- 4505 Caduceus Pl. [HAR]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW NATURAL SELECTION ELIMINATES HOUSTON PEDESTRIANS 
“Biology has words to describe the relationship between parking and driving. ‘Arms race’ and ‘co-evolution’ fit pretty well. If you find a creature that has evolved to devote a lot of its energy to producing toxins, you’ll find some other creature that has evolved to survive those toxins — the two are in an arms race with each other, and have co-evolved these capabilities. One becomes a little more toxic, the other becomes a little more immune to that toxin. Other organisms can’t invade that relationship because they aren’t toxic enough or immune enough. From this perspective, large parking lots and heavy reliance on cars can be seen as Houston’s defense mechanism. Houston is immune to walkability because driving and parking have co-evolved to such extremes here. There’s no stable strategy to provide a path from where we are to where the new urbanists want to be.” [Memebag, commenting on Houston’s Pothole Progress; Reagan HS Name Staying for Now] Illustration: Lulu
SWEEPING UP THE CRUMBS AT THE FORMER HOME OF MIYAKO, RED ONION, AND MADRAS PAVILION 
A reader surveys the scant leftovers of the once-restaurant-filled office park at Kirby at Norfolk this morning. The knock-’em-down phase of the demolition of Corporate Plaza II and III, which began in mid-December, appears to have wrapped up and transitioned into the haul-’em-away. The complex’s still-standing parking garage, pictured on the right, was issued its demo permit on Friday. The last structure of the office park trio, the Corporate Plaza I midrise (hiding unsuccessfully behind the garage), has recently acquired a sash of debris netting around the middle; Nancy Sarnoff reports that Corporate Plaza I will be demolished as well. The complex should be fully done in by the end of April. [Chron.com, previously on Swamplot] Photo of 3910 and 3930 Kirby Dr.: Swamplot inbox
RUNNER-UP COMMENT OF THE DAY: READY FOR ICING OUTSIDE THE INNER LOOP 
” . . . I think the real opportunity to expand affordable housing is in Houston’s ‘donut of despair’. The area between 610 and the Beltway (except around the Spring Branch area) is full of acres and acres of empty land. With a huge push from the City, these areas could be redeveloped into truly affordable neighborhoods with homes in the $150-250k range.” [Old School, commenting on Houston Home Sales Continue To Tumble; One More Link in the Grand Parkway] Illustration: Lulu
Today’s sponsor is New Living. Thanks for supporting Swamplot!
New Living is an artisan manufacturer and retailer focused on furniture designed to improve your health and well-being — and make it a little bit easier to relax and live naturally in Houston. The company’s work can be seen across the city, in places like the JW Marriott downtown, Axelrad Beer Garden, and Oxheart.
Founded as an experiment on a single aisle of the Wagner Hardware store on Kirby Dr. in 2007, New Living took over the entire space when Wagner closed a couple of years later. New Living began as a building materials provider but made its way into furniture production — always focused on the environmental health impacts of its products. New Living is a certified B Corp. (or Benefit Corporation); that doesn’t mean its proprietors are socialists, but they aren’t exactly your typical mattress capitalists either. (The Heights store closes for siesta every weekday from 2 to 3 pm. Both locations offer discounted pricing for families from underserved communities with special needs, and neither sells items known to be harmful to human health.)
New Living’s design studio and showroom are located at 6111 Kirby Dr., at the edge of the Rice Village; the company’s healthy bedroom store is located right behind the famed parklet at 321A W. 19th St. in the Heights. If you have an idea for a furniture collaboration and would like to schedule a free design consultation, give them a shout at (713) 521-1921. You’ll find more information on the New Living website; you can also follow them on Instagram at @newlivinghouston.
Interested in helping your company build a better relationship with Swamplot readers? Contact us about becoming a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.
Sponsor of the Day
H-E-B EXPLORING TINY STORES AS WALMART THROWS IN THE TOWEL Meanwhile, in San Antonio: As big-box giant Walmart nixes all of its Express mini-stores amid a larger batch of closures, H-E-B is making way for a full-service convenience store with an attached Wendy’s near the northwest corner of Loop 1604. H-E-B officials have been slow to confirm details of the new store, which is reportedly on the order of 7,500 sq. ft. and estimated to cost roughly $2.7 million. The Texas grocery chain frequently operates a small kiosk at its gas-proffering full-sized store locations, but only a handful of the full-service convenience stores currently exist; the one in Lytle, TX, contains a Whataburger. [Virtual Builders Exchange, via PaperCity]
The next generation of entertainment setups features prominently in this 6,389-sq.-ft Sterling Ridge Estates fantasy house, which overlooks a community lake. The 5-bedroom home provides adventurous buyers opportunities to escape to the past, the distant future, and various imaginative spaces: The 1.2-million home includes a castle bedroom and a theater suite modeled after Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise, among other boldly-decorated retreats.
Final Frontiers
- University of Texas Closes on 100 Acres in Southwest Houston, Plans To Buy 200 More in Coming Months [Houston Chronicle]
- Up to 70 New Houston Apartment Projects Stalled or Canceled Amid Oil Slump [HBJ ($)]
- More Than 3,000 Apartment Units Are Under Construction Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
- Quintana Minerals Relocating to 1415 Louisiana, Leases 17,465 SF at Under-Renovation Office Tower [Realty News Report]
- Spring Branch North, Westbury, Woodlake-Briar Meadow To Have Highest Home Value Growth in 2016, According to Zillow [HBJ]
- Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd Opening 2 Restaurants at 500 Crawford Apartment Building Across from Minute Maid Park [Houston Chronicle]
- The New, Larger La Fisheria Debuts Downtown at 213 Milam This Wednesday [Houston Chronicle]
- Metro Testing Mobile Ticketing App for Purchasing Single Fare Tickets and Day Passes [Houston Public Media]
- The Sights and Sounds of the 27,000-Runner-Strong Chevron Houston Marathon [Houston Chronicle]
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.
All lit up, and now permanently dimmed.
- 2 Tiel Way [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: AN INSIDE-THE-LOOP STATUS REPORT 
“I am a real estate agent in the Heights-Montrose area. While sales are down a bit in volume, prices are still slowly rising. Correct: 2014 was a banner year, the likes of which may not be seen again for another few years. We are seeing price reductions on listings that were speculating the continuation of the rapid price increases — however, when the prices are brought down, they still sell. Here inside the Loop, we are quite busy, and the good stuff under 500k is moving nicely.” [Freddie, commenting on Houston Home Sales Continue To Tumble; One More Link in the Grand Parkway] Illustration: Lulu
Holman St. will shut down tonight for the kickoff party for the boxy structure at 3400 Main St., the new home of art umbrella organization Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston. The building began hosting performances in October as construction wrapped up on the facility. Parking will be available during the Grand Opening Weekend celebrations at the Mid-Main parking garage, which began hosting artists back in October as well.
MATCH has so far collected at least 50 small art groups to use the building (designed by Lake|Flato and Studio Red). Along with 3,000 sq.ft. of gallery space, 60 offices, and 3 rehearsal studios, the facilities include 3 black box theaters (and 1 white one).
- Grand Opening Weekend [MATCH]
- Previously on Swamplot: Construction Starts Next Week on Main St. MATCH Arts Complex in Midtown; Half the $28.5M Needed for Midtown Arts Center Raised; Grants To Spark Midtown Arts Center Fundraising; Midtown Arts Center Interim Design Review: How Do You Like It Now?; The Midtown Collaborative Arts Yurt That Got Away, A Second Round of Initial Concepts for Midtown’s Independent Arts Collaborative, Architects Agree To Collaborate on Main St. Arts Collaborative, Independent Arts Collaborative Buying Midtown Lot for New Main St. Arts Center
Photo of breezeway at 3400 Main St.: MATCH
Main at Holman
The king of big-box retail announced plans this morning to close the Walmart Supercenter at 7075 FM 1960 West, behind Willowbrook Mall at the intersection with Cutten Rd. The Supercenter will close on January 28th after more than 2 decades of operation; a Walmart Neighborhood Market at 2740 Gessner Rd. (south of Kempwood Dr.) will also close on the same day.
The Supercenter (not to be confused with the one 4 miles up FM 1960 at the corner with T.C. Jester) is one of 154 US stores that will close, as the chain works to assure that its “assets [are] aligned with strategy”. Currently, there are 17 Walmart stores on or inside Beltway 8, and 4 Walmart Supercenters along FM 1960 between 249 and Atascocita.
Boxing Up on FM 1960
Our thanks — and rightly, our readers’ — go to our most recent Sponsors of the Day, who’ve made Swamplot possible these past few weeks:
- 1208 Aurora St. in Sunset Heights
- Personal Coach Cricket Buchler
- Bernie’s Best, AKA the Crudbuster
- Tom Rusteberg CGI
- Architecture Center Houston Walking Tours
- Judy Thompson, Exclusively a Buyer’s Agent
- Farmstead Grow & Eat
- HTX Made Furniture by New Living
- Juicy in the Sky . . . with Vitamins
Sponsorships allow Swamplot to continue bringing you our unique coverage of Houston’s real estate landscape. If that’s important to you, please consider clicking on the links above (and the links in those links) and checking out the offerings of the businesses that support this site.
And if you recognize how reaching Swamplot readers this way can help your own business, please contact us to find out how to become a sponsor yourself. It’s easy (and affordable) and it’s a great way to get a lot of people who pay attention to Houston to notice what you’re doing.
Sponsors of the Day
For a few early hours this Sunday, the Southwest Freeway will be the only conduit into or out of the box of land framed by Kirby Dr., Montrose Blvd., Bissonnet St. and W. Gray St. (give or take a traffic peninsula leading up to Allen Pkwy., which will also be closed for much of the morning).
The Houston Marathon will launch from 4 corrals leading to Congress Ave. at San Jacinto St., and loop through the city along the route outlined in black above. The Half Marathon route (outlined in yellow) will pant alongside until just before mile 8, when it will skive off north back toward the shared finish line at Discovery Green.
A larger version of the map is show in 2 parts below, complete with start and end times (in red and green respectively) of each mile marker’s street closure:
The Runaround
