FUTURE GAS STATION COFFEE SHOP TOPS THE CITY’S LIST OF NEW HISTORIC LANDMARKS 
Among the structures designated as historic landmarks by the City yesterday: an abandoned gas station at 3709 La Branch St. in Midtown. The interior of the 1925 Gulf Oil filling station has been unemployed for the past 30 years, though the exterior has occasionally taken gigs as a canvas for grafitti artists. The structure, which is now under protection in perpetuity, will become Retrospect Coffee Bar in coming months, as part of the larger Almeda Yards development planned for the area. The shop will offer local coffee and sweets, and will attempt to preserve the structure’s original feel. [Paper City] Photo: City of Houston
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The landscape of adorably-named taco shops grows ever denser — Baja fast-casual restaurant Fuzzy’s Tacos will continue its spread south from Cypress, creeping into the space at 2015 W. Gray St., in the parking lot behind the River Oaks Theater. The Fort Worth export will move into the freestanding building on Peden St. at the back of the shopping center, following the 8-month tapas act of Pesca World Seafood (which shuttered in 2013 after replacing Tinto’s that same year).
The space itself is not quite taco-ready:
Very, Very Soft Tacos
- City Considering Purchasing Unused HCC Lot at Texas 288 and MacGregor Way for Site of Potential H-E-B [Houston Chronicle]
- i3 Interests Buys 3-Building Northwest Medical Center in North Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- Renovation To Convert 380-Room DoubleTree Hotel & Suites Houston Near the Galleria into 476-Room Hotel [Houston Chronicle]
- New Pearl Luxury Apartment Community Opens in Westchase District [HBJ]
- City Will Reimburse White Oak Music Hall Under Construction in Near Northside Up To $1.1M for Public Improvements [Houston Chronicle]
- State To Consider Allowing Anonymous Buyer To Purchase Porretto Beach in Galveston for $6M [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Memorial Park Conservancy Now In Charge of Memorial Park Maintenance Under New Ordinance [Houston Public Media]
- City Council Designates 7 Houston Properties Designated as Historic Landmarks [Houston Public Media]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
The sobriety services nonprofit formerly known as The Men’s Center is demolishing two buildings this week at 3805 and 3809 Main (pictured above), just south of Alabama St. Construction of the $12-million facility that will replace the 1940s structures is expected to be completed in 2017, on the same site at 3809 Main. In the interim, the organization (now calling itself ReCenter after adapting its programs this past summer to include women) will continue to serve food and offer sobriety meetings out of a nearby former convenience store at W. Alabama and Fannin.
The new building, designed by BRAVE architecture, is planned for the spot at 3809 Main:
ReCentering on Main St.
A&M TO ESTABLISH MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN ISRAEL AFTER PEACE CAMPUS TALKS BREAK DOWN Meanwhile, in Haifa: Details regarding a proposed Texas A&M institute in Israel were announced this week, with major edits to location, scale, and scope from earlier plans to place a campus in the country. In late 2013, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp announced a $200 million “peace campus” proposed for the city of Nazareth, intended as a multicultural university in the region’s notoriously tense ethnic landscape. But Sharp told the AP this week that the plans have been rethought due to concerns that local officials would exert control over the direction of the campus — instead, a $6 million marine observatory will open in collaboration with the University of Haifa, 20 miles west of Nazareth on the Mediterranean coast. A&M’s believes its Gulf of Mexico expertise will compliment the research at the new institute, which will also contribute to offshore oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. [Texas Tribune, AP]
All eyes (well — at least 4) were on 3910 Kirby just north of 59 yesterday as excavators began snacking on the space formerly occupied by South Indian restaurant Madras Pavilion: reader J. Clark captured some sky-high views of the ongoing demolition; another anonymous tipster snapped shots from lower levels and the ground. The Corporate Plaza III building (shown en déshabillé above) also previously housed Central-American restaurant Red Onion and sushi joint Miyako.
A fence has gone up around both Corporate Plaza III and Corporate Plaza II, next door at 3930 Kirby. Demo permits for both structures were issued on Friday, and work began yesterday morning to bring the northern building down. Corporate Plaza I, the taller sibling of the doomed twins, is visible on the right behind the parking garage on the same property:
All-You-Can-Excavate
Today’s Swamplot sponsor is Hamilton Shirts.
Just a short drive west from the shiny new River Oaks District and the glossy renovation of the Galleria, Hamilton Shirts attracts some of the city’s most affluent consumers to a nondescript office building off the equally unassuming Richmond Strip. Hamilton is Houston’s oldest family-owned business; it’s now owned and operated by the fourth-generation brother-and-sister team of Kelly and David Hamilton. The shirt factory — where every piece is hand cut and sewn — is in back. Inside the storefront in front, customers can select from more than 500 fine Italian and Swiss fabrics.
For the holiday season, Hamilton offers gift cards, along with a large number of custom clothing options, including new takes on classic tuxedo shirting — such as black with white polka dots and a navy poplin with white panel stitching and a white tip collar.
Hamilton Shirts is located at 5700 Richmond Ave in Houston; the phone number is (713) 780-8222. You can also learn more about the company, its offerings, and store hours on the Hamilton Shirts website.
Becoming Sponsor of the Day is a great way to reach Swamplot readers. If that’s something you think you might like to do, contact us on the Swamplot sponsorship line.
Sponsor of the Day
- 6 Skyflower Dr. [HAR]
CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR I-45’S NEWEST FIANCÉ She said yes, but HPD said no — Vidal Valladares will be charged for obstructing southbound I-45 on Sunday, blocking traffic just south of I-10 for less than a minute to pop the question to his girlfriend in front of a downtown backdrop. HPD spokesman Victor Senties said Tuesday morning that while HPD is “happy for the couple, this is not something we would want to encourage anyone to do.” Valladares could face as much as $2,000 in fines and up to 6 months in jail for the grand gesture (footage of which — shown above — went viral on Instagram before it was taken down). Valladares is not the first person to orchestrate a temporary freeway shutdown to propose: hundreds of bikers shut down I-10 west of Los Angeles for a friend’s proposal in 2013, complete with a cloud of pink smoke generated by burnout of a custom tire. [Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times] Video: Michelle Wycoff
- BBVA Compass Plaza Sets Record for Houston Office Building Sale at More Than $527 Per Square Foot [Realty News Report]
- Residential Units, More Retail and Parking Eyed for North Side of River Oaks Shopping Center [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Expected To Break Ground on $909M Worth of New Projects in 2016, Down 9% Year Over Year, According to CMD Group [HBJ]
- Rice University To Build New Office Building, Parking Garage [HBJ]
- Developers Have Exhausted the Downtown Living Initiative [HBJ]
- A Quarter of Houston’s Population Lives in a Food Desert [Houston Chronicle]
- Murders Caused a Loss of More Than $52M in Texas Home Values Last Year, According to Finder.com [Houston Chronicle]
- New Park Board Study Calls for Traffic Improvements in Galveston [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Deep River Plantation Subdivision Seriously Flooded by Trinity River for Third Time This Year [KHOU]
- Harris County District Attorney’s Office Charges Man Who Blocked Traffic on I-45 for Proposal with Obstruction of Highway [abc13]
- Guy Who Crashed Rare Bugatti Sports Car into La Marque Lagoon Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison [Jalopnik]
Photo of ICE at Discovery Green: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Could this be another poorly filled-out demolition permit? A 1962 mansion and some other ill-fated structures are on today’s clean up list.
- 19911 Parkwater Cir. [HAR]
PLANS TO PUT A HIGHRISE ON A TEXAS RANGERS STADIUM PARKING LOT RESURFACE YET AGAIN Meanwhile, in Arlington: The Arlington City Council and the Texas Rangers baseball team are discussing plans for a mixed-use highrise development on a parking lot next to Globe Life Park; the issue will be discussed at tonight’s City Council meeting. This is the fourth time plans have begun to move forward on developing the area around the stadium into a new downtown core — the last effort, in the leadup to the 2009 recession, ended in a tangle of reciprocal lawsuits between various developers of the 1.2-million-sq.-ft. “GloryPark” project and then-Rangers-owner Tom Hicks. Current plans under discussion include restaurant, retail, hotel, convention, and entertainment space; past plans have included residential development and a lake for watersports. [Dallas Morning News]
Hidden in the woods behind the Houston Racquet Club, this C-floorplan mod leaning out toward Buffalo Bayou is currently on the market for just under $2.4 million — down from $3.8 million at the end of September, and $2.9 million at the start of November. The 7,449-sq.-ft. home is now being sold for what the listing claims is lot value, though a $900/monthyear maintenance fee is included. The curvaceous structure contains 3 bedrooms, 3 and a half bathrooms, a pool, and a small mixed-species grove.
Sadly, no photos of the interior are included in the listing, but aerial views are:
Home Invasion in Hunterwood
