- 2517 Sierra Madre St. [HAR]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON IS NOT HERE FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT 
“I am glad that I do not live in a city where tourism is a focus. Tourism jobs tend to be low-wage/low-skill jobs. Tourism tends to be cyclical and creates a feast or famine phenomenon for local merchants and the local economy. We do not need that here. I prefer a city that focuses on real economic growth as well as quality of life issues like mobility, schools, parks and public safety. I do not want a bunch of lookie loos in my city. Come to live and work here, please, but go visit somewhere else.” [Jardineor1, commenting on Mayor Turner Wants a Theme Park in the Middle of Houston Again] Photo of 1967 model of Astroworld: Bill Davenport
So You Think You Can Drag hit the stage at  South Beach last night — a permanent move for the event in the wake of  Wednesday‘s permanent closure of Meteor Lounge at 2306 Genesee St. The bar and semi-aquatic drag and dance venue had been renting its space back temporarily while developer Fred Sharifi worked on designs and permits for the redevelopment of the East Montrose neighborhood around Fairview Ave. and Mason St.; Adolfo Pesquera noted in early April that the project (under the name Fairview + Mason) had been granted a variance request.
The application for that request included the drawing above of the 6-story parking garage that’s planned to replace Meteor; the exterior, perhaps following Rice University’s lead on parking garage modesty coverings, appears to be artfully encrusted with bicycles, with the words MONT and ROSE emblazoned beneath.
The variance request asked the city for permission to cross some building setback lines and to add some canopies along 2 different blocks on Fairview — the site plan below points them out, catty-cornered between the block holding the Mason St. electrical substation and the block holding Max’s Wine Dive, Cuchara, and Flow:
Farewell on Fairview
The connections to the Downtown tunnel system beneath the planned future site of 35-story Capitol Tower at 811 Rusk St. should reopen by the end of the year, a Skanska representative tells Swamplot, though a hard date hasn’t been set yet.  The developer told Cara Smith of the HBJ last month that the bulk of the project wouldn’t go forward until leasing conditions look better, regardless of the explosive eviction of the former Houston Club building from the site, and last August’s foundation pour. The closures have cut off 601 Travis, the rebranding former Gulf Building, and all 3 of the buildings tangled up in that Hines-Linbeck-Houston-Chronicle tunnel lawsuit from the rest of the system since work on the spot first started in 2014. Take a look at the once-and-future underground crossroads in broader context:
Under Downtown
MAYOR TURNER WANTS A THEME PARK IN THE MIDDLE OF HOUSTON AGAIN 
How do you turn Houston into a major tourist destination? Mayor Turner says that the occasional giant sporting event and annual rodeo festivities don’t cut it, writes Clifford Pugh this week. In a post-Astroworld landscape, Turner tells Pugh that his administration is “taking a hard look” at bringing an amusement park to the city — not just nearby, but actually in Houston: “I’m not talking about in Katy or Tomball or Spring or Pearland. I’m talking about within the 640 square miles of the city of Houston. That’s something we are missing, and we are putting [the idea] out in the atmosphere. Hopefully there will be major investors who are looking within the 640 square miles. You can’t be the fourth largest city, soon to be the third, and not have that added component.” [CultureMap; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Pleasure Pier on Galveston Island: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
- Hanover To Develop New Apartment Tower in the Galleria Area Next To Existing Hanover Apartment Tower [HBJ]
- 609 Main Amenities To Include Rooftop Garden, Executive Suites with All-Glass Walls and Ceilings [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Japanese Grocer Seiwa Market Hoping To Open by the End of July [Houstonia]
- Texas Senator John Whitmire Wants State Auditor To Investigate UT’s 300-Acre Houston Purchase [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- TxDOT Allocates $14M for Bolivar Peninsula Hurricane Evacuation Route Improvements [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
- Bay Area Boulevard Overpass on I-45 Now Open [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Man Who Shut Down I-45 for Marriage Proposal Ordered To Apologize To Public [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of Keystone Tile: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
You get what you give, so you might as well give it all.
A Houston Chronicle attempt to get more info about the surprise chemical warehouse fire that turned Spring Branch Creek blood red earlier this year has been denied by the city, writes Matt Dempsey this week. The city has reportedly appealed to the state attorney general’s office to block the records request, as well as the paper’s broader request for “the name and address of every facility that files a hazardous material inventory form.”
The early May fire spread from a residence on Laverne St., igniting still-unquantified amounts of still-unnamed chemicals stored at the Custom Packaging & Filling warehouse behind it — a business that didn’t show up on the list of storage facilities the Chronicle was able to compile from local emergency planning groups, after the city and state blocked a previous request for similar info last year. The blaze left some firefighters with chemical burns and respiratory issues, and left stretches of nearby waterways decorated with festive biohazard signs and oil booms as the EPA did what they could about the mixture of pesticides and whatever else was killing the fish that drained from the site.
Knowing Your Neighbors
MIDWAY: GIANT FIFTH WARD KBR SITE WON’T BE CALLED NORTHBANK BUFFALO BAYOU, BUT SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT 
A representative from Midway tells Swamplot that, while the company has been working on a trademark for the name Northbank Buffalo Bayou, it won’t be used for whatever the company is planning for the 136-acre former KBR site in Fifth Ward (which was recently bought by a Midway affiliate). The name is actually connected to another project floating around on the company’s drawing board — no confirmation yet as to exactly where that development might be located, if it comes to be, but the north bank of Buffalo Bayou seems like a reasonable guess. Wherever the moniker is applied, the US Patent and Trademark Office lists the name as intended for use related to both commercial and residential real estate marketing and construction. Also on the list of things the brand could be used for: wine and food tastings, and presenting live musical performances. [Previously on Swamplot] Listing photo of KBR site: LoopNet
Signage up on Steel St. near the corner with Virginia is now advertising a planned 7-story condo midrise called Giorgetti Houston. The notice is standing on the northwestern section of the land vacated in 2015 by the Kirby Court Apartments; the project’s 2710 Steel St. address is immediately west of the land previously tagged for a planned restaurant-footed apartment highrise complex from Hanover (a project which spent most of 2015 in investment limbo).
The would-be-nextdoor condo midrise, which is touting interiors furnished by Italian designer Giorgetti to match the name, appears to be backed by Stolz Partners (which last May announced a different 7-story condo project called The Sophie at Bayou Bend). Here’s a clearer look at the rendering, direct from the project’s fledgling sales website:
Styling Steel St.
Today’s sponsor of Swamplot is the house at 2629 University Blvd. in West University. Thanks for supporting this website!
Here’s a home that’s just down the street from the Rice Village — not quite a block deep on the West U side of Kirby Dr. What else stands out about it? Well, in a good rainstorm you should notice the standing-seam metal roof. And rain or shine, sitting in the breakfast room, it’s hard to ignore the 660-bottle climate-controlled wine-storage setup. (Look for the photo on the property website.) Unless, of course, from the table you’re focusing your attention on the covered patio on the other side of the triple window.
The 4-bedroom, 3-1/2-bath home dates to 2000. Granite countertops, slate floors, and stainless-steel appliances from Sub-Zero, Thermador, and Bosch round out the kitchen (see photo above). The family room, shown in the top photo, opens onto the back yard. The second-story master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling.
More views — and information about the 2-story, 3,401-sq.-ft. home — are available on the property website. It’s listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.
You’ve been giving your home a lot of attention — but what about Swamplot readers? Show them what you’ve got (for sale) with a Swamplot sponsorship.
Sponsor of the Day
Per historian Steven Fox’s telling, the 1933 home at what’s now 2330 N. Braeswood Blvd. is the work of architect Joseph Finger (a few years after the Lancaster Hotel was built, and a few years before Finger went on to design City Hall). The 4-bedroom house sits on 1.13 acres and was the first one built along Braeswood Ct. (which loops off of N. Braeswood just west of S. Main St.). The exterior railings shown above are copper, and the enthusiastically tropical painted tile mural on the chimney reportedly dates back to the 1930s as well.
The Old Braeswood Property Owners Association traces the house’s Houston-history-heavy ownership record in a 2013 newsletter; the article follows the trail from a mysterious associate of Spindletop oilman T.P. Lee, to friends of future Texas governor Ross Sterling, to the son of Meyerland namesake Frank Meyer and beyond.
Want to add your name to the list? The current asking price is $2.6 million. Look around below:
- Negative Perception of Houston’s Economy Hurting Industrial Activity, Finds CBRE Report [HBJ]
- Houston’s Emerging Eastside ‘Petrochemical Corridor’ Shows Signs of Strength [Realty News Report]
- Lake Houston and West Lake Areas Seeing ‘Tremendous Growth’ [Houston Chronicle]
- City Acre Brewpub Off US-59 Now Officially Open [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston-Based Homebuilder Frankel Building Group a 2015 LEED Homes Award Winner [Culturemap]
- Sims Luxury Builders Shelves 40-Unit Aurora Condo Project in Uptown [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
- UT Professors Suing Over New Campus Carry Laws Going into Effect Next Month [abc13]
- Health Officials Warn of Possible Contaminated Drinking Water for Residents Near San Jacinto River Superfund Site [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It appeared from somewhere, then evaporated, leaving only memory.
- 7 Hampton Ct. [HAR]
