Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Not much left there in Sunnyside South, and there will be much less elsewhere after this round of demos.
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- 15019 Marlebone Ct. [HAR]
Carvana has confirmed that the work going on now at the former Big Tex Tree Nursery lot at 10939 Katy Fwy. is setup for the giant car vending machine referenced in September bid documents labeled with the site’s address. Building permits issued in January were applied for under the name of largely-non-digital used-car chain DriveTime, an investor in the Phoenix-based startup that also allows Carvana to borrow facilities to prepare vehicles for sale.
The new vending machine could be the first in Texas; Carvana opened a vending machine in Nashville last November, and also has a pickup site in Atlanta for those who don’t want to deal with delivery service. A reader sends some fresh shots of the action at the site, as well as a glimpse at a building plan:
Going Digital on I-10
COMMENT OF THE DAY: 2 ONE-WAY TRAJECTORIES FOR HOUSTON TOWNHOME DEVELOPMENT 
” . . . The big concern that I have about townhomes is that perhaps about 15 to 30 years out, and as they start to show their age in the predictable ways (never mind the less predictable ways that relate to the regional economy or transportation), that some individual owners in fee simple arrangements will shirk repairs and bring down entire clusters or neighborhoods. They are different from condo regimes in that way, but also in another: fractured land ownership and deed restrictions make redevelopment and land use change basically impossible. Forever. It’s possible that state laws and municipal ordinances would change to cope with things, or that Houston will become so affluent as to render the concern moot, but I see it as a risk.” [TheNiche, commenting on Raising the Bar for Upscale Housing; A New Hospital for Galveston] Illustration: Lulu
FALLEN SPORTS AUTHORITY FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY, PREPARES FOR 140-STORE SHUTDOWN 
Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning, after some January lay-offs and a multi-million-dollar missed interest payment. Sports Authority had already announced the planned closure of some 140 underperforming stores; employees at a Dallas branch were told in February that all Texas stores would close, including the 11 in and around Houston. The company now says those closings will occur over the next 3 months; CEO Michael Foss told the Denver Post that the timeline will hopefully give the 3,400 employees anticipated to be let go “plenty of time to find their next opportunity, whether it’s in the company, or wherever else it is.” [Denver Post; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Sports Authority in Portofino Shopping Center: Woodlands Monocle
Swamplot is sponsored today by Judy Thompson, Exclusively a Buyer’s Agent. Thanks for your continuing support of this website, Judy!
And just in time for her latest stats on Houston residential real estate! Judy Thompson compiles and updates them regularly on the West U Real Estate website, which she’s operated since 2003.
The site’s regular updates of Houston residential market conditions for homes in 10 separate price ranges in 19 popular Houston Zip Codes take into account the amount of inventory currently available and the pace of sales in the previous 12 months. The charts show whether by each calculation the current market favors buyers, sellers, or neither (a “normal†market). Here’s the the latest overall chart.
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 shows a bit of an uptick from the last month, but the average inventory is still close to a 6-month supply, according to her latest data.
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. Thompson has worked as a buyers’ agent exclusively since 1997.
Got some numbers you’re working to keep up? A Swamplot sponsorship could help with that.
Sponsor of the Day
Houstorian James Glassman sends this photo of a shiny new blue tile street sign along a Westheimer Rd. curb just east of Kirby Dr., where months of road and sidewalk construction is wrapping up. The fresh mosaic is in the style of those installed around Houston in the 1920s and into the 1950s before the rise of auto traffic made foot-level street markers less practical than eye-level signage.Â
The new sign doesn’t yet appear on the online map maintained by Joey Sanchez of the Blue Tile Project, which documents the locations of the original tile markers, though Sanchez noted the sign this morning on the project’s Twitter feed:
Westheimer Blues
The first act of construction of the new downtown facilities for the High School for Performing and Visual Arts featured an extended solo by a lone excavator supported by a small cluster of white vehicles, per photos of the site released yesterday. Work on the former parking lot bounded by Austin, Capitol, Caroline, and Rusk streets got the go-ahead in late February now that some budget issues are settled, according to HISD.
Here’s a ground-level shot that introduces a few more characters to the production — in this scene, the Excavator meets with the Man in Yellow, as a Blue Semi observes in stony silence:
Encore on Austin St.
- Houston Unemployment On Track To Outpace the National Rate for the First Time in a Decade [Quartz]
- Houston Apartment Market Showing ‘Significant Signs of Weakening’ Amid the Oil Slump, Finds MPF Research [HBJ]
- New Del Webb Community for Residents Ages 55 and Up Going Up in The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
- Johnson & Johnson Debuts Lab Space JLabs @ TMC in the Texas Medical Center [HBJ]
- Target To Anchor Grand Parkway Marketplace Near Grand Pwky. in Spring Coming in March 2017 [HBJ]
- Costco Opening Latest Houston-Area Store on March 18 with Humble Location [HBJ]
- Dallas-Based Pizzeria Cane Rosso Opening Heights Location in Mid-April with Gold-Clad Oven, Montrose Spot To Follow This Summer [Culturemap]
- Behind the 20-Year Renovation of a 1935-Built River Oaks House [Houstonia]
Photo of 1885 Saint James Place construction: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Cleaning up what has already been started at a storage facility, and a couple of houses thrown in for good measure.
- 18646 Martinique Dr. [HAR]
The shuttered former site of Roznovsky’s Hamburgers is now dark on the outside as well, as Tacos A Go-Go makes final preparations to dance into the space. A reader sends this shot of the current state of remodeling of the building at 3401 W. T.C. Jester (at the corner with 34th St.). The burger joint shut down last year a few months after proprietor Ron Roznovsky passed away in February.
This will be the third go-round for Tacos A Go-Go, which was previously thought to be headed for the former La Fendée’s spot on Westheimer as an addition to its Midtown and Heights locations — that spot got claimed by Cafe Layal instead, and the current location was announced in June. The strip center behind the once-and-future restaurant may be getting some other new neighbors in the coming year as well; the Leader reported at the end of last year that several spots were open for tenancy between 1 Stop Food Shop and Mirage Cabaret.
34th at W. T.C. Jester
COMMENT OF THE DAY: VINTAGE HOUSTON CORNER CUTTING BACK IN VOGUE 
“For anyone who lived here through the mid to late 70s through the early 80s, we are all too aware of how things were just thrown up as fast and as cheaply as possible: cracked slabs were de rigueur, flooding issues, aluminum wiring, as well as a whole host of other issues . . . If you don’t think a lot of these same mistakes are being repeated now, you’re probably delusional, especially with all the awful stucco being used near ubiquitously around town — go look at some of the ones built within the last 10 years and you’ll see failing stucco, poor construction, shoddy methods . . . how many townhome collapses do you need to see before you realize this is history repeating itself for a new generation of ‘suckers’?” [cm, commenting on Fatigued Metal Strips Now Jumping From the Top of The Susanne Onto the W. Alabama St. Sidewalk Below] Photo of fallen metal strip on W. Alabama St.: Swamplot inbox
A piece of Americana comes standard with this 1921 collaboration between architects Harrie T. Lindeberg and John F. Staub, who would later go on to design Bayou Bend. This Georgian-style home north of Rice University contains a copy of the wallpaper mural Views of North America by Jean Zuber (which can also be found in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House).  The $18-million pricetag nets you 5 bedrooms, 5 full baths, and 3 half baths.  The 12,808 sq. ft. home is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and comes surrounded by a pool, a carriage house with an additional apartment, and plenty of leafy greens to cover the view from across-the-street Hermann Park.
Take a Peek
Our Sponsor of the Day for the day is Joshua Verde, candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for Harris County Civil District Judge in the 215th Judicial District.
Today is election day in Texas. And that’s why Josh asked us if he could sponsor Swamplot today — to remind readers who haven’t yet voted to be sure to hit the polls before they close tonight at 7Â pm (Swamplot is nonpartisan and does not endorse political candidates, but we are unadulteratedly pro-voting) — and to provide a few helpful links:
If you’re a potential Harris County voter with questions about where to vote, what you need to bring with you to vote, or who or what is on the ballot, check out the county clerk’s elections website (harrisvotes.org) to find answers.
A nonpartisan PDF guide to the candidates prepared by the League of Women Voters can be found here.
To learn more about Josh’s campaign for the 215th Civil District Court, please visit the Josh for Judge 215 website.
Looking for attention from Swamplot readers? Try getting in front of them with a Swamplot sponsorship.
Sponsor of the Day
