Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
And away they go:
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- 12319 Oralia Dr. [HAR]
Images are leaking of the new tower Marathon Oil wants to build on a patch of recently-vacated land between CityCentre and the Katy Fwy. In an email sent out to employees on Tuesday, company CEO Lee Tillman set a tentative move-in date of 2021 for the imaginary building and wrote that its planned location was a plus partly because it’s closer to where the average Marathon employee lives, out in “west Houston and along the I-10 corridor.” The new whereabouts are just under 6 miles away from Marathon’s current ones in the eponymous Marathon Oil Tower at 5555 San Felipe, near the Galleria.
The rendering at top of the new building shows it looking a lot like the middle structure in this group of 3 that Midway proposed building on the site last year:
On Deck Along I-10
An entity connected to Kaldis Development is the proud new owner of the Cameron Iron Works complex across the railroad tracks from the shuttered coffee plant on Milby St. And already, the developer — which has a thing for refilling old Houston buildings — is marketing its purchase for lease as The Cameron and promising to renovate it into something that restaurant, bar, and event venue tenants can get in on.
The 1.43-acre property at 711 Milby St. is home to 2 buildings: the 3-story brick one shown above with Cameron’s name set in stone above the main entrance, and a less eye-catching warehouse next-door to it, shown below from the corner of Rusk St.
Forging a New Path
FIRST PHILIPPINE BAPTIST CHURCH’S NEW NEIGHBOR: SPIKE SPORT VOLLEYBALL CLUB 
Site work is about to begin on a volleyball gym off the Fort Bend Pkwy. that’ll fill in the gap between First Philippine Baptist Church (shown above) and the Missouri City drainage ditch officially known as VIII-BI. The planned 8-court gym is the latest from Spike Club, which previously held court in a complex next to the post office on S. Gessner north of W. Bellfort. Since moving out of there earlier this year, its players and staff have taken temporary refuge in the Westbury Christian School’s athletic complex over on Fondren Rd. They plan to arrive in the Missouri City location sometime next spring. Photo: Southern Baptist Convention
- Jewish Community Plans Rebuild as Arson Unit Continues Synagogue Fire Investigation [Houston Chronicle]
- UH Debuts Renamed Fertitta Center Basketball Facility After $60 Million Upgrade of Hofheinz Pavilion [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston-Based Company Intuitive Machines Tapped To Build NASA Moon Landers [Houston Chronicle]
- Plans Change for Brays Bayou Bridge Construction as Community Requests More Traffic Info [Houston Public Media]
- Salvation Army Houston Shutters Near Northside Shelter, Relocates Services at Others [Houston Chronicle]
- JLL Secures Financing for 1,311-Unit Westchase Storage Facility at 10411 Westheimer [Commercial Property Executive]
- Pearland Pokeworks Sets Grand Opening for Dec. 8 at 2630 Pearland Pkwy. [Eater]
- Treasury Dept. and Federal Reserve System Propose Loosened Regulations To Forego Real Estate Appraisal [Houston Chronicle]
- Photos: Take a Look Inside Finn Hall Before Dec. 3 Opening [HBJ]
- Airbnb Expands in Houston, Aims To Increase Listings Around Texas Medical Center [Houston Public Media]
- Houston’s Affordability is Hurting our Hotel Industry Compared to Other Metro Areas [Bisnow]
- Sugar Land’s University Blvd. Extension Spurs Residential Development [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Montrose St. Bridge over 59: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
These went down, down, down.
- 21 Grand Manor [HAR]
WHAT’S NEXT FOR BRIAR HOLLOW ONCE THE TREE TOPS APARTMENTS GET STUMPED? 
Neighbors have begun whispering of a 10-story apartment building from The Finger Companies that could go in place of the abandoned Tree Tops at Post Oak complex at 4510 Briar Hollow Pl. It’s not out of the question: An entity linked to Finger bought the 2.3-acre property in July and has since submitted plans to the city to reshape it. Nobody’s lived in the 2 existing 3-story buildings since last August, at which time the water level topped out at about the ceiling of the ground-floor units according to an observer nearby. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
CHARLES BARKLEY’S OLD HOUSE IS ABOUT TO HIT THE MARKET 
Two years after finishing his career with the Rockets in 2000, the power-forward-turned-broadcaster sold his Sugar Land house at 66 Harbor View Dr. to the current homeowners, who — according to a preview put out by ResideTX Properties — are about to put it back on the market. It sits at the back of a cul-de-sac in the Pointe Royale subdivision east of where New Territory Blvd. crosses the Grand Pkwy. Inside, 3,956 sq.-ft. houses 4 beds and 3.5 baths. [ResideTX] Photo of 66 Harbor View Dr.: ResideTX
- Last $3 Million of Harvey Relief Fund Goes to 17 Non-Profit Orgs [Houston Public Media]
- Katy-Area Approaching Twice the Amount of Units Existing Apartment Market Can Handle [Community Impact]
- City Transforming Vacant Montrose Lot on Westheimer and Whitney into “Avondale Promenade Park†[HBJ]
- Chicago Peri Peri Chicken Chain Opens First Houston-Area Location in Sugar Land [Eater]
- House of Pies Woodlands Location Sets Early 2019 Opening Date [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Six Month Temporary Housing Extension Granted for Harvey Survivors in Fort Bend and Harris Counties [Covering Katy]
- League City City Council Considers 1,747-Acre Planned Unit Development [Community Impact]
- City Enacts Firefighter Pay Parity as Mayor Turner Argues Measure Violates State Law [Houston Public Media]
- Harvey Recovery Czar Marvin Odum Announces Departure from Role [Houston Chronicle]
- Killen’s Steakhouse To Open New Woodlands Location in Former Bob’s Steak & Chop House Spot [HBJ]
- New Study Reveals Deeper Transit Inequity, Offers Suggestions for Improvement [Houston Public Media]
- Oil and Gas Boom Complicated by Climate Change Increases Tensions Along Texas Coasts [Texas Tribune]
Photo of City Hall: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Pardon us while we straighten things out a bit.
- 13123 Mariners Ct. [HAR]
At least one resident of 224 Emerson St. doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. “The model” — dubbed Francis by the homeowners — “isn’t attached,” writes the listing agent, “but everything is negotiable.” His current kitchen counter hangout is tucked back on the ground floor of the condo — the furthest east of 6 on the block south of Hawthorne St. in Westmoreland — leaving the house’s more prominent spots available for other kinds of decor.
To get to the first one, head through the gate to the right of the garage door and step through the front door:
Counter Offer
Note: We’ve appended a photo showing off Caffè Di Firenze’s espresso machine to the end of this story.
New signage is up in the windows of the Henry Brashear Building at 910 Prairie St. downtown on account of Caffè Di Firenze‘s recent move into the place. It’s now serving drinks and food inside and plans to do so on the outside, too, once the city signs off on permission for chairs and tables to go on the sidewalk. The photo at top shows the storefront pretty much the same as it’s been since going red in 2016. Except now some new tri-colored tiling peeks out from underneath the doors.
Inside, there’s this hashtagged wall of greenery:
New Coffee Grounds
