In an email sent out to constituents earlier this week, a staffer for City Council member Greg Travis writes that the little red rectangle above — marking where Randall Davis has plans for a 50-unit condo tower — is subject to single-family deed restrictions. That doesn’t prohibit the developer from going ahead with the highrise at 3723 Westheimer, she explains, although it does mean Davis perhaps jumped the gun by submitting a variance request for the development to Houston’s planning commission last week. It’s now withdrawn that request and instead plans to hold a public hearing before the commission. The date is TBD, but it will “likely take place on February 28,” according to the staffer.

Residents of Westgrove Court — the subdivision along Eastgrove and Westgrove streets that the tower wants to move into  — and others nearby will receive a written notice 15 days before it goes down. “If residents of the 38 single family home sites in Westgrove Court jointly file a protest (a letter signed by them),” she writes, “the Planning Commission will have to approve by 75% and not simply by a majority.”

On Monday, Nancy Sarnoff over at the Chronicle reported Davis was under contract to buy the 17,300-sq.-ft. property. It isn’t the first time someone’s tried to put something other than single-family on it: For decades, the single-story retail building shown above has been there. It sports a fenced-in patio at its corner:

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And a back parking lot accessible through entryway shown on the right off Eastgrove St. in the photo below:

Back there is where the building’s main entrance lies, east of the lot:

• Previously on Swamplot: Randall Davis Wants To Put This 20-Story Condo Highrise on Westheimer Just East of Weslayan St.

Photos and site plan: LoopNet. Map: Houston Planning Commission