- 10005 FM 390 [HAR]
Sign up for the Newsletter
Above is Rewire’s interactive map of what happened to most of the abortion clinics in Texas since the 2013 passage of HB2, parts of which were struck down today by the Supreme Court. The 5-3 ruling this morning overturned a section of the law that would have required prohibitively expensive remodeling of many clinic buildings, as well as a section requiring that abortion providers make arrangements that let them personally admit patients to nearby hospitals.
The latter requirement alone, when it went into effect in November 2013, caused more than half of the state’s 41 abortion providers to stop offering the procedure (including 4 out of 10 inside the Grand Pkwy. at the time). The University of Texas says that the full law, had it gone into effect, would have left Houston with 2 providers (compared to 33 in New York City, 10 in Los Angeles, and 13 in Chicago). Those 2 — the geometrically questionable Planned Parenthood HQ near University of Houston’s main campus, and the Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center in the Heights — show up on the map in green when the Ambulatory Surgical Center layer is activated:
SCOTUS Rules on Texas
... "Pin It")
The second non-mobile location of Good Dog  is now hiring, per the signage spotted by a reader at 1312 W. Alabama St. The food truck that started the chain camped out in the building’s driveway on Father’s Day, but no official opening date for the new space itself has been announced yet.
Montrose Rollover
COUNTY WANTS TO FILL IN THE ASTRODOME’S FLOOD LEVELS WITH PARKING 
There are still no set plans for what will eventually happen to the Astrodome, but the county is already gearing up to work on the parking situation. Tomorrow the county commissioners court will look over an engineering report on plans to raise the main floor of the structure (which currently sits some 30 feet below the surrounding grade) and stick a 2-story 1,400-space parking garage beneath it. The meeting’s agenda indicates that approvals on specifics for the roughly $105 million plan won’t be put to a vote until September; a spokesman for county judge Ed Emmett also tells Mihir Zaveri that no construction would start until after the Super Bowl, regardless of approval. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
An elevated reader sends a snapshot this morning of an excavator rooting around by 1311 Polk St., where Randall Davis is laying the groundwork for his 20-story tower of actor-themed condominiums named Marlowe. The development’s sales center and 5-sided billboard (formerly a 713-TICKETS.com kiosk) is still in place across Caroline St. from the House-of-Blues-containing GreenStreet development (visible in the top frame, in the bottom right corner) and Dirt Bar (bottom left).
The marketing for the tower (another Davis project to seek funding from the EB-5 invest-your-way-to-citizenship program) appears to be a little less insult-forward these days than was previously the case. The tower’s website now also includes the drone footage collage and Stairway to Heaven remix below, showing off the surrounding downtown area with the would-be tower sketched into place in white lines:
CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
Looking Down Around Downtown
- Houston’s Downtown Trophy Towers Performing Strongest in Class A Market, JLL Report Finds [HBJ]
- First Look Inside Phillips 66’s New Westchase District Headquarters [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Lessons in Mixed-Use Development from Midway’s CityCentre [Bisnow]
- Minnesota Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson’s Woodlands Estate on the Market for $8.5M [HBJ]
- The Townhome Takeover of the Heights, Oak Forest, Garden Oaks Area [The Leader]
- Kroger Marketplace Anchoring New Shopping Center in Spring [Houston Chronicle]
- Long-Delayed Speedsportz Racing Park at Grand Texas in New Caney Now Underway, To Open Later This Year [HBJ]
- Powers Brown Architecture Relocating from Downtown to Midtown’s Central Square [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot]
- Attorneys To Argue Over Value of Bolivar’s Rollover Pass in Eminent Domain Case This Week [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- The Best Spots in Houston for a Selfie [Houstonia]
Photo: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
All’s not lost, just everything on this list.
The agent who put the 16-year-old house at 2203 Crocker St. on the market this week wants to make sure you know exactly what you’re buying. The listing for the property (which describes the home as “Needs work! Never updated. Never remodeled. Located within 241 feet from nuisance bar.”) digs deep into gritty details great and small — from photos focused on the missing caulk between the kitchen tiles, to a 2-page disclosure document listing assaults, intoxication calls, and other incidents ostensibly reported to the police from in and around the property’s catty-corner neighbor, bearaoke hotspot Crocker Bar.
The listing’s photo captions highlight additional details of the property’s physical defects and history — sometimes using the bright red text above, and other times employing fragments of narration that raise questions even as they answer them. Here’s the shot from the listing labeled only as Bird Got Trapped in Wall:
Full Disclosure
Today this site is sponsored by the new townhomes at 938 W. 22nd St. in Shady Acres — namely Unit B, Unit C, and Unit D. Swamplot appreciates the support!
What makes these modern townhomes built by Uptown Houston Development different from others in Shady Acres? You can see it in the top photo above: a second-floor atrium-style indoor-outdoor living space with large windows facing into the entry landing and an entrance through 10-ft.-tall 3-panel sliding glass doors into the main (indoor) living area. It’s the focus of the entire mid-level floor plan. The top floor includes the master suite and a second bedroom; a third is just off the entry on the first floor.
This part of Shady Acres is convenient to the 610 Loop and I-10. Wright-Bembry Park is on the same block; Crisp is a block away and Cedar Creek 2 blocks. But the burgeoning restaurant scene along Shepherd Dr. has made the neighborhood much more walkable. The sweet shopping center containing Fat Cat Creamery and Hugs & Donuts is 3 blocks away; newcomers such as Hunky Dory and Southern Goods are another block to the south; travel a few more blocks to the east and you’ll be in the thick of the Houston Heights’ 19th St. shopping district. The 365 Whole Foods Market planned for Yale St. at 610 will be a mile and a half away.
Find out more about these homes’ finishes and energy-efficient features on the separate property websites for each: Unit B, Unit C, and Unit D. To learn about the buyer incentive currently being offered, contact the listing agent with Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Anderson Properties, Lauren Friese. And if you’d like to take a tour in person, stop by 938 W. 22nd St. between 1 and 4 pm on Saturday, June 25th, for an open house.
Would you or a townhome you know like to become a Swamplot sponsor? Contact us here.
Sponsor of the Day
The holdup on Houston Ave. this morning, reports a reader stuck in the resulting traffic, is the aftermath of a minor fire at the Avenue Grill on the corner with Center St. The 1940s structure (which the restaurant’s operations purportedly moved into in 1962 after 12 years of business across the street) appears unharmed by the flames, which HPD tells Dale Lezon started in the building’s electric sign. The restaurant’s property went stealthily onto the market back in August of 2014 before it was found out the following March; county records don’t appear to show a change of hands since then.
- Fire Breaks Out at Avenue Grill near Downtown Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- Previously on Swamplot:The Slow End of the Avenue Grill at the End of Center St.
Photos of fire response at Avenue Grill at 1017 Houston Ave.: Swamplot inbox
What’s Cooking in First Ward
EXCESSIVE GALVESTON BEACH BACTERIA PROBABLY NOT LEG-THREATENING, JUST FECAL, SAY OFFICIALS 
Scott Packard assures KHOU this week that the beach advisories put out by the Galveston County Health District lately aren’t related to flesh-eating strains of Vibrio bacteria — the agency has been fielding concerned phone calls in the wake of a Jacinto City man’s ongoing hospitalization and forced amputation due to a suspected Vibrio infection following a swim in Galveston with an open wound. But direct infection from seawater contact, while a perennial occurrence in Gulf Coast states, is nonetheless extraordinarily rare, Packard says. Rather, the beach advisories reflect above-standard measuremens of run-of-the-mill fecal bacteria: “Typically after periods of heavy rains [in] any recreational or coastal area, rain water will wash cattle waste, pet waste and some sewage overflows into the Gulf through rivers and streams, and that will make the levels spike for typically a day or so.” [KHOU; previously on Swamplot] Galveston Island sites with high bacteria levels: Texas General Land Office
- Greensheet Property in Midtown Sold, To Be Redeveloped for Retail, Office, Event Space [Realty News Report]
- South Heights Retail Center Trades Hands [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Co-working Space Level Office Expanding Downtown Location at 405 Main To Meet Demand [HBJ]
- Porsche of North Houston Relocating to 64,000-SF Dealership [HBJ]
- The Durham House in Former Woodrows Heights Location To Close Saturday [Culturemap]
- Torchy’s Tacos To Open in Westchase Shopping Center [HBJ]
- Post Oak Bus Lanes Likely Won’t Be Ready for Passengers Until March 2019 [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- San Jacinto River Superfund Site Extremely Vulnerable to Hurricanes, Warns Flooding Expert [The Urban Edge; previously on Swamplot]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
A reprieve just in time for the weekend – we’ll return as soon as technical difficulties with the city’s permit reporting system are resolved.
Tout Suite’s second outpost is now open in the pedestrian crossroads at the west end of Memorial City Mall. The kiosk version of the East Downtown cafe is currently serving drinks and pastries along with at least a few larger entrees. The opening follows the removal of the construction barricades formerly surrounding the space, finishing work previously started by mall vandals or impatient caffeine addicts:
Mall Mini
