Some tidying around Jefferson Davis High School’s soon-to-be upgraded campus, and a few other structural clean ups.
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- 5250 Birdwood Rd. [HAR]
3 GLASS AND STEEL CONDO TOWERS FOR COTTAGE GROVE 
Backed by unnamed foreign investors and still seeking a few more, pro-cyclist-turned-chiropractor-turned-Realtor Dr. Fabian Trujillo recently told Paul Takahashi of HBJ about his newest project: 3 glass-and-steel condo towers (the tallest at 35 stories) meant for the northeast corner of Shepherd Dr. and I-10, just east of Cottage Grove. Amenities accessible to inhabitants of the as-yet-unnamed trio (designed by “an Italian architect”) would include a pet area, on-site daycare, rooftop pools, a wine storage facility, and — above the 2-story penthouses atop the tallest tower — a helipad. Prices would start at $230,000 for 1,200 sq.-ft. units and rise to $1.2 million for the 3,200-sq.-ft. penthouses, which may or may not include private pools. The drawing above shows a “resident’s lounge”; no site plans, addresses, or exterior renderings have been released, which makes fixing the proposal on a map into a fun Google Earth guessing game — the corner in question currently contains a Shell station, Lonestar Orthopedics, the last surviving HoJo inside Beltway 8, the brand-new Johnstone Supply building, several small crops of townhomes, and a vaguely New York-shaped wooded tract owned mostly by the Harris County Flood Control District. Trujillo plans to open a sales office as soon as late next year, after finding “additional private investors from Central America as well as Chinaâ€. [Houston Business Journal] Rendering: Fabian Trujillo via HBJ
96 SECONDS OF ANIMATED ARGUMENTS AGAINST MINIMUM PARKING REQUIREMENTS, ENDORSED BY A CANADIAN CITY COUNCIL Meanwhile, in Ottawa: Foes of minimum parking requirements, particularly those hoping to bring around their perennial Internet nemeses, are getting some animated ammunition from the U.S.’s neighbors to the north. The City of Ottawa is working on an overhaul of its zoning and parking by-laws, many of which date from as long ago as 1964; the city’s Planning and Growth Management department has released a 96-second video contending that high parking minimums rob neighborhoods of character and charm, encourage bigger buildings where smaller ones might do, hinder pedestrians and cyclists, and eat up space that could be used for other purposes. “Ottawa’s growing up — it’s time our parking rules did too.“ [City of Ottawa]
Currently rising behind Lee Senior High School: Lee Senior High School. The new building is going up on the south side of the block east of Hillcroft between Beverly Hill St. and Skyline Dr., 1 block south of Richmond Ave. The first foundation slab was poured last Friday, and steel has been going up this week— pictured above are the servery, kitchen, and utility areas, according to the Twitter narration of Brent Oldbury. (The distant Williams Tower can be seen peeking through the steel on the right.)
A north-facing entrance is planned, allowing the school to hold on to the current Beverly Hill St. address despite shifting to the Skyline side of the block. The old building (behind the steel to the left, in the photo above) will watch its younger, prettier replacement going up next door until demolition in early 2017 makes way for sports facilities and parking.
A few renderings were presented at an October 2014 community meeting about the new building’s construction and timeline:
Second Secondary on Hillcroft
We greatly appreciate the Sponsors of the Day who’ve made Swamplot possible this past week:
- Edible Earth Resources
- Personal Coach Cricket Buchler
- Hamilton Shirts
- Douglas Hord, Your Tax Guy in Houston
and Swamplot’s Sponsors of the Day for the past couple of weeks as well:
- The Westin The Woodlands
- Judy Thompson, Exclusively a Buyer’s Agent
- SkyHouse River Oaks
- Sword to Sword
- The Durham House
- New Living
- The Mondrian at the Museums
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.
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY FOR EXCEEDINGLY WELL-CARPETED MEGAMANSIONS 
“Do they make riding vacuums? Like riding lawn mowers but with a vacuum? Feels like you’d need one of those just to keep up with a place like that. Gotta be at least an acre of carpet in that place.” [Toby, commenting on Katy Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Unstaged Stage] Illustration: Lulu
Deep beneath First City Tower, something is lightly frying — Indian fast-casual joint DGN Factory, previously known by its less-coy former moniker The Dosa Factory, is now serving the no-longer-titular stuffed crepes and other South Indian vegetarian staples at its newly opened counter in the tunnel below 1001 Fannin St., 4 blocks west of Discovery Green.
- Lonza Group Plans To Build New Research and Manufacturing Facility in Pearland [HBJ]
- Archâ€Con Construction Starts Construction on 2-Story Katy Office Building Near Grand Pkwy. [Realty News Report]
- Baylor College of Medicine, CHI St. Luke’s Health To Break Ground Next Year on Second McNair Campus Tower [HBJ]
- River Oaks Shopping Center Plans ‘Very Preliminary,’ Says Weingarten [Houston Chronicle]
- Limited Housing Expansion Forecast for Houston in Nationwide Insurance Report [HBJ]
- MaRS, Mayfield and Ragni Studio-Designed Downtown Office Honored in Interior Design’s Best of Year Awards [Culturemap]
- The Pros and Cons of an Elevated Express Lane on West Loop [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Smog Levels As High in Downtown Houston, Aldine Area Today Than They Were 10 Years Ago [Houston Public Media]
- Houston No Longer Hip, Tasty, Funky, Savvy, But Still Inspired, in Market Square Mural [Houston Streetwise]
Photo of Aris at Market Square: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Disappearance won’t take care of itself. We must will these away. And follow up with equipment.
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 37307 Diamond Oaks Dr [HAR]
SUBTERRANEAN GARDEN UNDERGOING LABORATORY TESTING IN NYC Meanwhile, under Manhattan: In a dense urban environment where natural settings come at a premium, a team of designers is following the lead of the High Line (which repurposed an elevated rail line track to create a linear public greenspace). The new plan: to turn a former trolley terminal into a sunlit underground park. The most obvious problems facing the Lowline project revolve around getting enough natural light underground to enable plants to survive and thrive — the designers have now opened the Lowline Lab, a laboratory-slash-community-center in which they will test out technological and horticultural ideas, while getting the public involved. [arch daily]
This 1981 Queen Anne-inspired property (just north of 249 at Beltway 8 and two blocks south of Bourgeois Rd.) lets you straddle the line between past and present— the exterior of the Cypress Creek home showcases Victorian-era architectural stylings, while more modern amenities pop up inside. Listed earlier this month for $185,000, the 2,116-sq.-ft. home has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, as well as a garage apartment, a pool, and a master suite with its own turret. Step onto the wrap-around porch and come inside for a tour:
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Alt-Nouveau
Sure, drone footage is great. But how often do you get to see 3 flying laboratories survey the breadth of Houston’s sprawl from this high up?
The trio of WB-57s shown surveying a hazy Houston in the video above are based at Ellington Field. The fleet is part of NASA’s WB-57 High Altitude Research Program, which regularly conducts scientific research and testing. Among its missions: mapping, collection of cosmic dust, support of rocket launches, and flights over hurricanes, including recent storms Joaquin and Patricia. Eerie faded-Emerald-City scenes of Downtown, the Galleria, the Med Center, and other vertical standouts unfold beneath the wingtips. The flight, which took place before Thanksgiving (but for which footage was only posted to YouTube this week) marks the first time since the early 1970s that 3 WB-57s have flown together.
Video: Johnson Space Center via Eric Berger
JSC Fleet in Flight
Thanks are due to Douglas Hord, Your Tax Guy in Houston, for being today’s Swamplot sponsor.
Douglas Hord can prepare your small business and personal returns for less than you’ll pay the big guys. He has set minds at ease for hundreds of clients who no longer have to worry about big, ugly financial stuff like tax problems, credit issues, and mortgage problems. He has a law degree and plenty of experience working with small businesses and their IRS issues. He has worked in landlord-tenant matters, construction issues, debt collection, bankruptcy, and contract disputes — and has taught at 4 different Houston-area colleges.
His office is at 2502 Huldy St., Suite B — just north of Westheimer and just east of Shepherd. Check out the glowing reviews of his business on Yelp, or find out more on the Your Tax Guy in Houston website. You can get a discount on tax-preparation services for 2015 by paying before December 30.
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