We must fight back against these brutal older dwellings.
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- 17-Story Memorial Hermann Hospital Coming to Texas Medical Center Campus in $533M Expansion [Realty News Report]
- Construction of 205-Room Embassy Suites Hotel Begins at Hughes Landing in The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Multi-Use Development Planned for 40-Acre Stretch Along Hwy. 288 Next to Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland [Houston Business Journal]
- Ashby Highrise Developers Planning WoodLofts Midrise on 5.2 Acres at I-45 North and David J. Vetter Blvd. in Shenandoah [Houston Business Journal]
- City Acre Brewpub Along Eastex Fwy. South of Parker Now Permitted for Construction [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- Radio Milano and Adjoining Bar Milano Set To Open October 24 in Former Bistro Alex Space at CityCentre [Food Chronicles]
- Pappas Restaurants Opening New Concept Pappas Meat Co. at 12010 East Fwy. on October 23 [Food Chronicles]
- Onaga Pan Asian Bistro at Alabama Theater Shopping Center Closes, To Be Replaced by Maiko Bar & Bistro [Houston Business Journal]
- ‘Healthy’ Eateries Local Foods, True Food Kitchen, and Ruggles Black Gaining Traction in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- TxDOT, Clear Channel Battle Over Condemned I-10 Billboards Awaits Ruling from Texas Supreme Court [Texas Tribune]
- $1.6B Civil Trial Over Abandoned Waste Pits That Leaked into the San Jacinto River Now Underway [Houston Chronicle]
- The Origins and Recent Rebirth of the Revolving Restaurant [Gizmodo]
Photo of the San Jacinto Monument: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Dog friendly? Maybe. But cats, the listing says, are a deal-breaker for leasing this 2005 patio home in a quad-plex located one street south of the Garden Oaks section between Ella Blvd. and N. Shepherd Dr. Like a quick swipe of lipstick to attract notice, a reddish zipline tops the front porch and extends around the home’s mid-section. Lawn maintenance is included in the home’s $2,850 monthly rate. So are the baby gates, kiddie locks, and a fair amount of wainscot:
Red-Lined
REPORTS: BOCONCEPT ON WESTHEIMER WILL BE CLOSING DOWN SOON 
Multiple sources tell Swamplot that the 13,525-sq.-ft. lot at the northwest corner of Westheimer Rd. and Mid Ln. that’s currently home to the BoConcept furniture store is in the process of being sold, and that the store will shut down in a few weeks. The 9,513-sq.-ft. building at 4302 Westheimer Rd., just west of the Highland Village Shopping Center, was built in 2003 as Surprises. Photo: BoConcept
- 7440 Denison St. [HAR]
Here’s a cutaway view looking into what’s being called the final design of the new Downtown campus for Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Escalating construction costs have spurred HISD to accelerate the 2012 bond program that’s paying for the new HSPVA campus along with rebuilding programs at approximately 40 schools. So construction on the 5-story, 168,000-sq.-ft. building designed by the Houston office of Gensler is expected to begin within a few weeks, and end shortly after the 2017 school year begins.
Show and Tell
ANOTHER IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SITE IN HOUSTON THAT DESERVES RECOGNITION 
The account may be a tad more florid, but Harbeer Sandhu’s satirical tale of an inmate-turned-entrepreneur’s plan to create a Houston museum dedicated to the private prison industry is only slightly more bizarre than the true story behind the birth of the Corrections Corporation of America, the world’s largest for-profit prison operator, in the still-operating Olympic Motel at 5714 Werner St. (less than a half-mile down I-45 from Gallery Furniture). Fences, barbed wire, and iron bars went up on the former hot-sheet motel in early 1984 to create the world’s first for-profit private prison, a detention center for 87 undocumented immigrants. Much has changed in the private prison industry since those humble feeder-road beginnings, where several detainees were able to escape by dislodging the air-conditioning units and climbing out through the holes. [Free Press Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photos: Harbeer Sandhu
For what it’s worth: Good, strong lots are the backbone of a healthy society.
- Mental Health Facility Westpark Springs Hospital Now Open at 6902 South Peek in Richmond [Houston Chronicle]
- 6-Level Ascension on the Bayou Apartment Complex Going Up on Beltway 1 Mile South of CityCentre [Houston Business Journal]
- Waterfront Apartments Going Up on Site of Former Bayou Shores Apartment Complex on English Bayou [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Bistro Menil Mounts 2 Decorative ‘Sound Clouds’ on Walls in Attempt To Mute Extremely Loud Dining Room [Culturemap]
- Hermann Park To Preview $31M Centennial Gardens This Week Ahead of December Opening [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Artist-Designed Benches Along Woodlands Waterway Unveiled [The Courier of Montgomery County]
- Should Conservatives Love the Suburbs or Hate Them? [Houston Chronicle]
- New $215M, 350,000-SF Indoor Ski Resort and Hard Rock Hotel Opening in Grand Prairie [Dallas Business Journal]
- West Texas Intermediate Oil Prices Have Dropped More Than 21% from June Peak, Threatening the Drilling Boom That’s Been Boosting Houston’s Economy [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Someburger at 745 E. 11th St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
An expansive deck with pool for physical therapy (top) links a home and its back-of-lot studio apartment at a Montrose compound, which started October as a $795K listing. Recent updates to the 1922 bungalow (above) included new AC, duct work, and wallboard. The studio space was added in 2012. Located east of Stanford St. near Lovett Blvd., the property is within walking — or rolling — distance of many neighborhood restaurants.
Single Level Living
- 1416 Arlington St. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE BEAUTY OF THE FAMILY SEDAN 
“The perceived blandness of modern office buildings has nothing to do with the lack of vision or enthusiasm of developers, it has to do with where the money comes from today. Decades ago there were eccentric millionaires and corporations with money to burn on monuments of their own egos, but these days money only comes from carefully calculated, vetted, reexamined, audited, and risk assessed finance packages. Throw in a healthy dose of anti-wealth and anti-corporate profit sentiment in the US and you have the real estate equivalent of a Toyota Camry — simple, functional, non-offensive, and very forgettable.” [commonsense, commenting on New Spec Office Building on Montrose Blvd. Will Sit Atop Southwest Fwy. Wall Vines] Illustration: Lulu
Had you been planning a big farewell meal at Van Loc later this week? Sorry, there’s been a change of plans: The Vietnamese restaurant at 3010 Milam St. in Midtown is now officially closed for good. “There are signs on the doors apologizing for having to close earlier than expected,” a reader tells Swamplot. The reason: So much business in the last few days that they’ve “run out of food” — and order and prep times mean new orders wouldn’t be ready much before the previously planned Friday closing.
Van Loc served its last meals Tuesday night. A sale of the property appears to be imminent.
- Previously on Swamplot: Midtown’s Van Loc Will Lock Up for Good This Friday; Midtown Vietnamese Restaurant Van Loc Says It’s Closing Up Shop
Photos: Allyn West/OffCite (front); Swamplot inbox (sign)
The Pho Has Flown
The denuded 18-story frame of the former Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk St. (pictured above before storms blew away much of its blue clothing early last week) will vibrate and then collapse after 520 lbs. of explosives detonate in and around the structure shortly after 7 am this Sunday, October 19th. If you’re a controlled-demolition gawker hunting for a spot to watch it all go down — and maybe take in all the dusty aftermath, you might want to note that streets will be shut down more than 2 blocks away in every direction before the blast. Although many nearby office buildings will close up late Saturday evening, they may not kick out all workers who have arrived earlier. “Project managers discourage anyone from coming down to see the implosion in person for safety reasons,” notes Click2Houston’s Syan Rhodes. Her station is promising to broadcast a livestream of the implosion on its website that morning.
- Former Houston Club building to be demolished [Click2Houston];
- Previously on Swamplot: The Clubbing of the Houston Club Building Begins; Skanska’s New Downtown Office Tower; Houston Club Tunnel Tenants Making Their Escape; Houston Club Building To Be Demolished, Say Auctioneers; Downtown Houston Club Building Will Stay Put; Skanska Goes for a Houston Office Building Hat Trick; Skanska Helping Houston Club to Early Exit; Will Skanska Knock Down the Houston Club?; At Risk on Rusk
Photo: Marc Longoria
Ka-Blooey
