BLACK LAB EDGES OUT MELANGE CREPERIE FOR EATSIE BOYS SPACE 
The old “circumstances beyond our control” got in the way of Melange Creperie’s previously announced move into the former Eatsie Boys spot in the Campanile center at 4100 Montrose Blvd., the crepe stand’s proprietor announced late last week. Eric Sandler reports that the location’s neighbor, The Black Labrador pub, will instead expand into the space. In an email sent to backers of the Kickstarter through which $52,215 was raised for the crepe stand’s move to an indoor site, owner Sean Carroll reported he’s still looking in Midtown and Montrose for a lease space. In the meantime, Melange Creperie will begin operating regular hours next to the freezer case inside the Montrose H-E-B. [Culturemap; Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of 4100 Montrose Blvd.: Local Sugar
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For the second time in 6 months, the original Ninfa’s at 2704 Navigation has a brand new parking lot surface. The owners hope this one will last a whole lot longer than the sog-prone crushed-limestone install that crews replaced prematurely last week (see photo above). “There were potholes everywhere,” declares a press release put out by the manufacturer of its replacement. Here’s a pic of how it looked before (found-in-place jalapeño included for scale and local flavor):
Replacing a Swamp Lot
Blank Slate Tattoo Removal decamped from the corner spot of this building at Houston Ave and Crockett St. at the end of January. (You can head for 5320 Cornish Rd. in Cottage Grove now to correct your body-inked misspellings.) In its place, there’s a new sign up at 1720 Houston Ave., providing evidence that a new beer-and-wine-serving cafe is getting ready to move in — right next door to Café Brussels. The street-front First Ward building just north of downtown was built in 1925.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
Cafeza
“It looks amazingly shiny without the 50 years of grime,” notes the reader who late last week snapped these photos of the former Houston Post building at 4747 Southwest Fwy., tucked into the lifted right armpit of the I-69-610 intersection. The brutalist main building of the 7-building campus, designed in 1970 by Astrodome architects Wilson, Morris, Crain, and Anderson, is being powerwashed — with a significant portion of the work complete just in time for this week’s heavy rains.
Powerwashed!
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
In some cases, they’re forgotten well before they’re gone.
- Canadian Investor Buys GEICO Building at Mason Creek [Realty News Report]
- City Approves Plans for Academy Development’s Marcello, a 3-Part Residential Development on 546 Acres of Farmland Near the Grand Parkway and I-10 [HBJ]
- Light Hill Partners To Demolish 3 Montrose Properties on Mt. Vernon St. Along the Southwest Fwy., Build Midrise Apartments in Their Place [HBJ]
- Pearland Issued 571 Single-Family Homebuilding Permits from January to May, Up 43% Over Same Time Last Year [HBJ]
- Kingwood Location of Two Men and a Truck Grew 133% Between 2014 and 2015 Thanks in Part to Grand Parkway Expansion [HBJ]
- More Details on That Greek Restaurant Taking Over the Kahn’s Deli Space at 2429 Rice Blvd. Next Month [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Immobilized Rice Box Now Open in Greenway Plaza’s Underground Food Court [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Home and Add-on Owner’s Center in the Bunker Hill Area Relisted at Lower Price, Just Under $3 Million [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Veteran Chain-Store Developer Don Mullins Recalls Life During the 1980s Real-Estate Funk [Houston Chronicle]
- FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at Leonel Castillo Community Center, 2101 South St., Opens Today [Houston Chronicle]
- Texas Supreme Court Finds City Did Not Adequately Describe Rebuild Houston Drainage Fee, Sends Lawsuit Back to Trial Court [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- What Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Could Look Like in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- Reverse Commute to The Woodlands Is ‘Nasty’ Now Too [Houston Chronicle]
- Tales from Commuting on the 53 Briar Forest Limited Bus for 4 Hours a Day [OffCite Blog]
- EPA Mapping Tool Shows Houston’s Toxic Risk Hot Spots [Houston Public Media]
Photo of demolition at 315 Goldenrod St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
- 457 Edgewood Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LET’S KEEP HOUSTON’S ODDBALL ORIGINALITY A LITTLE MORE ORIGINAL AND LOCAL, PLEASE 
“Well, so much for the oddball originality that made Houston special. If you’re gonna rip off an idea, at least cover your house in wine corks or build an elaborate complex paying homage to the health benefits of bananas. Come on, people, you’re better than this.” [Amanda, commenting on Houstonians Are Attaching Their ‘Love Locks’ to Buffalo Bayou’s Rosemont Bridge] Illustration: Lulu
East Downtown residents have been following the construction of a 2-story steel-framed structure going up on the corner of Polk St. and Chartres St., just beyond the I-69 overpass from the backside of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Photos sent to Swamplot show some of the framing going up last week (above) and a more recent view from the frontage at 2009 Polk St. (below).
350 Degrees and Up
- 17-Story Apartment Tower Azalea Court Now Going Up Next to Highland Village Shopping Center [HBJ]
- 18-Story Solvay Chemical Office Building Under Construction at 3737 Buffalo Speedway Should Be 40% Preleased Sometime Soon; Hotel Coming Next [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Whole Foods Market To Call Its New, Lower-Priced Stores 365 by Whole Foods Market [HBJ]
- The Houston Apartment Association Calls These Properties the Top 13 Apartments in Houston [Prime Property]
- Identifying Houston’s Transit Gaps, Before and After Metro’s Reimagining [The Urban Edge]
- Water Shortages Still a Problem for Texas, Despite Last Month’s Downpour [Houston Chronicle]
- Reddit Users’ List of Must-See Houston Landmarks [Houston Chronicle]
- Developers Will Soon Be Able To Expedite City Permit Approvals by Paying an Extra Fee [Houston Chronicle]
- Your Astrodome Seats Are Now Ready for Pickup [Click2Houston]
- Takeaways from the 1950 Houston Post Stylebook [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of King St., Lake Pointe, Sugar Land: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
- 1310 Horseshoe Dr. [HAR]
HOUSTON’S LAST TEXADELPHIA HAS SERVED ITS FINAL CHEESESTEAK 
Texas cheesesteak sports bar Texadelphia has closed, a couple of readers tell Swamplot. The spot at 6025 Westheimer Rd., west of Fountainview, was the first and last of the Houston locations for the Austin-born franchise. This spot had been open for about 20 years. Photo: Jack S.
Which neighborhoods were hardest hit by last month’s floods? Try looking at this map to find answers. Zoomed out as it is, you can see some overall patterns. But to get a sense of the scope of the devastation in certain Houston neighborhoods, you’ll want to zoom in. Into this part of Meyerland, for example:
High Water Maps
