Headlines
12/15/17 8:30am

Spruced-Up 1001 McKinney for Sale; Houston ISD To Raise and Rebuild Schools; ‘This Old House’ Crew in Houston

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Photo of Hermann Park: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
Downtown
12/14/17 4:30pm

We Now Turn to KHOU’s New Studio-Apartment-Sized Studio, Reporting to Us Across from Discovery Green

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KHOU is showing a rendering of the new Downtown satellite studio it plans to open in a storefront space that’s part of Avenida Houston, the collection of restaurants and entertainment venues Houston First has been corralling into the George R. Brown convention center’s expanded frontage along Avenida de Las Americas. The 780-sq.-ft. studio will be KHOU’s first venture out into the city since its mid-Harvey retreat to UH. It’s expected to open next March at 1001 Avenida de Las Americas and will be used for portions of the station’s programming.

The rendering shows tables and chairs placed in a cordoned-off area outside the studio’s storefront. According to the organization’s press release, the teevee station’s new pied-à-terre “will have the flexibility to open on to the plaza, enabling reporters to directly engage with the public.”

Image: Houston First

Downtown News Desk
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Featured Posts
12/14/17 2:30pm

The Woodlands Beats Houston to Its Dockless Bikesharing Future

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THE WOODLANDS BEATS HOUSTON TO ITS DOCKLESS BIKESHARING FUTURE While Houston’s city council debates proposed new regulations that might allow as many as 6 competing companies to let loose as many as 3,500 new leave-’em-anywhere shared bicycles each across the city over the course of a year, The Woodlands has decided to go ahead with its own smaller kiosk-free program — with a single vendor. Mobike, a 2-year-old Chinese company now ranked as the largest bike-sharing organization in the world, will begin unleashing 50 to 100 bicycles, mostly intended to be used around The Woodlands Town Center. The company has operated in Washington DC since September. The Woodlands Township entered into the agreement with Mobike after a pilot program approved in October with Houston docked-bike vendor B-Cycle stalled. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Mobike

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Adaptive Reuse
12/14/17 12:45pm

The First New Tenant in 7800 Washington’s Warehouse Redo Won’t Hang Around for Long

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The former packaging warehouse at 7800 Washington — on its way to being reworked so that offices, furniture showrooms, and a restaurant can move into it, likely next year — already has a new tenant in place: The Study, a pop-up gallery and shop selling prints, greeting cards, and design-y gifts. Los Angeles-based artist Jacqueline Levine runs the store, which opened late last month in the southeast corner of the 66,000-sq.-ft. building.

Levine’s father, Larry Levine, is hoping a restaurant will take over the space once more of the building is ready for tenants. He’s the president of Levcor, the development firm that bought the building last year. The Study will be open through January, although it’ll take some holiday time off beginning on December 24.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The Study
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Headlines
12/14/17 8:30am

Houston Home Sales Still Strong; Temporary Housing Program Approved; Pappa Charlies Barbeque Calls It Quits in East Downtown

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Photo of Retrospect Coffee, 3709 La Branch St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
Houston Architects
12/13/17 4:45pm

Peter H. Brown, 1936–2017

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PETER H. BROWN, 1936–2017 Peter Brown, who passed away yesterday, wore many hats — he was an urban planner, architect, neighborhood activist, city council member, and occasional rapper — as well several distinctive long scarves. Amidst other civic legacies, he leaves behind a substantial back catalog of YouTube videos — in which an unseen cameraperson chronicles Brown’s peripatetic musings on various aspects of Houston’s occasionally urban landscape. As “Pedestrian Pete” on both a Facebook page and YouTube channel of the same name, Brown explored “the good, the bad, and the ugly pedestrian conditions of Houston”: He scoured neighborhoods in search of traversable sidewalks, railed against car-centric attributes of the Heights Walmart, and strolled along Lower Westheimer in conversation with Annise Parker, who had defeated him in his 2009 run for mayor. Brown was 81. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Video: Pedestrian Pete

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Broadacres
12/13/17 4:15pm

Comment of the Day: Broadacres’ Long History of Public-Private Partnerships

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: BROADACRES’ LONG HISTORY OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS “In a way, this is just the latest battle in a hundred year old fight. On a Preservation Houston tour of Broadacres (where we trespassed all over the esplanades), it was pointed out that the neighborhood was originally designed as a closed loop with the only access to the city via Parkway to the east. Houston, however, viewed the streets as public and forced the developers to cede ROW through the lots on the western side of the loop to connect North and South Blvds to their counterparts in the west. This is why North and South Blvds pinch weirdly right around West Blvd. — when you’re ceding expensive land, you only give the minimum required. . . .” [Cactus, commenting on Who Owns the Esplanades on North and South Boulevards?] Photo of Broadacres assessor’s map: HCAD

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12/13/17 12:00pm

Swamplot Sponsor: TechSpace Houston

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Thank you to TechSpace Houston, the new modern flexible workspace in Westchase — today’s Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.

TechSpace Houston is celebrating Christmas early: Swamplot readers are personally invited to come try the space for FREE for 5 days!

From Monday, December 18 through Friday, December 22, 2017, from 8 am to 5 pm, come try the space as a VIP guest — an early Christmas gift from TechSpace Houston.

To join, just fill out this form so you can be added to TechSpace Houston’s VIP list — and receive some important information about the facility.

Can’t make it this week? Claim your FREE day pass with a tour — on the day of your choice!

Separately, TechSpace Houston is also offering Swamplot readers 2 holiday-special discounts for the end of the year. Here are those deals:

  • Sign a FlexSpace membership agreement for 6 months and receive 5 free conference room hours.
  • Sign an agreement for a minimum of 6 months for a private office and receive 20 percent off plus 5 additional free conference room hours.

(To be eligible, agreements must be signed by close of business on Friday, December 29, 2017.) Please contact TechSpace Houston to take advantage of these specials!

Need to get the word out about your company’s holiday specials? Become a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day!

Sponsor of the Day
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Broadacres
12/13/17 10:45am

City: We Own The Broadacres Esplanades; HOA Prez: Neighborhood Trust Owns the Grass

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CITY: WE OWN THE BROADACRES ESPLANADES; HOA PREZ: NEIGHBORHOOD TRUST OWNS THE GRASS The Houston Public Works department confirms in a press release that the esplanades and streets on North, South, and West boulevards in Broadacres are in the public right-of-way. But lookie here what Diane Cowen at the Chronicle reports: “Cece Fowler, president of the Broadacres HOA, said that it’s been determined that while the city owns the streets on North, South and West boulevards as well as the brick sidewalks that run down the middle of the esplanades, the Broadacres Trust owns the grass.” Also, according to Cowen, the park along Parkway Dr. is owned by the trust. The HOA placed NO PHOTO SHOOTS signs along the esplanades and in the park last Thursday, but removed some of them over the weekend. The rest were taken down on Monday, ahead of the city’s statement that “The public ROW is available for anyone in the community to use for legal activities, including personal photography. Signs and blocking the public ROW are not allowed without specific permission from the City of Houston.” The signs — 13 total according to Cowen — cost the HOA $1,300. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Headlines
12/13/17 8:30am

Developing the Floodways; A Brewery for Cypress; City Recycling Deal in Limbo

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Photo of Midtown Park: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
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