- 19403 Sapphire Cir. [HAR]
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A reader sends pics of 3 notable new features near the western end of Buffalo Bayou Park that appear to be just about complete: The multi-purpose private event space known as The Dunlavy, overlooking a restored and upgraded pond now called Lost Lake — and its signature central feature, a bell-mouth spillway to suck up the overflow, referred to more commonly as a morning glory. That’s the hole in the middle of the water feature; if you look closely at the photos of it below you can see the odd sight of the tip of a construction ladder peeking out at the top:
And the Dunlavy, Almost Done
What looks to be the last structure standing in the way of MetroNational’s hush-hush Energy Gateway District project across I-10 from its headquarters is now ready for its exit. The 32-year-old PoMo style strip center at 1055 Gessner Rd., which formerly housed an HPD substation, Terrace Limousine, and the Asiana Garden restaurant, appears fenced off and ready for demolition in this photo sent to Swamplot by a reader. The center stands at the far northern end of the 24-acre property, which — following the city’s approval of a variance request last month — will be bisected by the extension of Mathewson Ln. to Gessner Rd. from Conrad Sauer Rd.
- Previously on Swamplot: Hints of MetroNational’s Energy Gateway District in Conrad Sauer Detention Basin Redo Plans
Photo: Bayan Raji
Going Soon
- Construction Begins on ‘Modest’ 60-Unit Apartment Complex at 6520 Jamail Dr. Across from Wayside Dr. Fiesta Mart [Prime Property]
- General Growth Properties To Renovate Willowbrook Mall Entrance, Food Court [HBJ]
- Houston Ranked Fifth ‘Greenest’ Office Market in U.S. [Prime Property]
- Texas Organizing Project Protests Financial Incentives for Residential Developers Through the Downtown Living Initiative for ‘Furthering Economic Segregation’ [Prime Property]
- TxDOT Approves $370M Worth of Roadway Projects for the State Funded Under Proposition 1, Including Hwy. 290 Widening [Houston Chronicle]
- City To Revamp 1.5 Miles of T.C. Jester with New Pavement, Bike Lanes, Storm Drains Through Rebuild Houston Initiative [The Leader]
- Survey of Uptown BHP Employees Says 43.7% Would Ride Post Oak Buses on Dedicated Lane [HBJ]
- Surveys Completed 40 Years Apart Show Houston’s Long-Running Love-Hate Relationship with Transit [The Urban Edge]
- 20-Ft.-Deep, 30-Ft.-Wide Sinkhole Discovered in Back Yard Next to Sims Bayou Just East of MLK Blvd. [abc13]
- Bees That Took Over Abandoned Briar Villa House Move To Neighbors [abc13]
- Forest West Residents Want Pinemont Billboard Near Bingle Rd. Advertising a Strip Club Taken Down [The Leader]
- So What About All Those Confederate Symbols in Houston? [Houston Public Media]
- Food Shortages, Riots Predicted by 2040 If We Don’t Change Course, According to Anglia Ruskin University’s Global Resource Modeling [Medium]
- The Story of Countrywide Financial Whistleblower Kyle Lagow [Texas Monthly]
Photo of Pride Festival, City Hall: Brandi Lynn via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE’S OUR MEMORIAL PARK BYPASS? 
“This ramp will now allow more traffic to use Shepherd as an alternate to the freeway system. Thus creating longer delays for those who use surface roads to travel. What is sorely required is a road that would flyover Memorial Park adding a much needed way to travel from the inner loop north. Currently, the only options are the West Loop and Kirby/Shepherd. Both of which are overly congested at most times of the day. It doesn’t help that Shepherd is down to two lanes from four in stretch from Westheimer to Dallas while the city installs much needed storm drainage.” [jgbiggs, commenting on Your Upgrade from Shepherd Dr. to the North Fwy. Will Be Much Smoother Starting Today] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: ZONING WOULDN’T HAVE KEPT THE SPRAWL AWAY 
“It’s always frustrating when I hear Houston’s sprawl and prevalence of strip malls blamed on our lack of zoning. You can blame these on the setbacks and parking minimums that came along with Chapter 42, which made it illegal to build walkable neighborhoods.” [Angostura, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Kind of Zoning Houston Does Have] Illustration: Lulu
Here’s the just-completed 250-sq.-ft. Memorial guard post recently completed in Buffalo Bayou Park. It’s right by that spot just south of Buffalo Bayou from Glenwood Cemetery where you’ll always find a cop car or 2, standing guard by the Houston Police Officers Memorial. The sculptor of that 1991 memorial, Jesús Moroles, was killed in an auto accident earlier this month. The new building, designed by Brave Architecture, is meant to allow the off-duty officers posted there to have more of a public presence as they keep an eye on the memorial through the large windows. It will also function as a small visitors center for the memorial.
- This Is BRAVE Architecture [Ayala Vargas Arquitectura]
- Houston Police Department Officer’s Memorial Guard Post [Brave Architecture]
Photo: José Luis Ayala Vargas
Guard Post
BUYER OF CHRONICLE COMPLEX DOWNTOWN NOT EXPECTED TO CRUSH IT JUST YET 
The deal could still fall through, cautions Ralph Bivins, but real estate development firm Hines is in the middle of negotiating a purchase of the Houston Chronicle’s complex and parking garage at 801 Texas Ave. downtown. Expected sale price: “more than $50 million, perhaps as much as $55 million.” But Bivins doesn’t think Hines is ready to knock down the structures and build another of its downtown office developments on the 99,184 sq. ft. of land on 2 blocks right away. Instead, he writes, the company “appears to be seeking to lock up a prime skyscraper development site for future years.” [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Walter P Moore
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Demolishing the past is how we construct the present.
- Greater Houston Partnership Doesn’t Have To Open Its Books, Texas Supreme Court Rules [Houston Chronicle]
- Tema’s 7-Story Apartment Complex Under Construction on Hermann Dr. Renamed Capella Museum District [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston’s Housing Market Considered ‘Unhealthy’ According to Nationwide Insurance’s Health of Housing Markets Report [HBJ]
- Abandoned Garden Oaks Home at 738 W. 43rd St. To Be Demolished ‘For Safety Reasons’ [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
- Some Flooded Homeowners Face Steep Costs To Rebuild To Meet Floodplain Regulations [Houston Chronicle]
- Grupo Posadas To Open Live Aqua Hotels in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and D.C. [HBJ]
- Sneak Peek at Chris Kinjo’s New MF Sushi Going Up in the Museum District [Culturemap]
- Delayed Openings Until August or September of Heights Restaurants Bernadine’s, Hunky Dory, Foreign Correspondents Blamed on Heavy Rains [HBJ]
- Artist Michael Savoie Unveils Massive Public Mural at Smith and Elgin [Culturemap]
- A Preview of James Glassman’s ‘Houstorian Dictionary’ [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston the Third Sweatiest City in the Country, Behind Miami and Tampa, According to Honeywell List [Houston Chronicle]
- Touring Armand Bayou Nature Center, The Closest Thing To What Houston Looked Like Before Concrete Sprawl [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Rice Hotel: Curt Littlejohn via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE KIND OF ZONING HOUSTON DOES HAVE 
“. . . I always chuckle a bit when someone thinks that the free market governs Houston because the City doesn’t have zoning.
Aside from land-use restrictions, every regulation that is usually found in a zoning ordinance is in force in Houston. Tree and landscape requirements. Setbacks. Sign ordinance. Curb cut requirements. Buffering. Parking requirements. Traffic study requirements. Plan reviews for subdivisions. Regulations for building in flood plains and finish floor elevations. The list goes on. And like every other city, Houston enforces building, electrical, fire, residential, and plumbing codes (with amendments). So contrary to what a lot of a lot of people think, Houston is not a developer’s free for all. (Not that it wasn’t in the 1970s, but I digress)
If anything, it’s harder to build in Houston because the regulations are so damned hard to find sometimes. In most places, it’s all neatly packaged in a Zoning Ordinance. In Houston, it’s all over the Code of Ordinances, and you have to know where to look. As HouCynic noted, Houston enforces neighborhood deed restrictions, but the County Clerk actually records those Restrictions, so it’s not a one-stop-shop. . . .” [ZAW, commenting on Medistar’s Planned Webster Sprawl Plaza; The Most Congested Roads in Texas; Free Metro Rides] Illustration: Lulu
WESTBURY SQUARE HEADED FOR SALE, EXILE OF REMAINING TENANTS 
A sales contract is pending on the remaining portions of faded pedestrian shopping district Westbury Square, a note posted to the home page of The Company OnStage and sent to the group’s subscribers announces. The note does not address rumored plans to divide the purchased site near the intersection of West Bellfort and Chimney Rock into more than 100 townhome lots, but does indicate that completion of the sale will likely bring an end to the company’s 33-year residency at 536 Westbury Square (pictured here). The theater group is postponing the announcement of its upcoming season, and says it is looking to relocate. Two buildings in the complex were torn down early last year. [The Company OnStage; previously on Swamplot] Photo: The Company OnStage
