Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Let these few escape below the horizon and out of sight forever.
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- 1014 Briar Ridge Dr. [HAR]
Japanese dollar and 100-yen store Daiso has signed a lease for a 10,998-sq.-ft. spot at 501 S. Mason Rd. in the Mason Park shopping center, east of Mason Creek and the Barker reservoir. NewQuest Properties says the retailer was drawn to the location on S. Mason south of I-10 because of its proximity to Asian grocery chain 99 Ranch Market, which is currently getting the former Kroger spot in the center ready for a summertime opening.
Coming to Katy
UBER AND LYFT PULL OUT OF AUSTIN, PREPARE FOR CAPITOL Meanwhile, in Austin: Uber and Lyft ceased operations today after a city proposition to overturn requirements for drivers including fingerprint-based background checks was shot down by voters over the weekend. The measure was blocked by 56 percent of the vote, despite $8.6 million in campaign spending by the 2 rideshare companies. State senator Charles Schwertner immediately promised to file state legislation to overturn the matter during next year’s session, implying that the Austin rules (which are less stringent than those required by Houston) are “for the sole purpose of stifling innovation and eliminating competition.†El Paso state representative Joe Pickett, however, suggested that “the most minimal thing that state government could do” would be to leave the issue up to individual cities. [Austin-American Statesman; previously on Swamplot]
RAVEN TOWER’S TOWER TEMPORARILY CLOSED, BUT THE SHOWS WILL GO ON 
The blue bar-on-a-stick at the northwest corner of the White Oak Music Hall complex temporarily shut down last week so W2 Development Partners can add more railings and make the space more physically accessible. The elevated 1970s former bachelor pad reopened as a bar and rooftop patio in January, 3 months before the first show on the semi-temporary main stage next door; a set of concrete stairs wrap around the elevator shaft leading up to the main space.  The non-tower sections of the Raven Tower venue, including the downstairs bar and the outdoor patio and performance space, are scheduled to stay open and host concerts as planned. Across the parking lot, White Oak Music Hall has another lawn concert scheduled for tomorrow night. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Raven Tower: Swamplot inbox
Today’s sponsor on Swamplot: the newly completed 3,000-sq.-ft. condo on the second floor of the Chateau Ten Sunset — 1742 Sunset Blvd. Unit 201, to be exact. We appreciate the support!
The Chateau Ten Sunset midrise on the corner of Sunset and Ashby St. was completed this year by the Randall Davis Company. And true to its name, it has only 10 units. This one, on the second floor, features an oversized tree-level balcony; it’s one of only 2 units in the building with a terrace that extends its full length (see top photo).
There’s a private entrance to the unit directly from the elevator. Inside, the main living area (pictured above) opens to the kitchen, which features Eggersmann cabinetry, blue Alaskan marble countertops, and Thermador appliances. The master bedroom looks onto the terrace; one of the 2 secondary bedrooms opens onto a separate balcony.
Rice University is just 2 blocks to the south. The building is also convenient to Rice Village, the MFAH and other museums, Hermann Park, and the Med Center beyond. For more info or a photo tour, take a look at the property website. This condo is listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.
Got a chateau of your own you’d like to show off? It’ll get all kinds of attention as a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.
Sponsor of the Day
A list of proposed school name changes was released on Friday as HISD moved forward with plans to to cut ties with the Confederacy. The switchover of Henry W. Grady Middle School to Tanglewood Middle School was already approved by the district board of education back in March — here are the 6 and a half new names proposed for the 7 remaining schools, which could be applied by the start of the 2016-2017 school year:
School Swapouts
- St. Thomas To Convert HISD Criminal Justice Campus into Sports Facilities, Student Center [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Darling Homes Prepares To Launch Sales for Second Section of Energy Corridor Parkway Terrace [HBJ]
- CBRE: Inner Loop, Energy Corridor, and Areas Around The Woodlands Have the Softest Rents in Houston Right Now [Realty News Report]
- Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern To Open to the Public This Friday [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Christian’s Tailgate on Washington Ave To Close May 24 as Chain’s Previous Owner Retires [Houston Chronicle]
- Rice Village Nightlife Institution Bronx Bar Has Closed After 18 Years [Culturemap]
- Houston Will Soon Be Home To 3 Different Grilled Cheese Restaurants [Eater Houston]
- Public Health Officials Warn Houston Vulnerable To Spread of Zika with ‘Perfect Storm’ of Poverty, Rain, and World Travelers [The Urban Edge]
- Dead Animals Piled Up Along Spring Branch Creek Following Warehouse Fire Chemical Spill [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Opera ‘After the Storm,’ Set During a Galveston Hurricane, To Premiere at the Wortham Center [Houston Public Media]
Photo of Mid Main: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
They may be livable, but they’re even more smashable.
- 314 S. 9th St. [HAR]
GOOD THING SPRING BRANCH HAD ALL THAT FLOODING LAST MONTH 
A press release from the city notes that last month’s flooding may actually make the chemical spill caused by yesterday’s warehouse fire significantly less of a problem for the waterways around Spring Branch: “Fortunately, recent heavy rainfall and flooding has caused high waters in our creeks and bayous. This will assist in diluting the pesticide contaminates and minimize its impact.” Harris County Flood Control District says the areas of Spring Branch creek marked in the map above (from the site of the fire to the creek’s junction with Buffalo Bayou) should be avoided. [City of Houston; previously on Swamplot] Image: Harris County Flood Control District
The ditches ran red in the Spring Branch area yesterday as the billowing 4-alarm fire near Laverne St. at Spring Branch Dr. triggered evacuations and shelter-in-place orders across the surrounding areas. The blaze reportedly started in a home-slash-auto-shop on Laverne and spread next door to the A-1 Custom Packaging warehouse (which transfers large quantities of various industrial liquids into smaller bottles for distribution). Some of those stored chemicals (including the bright red petroleum additive visible in the shot above) made their way into drainage ditches and culverts flowing into Spring Branch itself.
The red additive is non-water-soluble and has been getting pushed around by contract clean-up crews downstream to stop the spread. But contractors cannot, the city says, catch the pesticide that also made its way into the same drainage channels, as it dissolves in water. It’s still unclear how much of the 500 gallons or so thought to have been stored at the site made it all the way into Spring Branch (which flows into Buffalo Bayou south of I-10), but some water quality test results are due back later today.
River Running Red
Brookfield released a few renderings this morning of the plans to make over One, Two, and Three Allen Centers at the corner of Smith and Dallas streets downtown. The rendering above depicts the new plan for the greenspace between One and Two: to subtract 1 of the 2 second-story skybridges currently running parallel to Smith and add an events venue. The redo plans also include a major street-level change for One Allen Center, depicted above with a 2-story glass lobby running around corner in place of the current largely-bricked-over podium facade.
That tiny neon sign on the left edge of the turn-of-the-decade photo above once marked the location of Don Patron; the quarter-centenarian Tex-Mex lunch spot started to close in February and finished the job in March. The remodel plans swap it out for a higher-end restaurant, which will get some patio space along Smith St:
1, 2, 3 Remodel
Signs of the impending turnover at 726 W 19th St. west of N. Shepherd Dr.: a banner bearing the curly pink logo of Gipsy Girls teen-and-tween gift shop. The spot formerly hosted Pink Studio cosmetics, which has headed north to a space in the Northwest Gessner Center along the 290 feeder; following the departure of a business geared toward holding on to the things of youth, the W. 19th St. space is being remodeled to host children’s karaoke and birthday celebrations. Â
The children’s party venue will move in between Mark’s Hair Studio and adult party venue Painting with a Twist, down the row from Insomnia Video Game Culture and Vinyl Toys, TxDryClean, and Replay Games. Across the street is the mid-Phase-2 Re:Vive development; here’s the rising frame of the apparent Benjamin Moore paint store, which should help strengthen the center’s nascent dessert-and-real-estate theme:
Pink in, Pink Out
- City Selling Protected-Historic-Landmark-Designated Heights Pumping Station Property [Houston Chronicle]
- Downtown’s 600 Jefferson To Be Renovated, Rebranded as 1801 Smith Street as United Prepares To Depart [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Everyone Needs To Chill Out About Houston’s Multifamily Market Amid Oil Downtown, Real Estate Experts Say [Houston Chronicle]
- Rising Prices, Lack of Inventory in Houston Putting New Homes Out of Reach of First-Time Buyers [Houston Chronicle]
- How the Bank of Mom and Dad Affects Your Chances of Buying a Home [The Washington Post via The Urban Edge]
- Residents Question Houston’s Zoning Laws After Yesterday’s Massive Warehouse Fire in Spring Branch [KHOU; previously on Swamplot]
- Some Light Rail Seats Found To Be Dirtier Than an Average Toilet Seat [abc13]
Photo of Rice University: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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