Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Have we eaten on the insane root that takes the houses and garages prisoner?
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- 624 Wellesley Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TRANSMISSION LINES ARE ALWAYS DEEPER ON THE OTHER SIDE 
“While working with Entergy in New Orleans (12 plus years ago), at every public meeting I went to, citizens always complained about the city’s third world look when we would tell them burying power lines was not a part of the long-term plan (maintenance and upgrades). They would frequently state that no other major city had above ground lines — and that on their most recent business trip to Houston, they did not see any above ground,  and that we should follow Houston’s lead.” [Nend, commenting on Electrical Transmission Lines About To Get Really High by the Dog Park at 59 and 610] Photo of current and replacement electrical transmission towers at Westpark Dr. and 610: Swamplot inbox
The colorful faces behind the chain-link fencing surrounding the former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building at 2850 Fannin St. have been joined this week by a few pieces of bright yellow knock-down equipment. Permits came through last week clearing the site for clearance in advance of a planned 27-story apartment highrise going by the name Main Midtown. The tower was okayed for a parking variance in late October, as part of which Australian developer Caydon Properties agreed to install over 200 bike spaces.Â
The long-empty MHMRA structure got its last hurrah this fall when much of the street-level wallspace was painted over in tan, making way for new muralage. A nearby resident buzzed around the site recently taking some final snaps of the paintings (like the one featured at the top of the page) before the demo gets going in earnest — here’s a sampling below:
Midtown Breakdown
UN-RE-ZONING OF MISSOURI CITY TRACT PAVES WAY FOR SHIPMAN’S COVE MASTER PLANS 
The Missouri City council voted last week to approve a “planned development” zoning classification for a woody 95.3-acre tract at the edge of the Creekmont and Newpoint Estates subdivisions off Hwy. 6 at Watts Plantation Rd., which master plan planner Ashton Woods wants to turn into a 287-unit housing development called Shipman’s Cove. The January vote came after a determination by the city’s attorney that the failed September vote on the same issue had technically passed: Councilmembers now says that the vote to change the undeveloped land’s zoning classification (an act that would have required a 75 percent majority among the 7 council members, and fell 1 vote short of that hurdle) actually only counted as a vote to zone it for the first time — which only needs a simple majority for approval. Amelia Brust reports that neither the city council nor city attorney “explained what prompted the further review, nor did they identify the outside legal counsel hired by the city” that helped review the situation; Missouri City mayor Allen Owen also said at the time of the vote that multiple lawsuits looked to be in the works. [Community Impact] Image of planned site of Shipman’s Cove: Missouri City
Feels Like the First Time
Today Swamplot is brought to you by Loam Agronomics, in order to introduce the company’s new CSA program for Houston. Thanks for the support!
Have you been looking for a way to get a regular supply of fresh, locally grown produce for your household? Do you like the idea of eating food that hasn’t been shipped thousands of miles, but is picked at peak ripeness nearby and available to you in 48 hours or less? Then you’ll want to know all about the launch of Loam Agronomics.
The first crops are growing now on a 40-acre portion of a 288-acre agricultural site the company has acquired in Richmond. And you can participate — by joining the Loan Agronomics CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA will give Houston residents direct access to high-quality, fresh produce grown on this local farm. When you become a member of the Loam Agronomics CSA, you’re purchasing a weekly “share†of vegetables from the company and supporting the production of local food in your community. Loam Agronomics will begin regular weekly distribution of CSA shares in March.
Loam Agronomics is a project of the same people behind Edible Earth Resources, the local gardening firm that’s been transforming some high-profile urban lots in Houston into attractive edible gardens. Loam Agronomics will serve much of the same community, but at a larger scale.
If you’ve got questions about the CSA program or the operation and standards of the farm, take a look at the answers to the FAQ posted on the brand-spanking-new Loam Agronomics website.
Loam Agronomics offers:
- Drop sites across Houston
- Pickups on Thursdays and Saturdays
- Signups available any time
- Cooking and storing tips
- Community events
. . . all for just $30 per week.
To sign up, all you need to do is select a convenient drop site; fill out a member information profile; and choose a payment plan (4-, 12-, 26-, and 52-week plans are available, some with discounted rates) — all of which you can do from this page on the Loam Agronomics website.
Swamplot is a smart place to announce exciting new community projects. Learn about our Sponsor of the Day program here.
Sponsor of the Day
More signs of the Midtown Redevelopment Authority’s current 3-part landscaping project: the large hill being crafted where the long I-45 exit ramp into Pierce St. hits Brazos St. Bid documents for the project also mention landscaping walls, accent lighting, and decorative stone as part of the rest of the plan for the spot. The newly elevated site sits east across the I-45 offloader from the former home of high-gloss steak and seafood house Mr. Peeples, which shut down back in March. The Bagby-facing building, which served as a Boy Scouts of America office prior to the restaurant makeover, is still up for lease; a marketing flier advertises all 3 stories as up for grabs, along with the 8,702-sq.-ft. basement. Here’s the full frontal:
Moving Up in Midtown
- HAR: 2016 Was the Best Year Ever for Home Sales in Houston [Realty News Report]
- Lennar Starts Home Sales in Laurel Ridge Community in Conroe [Houston Chronicle]
- Local Foods Set To Open in Former Byrd’s Department Store at 420 Main Today [Houston Chronicle]
- North Shore Poke Co. Gearing Up for Houston Debut in Westchase District Next Week, Plans To Open 3-5 Locations in City [HBJ]
- French Fry Restaurant Get Fried Fry Café Planning First Houston Location at Marq-E Entertainment Center on Katy Fwy. [abc13]
- Houston Chronicle Notes Triple Chicken Corner on S. Rice Ave. Has 2 Additional Chicken-To-Go Sources [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Where Guy Fieri Has Been Filming Episodes of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ in Houston [Culturemap]
- The Top Places for Reported UFO Sightings in the Houston Area [abc13]
Photo of drilling piers on Mulberry Ln. in Bellaire: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new demolition.
- 18518 Paloma Lago Cir. [HAR]
The split space occupied until late December by Northern Thai restaurant Foreign Correspondents and its also-freshly-shut-down cocktail bar companion Canard may be up for lease now, a reader notes. Treadsack suffix provider and co-owner Chris Cusack told CultureMap after the restaurant’s closure (spurred in the moment by the resignation of the head chefs, and trailing a few months after the previous departure of the company’s head beverage person) that the company would likely be trying out another concept in the space; that claim, however, was made before the details of years of behind-the-scenes financial turmoil hit the Internet.
A listing flier from Braun Enterprise, showing the center’s updates since the original marketing materials for 4721 N. Main were released, now advertises the restaurant’s space as up for grabs; the recent photo above is included, alongside the accompanying site plans of the 4,742-sq.-ft. space. A plan view of the rest of the shopping center is included as well, showing the currently solidifying new location of Austin-based gelato chain Dolce Neve:
Iced in Norhill
The view this week around Westpark Dr. at the West Loop includes both the old lattice towers currently holding CenterPoint’s electrical transmission lines and the taller, skinnier single pole models that will be taking over the gig. A reader captured some side-by-side portraits of the old towers and their replacements, which CenterPoint is deploying to raise the lines out of the way of TxDOT’s proposed future edits to the 610-59 interchange tangle. The cherry picker above is shown tethered to one of the new towers in the easement just west of 610; the top shot shows a pole up on the east side of the freeway between the Loop Central office midrises and the Danny Jackson Family Bark Park (which closed down last summer so CenterPoint could work on the land the county had been using as the park’s parking lot).
Here’s a ground-level shot at the base of an old-and-new tower pair just outside the dog park, with some Houston Garden Center inventory in the background for scale:
Bark Park Sparks
Our sponsor today is the 2-story home at 407 E. Cowan Dr. in Crestwood, offered for sale by Nan and Company Properties. Thanks for supporting Swamplot!
This 4- (but could be 5-) bedroom, 4-and-a-half bathroom home has a mostly open floor plan. A set of double front doors opens to a 2-story foyer. To the right, the entry is open to the formal dining room; to the left is a study; and ahead, next to the wrought-iron-lined, curving central staircase and through a set of arches, is the formal living room pictured above. A separate family room, adjacent to the kitchen and breakfast area, looks out onto the back yard. Standout features include the upstairs media room, the window-side bath in the extensive master suite, and the outdoor living area at the northwest corner of the back yard of the 9,900 sq. ft. lot.
Just a block and a half west of this 5,751-sq.-ft. home in the Crestwood subdivision just east of Rice Military lies Houston’s renowned Memorial Park. There’s only a short drive north to I-10, one exit away from the West Loop.
For a quick tour of this unique property, watch the video above. More information is available in the listing.
If you’re interested in this home, please call the property’s agent, Abigail Dodds of Nan and Company Properties, at 713.561.3582, or email her at abby@nanproperties.com for more details. Abby specializes in luxury, designer homes within the Houston Inner Loop area.
Is there a standout property in your life that deserves to be introduced to a wider audience? Find out how to get it featured on Swamplot.
Sponsor of the Day
Resident Joseph Virant sends in some ornithological notes on the roving bands of peacocks that wander the Garden Villas neighborhood, catty-corner northwest across Telephone Rd. and Airport Blvd. from Hobby Airport. A few of the birds make a cameo appearance in the active sales listing of 7374 Brace St. (shown above); Virant writes in with more detail on the origins and habits of the animals, which he says have regular routes and a seed-furnishing fanbase:
The story goes that they started as someone’s pets many years ago, were turned loose, and multiplied. There are 2 groups: one in the eastern half of the neighborhood [near] Ashburn St., Brace St., and Garden Villas Park; and one in the western half (Brace St., Alpine Dr.). Apparently a group of peacocks is called either an ‘ostentation‘ or a ‘muster‘. A lot of neighbors have Peacock Crossing signs in their yards; people often stop their cars to snap photos as [the birds] amble across the street . . . My wife buys bird seed to attract them.
These aren’t the only pea fowl wandering free (or at least unattended) around town; they may, however, be the only ones whose home neighborhood is working actively to enshrine the birds’ status as local mascots, as Virant notes Garden Villas is hoping to do:
Garden Villas Visitors
- HP To Build New Campus on 12 Acres in Springwoods Village [Houston Chronicle]
- First-Phase Tenants of East Village Development Confirmed as Truck Yard, Rodeo Goat, and Poku [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Peli Deli To Take Over Murphy’s Deli Space in Esperson Building for 9 Months Starting in March [Houston Press]
- How Chris Shepherd’s New Restaurant Is Taking Houston to New Heights [Tasting Table; previously on Swamplot]
- Rice Village District To Launch New Parking Plan with Storefront Meters, 36% More Free Parking Next Month [HBJ]
- Kinder Foundation, H-E-B, Houston Endowment Commit $2M to Emancipation Park Conservancy [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- How To Legally Rent Out Your Home for the Super Bowl [Click2Houston]
Photo of Niels Esperson Building: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
