SUSANNE DISCOVERS THE GROCERY LURE 
How nice to live where there’s a grocery store just across the street! And how nice to have your apartments across from the supermarket — at least when you’re trying to fill them up: Ellie Sweeney, property manager for Finger Companies’ 396-unit Susanne apartment complex on the site of the former Montrose Fiesta Mart at 3833 Dunlavy St., tells reporter Catie Dixon that 80 percent of traffic to the leasing office from potential residents has been from shoppers at the Montrose H-E-B across the street (where the Wilshire Village apartments once stood). The Susanne’s website speaks highly as well — though somewhat distractedly — of its neighbor: “You’ve got your very own café right across the way,” the marketing copy announces, explaining that the H-E-B was “Designed to be the flagship Lake /Plato [sic] extravaganza.” Nine people have already moved into the Susanne’s first floor; the second floor opens for move-ins next month. All construction should be complete by the end of October. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Finger Companies
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- LPC Realty Advisors Buys Downtown 21-Story Office Building 801 Travis from Goddard Investment Group for Undisclosed Amount [HBJ]
- Braun Enterprises Now Owns Roznovsky’s Hamburgers Building at 3401 West T.C. Jester Near Garden Oaks [Prime Property]
- Austin-Based Data Foundry Inc. Opens Houston II Data Center in Greenspoint [HBJ]
- Before-and-After Images Assembled from Google Street View Depict Houston’s Changing Skyline [Prime Property]
- Houston Emerging as Unlikely Leader in Citywide Physical Activity Through Its Urban Projects [Urban Land Magazine]
- Developer Gerald Hines Calls for More Mass Transit in Houston [HBJ]
- Comparing $1.35M Homes in Houston, Montana, and Virginia Beach; Houston’s Has Highest Taxes [New York Times]
- How Houston is Attracting Immigrants, Global Trade, and Investors [Urban Land Magazine]
- The Lure of Inwood Forest, the Former Country Club Neighborhood for Oil Executives [The Leader]
- Mold-Infested Woodlands House at Center of Legal Battle Between the Property Owner, Wells Fargo Bank, and Woodlands Township To Be Demolished [Houston Chronicle]
- New Study Calls For Widening Kingwood’s 2 Major Arteries from 4 Lanes to 6Â [Houston Public Media]
- Finding the Old Fault Lines in Houston, Plus Some Newer Ones in Fort Bend County [MyFoxHouston]
- Settlement Deal Reached in Hilton Houston Westchase Hotel Pool Electrocution Death [KHOU]
Photo of Buffalo Bayou Park: Swamplot inbox
Headlines
- 1312 Laird St. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY THEY WON’T BE LINING POST OAK BLVD. WITH POST OAKS 
“So close! Just imagine how impressive it would be to have a forest of 800 post oaks on Post Oak Blvd. Unfortunately, post oaks don’t tend to transplant well compared to live oaks, which is why we use live oaks in our landscaping instead of post oaks. (Source: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Boxed Forest of 800 Trees in Tomball Preparing for March Down Post Oak Blvd.] Illustration: Lulu
THE MCCONAUGHEY IS STRONG IN THIS ONE A mere 6 months after Jim Carrey, Metro is out with its own riff on last year’s series of commercials for the Lincoln MKC emceed by a dusk-cruising Matthew McConaughey. But there’s no Texas Longhorn blocking the road for Metro’s version (above), meant to uh . . . re-introduce the transit agency’s newly reimagined bus service, scheduled to kick off in 4 months. Mixed into the atmospherics is a bus driver’s subtle diss of folks’ reliance on some of the old, less popular routes axed in the bus-map redo: “Where’re you really going on the road less traveled? Probably nowhere really great.” [Metro] Video: Metro
SAVING HOUSTON’S UNZONED ARTISTIC SPIRIT 
Glasstire’s Bill Davenport has a suggestion: “Its famous lack of zoning is one of the few things Houston offers artists that other cities can’t. It’s been a defining feature of the city, and one of its main attractions for artists for decades. But this isn’t happening anymore. Prosperity has put teeth into Houston code enforcement, whose numerous inspectors now patrol the streets, ready to red-tag any unconventional building activity.
It’s vital that we preserve a loophole for artistic expression on an architectural scale. What once was an opportunity created naturally by low property prices and underfunded city government must now be maintained purposefully if Houston’s unique character as a city of artistic entrepreneurship is to continue. As part of the new cultural plan, Houston city council should create an ordinance making an exception to the building codes for artistic projects.
Of course, there will need to be safeguards against abuse. No one wants to see sleazy builders putting up unsafe, substandard structures. I propose that the city create an alternative path to compliance for creative projects in art and architecture, in which building officials will approve structures on a case-by-case basis, by assessing them on their merits, rather than on whether they conform to the rigid conventions of the International Building Code.
Imagine the effect! If you are an artist or architect in San Antonio or Sri Lanka with a great, crazy idea, and you heard that, in Houston, projects like yours were welcomed as part of the city’s freewheeling culture, where would you go?” [Glasstire] Photo of Inversion by Havel Ruck Projects: The Decay of Lying
The letters are down at the Cabo Grill in the West U Shopping Center (the one with the Kroger and all the oaks) on Buffalo Speedway between Westpark and Bissonnet. This Cabo Grill — not to be confused with the also shuttered Cabo Mix-Mex Grill known best for its former location at the corner of Travis and Prairie Downtown (now home to El Big Bad) — was formerly named Fish City Grill. A reader tells Swamplot that a sign posted on the front door of the shopping center slot at 5172 Buffalo Speedway says that the locks have been changed as a result of a payment failure. The place appears vacant.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
Fish City to Cabo to Empty
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
That’s Cebra with a ‘C,’ and other urban re-striping efforts.
- Randall Davis Explains How His Arábella Condo Tower Is Meant To Channel New York [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Toll Brothers Now Selling Homes in New ‘Cane Island’ Development West of Katy Mills Mall [Houston Chronicle]
- Kroger-Anchored Woodshore Marketplace Now Under Construction Near Lake Jackson [Prime Property]
- Wine and Record Store Combo Vino & Vinyl Set To Open on Hwy. 6 in Missouri City Early This Summer [Eater Houston]
- Insurance Assessors Still Deciding Fate of Wunsche Bros. Café After Fire; Nearby Businesses Affected [Houston Chronicle]
- Eastern Chunk of Downtown Near Minute Maid Park ‘Ready to Explode,’ Claims Jackson Street BBQ’s Bill Floyd [Houston Chronicle]
- Bernadine’s, Hunky Dory, and Foreign Correspondents All Opening in the Heights by June [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- CityCentre’s Walkability by the Numbers [Urban Land Magazine]
- Emergency Crews Work To Clean Up Sulfuric Acid Leak at Abandoned Storage Facility on Texas City Wye [Galveston County Daily News]
- Newly Proposed Oyster Fishing Regulation Aims To Restore Texas Coast Oyster Habitat [Houston Public Media]
- Hilcorp Billionaires Mindy and Jeff Hildebrand Pledge $10M to the Houston Parks Board for Bayou Greenways 2020 Project [Culturemap]
- How Houston is Becoming the New Hub for Indian-American Community in Texas [The Economic Times]
- Touring Downtown Houston by Segway [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Downtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
FOOD TRUCK GOING FOOD COURT 
Next venue for the 2-truck Chinese-food-about-town hotspot known as the Rice Box? A non-mobile location in the food court at 5 E. Greenway Plaza, Alison Cook reports: “[Owner John] Peterson has signed on Jim Herd’s Collaborative Projects to design a Rice Box Greenway prototype that will set it apart from its more conventional neighbors. Under a crimson sea of 80 Chinese lanterns (one of the visual totems on the original Rice Box truck), informal barstool seating will range across a counter overlooking oscillating video panels and a custom tea bar. The menu will appear on its own video screen. Red roof tiles from China have been ordered to construct an awning over the counter. ‘It’s one step closer to the White Dragon Noodle Bar,‘ jokes Peterson, referring to the Blade Runner food stand that was his visual inspiration for the Rice Box truck. (All he and Herd need to do is rig some kind of periodic rain showers.)” [Food Chronicles] Photo: The Rice Box
Until neighboring homes now under construction weigh in, the largest home — by just a couple sq. ft. — on its Museum District block in Jandor Gardens is a custom 2006 contemporary by Stern & Bucek. The home stacks up on one side of a wide, slightly terraced, slightly dog-legged lot. The property avoids pesky back neighbors entirely — the lawn, landscaping, and pristine pool extend to the street behind. Earlier this week, the listing appeared on the market with a $3.95 million price tag.
Back Stretch
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE MORNING RITUAL 
“. . . They subject themselves to the wait. They have to sit in their cars, inching forward, seething with rage at the a-hole in front for being slow, cursing the a-hole behind for being impatient, wasting precious minutes of finite existence, instead of sipping a cup of joe in tranquil splendor with the morning digital paper at the kitchen table.
I understand the desire for convenience. I don’t understand how morning rush hour Starbucks can be seen as anything but torture.” [Memebag, commenting on Hedwig Village’s New Freeway-Side Starbucks Drive-Thru Is Coming To Save Your Missed Exit] Illustration: Lulu
For Arbor Day, the Uptown Houston District is showing off the 800 live oaks earmarked for Post Oak Blvd. now being trained in Tomball for a life on the streets. The tree reboxers and transplanters at Environmental Design are breeding the trees on the company’s Tomball campus at 23544 Coons Rd.
Live Oaks Training for New Post
The white woodframe church that until recently stood with a collection of small buildings including the Barker General Store on the main, retracted campus of the Marks LH7 Ranch at 1010 Barker Clodine Rd. has been spotted nearby, fleeing encroaching apartment development along the far east end of Kingsland Blvd. at the northwest corner of George Bush Park. The church hasn’t traveled far: It’s arrived on the grounds of the neighboring Iglesia Sobre La Roca, aka Church on the Rock, at 433 S. Barker Cypress Rd. in Katy — just a quarter-mile to the north.
Here’s a photo of the church building as it was picked up from its previous home at 1010 Barker Clodine Rd., beyond the street-facing plaque that explains the remains of Houston’s last ranch:
Last Roundup at Houston’s Last Ranch
