COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY IT PAYS TO RAISE THOSE FLOODED MEYERLAND HOMES 
“Also, let’s remember that flood insurance pays out $250k for structure and $100k for contents max (and these Meyerland homes are pricey, so maxing out the payment is possible). So, paying $350k to raise a house to avoid a future claim is — long-term — a better use of money. Yes, the amount itself is a shock out of context. Yes, it borders on ridiculous that this is related to the 2015 flood. Yes, the tax base would benefit more from paying to knock down the house and build new million dollar homes, but this is a better solution than buying the properties and removing them from the tax base.” [travelguy, commenting on What Houston Will Spend To Raise a Few Floody Houses in Meyerland] Photo of 5150 Braesheather Dr., to be elevated: HAR
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The 3 fluorescent-vested figures in the photo at top are standing on the third floorplate of the 15,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use building now going up on the northwest corner of Studewood and Omar streets. Developer Chris Dray of NewQuest is planting the 18,731-sq.-ft. property at 927 Studewood with a 3-story office structure including ground-floor retail called Heights Central (not to be confused with Heights Central Station). A house and 2 small retail structures — one of them formerly home to Dan’s Chrysler Marine Service — were demolished on the property in 2015.
Boulevard Realty plans to move into the complex from its current office in the space formerly occupied by Oolala, Heights Candy Bar, and Tulips & Tutus 2 blocks to the south. The storefront portion of company’s future digs is indicated below in a site plan taken from NewQuest’s leasing brochure:
Heights Corner Redo
Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day for today is Houston’s own Central Bank — thanks! We sure appreciate the continuing support.
Central Bank has 4 (central) Houston branches available to meet your business or personal needs: in Midtown, the Heights, West Houston, and Post Oak Place.
Central Bank believes that change is essential to its success; the company actively pursues the latest in service, technology, and products. Central Bank aims to know its customers personally and to be their primary business and personal financial resource. The bank’s staff values relationships and strives to be available when you need them.
To learn more about how Central Bank can meet your banking needs, please call any of the following Senior Vice Presidents: Kenny Beard, at 832.485.2376; Bonnie Purvis, at 832.485.2354; Carlos Alvarez, at 832.485.2372; or Ryan Tillman, at 832.485.2307. You can also find out more on the bank’s website.
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Sponsor of the Day
- Eagle Energy Inc. To Move Out of Downtown Office [HBJ ($)]
- Super Bowl and World Series Boosted Airbnb Visitors to Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- Willie G’s Seafood Opens at Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston [Click2Houston]
- Studies Show Benefits of Houston Light Rail on Property Values, Commercial Development [The Urban Edge]
- How Metro Falls Short of Its On-Time Goals for Bus and Rail Service [Houston Chronicle]
- Meyerland’s Los Tios Restaurant Reopens After Harvey Flooding [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston’s City Beautification Efforts Might Also Fight Future Flooding [Grist]
- 5 Harvey-Damaged Houston-Area Libraries Getting Grants from The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries [Houston Chronicle]
- Buffalo Bayou Partnership To Reconsider Master Plan Post-Harvey [Houston Public Media]
- 5 Questions Facing Houston in 2018 [The Urban Edge]
- Environmental Working Group: Texas Has the Most Contaminated Drinking Water in the Country [Houston Chronicle]
- All the Road Closures for Sunday’s Chevron Houston Marathon [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Sawyer Yards: Mark Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
You can’t study the demolitions by flooding them with light.
- 27 Beacon Hill [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: THERE’S STILL A MISSING LINK IN THE BAYOU BIKE CONNECTOR 
“It’s not complete if you are trying to take the MKT Trail from the Heights into downtown and beyond while staying off streets. The Bayou Greenways interactive map still shows a dotted line for the missing connection between the MKT Trail and the stretch of the trail at Stude Park. When completed, that tiny section will make a big difference.” [Gretchen Lindquist, commenting on Houston’s Bayou Biking Connector Is Now Complete] Image: Bayou Greenways 2020
COMMENT OF THE DAY: DIDN’T MEAN TO STOP AT PJ’S SPORTS BAR THAT NIGHT 
“Love the ‘he forgot his bumper’ story, but it’s not true. I was driving my S4 eastbound on W. Gray, and the Ford apparently ran the stop sign at Stanford northbound and knocked me across the road and into PJ’s. My car was smashed on both ends and definitely could not be driven. Maybe the cops towed it promptly — I was busy bleeding on the lawn and talking to witnesses as I waited on an ambulance. Two nights in the hospital, but I’ll be fine.” [Stefan, commenting on The New Audi-Sized Hole Drilled into PJ’s Sports Bar on W. Gray Last Night] Photo: Swamplot inbox
LOCAL VICTIMS OF THE NATIONWIDE SAM’S CLUB CLOSINGS: SOUTH LOOP, ELDRIDGE PKWY., NEW CANEY 
The Sam’s Club that serves as the terminus of Metro’s red line closed abruptly today along with one other Houston store in the shopping center on Westheimer at Eldridge Pkwy., and one in New Caney. The South Loop store occupies a 14-acre parcel of land west of the AutoNation car dealership and north of the Fanin South Metro stop. Opened last year, the New Caney store was the newest of the 3 to close. The shut downs come as part of 63 nationwide that parent company Walmart announced today. 11 stores are still open across the Houston area. [KHOU] Photo: Jason Miles
WHAT HOUSTON WILL SPEND TO RAISE A FEW FLOODY HOUSES IN MEYERLAND
Houston City Council approved construction yesterday to raise 5 Meyerland houses — a subset of the 42 Houston homes FEMA paid the city $14.8 million to elevate back in 2015. One of those 42 houses has already been jacked up and 8 more are currently within the levitation process, according to the Chronicle’s Rebecca Elliott and John D. Harden. The costs to raise the 5 homes now slated for elevation 12 ft. above flood level — which include a few extra thousand dollars to put residents up in temporary lodging — range from $218,700 to $416,000 per property. In total, the bill comes to $1.6 million. Harris County appraises the total value of properties themselves from $125,906 to $507,152, with the value of improvements within that ranging from $34,700 to $201,200. One of the houses — 5150 Braesheather Dr. — shown above as it appeared before Harvey, is currently listed for sale. [Houston Chronicle; more info (items 24–28)] Photo of 5150 Braesheather Dr.: HAR
- Houston Real Estate Market Hit New High for Home Sales in 2017, Finds HAR [Houston Chronicle]
- JLL: Houston Retail Market Ended 2017 with Positive Net Absorption [HBJ ($)]
- Jackson Walker Law Firm Expands Footprint at 5 Houston Center [Realty News Report]
- Crossmark Global Investments Moving HQ to Skanska’s New West Memorial Place Campus in the Energy Corridor [Houston Chronicle]
- Dallas-Based Callbox Storage Expands to Houston [HBJ]
- Fourth Houston Snooze Location Opening Jan. 24 in the Heights [Culturemap]
- East Coast Chain B.GOOD Planning 10-Restaurant Franchise in Houston, Starting in Springwoods Village [QSR Magazine]
- What Should Houston’s Regional Transit Network Look Like in 2045? [The Urban Edge]
- Harvey-Damaged Johnny Steele Dog Park Could Reopen by Late Spring, Minus the Large Dog Pond [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- City Council Approves 15-Year Contract with FCC SA To Process Houston’s Recyclables [Houstonia]
- Why Many Houstonians May Be Unaware They Live in an Evacuation Zone [Houston Public Media]
Photo of 619 Bomar St.: Swamplot inbox
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, demolishing houses, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in construction that are over.
- 4718 Blanton Blvd. [HAR]
The pile of signage lying on the grass in the photo above is on its way up over the front door of Ethiopian restaurant Blue Nile ahead of its planned opening on Saturday at 3030 Audley St., just off Westheimer. Blue Nile is expanding to Upper Kirby from its original location on Richmond between Gessner and Fondren, which opened in 1994. Luigi’s Cucina Italiana closed down in the gabled building last year after moving into it from Galveston in 2014.
The new restaurant’s signs are replacing Luigi’s old ones — now fully unlit and unmounted:
Cherry-Picked
A TWIST IN THE MYSTERY OF WHO OWNS THOSE HEIGHTS HOLDOUT HOUSE BONES 
Maybe you were expecting DNA testing to identify those human remains — found inside the wall of a Heights bungalow on Allston St. — as those of Mary Cerruti, the missing 61-year-old woman who refused to let Trammell Crow annex her home as part of the Alexan Heights apartment complex the developer built on the block. After sending one of the recovered teeth to the University of North Texas last year to compare it to DNA samples from 3 of Cerruti’s relatives, the results are in — and there’s no exact match, reports Emily Foxhall. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences is still working to see if there’s any connection between Cerruti and skeleton left behind at 610 Allston, but according to a spokesperson, further study will take “a lengthy period of time.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: HAR
