- 21603 Harbor Water Dr. [HAR]
Sign up for the Newsletter
A group of 7 residents of the Renoir and Gotham Lofts, 2 separately themed Randall Davis condo towers north of the Shepherd Curve just south of W. Dallas St., filed a lawsuit early last week against the company planning to build a senior living facility between the 2 buildings. Bridgewood Property Company’s Village on Shepherd at River Oaks (also called the Village at River Oaks in company documents) will fit on the site of the former RR Donnelley printing company building at 1015 S. Shepherd, which was torn down this week. (The photos above and below, taken from the Gotham yesterday, show what’s left of that building, against the Renoir’s undressed southern flank.)
RR Donnelley Site
OFF-MENU SPECIAL AT GEORGES BISTRO ON WESTHEIMER: THE WHOLE SHEBANG 
Georges Bistro co-owner Monique Guy tells Eater Houston’s Jakeisha Wilmore that the French restaurant in the space formerly occupied by whole-hog-HQ Feast — and before that by Guy’s Chez Georges — is not on the verge of closing. Who could be spreading rumors to the contrary? Well, there is that online listing for the 3,114-sq.-ft. converted foursquare that houses the property at 219 Westheimer that went up a few weeks ago, offering the building, the 5,500-sq.-ft. lot, and the restaurant, including all fixtures, furniture, and equipment, for $1.295 million. Guy, who with her husband, Georges, owns the building and operates Georges, tells Wilmore the couple only listed the property “to see what kind of interest it would generate.” She declined to say if they had received any notable offers. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: LoopNet
Don’t fight it, but don’t get swept up into it either. Just stand back and let somebody else take care of it.
- The Woodlands’ First Whole Foods Market, in Hughes Landing, Opens Today [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Bovine & Barley Set To Open Downtown in April in Former El Centro Space at 416 Main [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
- Harwood Grill Will Take Over Just-Closed 60 Degrees Mastercrafted Space in Upper Kirby Next Month [Culturemap]
- Lincoln Bar + Kitchen Opening in Former Brixx Spot on Washington Ave [Eater Houston]
- Security, Traffic, Impact on Growth Among Concerns Expressed About Mayor’s Plan To Move Justice Complex to Exxon Tower [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Artist Ed Wilson Re-Awarded GRB Commission That Houston Arts Alliance Withdrew Last Year [Glasstire]
- Months-Long Beach Reconstruction Project at West End of the Seawall Could Be Completed By Sunday [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- With Nudge from Joel Kotkin, British Magazine Declares Sprawl ‘Perhaps Houston’s Biggest Strength’Â [The Economist]
- Sunday Streets, Now Under Corporate Sponsorship, Will Kick Off Again on March 29 on Lower Westheimer [Houston Public Media]
Photo of Sugar Land Town Square: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Was this stone-studded home in Walnut Bend one of the 30 or so properties featured in the 1960 Parade of Homes? The pebbly property’s price tag has stuck to $389K since its listing in January — with or without that pedigree. Located midblock on an interior street east of Wilcrest Dr., the domicile lands midway between Briar Forest Dr. and Westheimer Rd. The home’s exterior layers on the (mostly) non-original textures, particularly in the terracing of its courtyard entry . . .
Stone Aged
Can a Mod in Piney Point Estates eke out a new life, or is there a dozer in its future? And if it’s getting torn down, will 1 or 2 homes rise on the lot? This nearly intact 1960 home on 1.37 acres could go either way, its listing, posted yesterday, says. Priced at $999K, the slightly shaggy property has had some recent updates, such as a new roof and zoned HVAC. It’s located east of Gessner Rd. and north of Westheimer Rd.
Ground Cover
A reader wants to know what, if anything, is happening to the run-down apartment complex at 1201 Wilcrest Dr. just north of Briar Forest Dr. and across the street from the Westside Tennis & Fitness Club: “Some renovation work began many months ago, including new windows and the start of a roof. Unfortunately, the roof was never completed, windows have been boarded up, and now the whole place looks abandoned.” The complex is called the Oaks of Brittany.
Boarded Up
HISD says it’s completed the purchase of land on Scott St., just north of the Gulf Fwy. between Coyle St. and Pease, for its new High School for Law and Justice, pictured above in a rendering from the DLR Group and Page, the building’s architects. HISD jettisoned the criminal enforcement elements of the school’s name last year; it was formerly known as the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. The site is near the southern edge of East Downtown, adjacent to the Leeland station of the about-to-open Purple light-rail line.
Notable features of the new 104,866-sq.-ft. building include a courtroom and law library, special spaces for both ROTC and visual arts programs, a gym, and a black box theater. The facility also appears to be designed for easy surveillance: “From the ground floor, transparent walls will allow visibility into labs on the second level for a crime scene area, fire science and a 911 training call center,” an HISD account notes. And that’s just how principal Carol Mosteit wants it: “I love the idea of having all this transparency and glass because we’ll be able to see the learning that’s taking place throughout the building,†she told an HISD blogger. “The way traditional schools are set up, it’s almost like an interruption when you open up a classroom door. We won’t have to worry about that with a 21st century building design.â€
They’ll Be Watching
- February Single-Family Home Sales Down 5.8% from Last Year, Finds HAR [Realty News Report]
- After Demolition of Northern End Zone, Athletic Director Says New Project To ‘Restore’ Rice Stadium Should Be Announced By End of Year [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- YMCA of Greater Houston Buys Land in the Katy Main Street Development for Second Katy Location [Prime Property]
- Gupta Partners Selects Moody Rambin To Lease and Manage 6 Houston Office Buildings Totaling 600K SF [Prime Property]
- Just Falafel To Open Downtown This Spring at 500 Dallas within One Allen Center [Eater Houston]
- Conroe Legislator’s Bill Would Require Every County or City in Path of High-Speed Rail To Vote on Proposal [HBJ]
- Federal Judge Allows Houston, San Antonio Taxi Companies To Continue Fight Against Uber, Lyft [Houston Chronicle]
- Neighbors Say As Many As 15 Squatters Have Taken Over Home in Oyster Creek Country Subdivision in Fort Bend County [Click2Houston]
- Post Oak Blvd. Retailer, Restaurateur, Leasing Broker Claim Planned Dedicated Bus Lane Will Result in Lower Sales, Closing of Businesses [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Filmmakers Behind Astrodome Documentary Waiting for Final Act Before Finishing Film [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Astrodome’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Tennis Match Between Bobby Riggs, Billie Jean King To Become an HBO Film [Houston Chronicle]
- Freedom Rider Recounts Arrest After Sitting at Whites-Only Counter at Coffee Shop in Houston’s Union Station in 1961 [Houston Chronicle]
- Why Are the Dining Options in the Texas Medical Center So Unhealthy? [Houstonia]
Photo of Heights Hike and Bike Trail: El Kento via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
- 23 Legato Way [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE SIGHTS ON AND OFF THE MEMORIAL DR. STRIP 
“. . . The whole thing of having this parkside expressway that drops to 35 and morphs into a suburban strip for all of 1/4 mile before resuming high-aesthetics high-speed is wonderfully convenient. Your last chance gas, your breakfast tacos and kolaches, your late-night eats . . . it’s all right there, no mucking about with U-turns or feeder roads required.
And no, this stripmall won’t be a huge visual contribution . . . but who cares? The views just 100 yards to the south are about as aesthetically pleasing as one can find in our fair city, and after all, isn’t that what matters? So much discussion of the urban form boils down to complaining about what we see from our car windows. But if the view from home and office is nice, isn’t that really what matters?” [Purple City, commenting on How a Stretch of the Memorial Dr. Strip Earned Its Newest Strip Center] Illustration: Lulu
A reader tells Swamplot that he thinks recent news coverage of population projections from the state demographer up until the year 2050 have missed the big story: The dramatic projected growth of the over 60 population in Harris County. Between 2010 and 2050, it’s expected to more than triple, from around 500,000 at the turn of the decade to about 1.5 million in 35 years.
To illustrate, RobertinHeights sends in the chart above, showing how increases in the older age segment will dominate others in the coming decades. “By 2040 we will have an over 60 population in Harris County that is larger than the total current population of Dallas,” he writes. “Go long property by the Medical Center.”
- 2014 Population Projections by Migration Scenario for Texas [Texas State Data Center]
Chart: RobertinHeights
Demographic Graphics
Real estate agent Robert Searcy sends in make-’em-look-pretty pics of a few of the small Modern office buildings to be found along Bellfort St. between Telephone Rd. and Broadway in Glenbrook Valley. The buildings were built in the 1960s, many of them to serve doctors connected to the former Southeast Memorial Hospital on the northwest corner of Bellfort St. and Glenloch. (Later operated by Riverside General Hospital as its Edith Irby Jones Campus, the structure was torn down a few years ago after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ike.)
Pictured above: The Bellfort Women’s Care Clinic at 7620 Bellfort, formerly the office of Dr. Hans Altinger, who also lived in Glenbrook Valley. Next on the tour:
Some of the Doctors Are In
