COMMENT OF THE DAY: BOTH OPTIONS FOR DEALING WITH RUN-OF-THE-MILL HOUSTON TOXICITY 
“My wife, until last May, worked at a school very close to this (but [which] was not mentioned). The air pollution on normal days is so bad that my wife’s doctor suggested that if we wanted to have children that she should think about changing jobs.  . . .  Attention is only drawn to the problem when major events happen — but perhaps long term effects of living and working in the area are greater ([and] simply tolerated as business as usual). I have said it before, but it is worth mentioning: I called the TCEQ and many agencies during my wife’s time working over there about the pollution . . .  they informed me that the area has regularly violated EPA standards and my only option was to ‘vote for people who care about government regulation’ of said pollution. Sounds like a tough project!” [Anon, commenting on This Morning’s LyondellBasell Refinery Fire Put Out 19 Hours after Yesterday’s ExxonMobil Refinery Fire] Illustration: Lulu
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The last fading rays of setting sun cast a dusty glow over the oak stump in front of 2048 Colquitt St. just east of Shepherd Dr., captured by a reader over the weekend. An employee of Au Petit Paris tells the photographer that the restaurant isn’t behind the removal of the tree, which shaded the French bistro’s front patio; the arboreal departure occurred during the still-ongoing move-in of 2 townhomes across the street at 2051 and 2053 Colquitt (the latter of which is visible above on the left, behind construction fencing). Construction on those structures started last summer after building permits were issued to 2201 Custom Homes in June.
Here’s a close-up of the stump, accompanied by a sprinkling of springtime sprouts:
Bidding Adieu in Dearborn Place
  
Our Sponsor of the Day today is Edible Earth Resources. And Swamplot appreciates the support!
If you’ve been inspired to get some sort of edible garden installed at home or work, you’ll want to know about Edible Earth Resources. Edible Earth Resources is a full-service edible-focused landscaping and consulting firm in Houston, and they’re experts in soil health, plant health, and food production. Edible Earth Resources offers design, installation, and ongoing maintenance services to help you grow your own nutritious produce in a manner that’s safe for your family, healthy for your property’s ecosystem, and protective of our water supply.
For more information, please see the Edible Earth Resources website.
Interest in Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day program is growing! Find out more about it here.
Sponsor of the Day
This latest report over the wireless from Swamplot’s regular tunnel correspondent comes from a brief venture into nearby subterranean territory this weekend to scope out Conservatory Underground Beer Garden & Food Hall. The basement bar and restaurant collection sits in the former Isis Theater building on Prairie St., just east of sister-facility Prohibition and Main St.-facing Moonshiner’s Southern Table + Bar. Several of the Conservatory’s restaurant tenants spent last week quietly testing out their setups on diners during limited hours; the shots and commentary below come from a Saturday morning jaunt through the venue:
The entrance is just east of Prohibition, under an awning sporting the marquee “Conservatory/Underground Beer Garden and Food Hall”. The lobby level has a stairwell leading to the main basement area:
In the Conservatory With The Knife
- Stream Realty Starts Construction on Center at Pearland Parkway II [Realty News Report]
- Fulshear Ranch Being Sold in 9 Parcels To Prevent ‘Dense Development’ [Houston Chronicle]
- New Kroger Marketplace Store in Clute That’s Replacing Smaller Kroger Opening Wednesday [Houston Chronicle]
- Studio Movie Grill To Open 12-Screen Pearland Location May 5 [HBJ]
- Prince’s Hamburgers Taking Over Former Jack in the Box in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest Area Plans To Open This Summer [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- With Uber Gone, Dallas Ride-Hailing Company Get Me Applies for Permit To Operate in Galveston [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
- In Defense of the Urban Freeway [The Urban Edge]
- How Houston Can Prioritize and Improve Street Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists [Houston Chronicle]
- Cypress Mills HOA Removes 4 Wild Peacocks After Complaints from Residents [abc13]
Photo of Trumpet Flower installation at Main Street Square [previously on Swamplot]: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
There’s not enough space for them all, so let’s make some room.
- 6 N. Fazio Way [HAR]
News choppers milling around the LyondellBasell refinery at 12000 Lawndale St. this morning, just west of the 610 bridge over the Ship Channel, caught some shots of billowing black smoke and flames at the facility, which have since been put out. The company reports that heavy fuel oil and cleaning fluids burned after a Coker unit caught fire around 10AM for reasons yet unknown.  The Houston fire department suggested until about 11:15 that folks please stay indoors and try not to let in any fumes in nextdoor Manchester, as well as south and west as far as Park Place Blvd. and Broadway St.; students at nearby Chavez High, Deady Middle School, and Rucker Elementary were also included in the shelter-in-place fun.
After burning for about 2 hours, the fire was put out just before noon — not nearly as speedily as yesterday’s fire at the ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown, which started around 4:40PM and was out by just after 5. That fire’s cause is also unknown; no injuries were reported in either incident.
Booming on the Ship Channel
A reader notes a notice on the formerly-barred now-boarded front window of the building at the corner of Bringhurst St. and Clinton Dr. The sign tells tale of an application to the TABC to sell mixed drinks at the spot, late at night, under the name of The New Potato. The restaurant space, formerly Taco Loco prior a late-2000’s stint as Nina’s Cafe, sits a block east of the Harris Machine Tools facility, a block south of a field of townhomes, and a block north of the 136-acre former KBR site, tagged a few years back for use as a helicopter landing spot.
The bar-to-be’s current grey-and-white color scheme came about back in 2013. Here’s a peek back in time at the the bright orange Taco Loco days, followed by the turn-of-the-decade Nina’s yellowing:
Clinton at Bringhurst
Today’s sponsor is Farmstead: Grow & Eat. Thanks for supporting Swamplot, Farmstead!
If you’re interested in setting up your own edible garden, or just want to expand your back yard from vegetation to vegetables, you’ll want to know about Farmstead. It’s a retail garden center that carries a wide selection of edible plants, including the widest selection of fruit, nut, and citrus trees that grow well in Houston. The storefront also features herbs, seeds, and tools necessary to get you on the path to gardening success.
Farmstead is located at 6640 West Montgomery Rd. in the 77091; it’s open from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and by appointment on Sundays. To find out more, take a look at the Farmstead website.
Readers are eating up what Swamplot sponsors are offering. If you’d like to get in on the action as a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day, contact us here.
Sponsor of the Day
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED ON BEHALF OF COSMO RESIDENTS OVER POST OAK BUS LANE LAND PURCHASES 
Former ABC13 investigative reporter Wayne Dolcefino, representing residents of the Cosmopolitan condo tower on Post Oak Blvd., filed a criminal complaint with the Harris County district attorney last week over the way the Uptown Development Authority has gone about acquiring land for the dedicated bus lanes planned along Post Oak. The complaint asserts that officials of that group and the Uptown TIRZ may have violated Texas conflict of interest law, as well as the Open Meetings Act. Nancy Sarnoff writes that Dolcefino’s complaint also calls out Uptown’s purchase-agreement-less purchase of a piece of land at San Felipe and Post Oak, from an associate of Dinerstein (which is preemptively suing the Cosmo residents over a tower planned at the same intersection). Uptown District president John Breeding tells  Sarnoff that it’s not unusual for public entities to buy land without a formal sales agreement, and that details of the transactions will be available after they’re complete. The Uptown group either has bought or is working on buying about 80 percent of the land needed for the project; the city council voted in December that eminent domain could be used to acquire the rest, if necessary. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Rendering of proposed dedicated bus lane on Post Oak Blvd.: Uptown District
- Senterra Real Estate Group Cancels 16-Story Office Tower on Van Loc’s Former Spot After Failing To Meet Prelease Requirements [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Red Lion Hotels Planning New 150-Room Hotel in Downtown Houston at 1005 St. Emanuel St. [HBJ]
- Mixed-Use Project in the Works for Mann Eye Institute Site in the Museum District [HBJ]
- Houston Methodist West Hospital Breaks Ground on Expansion That Will Add Patient, Operating, and Emergency Rooms, Parking Garage [Community Impact Newspaper]
- Chevron Shedding 655 Jobs in Houston at Its Downtown Offices [Houston Chronicle]
- Making Houston’s Case as One of the Great Eating Capitals of America [New York Times]
Photo of construction near Discovery Green: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
We’re in too far to turn back now.
- 415 Hunterwood Dr. [HAR]
This morning Simon Property Group released renderings of a planned residential highrise in the Galleria, shown here at the corner of W. Alabama St. and Sage Rd. in what’s left over of the land previously occupied by the mall’s second Macy’s. The tower is slated for the same spot previously colored purple for “future retail/office residences” on one of the developer’s Galleria redo maps back in 2014. (That map didn’t mention a highrise specifically, but previous info on the redevelopment plans floated the idea.) Simon says it plans to break ground on the tower by the end of 2017, with a 2019 or 2020 opening in mind.
The rendered view above looks northeast over the Berachah Church across W. Alabama at the glassy highrise, which may hold somewhere between 75 and 100 residential units atop 220 hotel rooms (with separate amenities areas for permanent and temporary residents). The design shows 2 pool decks; the nearby Westin Galleria’s existing pool can be spotted on the right, past an existing parking garage.
Here’s the view from the other side, looking south down Sage across Westheimer Rd. over the new Saks Fifth Avenue building (set to open at the end of the month):
One Tower to Live Above the Mall
