COMMENT OF THE DAY: DISCOVERING YET ANOTHER NEW HOUSTON WALMART “. . . in my search for Wal-Mart to see if anything is going on at Yale, I found that a license is out for Wally at I-10 and Silber behind the Marq-E. $9 mil, starting 04/10 and finishing 1/11. Wally wants to be at every I-10 exit, I suppose. That seems more than gossip, right, if there’s a license and review completed? Who knew all of Wally’s 2010/2011 new stores would be in a ten mile radius in Houston, TX? Awesome growth plan, guys!” [brandyc, commenting on Swamplot Street Sleuths: Chances Are]
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MAYOR PARKER TO WALMART: START TALKING “This is not yet a done deal. The property has been assembled for a major retail venture. When that moves forward, there will be careful review for impact on traffic, mobility and city infrastructure. I encourage Wal-Mart, or any other retailer interested in the property, to open dialogue with the Greater Heights and Washington Avenue Super Neighborhoods 15 and 22 as well as other neighborhood groups and civic clubs in that area.” [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot]
Armed with your suggestions, roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia set out to document the smallest freestanding commercial buildings in Houston she could find. And here are the results! Above, “The Spot” hair salon at 1207 Westheimer in Montrose, at the corner of Commonwealth.
More tiny:
Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:
- Houston Heights: Is the Kroger on 20th St. at Yale poised to take over the space next door Walgreens is vacating? Walgreens has a new building across the street under construction. Longtime reader kjb434 sees signs of redevelopment in the Weingarten-owned Heights Plaza Shopping Center the drug store chain is leaving behind: “I don’t have hard evidence, but I hear just as much from some friends in commercial real estate and from workers at the Kroger on 11th st. From what I gather, it’ll be a Signature Kroger and the Marketplace version that is currently at 11th.”
We’ll post any more reader questions we get on Tuesday. Send us what you’ve got before then!
Photo of Kroger, 239 W. 20th St.: Swamplot inbox
We have a correction on the location of the new Walmart headed for the area just south of I-10 and the Heights. Our source was off by a block: The property in question is bounded by Yale on the east, Koehler on the north, Bonner on the west, and the railroad tracks to the south. That’s a much bigger site than the former Sons of Hermann property a block east. A proposed development plan obtained by Nancy Sarnoff at the Chronicle indicates there’ll be plenty of pad-site fun in the project too. The site plan from the Ainbinder Company and Moody Rambin Retail shown above also shows a much-fattened Bass Ct. connecting the development to a new east-bound feeder road along I-10.
The plans show a 152,000-sq.-ft. Walmart (that’s almost 3 1/2 acres of floor space, but who’s counting?) and a 664-car parking lot. according to Sarnoff. “A Wal-Mart spokeswoman confirmed the company’s interest in the site, but would not provide additional details,” she writes.
A 25-acre Trinity Industries steel fabrication plant was the last development at this location. A portion at 107 Yale was home to the Heights Armature Works, where flickr photographer meltedplastic caught these cozy scenes, featured on Swamplot last year:
Note: Story updated below.
A little bird tells Swamplot that Walmart is close to buying a 5-acre piece of land on Heights Blvd. just south of I-10. Formerly on that site: the Sons of Hermann Hall, which was demolished last summer. The property also fronts Yale, and is bounded by the Center St. railroad tracks to the south. Just across the street: the Art Car Museum. If the discount retailer does close the deal and build on the property, it would be the first Walmart-owned store inside the Loop. (Of course, there’s already a Walmart and a Sam’s Club just outside the South Loop; the Sam’s Club is a direct train ride from Downtown.) Also in the works, though much further along: A new Walmart under construction next to Northline Commons, the former site of the Northline Mall.
Update: Reader Nick Banks is already trying out Walmart store models for size:
Got an answer to this reader question? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.
- Houston Heights: Just one lead this time, but it should be easy enough for some of you to follow up on: Now that Walgreens is busy getting ready to snuggle up to CVS with its new standalone site going up across the street, what’s going to happen to Weingarten’s Heights Plaza Shopping Center at West 20th and Yale? A reader passes on a rumor heard from an employee at Kroger: that the grocery store is going to take over the entire shopping strip — including the soon-to-be-former Walgreens and at least some of the smaller shops facing Yale. The tip arrives with this request, which we pass off to you: “Can you do some more research on that and confirm?”
Photo of Kroger, 239 W. 20th St.: Swamplot inbox
MAKING THE TITLE INSURANCE PAY A Harris County district court has ordered Stewart Title Guaranty to pay $2.8 million to a Sugar Land developer after the title company failed to pay out on a title policy. Back in 2007, Ponderosa Land Development was hoping to build a Chase Bank branch at the corner of Settlers Way and Highway 6. AmeriPoint Title, the title company for the transaction, had obtained title insurance from Stewart Title to cover its work. But AmeriPoint’s title search failed to uncover a deed restriction on the property that specifically prohibited banks from being built on that site: “Stewart Title only offered to pay $200,000 of the $1.83 million title policy, arguing that the land was not worth that much. [Ponderosa’s James] Chang says the purchase price was dictated by the value of the property with the ground lease to JP Morgan and planned sale of the bank to an investor upon completion. Ponderosa is now free to sell the vacant property. Houston Suds has had a contract to buy the site for $953,000 since November 2008, but could not close the transaction and build a car wash until the legal matter was resolved.” [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
Note: Story updated below.
The owners of the original Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Kirby between West Main and Branard plan to demolish the restaurant, rebuild it, and construct 2 more restaurants on adjacent blocks. First step: building a new 275-car parking garage one block to the north, at the northwest corner of Branard and Argonne. Next, a new and larger Carrabba’s (marked [A] in the site plan above) would go up directly south of the existing building, which would remain open during construction. Once the new digs are complete, they’ll tear down the existing restaurant and put in a parking lot and porte-cochere in its place. Two more restaurants — one possibly named Grace’s, and one with office space upstairs — are planned for blocks north of Branard, one facing Kirby and the other at Argonne.
The Kirby Carrabba’s is one of 2 still owned by the family of co-founder Johnny Carrabba. All other Carrabba’s Italian Grills — more than 200 in 27 states — are owned by OSI Restaurant Partners, the same company that runs Outback Steakhouse and Fleming’s.
The new Kirby restaurant complex may be the first in the city to take advantage of the “transit corridor” incentives passed by city council last year. In return for building a 15-ft.-wide pedestrian area and street-front entrance along Kirby, designers get to push 2 of the buildings close to the street, well into the normal 25-ft. setback. The planning commission approved the site plan earlier this month — along with several related parking variances — even though the transit corridor itself (the University Line on Richmond) hasn’t even started construction yet.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: VALET CUPCAKE SERVICE WOULD COST EXTRA “Hey, if they can sell cupcakes for $3.75 – more power to them! If people want to buy $3.75 cupcakes? Awesome. Someone gets to make some money for a while. It’s not like they cone’d off the cheap cupcakes and make you stare at them while they force you to buy the expensive one.” [drone, commenting on The Cupcake Backup at Highland Village]
The line at the new Sprinkles in Highland Village is out the door, actual drive-by reporter Miya Shay informs us. This is how they intend to draw $25,000 in opening-day sales. Well, that and Rockets forward Shane Battier doing a little lunchtime counter duty. How fast is he serving, really? To the left: Paper Source, scheduled to open next month.
- Official Opening of Sprinkles [Twitter]
- Previously on Swamplot: Highland Village Sprinkles
Photo: Miya Shay
DAWN OF A PAD SITE CONGLOMERATE Luby’s Restaurants beat out the parent company of Freebirds World Burrito in an auction yesterday to purchase the bankrupt Fuddruckers hamburger chain. The $61 million purchase price includes 60 Fuddruckers locations and three Koo-Koo-Roos in Southern California. An additional 138 Fuddruckers restaurants are run by franchisees. Fuddruckers’ parent company had agreed in April to close 24 corporate-owned locations and terminate other leases. There are 17 Fuddruckers restaurants in the Houston area. [Houston Business Journal]
GROCERY SHOPPING SOUNDS After visiting the newly renovated Heights Kroger on Shepherd at 11th St., John Whiteside decides he likes what he hears better at the Heights Fiesta on 14th and Studewood: “Because it’s an old store, they play music. Kroger, on the other hand, plays a constant soundtrack of ads. As you stroll along through the aisles, you are bombarded by loud, insistent messages telling you what to buy, and insisting that the latest high fructose treats are really healthy for your kids because they were once in the same room as an apple, and that the new soup packaged so you can consume it with one hand in your SUV while making phone calls is just what a busy person like you needs, and so on. And it’s all punctuated with boops and beeps designed to keep you from easily tuning it out, and which often make me think I’m getting text messages.” [By the Bayou; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE FINE ART OF GROCERY BAG ARCHITECTURE “I will freely admit to being a bag snob, I was a bag boy at HEB in high school. Growing up in HEB’s hometown of San Antonio spoiled me as far as grocery shopping/bagging is concerned. Moving to Houston was quite the eye-opener. HEB sent all new hires to Bag School for two entire shifts to learn the obvious (no heavy cans on top of bread, no bleach bagged with grapes) and the not so obvious (creating walls, stacking soda bottles sideways). Most of the baggers were high school students and hadn’t had to buy our own groceries and therefore had no reason to care about how this stuff was placed in a grocery bag. (Most high school baggers I worked with also hadn’t had any pain in their life since the doctor slapped them on the ass, but that’s a different rant.) The Bag School taught a necessary skill for a vital employee: the last employee a customer has contact with before leaving the store. . . . Yes, I will come right out and say it: I’m one of those freaks who politely but firmly lies to the baggers, “no thank you, this is going to 2 different houses and I need to separate them.†Let your grocery bagging OCD freak flag fly.” [Matt, commenting on Heights Kroger: Okay, Now We’re Really Big]
It was only closed for a few evenings during construction, but the Merchants Park Kroger at 11th and North Shepherd in the Heights is marking today as its grand re-opening. Work on the project began 13 months ago. A new section of the store, which was expanded by 39,184 sq. ft., opened last October. Today, all the expansions and renovations on the 24-hour market are complete. Total tally: 88,988 sq. ft.
What’s new? A Starbucks with free wi-fi; a “Kitchen Place” featuring small appliances, cookware, and dinnerware; and the now-de-rigueur drive-thru pharmacy. Plus: an “open-air” seafood market, an order-on-the-computer deli kiosk, a “Cheese Shoppe” with more than 300 cheeses, and an Artisan Bread gallery that features store-made tortillas in your five favorite flavors: white, wheat, butter, salsa and cinnamon sugar.
There’s more:
