COMMENT OF THE DAY: A MONUMENT TO WHOLESOME AND SEEDY TURNOVER IN RICE VILLAGE 
“The Village Arcade sign was a nod to the Village Theatre marquee (which was promptly razed in January of the year after a Jim McConn-administration moratorium on demolition of historic structures expired).  . . . There was, actually, some effort to save the Village Theatre and its block of shops (including World Toy and Gift), but it came to naught. It was a nice MacKie & Kamrath neighborhood theatre design, but by the time of its demise it was probably irretrievably tainted by its waning days as a porn house.” [marmer, commenting on Hanover Montrose Move-In Day Nears; Rice Village Arcade Sign Comes Down] Photo of Village Arcade sign: Swamplot inbox
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TOPAZ VILLAS PLANS GET POLISHED BACK UP AS OTHER MONTROSE CONDO PROJECTS FOLD 
Ron Lozoff is preparing to break ground next month on his Topaz Villas luxury condo project, reports Paul Takahashi this morning. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Lozoff said the same thing in June of 2014; the project was put on hold shortly thereafter as oil prices plummeted. The 15-unit midrise is once again planned for 4520 Yoakum Blvd., overlooking a scenic stretch of US 59 to south; the site sits about a 2 minute drive from Riverway’s recently cancelled 34-unit 3516 Montrose site (itself only 5 minutes away from Butler Brothers’ cancelled 14-unit Flats on Fairview site). Takahashi writes that Lozoff will begin marketing more seriously once construction begins next month, and that the developer believes “the condo market is strong[er] than it’s ever been in the last 15 years.“ [Houston Business Journal] Rendering of proposed 6-story condo midrise: Topaz Villas
For today’s Sponsor of the Day post, the developer of the multi-tenant retail center coming to the southeast corner of Ella Blvd. and 34th St. has some brand-new renderings to show off. Thank you, 33 1/3 @ Thirtyfourth, for supporting this website (and for the pix, above)!
What will the place look like? Garden Oaks and Oak Forest, here’s your first peek!
Chris Hotze, best known to nearby residents as the developer and owner of The Shops at Oak Forest (up a few blocks, on the northwest corner of 43rd St. and Ella), says he wants 33 1/3 @ Thirtyfourth to reflect the quality of Oak Forest and Garden Oaks. His firm, Crescere Capital Management, hired architects Peter Merwin and Ted Rubenstein of the Houston office of Gensler to create a design for the 2.5-acre site that includes greenspace at the intersection, plus a high overall parking ratio and varied buildings with high ceilings — to help draw exciting concepts to this busy corner site. Current plans call for a total of 18,850 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space.
Gensler’s rendering at top shows a freestanding restaurant building fronting 34th St., which includes plenty of room for patio seating beneath and around an extensive building canopy. The drawing below it shows the view from Ella Blvd., and the larger, more varied multi-tenant structure at the southern end of the site.
For more details and images of this center, stay tuned for future 33 1/3 @ Thirtyfourth Sponsor of the Day posts!
Sponsor of the Day posts are a great way to introduce readers to exciting developments in and around Houston. Find out more about the program here.
Sponsor of the Day
The forest of columns behind the newly planted trees above are most of what’s left of the original central plaza structure in Second Ward’s Guadalupe Plaza Park, which the Greater East End Management District says will reopen on July 30th as several years of de- and re-construction work are wrapped up. The 1980s park now caps the western end of the previously redone Navigation Blvd. esplanade, and a landscaped sidewalk now connects the park to Buffalo Bayou at the crossing of Jensen Rd. (right across from the 136-acre KBR campus recently purchased by mixed-use developer Midway).
Here’s the view looking south along the walkway toward the main square from alongside cultural center Talento Bilingue, which the management district says won’t be knocked down until funding is in place to rebuild it:Â
Plaza Placement
- Energy Tower in Energy Corridor Lands 4 More Tenants, Now Nearly Three-Quarters Leased [Houston Chronicle]
- Iconic Village Arcade Sign in Rice Village Taken Down Amid Revamp [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Move-In Date for Floors 9 to 12 of the Hanover Set for Mid-August, Rest To Follow by End of the Year [Montrose District; previously on Swamplot]
- Virtual Reality Tours Launch at Luxury Apartment Project The Carter’s ‘Preview Center’ [HBJ]
- ‘Restaurant Impossible’-Featured Gratifi Kitchen + Bar in Montrose Closing July 13 [Culturemap]
- Alief Residents Push Back on ‘Little Saigon’ Proposal [Houston Press]
- Downtown Ramp Closings Along I-45 To Start Friday Night, Last Through September [Houston Chronicle]
- The Tax Day Floodwaters Have Finally Finished Draining from Addicks and Barker Reservoirs [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park: thranth via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It’s going to take some effort, but we’ll get these knocked down.
- 710 Winnie St. [HAR]
The subterranean snapshot above comes from a reader roaming the Downtown tunnels, where a curved privacy-please construction barrier for a coffee-snacks-and-breakfast operation labeled Nosh now arcs around the spot formerly occupied by the ATM beneath 919 Milam. The change comes in the wake of other food-related shuffling beneath the 24-story tower this year; Genesis Energy also spread out onto another of the tower’s floors back in February.
- Previously on Swamplot:Â A Flurry of Culinary Updates from the Downtown Tunnels
Photo: ThaChadwick
Downtown Down Low
UH’S HOFHEINZ PAVILION COULD PICK UP TILMAN FERTITTA’S NAME 
That anonymous naming-rights-sized donation toward the redo of UH’s Hofheinz Pavilion looks to be coming from none other than local real estate mogul and reality teevee star Tilman Fertitta, writes Benjamin Wermund this week. The UH board of regents, which Fertitta also chairs, voted to authorize the basketball arena upgrade last fall after the donation was announced. Fertitta also helped the university navigate the subsequent lawsuit from the Hofheinz family over the potential renaming; the matter was eventually resolved by new plans to rename part of Holman St. and to erect a statue of late county judge Roy Hofheinz near by. Based on a chat with former Georgia Tech Foundation president John B. Carter, Wermund writes that the board “would have to vote to accept Fertitta’s gift and to name the arena after him. It’s not uncommon for members of university governing boards to give large donations to the colleges they represent, but board members who become donors should recuse themselves from any discussions or votes about granting them naming rights on a university building.“ [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Hofheinz Pavilion: University of Houston
A reader not at liberty to reveal his or her identity sends along this shot from inside of Liberty Kitchen’s under-development location inside the green-hued (and -intentioned) MetroNational Treehouse at 936 Bunker Hill Rd. The restaurant is moving into a 5,600-sq.-ft. spot on the ground floor of the building. Below is a floor plan of the space from architect Kevin Stewart:
Liberty at Bunker Hill
Whatever’s in store for the 136-acre former KBR site along the the Ship Channel at 4100 Clinton Dr., CityCentre developer Midway now looks to be involved. Documents filed with the county clerk’s office near the end of May reveal that Cathexis Holdings recently sold the site to KBRN, an entity connected to Midway through a recently minted corporate partnership (and officially located down the hall from Midway’s CityCentre office.)
And might Midway — which also heads the team that turned failed Downtown Mall Houston Pavilions into GreenStreet, and is developing the Kirby Grove park-and-office-building complex along the banks of the Southwest Fwy. in Upper Kirby — have some big office-shopping-residential-and-park-y plans in mind for this vast property, which lies about a mile and a half downstream from Downtown? A couple of clues are out there:
Sold on the Ship Channel
- Houston Rent Growth ‘Close to Disappearing’ Amidst Oil Slump, Finds MPF Research [HBJ]
- Median Price per Square Foot in Sharpstown Country Club Terrace Has Gone Up 54% from 2011-2015 [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Apartment Units Rank Among the Largest in the Nation, Says RentCafe Study [HBJ]
- Texas Children’s Pediatric Outpatient Care Center at Alabama Furniture Site in the Heights Scheduled for January Opening [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- JLL Sells 2 Self-Storage Facilities in Houston [Realty News Report]
- Harrisburg Blvd. Overpass To Start Carrying Cars and Trains on July 12 [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
- Walkable Urban Places Gaining Ground in Nation’s Largest Metros Including Houston, Finds Report [Realty News Report]
Photo of Jersey Lake in Jersey Village: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Once you get used to it, they go down much easier.
GOING FORTH FOR THE FOURTH 
Monday is Independence Day! Consequently, Swamplot will be off, celebrating independently. We’ll be rocketing back into action on Tuesday morning with more tales of booms and busts from all over the Houston real estate landscape. Until then, a safe and happy holiday to you and yours! Photo of fireworks over Hermann Park: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool
- 2322 Persa St. [HAR]
