SPANIARDS MOCK CASTLE RESTORED AS SMOOTH CEMENT BLOCK Meanwhile, in VillamartÃn: Restoration work was recently warpped up on the Matrera castle in southern Spain, fueling backlash from locals, Spanish social media, and the national cultural preservationist group Hispania Nostra, which calls the building’s redo “truly lamentable” and “a massacre of Spanish heritage.” The architect behind the castle’s renovation — which appears to have involved the embedding of the remaining crumbling stone walls into a smooth white box roughly echoing the pre-deterioration volume of the structure — says the project’s main purpose was to prevent the ruins from collapsing; 2011 plans had to be modified after flooding destroyed one of the walls in 2013. Before that, “we couldn’t even get 100 signatures together to restore the building,†says the curator of the local museum. Now that the privately-funded project is complete, he says, “there’s been an outcry. It makes me very frustrated.†Check out video of the castle’s makeover here. [New York Times, Guardian]
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THE FIESTA ON N. SHEPHERD WILL BE SHUT DOWN IN 17 DAYS 
The Heights branch of parrot-adorned grocery store Fiesta Mart at 2300 N. Shepherd Dr. will be shuttered for good after closing time on March 27th, the store’s assistant manager told Betsy Denson of The Leader. The land has been owned by 2ML Real Estate since mid-2015, but 2ML president Jim Arnold, who’s other company owned the Fiesta until a few years ago, tells Denson it was Fiesta’s choice to bow out. As for the land itself, Arnold has “been approached by someone wanting to put in apartments – but any decision will wait for land studies and surveys. When asked if he’d like to see an H-E-B on the land, Arnold said he wouldn’t rule it out.” [The Leader; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Fiesta Mart at 2300 N. Shepherd Dr.: Terah K.
Our thanks go to the 1.85-acre residential lot at 601 Strey Ln., which serves as today’s Swamplot Sponsor of the Day. Thank you for your support!
If you’re looking for a well-located home site that’s so big you could plant a palace on it, you’ll want to check out this deep, wooded lot on Strey Ln. — one of the last residential tracts of its size available in the Memorial Villages. It’s halfway between Memorial Dr. and the Memorial City Mall, convenient to the Energy Corridor, and a straight shot along I-10 to Downtown. Bunker Hill Elementary School is just up the street; Memorial Middle School and Memorial High are both less than 2 miles away. A trip to CityCentre is an 11-minute bike ride on back roads.
The site is sheltered by dozens of tall pines, and its orientation means a home designed for it can take advantage of plenty of southern exposure. The house on the property, which dates from 1955, is being sold “as is.” The listing notes that the lot can be subdivided with city approval.
Check out the property website from Jason Junkin of Champions Real Estate Group for more details, photos, and a map.
Trying to build your own business? You’ll reach a lot of Houston real estate fans when you become a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.
Sponsor of the Day
Update, 2 pm: Another reader sends a shot from the scene; this story has been updated.
A reader sends some snapshots from Hyde Park, where some new anti-theft infrastructure has been installed in the parking lot across Waugh Dr. from Rudyard’s British Pub and nextdoor The Next Door. The banner wooden sign shown above augments previously-posted-though-significantly-smaller signage in the vicinity, which already disavows any responsibility on the part of the nearby bars for loss of property from break-ins to cars parked in the lot. Meanwhile, a second sign was captured hanging out a bit closer to the intersection with Welch St., looking nonchalant:
Watch Out at Welch
Update, 3/24: BBP has updated the link to and language of the job posting; this story has been updated.
Wanted: Buffalo Bayou Partnership is seeking some college types folks to show people around the long-empty city drinking water reservoir near the intersection of Sabine St. and Memorial Dr., which the group also hopes to turn into a temporary art space some day. The “accidental cathedral” was only accessible by a set of hatches and 14-foot ladders back when BBP first examined it; a $1.2-million grant is being used to bring the 87,200-sq.-ft. underground space up to code for visitors.
The cistern, nicknamed after the 6th-century reservoir beneath Istanbul, lies just north of the Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park beneath what will become a raised outdoor lawn intended for concerts and events at Buffalo Bayou Park. The 1927 reservoir was drained and decommissioned decades ago after it started leaking uncontrollably; the structure was planned for demolition and fill-in by the city around the time the park’s planners took an interest in the space, initially imagining uses like parking and mulch storage.
Work in the Underground
- Single Family Home Sales Rose 2% Year-Over-Year in February, Finds HAR [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
- The High-Rise Apartment Boom in Downtown Houston, Dallas and Austin [Realty News Report]
- How Dwindling Oil Prices Hurt Houston’s Commercial Real Estate Market [Forbes]
- First Emission-Free Gas Power Plant Breaks Ground in La Porte [Fuel Fix]
- League City Moves Forward in Process to Annex More Land [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- DanMar Manor Found an Anonymous New Jersey Buyer 1 Day Before the Woodlands Estate Went Up for Auction [HBJ]
- Surge Homes Opens Upper Kirby District Gated Community Upper Richton To Sales [Realty News Report]
- Homes To Go Up Soon at New Gated, Master-Planned Community The Preserve at Grand Beach [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Flotation Therapy Spa Healing Waters Opening in Montrose at 504 W. Gray St. by May [HBJ]
- Three Square and Architects Plus to Merge, Move to Houston’s East Village [HBJ, previously on Swamplot]
- Uber Now Leaving Corpus Christi over Regulation Already Implemented in Houston [Texas Tribune; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston’s Official City Song, As Performed by the Houston Saengerbund [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of the Chase Tower sky lobby: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
As seen from above, it doesn’t look good for down there.
- 7819 Bryonwood Dr. [HAR]
The Army Corps of Engineers is holding a public meeting amid this evening’s predicted thunderstorms to chat about the recently begun replacement work on the Addicks and Barker dams, which have each won the rare and highly distinguished label ‘extremely high risk’ through a combination of structural issues and close proximity to Houston. For those not planning to flood the Corps with questions and comments in person, there’s a somewhat-outdated online survey, as well as an online map of updates on the project’s progress. Work to replace the outlet structures of the dams began in February, and is expected to take about 4 years.Â
The 2 reservoirs, spread out across 26,000 acres on either side of the Katy Fwy. near Highway 6, starred in the Sierra Club’s 2011 lawsuit over the construction of Segment E of the Grand Parkway through the reservoirs’ catchment area. The club claimed development spurred by the road could send major additional runoff to the reservoirs, increasing the chance of dam failure, which Dave Fehling of Houston Public Media reports “could do an estimated $60 billion dollars in damage to downtown Houston, to industries along the Houston Ship Channel, [and] even to the Texas Medical Center.” The judge didn’t stop construction of Segment E, but did order new studies on its potential flooding impacts.
Addicks and Barker Reservoirs
Swamplot today is proud to be sponsored by Farmstead: Grow & Eat. Thanks for your support, 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 some of your own gardening or real estate tips you’d like to share? It’s easy to spread them widely by stepping up and becoming a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.
Sponsor of the Day
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SCOUTING THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND FOR HOUSTON’S DISYLLABIC REBRANDING “
‘Near Northwest’? . . . Cute . . . so in 5 years from now, are we gonna be calling this place NeNo?” [JoeDirt, commenting on Bayou-Side White Oak Village Hopes To Woo Cyclists, Ninja Warriors, Coffee Shop to Antoine Dr.] Rendering of neighborhood signage: Near Northwest Management District
The majority of the pecan tree formerly growing at the northeast corner of 509 Louisiana St. has, as of yesterday afternoon, migrated to the far southeast corner of the adjacent lot at 517 Louisiana. A reader sends this snapshot peeking in on the scene from the lowercase alley behind the Lancaster Hotel (visible on the far left) toward the capitalized Alley Theatre in front (visible at the top of the shot, behind the small flock of green recycling bins). The reader disavows any claim to professional tree expertise, but notes that “the rotting story may have some validity.” (It remains to be seen whether the misty figure of Chief Bowl will follow the logs, or remain rooted to their former home.)
Piecing Out Downtown
- Quasar Galleria Ltd. Buys 11-Story Galleria-Area Office Building 5433 Westheimer [Realty News Report]
- Downtown KBR Towers To Be Rebranded as Jefferson Towers at Cullen Center [HBJ]
- Construction To Start This Month on Kroger-Anchored Market at Springwoods Village [HBJ]
- Labor Shortage Amid Petrochemical Plant Boom in East Houston, Says Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership [Realty News Report]
- Graphs of Residential Permits from 2005-2015 Show Variable Nature of Houston’s Building Patterns [Houston Chronicle]
- Video: Inside a Model Home at Tiger Wood’s Bluejack National Luxury Golf Resort [HBJ]
- First Houston Location of Austin’s Hopdoddy Burger Bar To Open in April in the River Oaks District [Click2Houston]
- Hospitality USA Opening Restless Palate Restaurant with Eatsie Boy Menu in Katy’s LaCenterra Shopping District in Mid-April [Culturemap]
- Opening of Niko Niko’s West Houston Location Nears as Sign Goes Up on Building [HBJ]
- Houston Targeting Illegal Dump Sites To Reduce Mosquito Breeding Grounds in Fight Against Viruses Like Zika [Houston Public Media]
- A Discussion on Houston’s Public Space Transformation with Architects Andrew Albers and Ernesto Alfaro [OffCite Blog]
Photo of the Gus Wortham Fountain: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
You better hurry, these won’t last!
- 3611 St. Tropez Way [HAR]
