03/16/16 4:00pm

Corporate Plaza I Demolition, Kirby at Norfolk, Upper Kirby, Houston, 77098

The progress on the piece-by-piece disassembly of Corporate Plaza I can be seen in the above overcast shot of the building’s increasingly skeletal profile, here partially obscured by 2 American Red Cross buildings and by a Texas Direct Auto billboard. The 1972 midrise on 59 just west of Kirby Dr. is the last and tallest of the 3 similarly-clad office buildings previously occupying the site; the tower’s facade started to go missing shortly before the way-faster-than-intended teardown of the last of the plaza’s 7-story parking garage, which nearly turned the tables the demo team on its way down last month.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Status Check
03/16/16 12:00pm

Chart Showing Market Conditions Data for March 16, 2016, from West U Real EstateOur thanks today go to Judy Thompson, Exclusively a Buyer’s Agent. She’s Swamplot’s latest Sponsor of the Day. Thanks for your continuing support, Judy!

Today, Judy has a bit of movement to report in the market conditions data she compiles for MLS Area 17, covering Southampton, Southgate, West U, Braes Heights, and Bellaire — something she says she hasn’t seen in recent years. The latest update shows that the weighted-average available inventory for every Zip Code she covers in that area has increased by one month (from a 4-month supply to a 5-month supply, for example).

Judy works only with buyers, so she considers this great news. She regularly updates market conditions for homes in 10 separate price ranges in 19 popular Houston Zip Codes on the West U Real Estate website, which she’s operated since 2003. The stats take into account the amount of inventory available and the pace of sales in the previous 12 months. The charts are color-coded, to show whether by each calculation the current market favors buyers, sellers, or neither.

A separate chart on the site plots the average of the weighted averages from the market conditions chart, attempting to illustrate the change in housing inventory in 6 MLS areas over time. That chart now shows a bit of an uptick too, edging above the 6-month supply figure for the first time since 2011.

More detailed figures for each Zip Code are provided on separate charts. If you’re tracking real estate values in any of the areas she covers, you’ll find her site to be a helpful resource.

Let buyers know your market conditions — by becoming a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.

 

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

Wells Fargo Plaza Tunnel Entrance, 1000 Louisiana St., Downtown, Houston, 77002

A reader sends the following report of openings, closures, swap-outs, and hanging question marks in the Downtown tunnel system’s restaurant landscape:

The Prince’s Hamburgers location at 930 Main St./McKinney Place Garage (and the associated taco establishment next to it whose name escapes me) both closed a couple of weeks ago. The former location of Mediterranean Grill House in the basement of 919 Milam St. is now a Dimassi’s Mediterranean Buffet. What was a Ninfa’s Express window next door still sports a sign stating a Bullrito’s is coming soon, while the restaurant space the sit-down Ninfa’s previously occupied remains vacant, with no indication of what may be coming.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

News From the Underground
03/16/16 10:45am

H-E-B mapped on Washington Ave. by Braun Enterprises

H-E-B has confirmed that the grocery store chain is considering a store on Washington Ave at Studemont St. Public affairs director Cyndy Garza-Roberts tells the HBJ that the chain has “been in discussion for that site for months,” though a deal isn’t finalized. The nod follows yesterday’s story about a Braun Enterprises leasing flier (advertising a property further east down Washington) that showed the company’s logo stamped over the site of the Archstone Memorial Heights apartments.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Contemplating Memorial Heights
03/16/16 8:30am

Personnage-et-Oiseaux-downtown-sculpture

Photo of “Personnage et Oiseaux” in front of the Chase Tower: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
03/15/16 5:00pm

Demographic Map of Houston Census Blocks and Public Housing Projects, from Texas Housers

The pale arrow pointing from W. Beltway 8 to Downtown in the map of Houston above is made up of census blocks recorded as more than 50 percent white, according to a post by Will Livesley-O’Neill for Texas Housers yesterday. The Austin-based nonprofit, which researches low-income housing policy around the state, published yesterday’s article as a followup to some previous posts about the mixed-income housing complex that HHA is planning for the site of its own office building on Fountain View Dr. in Briargrove. The demographic breakdown on the other 3 shades shown on the map, from lightest to darkest: 50 to 25.01 percent white, 25 to 5.01 percent, and 5 to 0 percent.

The map also marks the locations of existing Houston Housing Authority public housing developments as red stars, mostly outside of or skirting the majority-white census blocks; the proposed Fountain View housing site is singled out, tagged, and marked with a green star. Meanwhile, the black outline looping mostly around the majority-white areas is lassoing the market areas deemed strongest by the Reinvestment Fund‘s Market Value Analysis for the city.

Map: Texas Housers

Visualizations
03/15/16 3:15pm

Construction at former Texas Cafeteria, 2400 N. Shepherd Dr., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008

A construction crew is currently at work around and on top of the bare former site of Texas Cafeteria, shielded from prying eyes on N. Shepherd Dr. by a small dirt pile. MFT Development (the group currently planning new and mixed uses for the site of the increasingly romantic former Heights Finance Station post office) is dressing up the space at the corner with 24th St. as another restaurant and maybe some retail, following the joint’s sale, shutdown, and stripping in early 2015. Behind the property to the right, the Fiesta Mart can be seen across 24th counting down to its March 27th closing, as the flags from Monterrey Tire Center peek over the former cafeteria’s roof.

Here’s a rendering of what the planned buildout could look like, plus or minus some tenant signage:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Where the Fiesta’s Ending
03/15/16 12:00pm

Hair Revolution, Clear Lake, Houston

SquareRut Kava Bar, Austin

Our thanks today go to crowdfunding platform NextSeed, this site’s Sponsor of the Day. Swamplot appreciates the support!

If it seems like wealthy people have access to more investment opportunities than the non-wealthy — well, that’s because they do: Federal regulations, for example, prohibit persons who earn less than $200,000 a year and have less than $1 million in assets from investing in most private offerings. And even if you make that kind of money, it can be hard to find investments you like — unless you know the right people.

But both the laws and technology have been changing, allowing more people easier access. The state of Texas recently approved new rules that allow Texas residents to invest in Texas businesses through state-approved online platforms.

On NextSeed, people from all over Houston pool their money online to fund a small business. It can be almost any kind of business: a hair salon, a medical center, a restaurant, or a café. In its NextSeed listing, the business tells you what it will use the money for, provides certain financial and other important information, and agrees to pay you back — with interest.

Of course NextSeed doesn’t accept every business that applies. It only lists businesses that pass a careful and systematic review. And you get to decide whether or not to invest. Later, after the funds are successfully raised, the businesses make monthly payments directly into your investment account.

If you visit NextSeed, you can check out the deals that are currently available as well as the deals that have successfully funded in the past. Each investment opportunity is only available for a limited time.

Join as a member today to learn more.

Here are the required disclaimers: NextSeed does not provide any investment advice or recommendation, and does not provide any legal or tax advice with respect to any securities. Any offers and sales of securities appearing on NextSeed are limited to persons that are Texas residents.

Got anything to disclaim —- or proclaim — to Swamplot readers? A Swamplot sponsorship is just the right vehicle.

Sponsor of the Day
03/15/16 11:15am

2200 Yale St., Heights, Houston, 77008

Alabama Furniture & Accessories’ 2-decade locale is getting cleared out for its planned redo, a neighbor notes. The building at 2200 Yale St. got a demo permit yesterday and started coming down later in the day. The site at the corner with 22nd St. is being cleared for another Braun Enterprises project: a third non-mobile Bernie’s Burger Bus location, as confirmed in October. The furniture store (named for its original 1992 location on Alabama St.) cleared out of its Yale home by the start of March, and has flown even further north to 4900 N. Shepherd Dr. between W. 43rd St. and Tidwell Rd.

Photo of demo at 2200 Yale St.: Mosaic Clinic team

Migrating North
03/15/16 10:15am

H-E-B mapped on Washington Ave. by Braun Enterprises

Later update, 2:30pm:  H-E-B’s Cyndy Garza-Roberts tells Swamplot that plans to place a store in the area are only in the discussion phase, and that no agreements have been reached — more here.

Update, 3/16: H-E-B has confirmed to the HBJ that the company has been in talks over a new store on the Archstone property.

A recent flier produced by Braun Enterprises in an effort to lease the former club space at 1815 Washington features a surprising extra: an overlay of the H-E-B logo planted squarely over a map of the not-so-square site of the Archstone Memorial Heights apartments on Washington Ave. between Studemont and Waugh. A 5-acre chunk at the southwest corner of the 1996 apartment complex was cleared out in 2008, then repopulated, then cleared out again in 2012 for redevelopment as the taller, denser Memorial Heights Villages complex (visible just to the right of the word “WAUGH” on the above aerial). CityCentre developer Midway bought the remaining 23.4 acres of apartments with the Lionstone Group at the end of 2014.

Also featured on the aerial: shuttered-over-the-weekend Hughes Hangar, which CultureMap’s Eric Sandler reports has closed along with Paris-minded parking lot companion The De Gaulle. Further east down the corridor is the space Braun is hawking: the former Pandora-turned-Throne nightclub space at 1815 Washington, marked with a star below, across the road from Bovine & Barley B&B Butchers:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

H-E-B Marks the Spot
03/15/16 8:30am

train-stop

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines