- 434 Thamer Ln. [HAR]
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A reader notes a notice of an application to sell alcohol posted on the door of the former Dealer Sales building at 1919 N. Shepherd Dr. The HBJ reported last August that Atlanta-based pizza-and-recently-burger chain Mellow Mushroom leased the space at the corner with 20th St. from serial redeveloper Braun Enterprises. The chain, which dropped its first Houston-area spore up in Spring, appears to be sprouting its second location within the somewhat ambiguous boundaries of the Houston Heights’ nominally dry zone.
The pizza place may provide more savory counterbalance to the sugar-laced shopping strip just to the south on the same block — where Fat Cat Creamery, Hugs & Donuts, and Smoothie King all nestle in with Finch Properties and hair salon Black Sheep Parlor along 19th St., sheltered by N. Shepherd-facing Ka Sushi. Renderings released last year for the redeveloping building show the Mushroom popping open in line with some additional retail space; the strip could also get lawyered up:
Sober News on N. Shepherd
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW HSPVA’S BUILDING SWAP COULD LEAVE HOLES IN STUDENT CULTURE 
“My son is a graduate of HSPVA. His reaction to seeing the photo of the proposed school: ‘Windows?!’†[Colleen, commenting on Scenes from the Set of HSPVA’s Upcoming Downtown Campus, Now In Progress] Rendering of under-construction replacement campus of the High School for Performing and Visual Arts: Gensler
As polling dates roll through the country, the oft-transformed mural outside of the former Obama campaign headquarters in Midtown has been spotted sporting a fresh coat of background white. Allyn West, who first noticed the political banner’s changed stripes on Super Tuesday, sends this Disillusioned Thursday snapshot of the now-blanked wall. So far, the site has featured various incarnations of Obama: in the sky-gazing HOPE poster from Shephard Fairey, in a sunglassed hip-with-the-kids pose, and most recently in the above star-spangled baby-on-banner scene that first appeared in 2013.
The past murals have been the subject of political displeasure for at least one person, judging by 2 previous acts of similarly-angled paint vandalism:
State of the Mural
Today our sponsor is Houston’s own Central Bank. Swamplot appreciates the support!
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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.
Banking on gaining a bit more exposure for your business? A Swamplot sponsorship can help with that. See here for more information.
Sponsor of the Day
That’s Galveston Island going for a dip in the before-and-after captures above, from a set of interactive timelapse maps released by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica yesterday (along with several articles by authors Kiah Collier and Neena Satija). The new maps model flooding across the Houston region during Hurricane Ike — as well as what would have happened if Ike had actually hit just south of Houston, as meteorologists initially expected.
The maps are your chance to relive an old disaster, or to see how many of your neighbors you can take out with a hypothetical-but-not-unrealistic future storm: users can pick between Ike, south-er Ike, a storm 15% stronger than Ike (nicknamed Mighty Ike), and a modeled 500-year storm (which the article suggests may actually be a concern on the every-few-decades-or-so level; ‘500-year’ has always meant ‘a low probability in any year’, and climate change is shaking up old modeling assumptions). The graphics also include a few dramatic face-offs:Â Mighty Ike and the 500-year storm VS. 2 of the miles-long multi-billion-dollar coastal protection projects being studied for the upper Texas coast.
You can even search for your home address in the map system to see what flood levels might look like in your own back yard. Here’s what the maps show happening to the Clear Lake, Seabrook, and League City areas at the peak of the 500-year storm model’s storm surge, which the article says is a “not if, but when” event:
Hell and High Water
- Land Sales Slipped 44% in The Woodlands and Bridgeland Year-Over-Year in 2015, Reports Howard Hughes Corp. [Realty News Report]
- Houston Baptist University Announces Tenants for $3.9M Retail Development The Pillars at HBU [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- River Oaks District Opening First of 8 New Restaurants on March 15, Starting with Toulouse Cafe and Bar [Houston Chronicle]
- Cabo San Lucas Apartments Near Hobby Airport Offering Tenants Free Health Screenings Amid Oil Bust [Houston Chronicle]
- TxDOT Wants To Know How You Would Fix the US 59-610 Loop Interchange [Houston Public Media]
- ‘Art Blocks’ Temporary Installations Counter ‘Cold Business-like Space’ in Main Street Square Downtown [Houstonia; previously on Swamplot]
- Evelyn’s Park Conservancy Holding Contest To Name Restaurant in the Bellaire Park [Culturemap]
Photo of McKee Street Bridge: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A short, pictureless list to end the week, but fear not — there are plenty more to come.
- 759 Thistlewood Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: DRIVING HOME A ROSY VIEW OF HOUSTON’S BLUE TILE DAYS 
“Hopefully [the tile signs are] not just a trend, but a desire to revert to a time when life was much simpler. Maybe one day you’ll be able to walk into a gas station and ask for directions, and if not, call the operator from the closest pay phone to ask where the nearest diner is, because it’s late and you’re tired and hungry from your long drive into Houston. Maybe at the diner the friendly waitress will give the kids an extra cherry on their sundaes while chatting up where a few of the best nearby motels are located. Afterwards, as you drive your 10,000-pound Honda Civic with whitewall tires to the closest motel, you’ll get there by way of curb tiled street signs.” [Toby, commenting on Brand New Vintage Blue Tile Street Sign Now in Place on Upper Kirby Curb]
The Houston location of Canyon Cafe in the Galleria area appears to be closed. A reader sends photos from this morning of locked doors and a leasing sign from Weingarten Realty in the shopping center at the northwest corner of Westheimer Rd. and Post Oak Blvd. The location’s phone number seems to be out of service; also out is serving alcohol, as the restaurant made today’s list of the latest TABC permit delinquencies.
Meanwhile just across Post Oak Blvd., Sports Authority is now sporting signs advertising clearance sales ending May 7th, in the wake of yesterday’s announcement that the chain had gone through with bankruptcy filing and that 140 stores would close in the coming 3 months.
Galleria Groundings
Today’s Swamplot sponsor is NextSeed, a crowdfunding platform open only to Texas residents. Thanks for supporting Swamplot, NextSeed!
Always wanted to invest in a local hotspot? Here’s your chance: Houston restaurants, bars, and salons are now accepting investors on NextSeed — and you’re invited to participate in their growth. NextSeed is a new online investment platform that connects local investors with small businesses. You can get started with an investment as little as $100.
Here’s how it works: A business looking for financing applies on NextSeed. Before any investment is presented on the site, NextSeed systematically evaluates the business and conducts due diligence on its management. Once the offering goes live, you can learn about the business, what it needs the funds for, and the returns you can expect.
With NextSeed’s help, Houston-based Hair Revolution (pictured in the top photo) successfully raised $25,000 from local investors in May 2015. More than 60 percent of that money has already been paid back to investors — plus interest.
Take a look at the NextSeed website to learn more and to see the current offerings.
And now comes the required disclaimer: 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 a great idea but need a crowd to make it happen? Looks like a job for a Swamplot Sponsorship.
Sponsor of the Day
UT WRITES BACK TO UH PEN PALS, LAWMAKERS ON HOUSTON CAMPUS PLANS 
University of Texas Chancellor Bill McRaven sent a letter yesterday afternoon to a list of higher-ups in Texas higher education and in the state legislature. McRaven’s letter comes in response to a February letter signed by 35 former University of Houston regents and addressed to the same crowd; that letter followed UT’s January purchase of 100 acres near the intersection of Willowbend Dr. and Buffalo Spdwy. for a planned Houston campus. Yesterday’s letter from McRaven repeated past assertions that the still-ambiguously-purposed land would not become another university, and that UT is not trying to hinder UH’s development as a research institution, adding that “it takes two or more to collaborate.” McRaven also writes that UT is including the state higher-ed coordinating board on its task force to determine what to do with the new space, and asks if those opposing the expansion are “really convinced that Houston, the fourth largest and most international city in the U.S., has all it needs in terms of intellectual and innovative horsepower for the decades ahead?” [UT System via Dallas Morning News; previously on Swamplot] Conceptual rendering of proposed UT campus: UT System
A natatorium nestles in the center of this $17.9 million home, once owned by Italian-born Cullen oil-heir Baron di Portanova. The 1968 house was expanded to more than double its size in the 1970s to enclose the backyard after the baron was unable to buy a famous Manhattan club for his wife as a birthday present. The 21,500 sq. ft. mansion has also reportedly hosted an extensive cast of characters, including a helicopter drop-in by James Bond (as played by Sir Roger Moore). The home contains 8 bedrooms, 9 full baths, and 3 half baths, and was listed on HAR in 2014 for 4 days; it was relisted in May of 2015 with a $1 million price drop.
Pool Party Pad
- How East Houston is Booming Amid Oil Slump [Realty News Report]
- Madison/Foley Developing Master-Planned Community Sundance Cove Near Lake Houston [HBJ]
- Elan Heights Apartment Complex Going Up in Woodland Heights Begins Preleasing Units [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Tiger Woods Unveils BlueJack National Golf Club in Montgomery County [abc13]
- Mattress Firm Opening in Former Oak Forest Verizon Wireless at 1347 West 43rd St. [The Leader]
- City Council Delays Vote on New Contract for Curbside Recycling Program [Houston Public Media]
- Levees Would Be Less Expensive and More Cost Effective Than 55-Mile ‘Ike Dike’ Galveston Coastal Barrier, Finds New Report [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
Photo: telwink via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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