Developer Giorgio Borlenghi may have just shelved plans to build the 26-story condo tower he had dubbed Villa Borghese on the 1.43-acre site a block south of Westheimer at Bammel Ln. and Earl Ln., but work clearing the property of the 15 separate cottage-y structures that once stood in the way of the now-on-hold project has not stopped. A reader sends pics of the scene from last Thursday, as workers from Cherry House Moving mounted the houses-turned-shops-and-offices surrounding the shuttered wedding venue known as the Gardens of Bammel Lane onto steel rails and prepared them for exit:

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Arrived on the site as the cottages are being escorted out: drainage pipes.

Borlenghi’s development company bought the full-block property between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway, which is bounded by Philfall St. to the south and Sackett St. to the east, 2 summers ago. Though most of the commercial tenants had moved out by the end of last year, the last stragglers left early in 2017.

According to the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff, all of the structures have been spoken for: “A few shopkeepers purchased their buildings, but most of the cottages were acquired by an investor who is moving them just north of the site,” she writes.

• High-rise builder pulls back on luxury tower [Houston Chronicle]
• Previously on Swamplot: Small Flock of Bungalows Getting Shepherded Around at Bammel Ln. Highrise Site; Gardens of Bammel Lane’s Glass Conservatory Won’t Be Shattered by the Condo Highrise Planting Process

Photos: Swamplot inbox