03/28/16 5:00pm

5311 Dana Leigh Dr, Houston, 77066

Originally listed in December at $167,000, this 5-bedroom, 3-bath, and 1-half-bath home features dramatic avian motifs and a few eye catching finishes, like the mirrored doors above.  As for the occasional bit of unfinished cabinetry or unpapered wall — just unhatched potential, which the listing says is reflected in the price. After a couple will-they-won’t-they under-contract periods and a price drop down to $159,900, the house is now free as a bird and back up on the market at $165,000.  The 1972 home offers easy access to FM 1960, just a few miles east of Willowbrook Mall.

The second floor balcony overlooks the front yard:

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Champions Roosts
03/28/16 3:00pm

HOUSTON LIBRARY WANTS YOUR ONLINE ASTROWORLD NOSTALGIA AS 1967 MODEL GOES ON DISPLAY DOWNTOWN Overhead Photo of 1968 Model of AstroWorld, HoustonRemember that Craigslisted model of AstroWorld that got bought up by the head of an Astro-tasked engineering firm back in 2011? I. A. Naman + Associates president Thomas G. Barrows evidently made good on his announced plan to donate the construction visualization model to the Houston Public Library, which is now about ready to start showing it off  — the model will be on public display at the Central branch Downtown at 500 McKinney St. by next Wednesday, April 6th, with a reception planned for that evening.  While you’re waiting, the library wants you to tweet and Facebook them your videos, photos, and most enthusiastic memories of Houston’s themepark days. [Houston Public Library, previously on Swamplot] Photo of AstroWorld model: Bill Davenport

03/28/16 1:00pm

Former Tune-Up, 1818 N. Shepherd, Houston Heights, Houston, 77008

A slew of updates from N. Shepherd Dr. come from a nearby dermatology office with a regular lens on the rapidly-redeveloping retail scene. Above is the former site of Tune-Up Plus (on the southeast corner of N. Shepherd with 19th St.) which has been decked out in yellow, lately. A remodeling permit issued on the 23rd for the spot at 1818 N. Shepherd now refers to it as a Take 5; the oil-change and auto-repair chain currently has locations dotted all along I-10 and I-85 between Beaumont and the Blue Ridge Mountains, along with some Dallas locales; the first Houston-area Take 5 is purportedly on its way to Louetta Rd. just east of Steuber-Airline Dr. up in Spring.

Meanwhile, across N. Shepherd, the former Houston Alternator store that’s been getting the restaurant-retail treatment is almost ready to open as Cane Rosso’s first Houston spot, ahead of its also-under-construction Montrose branch:

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Heights Retail Replacements
03/28/16 11:00am

Midtown Park Site Plan, Early 2015, Midtown, Houston, 77006

Some permits came through last week for the apartment-straddling park planned for the Midtown Superblock (the long and mostly-long-vacant 6-acre stretch between McGowen and Anita on the west side of Main St.). Freshly permitted structures on the docket include a 4,297-sq.-ft. pavilion, a ticket canopy, and a bathroom building. Broader sitework has also been given the go-ahead, as has a foot bridge (possibly over the wetland area previously mentioned in announcements for the project).

The spotlight-heavy rendering above shows the park from Anita St., looking north at the ghostly form of the Camden McGowen Station apartments currently on their way up in the middle of the site. The park’s largest greenspace and lawn will spread out atop the underground parking garage that’s wrapping up, once it’s fully underground. HAIF user hindesky snapped a recent photo of the burial site, also showing the Camden building starting to rise in the background to the north under the guidance of the remaining crane:

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Midtown Superblock
03/28/16 8:30am

uptown-district

Photo of the Uptown District: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
03/25/16 1:30pm

quality-life-interior

quality-life-gym-former-champions-small

The Champions School of Real Estate’s former location at 4543 Post Oak Place Dr. is now home to Quality Life Fitness, which KPRC meteorologist Frank Billingsley and partner Kevin Gilliard transplanted recently from the southwest corner of Westheimer Rd. and Mid Ln. The space, less than a mile north of the gym’s previous strip center locale, has been refurbished and outfitted with a bamboo-floor studio for its new more-likely-to-be-on-the-ground clientele:

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Post Oak Park
03/25/16 12:00pm

Farmstead: Grow & Eat

Farmstead: Grow & Eat LogoToday’s sponsor is Farmstead: Grow & Eat. Thanks for supporting Swamplot, Farmstead!

Farmstead is 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.

Got a little something you’d like Houston real estate fans to chew on? Ask us about getting it featured as a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.

Sponsor of the Day
03/25/16 10:30am

Lamar Tunnel Walkthrough, Downtown, Houston, 77002

Lamar Tunnel Walkthrough, Downtown, Houston, 77002

Here’s a fresh dispatch from Swamplot’s regular anonymous tunnel correspondent, who sends this photo-heavy update on the state of the Lamar Tunnel beneath the site of the former downtown Foley’s-turned-Macy’s building:

“The old tunnel to Macy’s from 1000 Main is now back open again. Despite what the sign says, it no longer leads to a department store — instead, you round a corner into the lower level of 1111 Travis, Hilcorp’s new (future?) headquarters: CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

News from the Underground
03/25/16 8:30am

mk-luxury-homes

Photo of MK Luxury Homes & Condos at Post Oak Blvd.: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
03/24/16 4:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: LEASING THE SKY AND OTHER ACTS OF VANTAGE PRESERVATION Planned Development“Only guarantee to protect your view is to buy the air rights. (Not sure it is possible, but you can buy mineral rightswhy not air rights?) Maybe this will be a new trend in real estate, to protect and guarantee views. Otherwise, buy the land so you can determine what does and does not go up.” [HouCynic, commenting on Cosmopolitan’s Condo Association Preemptively Sued by Would-be Nextdoor Highrise Developer in Uptown] Illustration: Lulu

03/24/16 4:00pm

Rendering of Buffalo Bayou Cistern Converted to Bathhouse
Rendering of Buffalo Bayou Cistern Converted to BathhouseAs Buffalo Bayou Partnership continues to seek out tour guides for the cavernous 1927 city water reservoir and maybe-future-art-space buried in Buffalo Bayou Park, University of Houston architecture grad Sheridan Staats sends over her design for turning the structure into a split-level public bath house, complete with pools, saunas, gardens, a bike trail connection, and a cafe. Renderings and schematics are showcased in Staats’s undergraduate thesis, which also dives into global bath house and infrastructure history and the case for reusing the site in a way that nods to its utilitarian aquatic past.

The kelley green box on the map above shows the cistern’s buried footprint on the north shore of Buffalo Bayou (in blue), just west of Sabine St. and south of Memorial Dr.; the darker green line passing through the southwest edge of the cistern shows a plan to run the bayou’s bike trail into the cistern and onto a suspended causeway:

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Underwater Underground