Headlines
12/28/17 8:30am

What FEMA’s Does With Its Used Disaster Trailers; Origins of the Texas Feeder Road Turnaround

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Photo of KPRC, 8181 Southwest Fwy.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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Featured Posts
12/27/17 4:30pm

The Winkler Dr. Warehouse Now Stuffed with Stuffed Animals

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THE WINKLER DR. WAREHOUSE NOW STUFFED WITH STUFFED ANIMALS Five estates’ worth of formerly wild game, as well as some other frontier-themed trinkets, are now sitting in the TexMAX Auctions warehouse at 9367 Winkler Dr., 3 miles northeast of Hobby Airport, ahead of an auction taking place there on January 20. Craig Hlavaty reports that in addition to the brown bear, black bear, and grizzly bear full body mounts, the 700-animal herd includes: “tigers, jaguars, and a few pygmy hippo mounts from animals that died of natural causes on a wildlife estate. Some of the mounts date back to the early ’80s, according to [John Brommel, the organizer of the auction].” There are also: “Six sets of ivory tusks which were acquired before Jan. 18, 1990, making them legal to buy and sell.” [Houston Chronicle; auction site] Photo: Taxidermy King Auctions

Disaster Aftermath
12/27/17 2:00pm

A Couple of N. Braeswood Houses Now Hovering Above Flood Level in Meyerland

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Everyone likes a good comeback story: 2 N. Braeswood houses a few doors down from the West Loop are rising above their floody circumstances with the help of wood-framed columns placed below their foundations. The photos above show 4718 N. Braeswood, just outside the West Loop, lifted on stilts months after Hurricane Harvey showered it with attention. The house’s chimney has been removed, leaving a gap in its street-facing facade.

Two doors down, 4710 N. Braeswood now sits at a similar elevation:

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Stilted Homes
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Bars and Clubs
12/27/17 12:30pm

Zadok Trashing Washington Ave Nightclub, Getting Back to Business with Former Guadalajara Bakery Building

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The pile of mangled disco parts beyond the fence pictured at top is all that remains of the less-than-2-year-old La Roux nightclub building at 4011 Washington after crews brought down the house last week. In March, a real estate company connected to Zadok Jewelers bought the entire 39,000-sq.-ft. block on Washington between Leverkuhn and Jackson Hill St. La Roux was evicted earlier this year.

The club’s entrance was off Leverkuhn:

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La Roux-ined
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Headlines
12/27/17 8:30am

Bumpy Month for Metro Safety; Last Days for Events Gifts at River Oaks Shopping Center; City Launches New Harvey Website

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Photo of Hermann Park: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
Featured Posts
12/26/17 3:45pm

The New Winding Escape Path from the Top of the Raven Tower

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There’s a new outdoor stairway zig-zagging its way up to the top of the Raven Tower’s above-ground spot at the northwest corner of the White Oak Music Hall complex. The elevated bar opened in January 2016 on North St., just off N. Main east of I-45, but shut down in May of that year after its developer decided to address accessibility issues through renovations. It only received a certificate of occupancy — allowing the venue to operate as a bar — in April of this year.

Railings and landings are still missing from the new stairway. Inside the podium, an indoor stairway wraps around a central elevator shaft that rises from the base of the tower up to its peacock-blue penthouse.

Here’s a view of the tower from beyond an adjacent concert venue, one of several surrounding the White Oak Music Hall’s main building:

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WOMH and Friends
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Flooding
12/26/17 12:30pm

A Flood of Christmas Diners at Vietopia

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A FLOOD OF CHRISTMAS DINERS AT VIETOPIA An impromptu performance surrounding a centerpiece aquarium greeted Christmas dinner diners at Vietopia yesterday. Loud screams accompanied the appearance of twin streams springing from a leak in the glass on the dining side of freestanding structure at the Vietnamese restaurant in the Plaza in the Park (better known as the Kroger shopping center just south of the Southwest Fwy. on Buffalo Spdwy.) As a steady fountain of fishwater aimed itself at a nearby table or 2, the restaurant’s staff sprung into action: Large plastic garbage cans were deployed quickly to catch the water, and waiters used nets to collect the fish and transport them to new homes. [Wendy G Young Lightwalker, via abc13] Video: Wendy G Young LightWalker

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Headlines
12/26/17 8:30am

Rents Rise After Harvey; Montrose Honky-Tonk Bar Debuts; Another Hopdoddy for Houston, Maybe

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Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
Notices
12/22/17 2:30pm

Lit for Christmas

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LIT FOR CHRISTMAS Our warmest and brightest holiday greetings to you — for Christmas and for any other important seasonal remembrances you celebrate. Swamplot is checking out early today, full of good cheer. And we’ll be taking a break from publishing for the long weekend, but our extensive archives of Houston real estate lore will of course will be available to resolve (or reignite) any heated disputes that might arise at family gatherings. Do please check back in with us again on Tuesday for the latest in late-2017 coverage of Houston’s vast built environs. Photo of O’Quinn Medical Towers: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Featured Posts
12/22/17 2:00pm

Old Rice Village Shops in Exile Reconvene at the Strip Center off 59

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With the recent move of G&G Model Shop, the strip mall at the corner of Shepherd and the eastbound 59 feeder road has become a senior center for stores that spent time in Rice Village back in the day. The photo above shows the 72-year-old model shop — a popular destination for Rice and UH architecture students, as well as model train enthusiasts — 2 doors down from fellow old-timer Times Barber Shop, which opened its original location in the Village before relocating 3 times and landing in strip center just north of Boulevard Oaks in 2007. G&G sold its 2522 Times Blvd. spot — home to the shop for 63 years — on August 17 and closed down 2 days later. The new location opened on August 29 in the 2029 Southwest Fwy. storefront abandoned several years ago by ticket reseller Ticket Connection.

Nan’s Comics and Games, pictured above to the left of G&G’s new location, was also a Rice Village tenant in the mid-60s before replacing Blue and Gray Pizza at 2011 Southwest Fwy. in 1988.

A sign from Pipeline Realty now lists the former G&G site for lease:

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G&G Model Shop
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