07/14/16 4:45pm

1709 Dan St., Fifth Ward, Houston, 770201709 Dan St., Fifth Ward, Houston, 77020

Much of the front of container-composed 1709 Dan St. still sports that distinctive shipping container crimp, though the actual entrance to the 2-box structure has been partially camouflaged behind siding and a gabled-roof-sporting porch. The misalignment between the 2 boxes makes room for a matching patio space in the back of the home, which sits about a block and a half north of the intersection with Lyons St. in Fifth Ward. The house was put together by container enthusiast Build-a-Box (whose website says it’s also working up a 50-unit shipping container apartment complex for the neighborhood).

All the sections of the 2-bedroom, 2-bath structure add up to about 1,228 sq.ft.; the house went on sale last month for $189,995. The crimping has been completely masked on the inside of the house:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Building With Boxes
07/14/16 2:30pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: STRAIGHTENING OUT THE CONCRETE-LINED BAYOU PARADOX white-oak-bayou“While I am no run-off-water-channeling expert, I am under the impression that tossing out the concrete is not just for appearances. The concrete ditch moves the water faster than the natural channel, and can [thereby] actually aggravate flooding rather than cure it. Returning to the natural channel structure may mitigate flooding.” [Al, commenting on Might White Oak Bayou Ditch Its Concrete?] Photo of White Oak Bayou channel: Swamplot inbox

07/14/16 1:00pm

Time for Thai, 930 Main St., Downtown Tunnels, Houston, 77002

Swamplot’s anonymous tunnel correspondent sends the following deep-Downtown restaurant updates (and a few other subterranean readers send along photos to illustrate):

The location formerly occupied by Prince’s at 930 Main St., [beneath the] McKinney Place Garage (unoccupied since early March) will soon be home to Time for Thai, whose sign says that they are an offshoot of Thai Cottage:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Coming Up Downtown
07/14/16 12:00pm

2415 Avalon Pl., Avalon Place, Houston

2415 Avalon Pl., Avalon Place, Houston

The 2,608-sq.-ft., 3-bedroom home at 2415 Avalon Pl. is Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day today. Thanks for the support!

If you dream about the back of your house opening up to a backyard pool-and-spa combo, you’ll want to check out this place. By removing the walls surrounding what was once a separate study adjacent to the living room, the owners of this brick midcentury home have created a full-width interior space that lines and laps the pool. An array of 10 full-height expanses of glass (including 2 sets of French doors) covers the home’s back wall. The photos above show a portion of this arrangement, but you’ll want to click through the slideshow on the property website to appreciate the extent of this poolside hangout.

How about adding to that vision with a ground-floor master bedroom opening onto that space? The other 2 bedrooms are upstairs (one with a built-in office alcove; the other with windows on 3 sides). Because it’s in Avalon Place, Chuy’s and West Ave (to the southeast), River Oaks Elementary (to the west), and the River Oaks Theater (to the northeast) are all within walking distance.

Do look through all the pics on the 2415 Avalon Pl. website, where you can also find additional details. It’s listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.

Is your home lost in a directory of listings? Give it the attention it deserves with a stint as Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.

Sponsor of the Day
07/14/16 11:30am

River Oaks Manor Condos, 2325 Welch St., River Oaks, Houston, 77019

The above corner of Welch and Revere streets, which currently holds the 2-story River Oaks Manor condo complex, looks to be trading up for a much taller occupant: a 9-story condo midrise going by the name The Revere at River Oaks. A 6-story condo midrise project called Revere Park was previously planned at the corner of Mimosa and Revere, one block to the south; that project was denied several variance requests by the city last year, with objecting residents claiming the area couldn’t handle increased density.

River Oaks Manor (which is itself outside the boundaries of River Oaks) sits on a narrow rhomboidal lot to the southeast of the intersection; the building footprint’s slightly acute and obtuse angles are complemented by sets of triangular windows on several corner units. Kirksey Architecture’s design for the proposed midrise structure seems to stick more firmly rectilinear shapes, however:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Avalon Place
07/14/16 8:30am

elan-heights

Photo of Elan Heights: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
07/13/16 5:15pm

MIGHT WHITE OAK BAYOU DITCH ITS CONCRETE? white-oak-bayouThe Harris County Flood Control District is looking at removing the concrete lining from sections of the White Oak Bayou channel, writes Mihir Zaveri. The agency is conducting a study on redeveloping parts of the waterway along with the Memorial-Heights Redevelopment Authority (a.k.a. TIRZ 5); any future projects to come from the study would be within the TIRZ 5 boundaries, along sections of White Oak between roughly N. 610 and Houston St. Zaveri writes that the push “in part reflects the idea that waterways where flooding must be controlled don’t have to be eyesores, and in fact can become more natural settings for residents to bike, walk and gather. It follows decades-old conversations about how to shape waterways in a flood-prone region like Houston, where the rapidly growing population has increasingly come to demand improvements in quality of life.” With respect to balancing aesthetics against effective flood control practices, TIRZ 5 chairwoman Ann Lents tells Zaveri that “pretty is never going to trump functional . . . But because of new techniques, if we can find a way to do both better, I think that will be a great thing.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo of White Oak Bayou: Swamplot inbox

07/13/16 4:00pm

Blondie's Bar, 1026 S. 8th St., La Porte, TX 77571

After more than 40 on-and-off years under its current name, and 37 years since housewife-turned-electrician Margaret Lindsay got involved with the place, Blondie’s on the corner of S. 8th St. and Fairmont Pkwy. off SH 146, is once again listed for sale. A previous Houston Press article details Lindsay’s account of some of the bar’s fraught history since 1980 — from the banned and reinstated lingerie shows, complex permitting and loan tangles, and 11th-hour financial saviors and sugar daddies, to the alleged police harassment and an eventual lawsuit filed against the city of La Porte.

The suit was dismissed in 1999, as the named city official’s had immunity to Lindsay’s allegations that they had conspired to run her out of town; 17 years later, the bar still stands along the channelized banks of Little Cedar Bayou, between 2 Wells Fargo buildings and across Fairmont from the McDonald’s and the La Porte Post Office. LoopNet lists the asking price as $1 million — kitchen equipment, alarm system, and all. Here are a few more of the listing shots, which show the bar still loosely decked out for Christmas:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Looking Like a Million Bucks
07/13/16 1:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: ARE THE MONEY AND THE WATER FLOWING THE SAME DIRECTION? Demographic Map of Houston Census Blocks and Public Housing Projects, from Texas Housers“So I was looking at this the other day and a thought just hit me, based on a comment on another thread: Is this trend of gentrification following the bayous? Seems like that is a major draw to new development, and with the transition of the East End and Third Ward, it looks like a possibility.” [Mr.Clean19, commenting on A Purple Map of Race and Public Housing Projects in Houston] Map: Texas Housers

07/13/16 1:00pm

9330 Main St., NRG, Houston, 77025

9330 Main St., NRG, Houston, 77025Here’s a recent view from the Buffalo Spdwy. side of the long-vacant 12 acre property at 9330 Main St., now listed as under contract by broker HFF.  The land — a set of parcels outlined in the above aerial photo from HFF listing flier — appears to have never held much in the way of built structures, save for the section at 9403 Buffalo Spdwy. (which sported a branch of Oklahoma-rooted Lebanese steakhouse Jamil’s in the 1970s).

A reader notes that someone has been at work on what appears to be soil testing for the site, which faces Main between the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the Public Storage facility, with Prime Storage across the street. The Buffalo Spdwy. frontage is flanked by  some David Weekley homes to the south, and the Pemberton Park townhomes to the north (visible on the left below:)

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Stirrings on S. Main
07/13/16 12:00pm

6337 Mercer St., West University Place, Texas

6337 Mercer St., West University Place, Texas

Today Swamplot is brought to you by the 5-bedroom, 5-bath house for sale or lease at 6337 Mercer St. in West University Place. Thanks for the support!

If you have a big family — or maybe anticipate a lot of visitors — you’ll find plenty of room in this 4,922 sq.-ft. home. Just inside the front door, a curving staircase leads up to all 5 bedrooms: three of the same size, the fourth slightly larger, and the master more than twice the size of any. A jack-and-jill bathroom separates 2 of the bedrooms; there are 3 other bathrooms upstairs, including the master. The fifth, which includes a shower, is located downstairs.

The heart of the home, however, is the kitchen-and-family-room setup at the back, downstairs, which is arranged nicely for entertaining. (It’s pictured above, minus a second row of French doors, just off camera to the right.) The French doors in the family room lead to a patio and back yard that has room for a pool. Behind the kitchen is the formal dining room. Off the 2-story foyer is the formal living room (now used as a den), which leads, through a set of arched double pocket doors, to a private paneled study.

All this within walking distance of both the Rice Village and West U Elementary. You’ll find more details about 6337 Mercer St. on the property websites — one for potential buyers and the other for potential renters.

2 bedrooms? 4 bedrooms? 6? 12? Show off your listing nicely as a Swamplot sponsor.

Sponsor of the Day
07/13/16 10:15am

EMPTY HOUSTON OFFICE SPACE HITS 20-YEAR HIGH WITH MORE IN THE PIPELINE 609 Main St., Downtown, Houston, 77002“The damage has been done,” writes Ralph Bivins this morning: although developers in the city have mostly stopped starting new office buildings, the past quarter “was the first time in 21 quarters that Houston had negative absorption, meaning more office space was emptied than filled.” And the office space availability rate, brushing up against 20 percent, is also higher than it has been at any time since 1995; real estate scrutinizer CBRE estimates that the rate could shoot past the 20-year record to 21 percent in 2017 as more sublease space hits the market (and more of the space already under construction, on the order of 4.2 million sq.ft., wraps up). [Realty News Report] Photo of 609 Main construction: Katherine Feser (bottom)

07/13/16 8:30am

i-45-construction

Photo of I-45 construction: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines