Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Just like the White Wing[ed] Lane, sings a song, sounds like she’s singing…
Sign up for the Newsletter
Say goodbye to 2015! Swamplot is taking a quick break to do just that. We’ll be back Monday morning, ready to see what changes lie ahead for the local real estate scene. A Happy New Year to you and yours!
Photo of 1515 Beall St.: Joe Bielamowicz via Swamplot inbox
Bring It On
The north wall has been breached — windows have been carved into the facade of the Houston Chronicle’s freeway-front structure at the corner of the West Loop and 59 (where most of the paper’s staff will relocate early next year.) The multi-building campus under renovation at 4747 Southwest Freeway was bought from the Houston Post in 1995 after the competing newspaper folded; the Chronicle’s Texas Ave. space was bought by developer Hines in October.
The main building was powerwashed back to a gleaming beige over the summer — to brighten things up further, sections of the 1960s raw concrete Brutalist facade are currently being whitewashed as well, in line with exterior renderings released earlier this year by Gensler:
59 @ 610
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW DOES ALCOHOL COMPLICATE THE BARBERSHOP EXPERIENCE? 
“Do I want to drink a beer while getting my hair cut? Will it get hair in it? Is it comfortable to drink a beer while holding your head in hair-cutting position? Will I have time to finish it? I have a lot of questions about this concept.” [TacoTruck, commenting on Getting Ready for an Alcoholic Barbershop Experience Where the Parking Lot is Going Pink on E. 20th St.] Illustration: Lulu
- Houston Housing Market Gained $23.4B in Value This Year for an All-Time High of $381B, According to Zillow [Houston Chronicle]
- Clay To Develop 1.5M SF of Distribution Space on 80 Acres It Just Bought in Cedar Port Industrial Park [Realty News Report]
- 2 Hotels Totaling 325 Rooms Planned for 1.3-Acre Site Near the Texas Medical Center [HBJ]
- Six Ping Opens Fourth Houston Bakery Within a 1.5-Mile Radius of Previous Locations [Houston Press]
- The Best and Worst Urban Trends of 2015 [Next City]
Photo of Market Square Park: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Setting the stage for a few smashingly dramatic end-of-year scenes, and some other locales lost in translation.
- 2330 River Rock Trl. [HAR]
EPA ASKS FOR NEVADA’S HAND IN CLEANING UP RADIOACTIVE GROUNDWATER AT BP’S ANACONDA MINE Meanwhile, in Yerington: The EPA is pushing to place Nevada’s Anaconda Copper Mine on the Superfund list, after 15 years of investigating the area’s uranium-contaminated groundwater and a nearly $20 million resident settlement: a 2013 class-action suit accused mine owner Atlantic Richfield and parent company BP America of intentional and negligent concealment of the extent of contamination from the site. The EPA sent a letter to Nevada governor Brian Sandoval last week, giving the state about a month to respond with any concerns about the intended listing. Nevada has previously fought the listing of the site 65 miles south of Reno, hoping to avoid drops in property values. In 2004, former Anaconda cleanup supervisor Eddie Dixon was fired by the Bureau of Land Management for alienating groups that help the agency to work “in an efficient and effective manner” — a 2008 panel upheld that Dixon was actually fired for insisting that health concerns be publicized. Dixon also documented irregularities like changes to content in his presentations by company marketing consultants. (Some dozen Superfund NPL sites are listed around the Greater Houston Area, including sites adjacent to or within a few blocks of 610 North, 610 South, and I-10 east of downtown.) [NYTimes, High Country News, Houston Chronicle, previously on Swamplot, HBJ]
CHICKEN OUT TONIGHT ON MEMORIAL DR. 
Hybrid Peruvian-Mexican restaurant Pollo Bravo will be flying the coop at 5 PM — the Memorial Dr. and Reinicke St. location will close permanently this evening. The chain’s remaining 2 locations on Hillcroft and Richmond will remain open, and the owner is currently looking for a new space to roost. The locale, which previously housed Hartz Chicken Buffet, converted to a Pollo Bravo by the end of 2012. An LLC connected to developer Amir Taghdisi purchased the property in May, adding to his existing holdings a few blocks west across the street; his strip center at 5801 Memorial Dr. currently houses a Dunkin’ Donuts and Piada Italian Street Food. Photo: Google Places
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LIMITS OF OPEN CARRY 
“Jogged the Memorial loop trail yesterday with my holster and 9. Applying lots of cream today.” [J, commenting on Simon Says Don’t Bring Your Guns to the Galleria] Illustration: Lulu
Nationally ranked Cypress parking-lot barbecue trailer Brooks’ Place will offer a 25 percent discount on New Year’s Day to anyone celebrating Texas’s new open carry law with a properly holstered firearm. Owner and master of smoked beef Trent Brooks will also offer a permanent 10 percent discount those who show up armed after January 1st. (A sign posted on the premises notes that “judicious marksmanship is appreciated” if the need to draw does arise.) Things you shouldn’t show up with, according to other noticed posted to the shed (tucked next to the Ace Hardware in the shopping center at FM 529 at Barker Cypress Rd.): short-shorts and saggy pants.
- Restaurant owners split on Open Carry law [ABC13]
- The 50 Best Barbecue Joints in the World: Brook’s Place [Texas Monthly]
Photos: Cletus O. (trailer) Angela S. (sign)
With Open Arms
A makeover is underway at the Heights Plaza at 420 E. 20th St. between N. Main and Heights Blvd. Swamplot reader JerseyGirl sends photos of the strip center, once home to Sunny’s Washateria and J & R Boudin; the building is keeping some of its 1970s architectural details (such as those embedded cinderblocks) but is also getting some updates, including a total interior redo and a new white and bubblegum color scheme extending to the parking lot.
Workers on the site confirmed that one of the new tenants will be Birds Barbers, an Austin salon known for providing Shiner Bock as part of its customer experience — in addition to using it as a styling product, for “hair that is smooth and full of shineâ€. Steel City Pops will also move in — the Alabama-based popsicle chain, which the owner modeled off a Mexican paletas store encountered in Nashville, currently lists flavors including buttermilk, wassail, and spruce on the menu of their Dallas location.
Earlier renderings from Schaum & Shieh show the Heights Plaza strip center (to be rechristened The 420) as it may soon appear — give or take a high-gloss sheen, and those pink parking stops and bricks:
Heights Gets the Birds
- Downtown Houston Expected To Have 3.8M SF of Direct and Sublease Submarket Space Available Next Year [HBJ]
- Clay Picks Up Nearly 80 Acres in Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown [GlobeSt.com]
- Demo of 3 Upper Kirby Buildings at Kirby Drive and Southwest Fwy. To Wrap Up Around April [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Can You Identify These Downtown Construction Sites? [Houston Streetwise]
- Median Rent for 2-Bedroom Apartment in Houston Grew Only 1.1% Over Last Year to $1,120, Finds Apartment List [HBJ]
- The 6 Most Critical Issues Facing Houston’s New Mayor in 2016 [The Urban Edge]
Photo of Pennzoil Place: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A dozen soon-to-be former homes will meet their fate with the wrecking ball shortly.
- 8007 Glen Dell Ct. [HAR]
