- 5358 Tilbury Dr. [HAR]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Daily Demolition Report: Chevy Chased and Beaten
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The double hypodermic needles atop the Cesar Pelli-designed O’Quinn Medical Building have just gotten brightened up: a lighting designer from FUSE sends Swamplot these bare-all shots of the Madonna tower’s roof following the company’s just-wrapped installation of a new LED setup around the tips. Down below, Texas Children’s Hospital announced earlier this week that it has bought the tower from Baylor-slash-St.-Luke’s, along with a Baylor outpatient clinic down the street. Texas Children’s told the Chronicle that it isn’t planning to boot tenants until they can move into that under construction campus on Cambridge St., somewhere around 2020.
Nor does the new owner have plans to change the tower’s name right away — though many of the physicians who petitioned against the building’s O’Quinn christening in 2005 aren’t likely to mind if they do. At the time, dozens of doctors signed a document insisting that the current namesake, Houston’s own John O’Quinn (of fen-phen and breast implant lawsuit fame), “bears partial responsibility for the litigious environment in which we work,” and that it was offensive “to have money we earned — and which he took by suing us — going to name after him a medical building in which we work every day.”
The sunset shot above looks west across the Rice campus (that’s the stadium that played backdrop to JFK’s go-to-the-moon speech, given 54 years ago this past Monday, on the right above the octagonal base); the itty-bitty silhouette of the distant Williams Tower can be seen poking up from the horizon on the left. Here’s the tip itself, so close you can almost see the filament in the flashing bulb:
Feeling Shiny and New on Fannin
COMMENT OF THE DAY: TAKE IN THOSE SCENIC INDUSTRIAL HOUSTON SIGHTS JUST LIKE A LOCAL! 
“I’ve got a better business plan when it comes to views from the new Beltway 8 bridge: Since the new one is going to be a suspension bridge much like the Fred Hartman bridge, climbing it like the  [Sydney] Harbor bridge will be out of the question. So here’s what I’ll do: For a fee, I’ll place a hole of strategic size in your back left tire. I’ll calculate the proper size in accordance to your vehicle make, number of passengers, and weight. You then take a leisurely drive up the bridge — and by the time you reach the apex of the bridge you will be forced to pull over as you can no longer drive on your flat back left tire. Then and only then will you have the glorious view of the Ship Channel that you crave as you wait for AAA. Remember, my fee will be very modest and you’ll be experiencing the REAL Houston bridge view experience that only we locals have been blessed with for years.” [DNAGuy, commenting on Houston Home Sales Bounce Back; Calling Brooke Smith as the Next Heights] Photo of Fred Hartman Bridge: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool
The cross still standing above the entrance of the former St. Elizabeth Hospital building can just barely be seen peeking out over the top of the structure in the color photo up top, included with some black-and-white historical shots in the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation’s recent call for ideas on what to do with the place. The hospital at 4514 Lyons Ave. opened in 1947 and later gigged as a detox center, substance abuse treatment facility and halfway house before being bought by Riverside General in 1995. The structure was renamed the Barbara Jordan Healthcare Facility until it was shut down in 2014 when Riverside wasn’t able to make ends meet (financially or building-code-wise). The Fifth Ward redevelopment folks bought the property in April.
A site plan drawn up by Gensler shows the current layout of the property, including the original 3-story E-for-Elizabeth main building. Some now-doomed subsections and add-ons are shaded in red, and the convent building, which looks like it might stay in the picture if somebody makes a good case, gets just a warning coat of pink:
Rehab on Lyons
The recently renovated 4-bedroom, 3-bath home at 1839 Viking Dr. in Oak Forest is Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day. Thanks for the support!
This original Oak Forest home was taken down to the studs in 2012 by a builder who transformed it into his personal home. In the process, he replaced all the electrical and plumbing systems and added a master bedroom suite. (The new master bath is pictured above.) Vaulted-ceiling living, dining, and kitchen spaces — shown in the topmost photo — now flow into each other at the front of the home. French doors lead to a covered outdoor patio space equipped with a television. New materials and finishes introduced throughout include limestone and granite countertops in the kitchen, marble counters in the bathrooms, and wood, slate, and tile floors. This property just came onto the market yesterday.
The home sits 2 blocks north of W. 43rd St., about midway between Candlelight Park and the hike-and-bike trails lining T.C. Jester. Relaxation and exercise is also available at home, in the backyard pool.
If you’d like to see more of this place, check out the property website. 1839 Viking St. is listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.
Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day program:Â Is it right for you? You should find out.
Sponsor of the Day
Tin Hall (the building itself, anyway) is now back in the hands of pre-2014 owner Fred Stockton, report Shawn Arrajj and Emily Donaldson. The Tin Hall property was bought by Mark Martinez in 2014, who sold the land to MHI McGuyer Homebuilders later that year; Martinez was allowed time after the Hall’s closing to relocate the structure, and made plans to move it down to a spot off Spring Cypress Rd. just east of Dry Creek — a process slowed down by issues with finding water for the venue and its planned nextdoor retail development.
- Halliburton Selling West Houston Office Complex Known as Oak Park [Houston Chronicle]
- SI Group Buying 10-Acre Baytown Chemical Plant [HBJ]
- Presales, Model Home Construction Begin for Long-Delayed Lago Mar Community in Texas City [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Single-Family Home Prices Hit Record Highs for an August, Finds HAR [HBJ]
- Brooke Smith to See ‘Same Kind of Transformation’ as the Heights, Predicts Cove & Cobble Builders [Houston Chronicle]
- Inside 2 of the Morgan Group’s Pearl Apartments Designed to Woo Millennials [HBJ]
- Restaurant Called Indigo Opening in Former Chinese Buffet in North Lindale Next Year [Culturemap]
- Members-Only Oakwood Social Club Planned for Former Red Room Space in River Oaks [Culturemap]
- Should Houston Have Its Own Version of the Sydney Bridge Climb on Beltway 8 Over the Ship Channel? [Opportunity Urbanist]
- Houston Just Above Rock Bottom on Valuepenguin’s Ranking of Safe Cities for Women [Houston Press]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.
- 27715 Braydon Ct. [HAR]
Rolling-sphere-themed restaurant and entertainment chain Pinstripes has just leased up some space in the under-construction Kirby Collection (and hey — there might even be some bocce players nearby still looking for a new court!) That’s the first confirmed tenant for the project, which Thor Equities wants to open by the end of next year; the 33,600 sq. ft. of leased space makes up around half of the total retail space available, and is split across both retail floors of the complex (shown in the foreground above, with a row of trees peeking down at Kirby Dr. from the edge of the roof). Pinstripes will take over a 7,260-sq.-ft. subdivision of first floor space, out of the segment labeled 23,900 in the ground floor plan below:
Leasing Ball Rolling
The Texas Direct Auto signage outside that 80-sq.-ft. Main St. office asking Red Line rail passengers to sell their vehicles may have hit a bit of resistance, but the company is nonetheless now aiming its ad campaign even higher: The drone video above (posted yesterday) shows the roof of the company’s space-themed downtown building on Leeland St. is now fully decked out with the same all-caps appeal for car sales. As a commenter pointed out yesterday, the nearby Toyota Center also shows off a rooftop label to flying passer-bys — though the arena goes one step further and lights up at night, as well:
Direct Ask Over Downtown
Today we have another announcement of interest to Oak Forest types serving as our Sponsor of the Day post. Thanks to sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt and The Shops at Oak Forest for supporting Swamplot!
The sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt location at 1214 West 43rd St., in the Shops at Oak Forest, will be reopening in less than 2 weeks, under new ownership! That’s great news for the many customers who have been missing sweetFrog’s self-serve frozen yogurt and toppings, soft-serve ice cream, non-dairy sorbet, Chloe’s soft-serve fruit, and smoothies after the shop closed a few months ago. The location’s new owners and management team are mother-and-son partners Judy and Jonathan Brown, who also own the Papa Murphy’s Take N Bake Pizza 2 doors down. They say they’re excited to bring sweetFrog back to the neighborhood: “Everyone loves this place, it is such a great hangout for friends and families.”
Reopening day at the corner of 43rd St. and Ella Blvd. is September 27th. At noon, the doors and dispensers will open and the froyo will begin to flow again — along with a variety of discounts and giveaways. The discounts and giveaways will continue every day through October 15th, when the store will celebrate its official Grand Opening — from noon to 10 pm. (The Grand Opening will feature prizes, balloon artists and face-painters, games, return-visit buy-one-get-one-free cards, and the sweetFrog mascots, Scoop and Cookie. Plus, the new owners will be donating a portion of sales that weekend to More Than 1Way 2Play, the campaign to build an accessible, inclusive playground at Oak Forest Park.) If you want to reserve the party room for a meeting, birthday or art party, Scouting event, book club, or plain-ol’ private froyo feast, contact Jonathan Brown at jonbrown44@outlook.com. Schools, churches, and other organizations can also receive donations of a portion of sales when they book community Spirit Nights at sweetFrog or Papa Murphy’s.
Got some sweet neighborhood news you’d like to share? Become a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day!
Sponsor of the Day
The 1980’s kiosk formerly used to run MJ Motorcars out of the expansive parking lot of the Southwest Plaza Shopping Center, a reader notes, is now being turned into a drive-thru daiquiri shop. Houston has been slowly picking up on the tape-over-the-strawhole skirting of open container laws over the last few years; the new Prime Daiquiri location in front of 8150 Beechnut St. will provide an alternative for those with no time to hit up Club Tequila in one the retail center’s anchor spots (between noodle shop Tau Bay, the freshly opened Planet Fitness branch, and Harbor Freight Tools).
A site plan included in Investar Real Estate Services’s leasing flier for the property shows the to-go bar in place in the kiosk, as well as a few new pad sites drawn into place near by:
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Prime Daiquiri Location in Sharpstown
- Construction Wraps on 24-Story SkyHouse Main Downtown [CoStar Group; previously on Swamplot]
- Texas Children’s Hospital Buys O’Quinn Medical Tower, Baylor Clinic Building in Med Center [HBJ]
- Co-Working Space TechSpace Opening in the Westchase District in April 2017 [HBJ]
- Rice University’s Off-Campus Housing Costs More Than U.S. Median, Finds Zillow [Houston Chronicle]
- City Council To Consider Cutting Houston Property Tax Rate for Third Time in 3 Years [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Houston Monthly Sales Tax Revenue Down 4.51% in July from Same Month Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
- TxDOT To Start Acquiring Property for SH 249 Toll Road Extension into Grimes County [Houston Public Media]
- Artist Boat Buys Another 40 Acres on Galveston’s West End for Preservation [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- There Have Been More Than 11K Registrations for Cistern Tours Since It Opened to the Public in May [CityLab; previously on Swamplot]
- More Details About Tri-C’s Plan To Drill for Oil on the Northern Shore of Lake Houston [Houston Public Media]
Photo of The Woodlands: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The newer they are, the faster they go down.
