left of the Alabama Theater Interior After Weingarten’s Through Gutting It

by
Historic Preservation, Renovations, Retail, Upper Kirby
13 Comments

Isn’t Weingarten Realty going to preserve some of the interior of its landmarked Alabama Theater as it makes the space ready for Trader Joe’s — or if that deal somehow falls through, some other tenant? Sure: The lobby and theater ceilings are being left alone, and a decorative plaster “medallion” on the north wall is supposed to remain in place — though it’ll be stripped of some outer layers. An upper section of the balcony will also stay, along with some light fixtures in the lobby. But other than those items, the entire 1939 theater space — or rather, what’s left of it after Weingarten encased the auditorium’s preserved sloped floor in concrete last year — is being gutted, according to plans drawn up for the project by Heights Venture Architects. A permit for the conversion of the historic Art Deco building to a retail “shell” was granted by the city earlier this week.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , ,
Openings and Closings
02/17/12 10:47am

WTF Is Taking the Shipping Containers So Long at the Moon Tower Inn

by
Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants, Second Ward
7 Comments

WTF IS TAKING THE SHIPPING CONTAINERS SO LONG AT THE MOON TOWER INN An only slightly cleaned-up report on the progress of the brewery and shipping-container redo at the Canal St. bar, straight from the Moon Tower Inn Facebook page: “as you all should know, we’re late for everything and some time’s we just plain don’t show up. but DO NOT WORRY, moon tower will be OPEN SOON. using new technology (shipping containers etc) is tricky business and moves a lil slow with our fine city. so, we’re not gonna say exactly when we’ll be back open yet ’cause we’re ass holes like that and we like the suspense. but, our brewery equipment is damn near built and the containers for the kitchen and bar are being fitted at a welding yard and are almost ready to bring on-site! so… everything’s a go! SEE YOU THIS SPRING . . .” [Moon Tower Inn on Facebook, via Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Eddie S.

, , , , , , , ,
Clark Pines
02/14/12 4:36pm

Opening Up the Inside in Clark Pines

by
Homes for Lease, Interiors, Renovations
27 Comments

Only 5 interior walls are left in this 1,275-sq.-ft. house in Clark Pines, west of Shepherd from the Heights. The 2-bedroom, 1-bath property on a 8,093-sq.-ft. lot is listed for rent — for $2,100 a month. A Swamplot reader reworked the property over the course of 2 years. “This is my first remodel and I’m hoping for feedback,” writes the landlord. (Some feedback has already arrived, in the form of a “possible tenant.”)

What sort of work has been done to this place?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , ,
Nightlife
02/06/12 11:31am

Setting Sail from Beer Island

by
Openings and Closings, Renovations, Woodland Heights
10 Comments

A self-proclaimed “loyal reader from the First Ward” ventures into Woodland Heights to snap and send this photo documenting construction taking place at the former gas station at 2631 White Oak — home most recently to Beer Island — and the continuing transformation of White Oak Dr. When construction is complete, the spot on the corner of Studewood will become the 5th Houston location of Little Woodrow’s.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

, , , , ,
Attractions
01/19/12 10:58am

Wichita St. Mystery House Now in Foreclosure

by
Buying and Selling, Foreclosures, Houston Landmarks, Real Estate Marketing, Renovations, Riverside Terrace
6 Comments

The late Charles Fondow’s castle-like construction at 2309 Wichita St. in Riverside Terrace has fallen into foreclosure, a source tells Swamplot. The neighborhood landmark was listed for sale at a price of $325,000 last May. That listing expired in November, but the home’s condition and an included stipulation that only all-cash offers would be accepted may have doomed it. Fondow’s legendary 31-year renovation and expansion project remained unfinished after his death last year; the former daycare center’s top-heavy rack of decks, gables, and turrets have long attracted attention from neighbors and passers-by.

Photo: HAR

, , , , , , , ,
Nightlife
01/05/12 10:45am

Moon Tower Inn’s New Shipping Container Beer Cooler

by
Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants
1 Comment

MOON TOWER INN’S NEW SHIPPING CONTAINER BEER COOLER A few details on the brewery redo taking place on the hotdog reinvention grounds of the (currently shuttered) Moon Tower Inn at 3004 Canal St. in the Second Ward, from blogger Leslie Sprague: “One of the two new shipping containers being used to renovate the old space, to expand the kitchen and the tap wall to 42 taps, will be a walk-in cooler for cold storage. The brewhouse will be set-up in part of the office space, behind the old ordering counter. I wasn’t even aware there was an office. They have a 3 1/2 barrel brewhouse on order from Portland Kettleworks and are expecting delivery in mid-February. That’s definitely cutting it close to the planned February reopening.” [Lushtastic] Photo: Marty E.

, , , , , ,
Development Regulations
12/20/11 11:39am

Kitchen Ethics: Permit or No Permit?

by
Eastwood, Interiors, Quicklink, Renovations
25 Comments

KITCHEN ETHICS: PERMIT OR NO PERMIT? “I’m not sure who to go to on this, but I live in Eastwood and am doing a total upgrade of my kitchen. I’m going back and forth on whether to go through the city permit process or not . . . am trying to figure out the pros and cons. We have guys doing the construction that will work with us either way on it. Any thoughts?” [Swamplot inbox]

, , , ,
Quicklink
11/29/11 6:28pm

Lupe Tortilla Axes Kiddie Sandbox

by
Renovations, Restaurants
68 Comments

LUPE TORTILLA AXES KIDDIE SANDBOX The removal of the sandbox play area adjacent to the bar at the Lupe Tortilla on the 59 feeder road just east of Kirby has attracted little attention. Well, except for grumbles from disappointed families showing up for dinner with sand buckets and plastic shovels — and the “SAVE the Sandbox at Lupe Tortilla’s on the Southwest Freeway” Facebook page. (So far that protest page has garnered only a single “Like.”) The bleachered sandbox was shut down only a few weeks ago, to accommodate a planned expansion of the restaurant’s deck. Photo: Flickr user amydell

, ,
« Previous Page Next Page »