03/18/16 12:00pm

Swamplot Sponsor: Central Bank

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Downtown Houston Skyline

Our sponsor today is Houston’s own Central Bank. Thank you for the support!

Central Bank has 4 (central) Houston branches available to meet your business or personal needs: in Midtown, the Heights, West Houston, and Post Oak Place.

Central Bank believes that change is essential to its success; the company actively pursues the latest in service, technology, and products. Central Bank aims to know its customers personally and be their primary business and personal financial resource. The bank’s staff values relationships and strives to be available when you need them.

To learn more about how Central Bank can meet your banking needs, please call Kenny Beard at 832.485.2376 — or check out the bank’s website.

Looking to earn a little more interest in your business? Get some attention with a Swamplot sponsorship. See here for more information.

Sponsor of the Day
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Commercial Real Estate
03/18/16 11:15am

House Next Door to Shiny New San Felipe Office Tower Still Seeking Buyer

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2244 Welch St., Vermont Commons, Houston, 77019

A reader notes that the 1938 house at 2244 Welch St. — just 60 ft. east of the new 17-story office tower neighbor at 2229 San Felipe (peeking in from the right in the frame above) — is up for sale. Renting residents of the house made the news during early construction of the “boutique” San Felipe Place highrise in 2014; the occupants complained of diesel fumes, noise, and structural damage to the property from equipment operating feet from the fenceline (including the giant crane planted in the lot next door). Hines’s efforts to patch up the neighborly dispute escalated from the hasty installation of “hobo-penthouse” plastic sheeting to an eventual payoff arrangement that helped the renting family move to Pearland around April of 2014.

The house went on the market for $789,000 last November, not long after the 2-time lawsuit-defying completion of the tower in September and the pickup of a handful of tenants. The Kinder Foundation announced in October that it would be leasing the top floor of the highrise, which can be seen peering in through the shutters in a few of the house’s listing shots: 

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Featured Posts
03/18/16 9:45am

Before-ish and After Views of the Rice Village Design Overhaul Now Underway on University Blvd.

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Renderings of redesigned former Rice Village ArcadeRice Village, Houston, 77005

Compare and contrast the 2 images above, which together show the former Village Arcade at University Blvd. west of Kelvin Dr. both as is and as it may become. The rendering above appears in a marketing brochure released earlier this year by Trademark Property, which manages Rice University’s Village-area properties. The brochure shows potential update plans to a number storefronts in the former Village Arcade buildings (which Trademark is collectively rebranding as just “the Rice Village“); the changes range from simple color swaps to major reshaping and remodeling.

The U-shaped patio above, which currently houses a fountain and a bronze copy of the Italian boar statue Il Porcellino, is shown in the corresponding rendering housing tables in front of a round kiosk ringed with bar-style seating. The drawing also depicts those PoMo-style pediments of the second floor facade replaced with a large sign labeling the structure as Rice Village Market. The building also appears to be painted white.

Earlier this year, a previously released rendering from the set got some grounding in reality when the former Sprint storefront on University west of Kelvin was whitewashed, to prep the space for beauty supply shop Blue Mercury:

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Shopping Fix-Up
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Headlines
03/18/16 8:30am

East Aldine, a Hole in the Houston Donut; Typhoon Texas Before It’s Done

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Post at Afton Oaks Apartments Under Construction, Galleria, Houston

Photo of the Post at Afton Oaks apartments, 3131 West Loop South: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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03/17/16 3:00pm

H-E-B Scoping Out Its Options in the Heights

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H-E-B SCOPING OUT ITS OPTIONS IN THE HEIGHTS H-E-B Bellaire Market, 5130 Cedar St., Bellaire, TexasIn response to questions about the possibility of building an H-E-B near the corner of Studemont St. and Washington Ave, H-E-B public affairs director Cyndy Garza-Roberts tells Swamplot that no contracts have been signed, and that the grocery store chain is talking to area developers that have “several tracts of land” in and around the Heights. Garza-Roberts told the Leader in 2015 that the Heights dry zone makes it hard to find suitable store locations, which also need to be at least 6 acres; the company is also eyeing the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest area. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo of H-E-B at 5130 Cedar St.: Wayne A.

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03/17/16 1:45pm

Comment of the Day: What Is and Isn’t Rising in the Meyerland Floodplain

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT IS AND ISN’T RISING IN THE MEYERLAND FLOODPLAIN McMansions and McMoat“Last night I rode my bike over to an area of Meyerland that I kept seeing listed in the Daily Demolition Report (this is the pocket just south of S. Braeswood, west of S. Post Oak). It was worse than I imagined. Many houses have been removed. Many others are still standing but vacant. A few have been rebuilt or are in the process of being rebuilt — these are all 2-story ‘McMansions’ and elevated. Visually, it’s a weird looking place. The new houses stick out because of their scale to start with, and putting them up on pedestals next to empty lots exaggerates the effect. When the floods come again, they will be surrounded by a giant McMoat.” [Memebag, commenting on Comment of the Day: Where Houston Stayed Underwater After the Memorial Day Flood] Illustration: Lulu

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03/17/16 12:00pm

Swamplot Sponsor: Condos at Regency House

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Pool at Regency House, 2701 Westheimer Rd., Upper Kirby, Houston Regency House, 2701 Westheimer Rd., Upper Kirby, Houston

Our thanks today go to the condos that happen to be for sale in Regency House, at 2701 Westheimer. They’re Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day. Thanks for supporting this site!

During last weekend’s Azalea Trail, Houstonians enjoyed peeks at some of the River Oaks area’s nicest private green spaces. But just steps away from the annual event’s starting point — the River Oaks Garden Club’s Forum of Civics building — the Regency House highrise offer residents its own secret garden. Occupying more than 3 acres just off Kirby and Westheimer, the building features a park-like backyard with towering trees and a recently renovated Midcentury poolside pavilion that serves as a prime spot to sip in spring.

Several recently listed condos in the building enjoy not only skyline views, but also panoramas of this garden. Among them is Unit 12BC. It features 2,100 sq. ft. of interior space plus an additional 200 sq. ft. of outdoor living on 2 separate patios.

Three additional units are also available in the building: Unit 7AB, Unit 10G, and Unit PH-W.

Got something on or off the Azalea Trail to show on Swamplot? Become a Sponsor of the Day and watch interest bloom.

Sponsor of the Day
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Quicklink
03/17/16 11:30am

Shake Shack Will Take Over La Madeleine’s Rice Village Space

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SHAKE SHACK WILL TAKE OVER LA MADELEINE’S RICE VILLAGE SPACE La Madeleine, 6205 Kirby Dr, Rice Village, Houston, 77005Alliterative New York burger joint Shake Shack plans to set up shop in the spot currently occupied by La Madeleine on Kirby Dr. in the former Rice Village Arcade, writes Syd Kearney for the Houston Chronicle. A Rice Village property manager announced this morning that the burger chain’s second Houston-area restaurant won’t open until next year at the earliest; Shake Shack is already at work on its first Houston location, slated to open later this year in the Galleria. La Madeleine currently operates 18 stores inside the Grand Pkwy. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of La Madeleine at at 6205 Kirby Dr.: La Madeleine

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Featured Posts
03/17/16 10:45am

Banta House and Ink Spots Spots Up for Sale, Division in the Heights

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For Sale sign at the Banta House, 119 E. 20th St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008

A for sale sign has appeared on the fence outside of the 1918 house on the northwest corner of 20th and Harvard streets, notes a reader. The 2-story brick-over-concrete home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as the Banta House, was listed for sale in February along with the Ink Spots Museum next door at 117 E. 20th. The 21,120 sq.ft. now mentioned by the sign as up for grabs and division appears to include the parking lot behind the 2 buildings, along with the land holding the blue house at 2005 Harvard St. (also penned in by the fence).

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Houses Divided
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Headlines
03/17/16 8:30am

Sneak Peek at The Ivy Lofts Sales Center; Houston Maritime Museum on the Move

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discovery-green

Photo of Discovery Green: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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03/16/16 5:00pm

Comment of the Day: A Proclamation of Dry Territory from the King of the Hill

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: A PROCLAMATION OF DRY TERRITORY FROM THE KING OF THE HILL Flooding Coastal Homes“There actually are a few places in Houston that have never flooded and never will, due to strange and highly-localized factors. My house is one of those. I am up above the Hwy. 288 pit between 59 and Brays Bayou. Even during the worst floods, when cars were floating down there, the water would have had to come up another 25 feet, completely filling the pit with God-knows-how-many acre-feet of water, before my street would have been under water. Even then, the water would have had to climb another 5 feet up the hill in my front yard to reach my elevated house. This protection is a combination of close proximity to a huge man-made sink, the elevation of the grade of my lot when my house was constructed, and restrictions upstream that cause flooding in Meyerland but more-controlled flow downstream because of the upstream pinchpoints.” [Superdave, commenting on Comment of the Day: Where Houston Stayed Underwater After the Memorial Day Flood]

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