Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
If they get up after this, smash them a few more times.
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- 673-Acre Moran Ranch on I-45 Near Willis Put Up for Sale [Prime Property]
- Amount of Office Space Under Construction in Houston Has Increased by More Than Half in Last 12 Months [Houston Business Journal]
- Land in Uptown, The Woodlands, the Medical Center and Downtown Has Seen Some of the Strongest Price Increases [Houston Chronicle]
- The Top 25 Most Expensive Neighborhoods To Buy a House in Houston, According to HAR [Houston Business Journal]
- El Pollo Loco Opens First of 5 Initial Houston Locations Today in Sugar Land at 4528 Texas 6 [Houston Chronicle]
- Frenchy’s Chicken Opening New Location, at Intersection of Atascocita Rd., Mesa Blvd,. and Old Humble Rd., This Month [HKA Texas]
- Randy Evans To Consult on H-E-B’s First In-House Restaurant in Houston, in New Store at San Felipe and Fountain View [Food Chronicles]
- Mexican Food Franchise Taqueria Arandas To Open First Non-Franchised Houston Restaurant [Houston Business Journal]
- Coppa Ristorante Italiano on Washington Ave Closed Until Further Notice After ‘Building Maintenance Issue’ [Food Chronicles]
- Facundo Café in the Dr Gleem Car Wash at 3103 Ella Blvd. Has Closed [The Leader]
- Briarmeadow Residents Fed Up with Fish & The Knife Restaurant Patrons Parking in Their Neighborhood [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Needs a Swimming Hole Team Looking for 10-Plus Acre Tract in Central Houston To Build a Natural Pool [Houston Chronicle]
- Long-Awaited Civil Trial Over Abandoned Waste Pits That Leaked into the San Jacinto River Begins This Week [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston’s New ‘Open Data Policy’ Mandates All Future City Technology Contracts Allow for Free Release of Records [Houston Chronicle]
- Havel Ruck Projects’ Honeycomb-Like Structure of Shiplap Wall Parts Extracted from Condemned Bungalows [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
The Stone Age mashes with Mid-Century Modern in Friendswood, where an updated 1961 stunner designed by architect M. Bliss Alexander accents its crisp and clean lines with 12 tons of rock from Wimberly. Listed a week ago with a $1.19 million asking price, the home last sold in 2007, for $585K. It sits on 1.3 acres in the Perry Grove neighborhood, located southwest of Friendswood Dr. and W. Spreading Oaks Ave.
Playing It Safe
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: WHAT IF THEY HAD KEPT HOUSTON HOUSTON BACK THEN, TOO? 
“I hate watching this complacency about Houston’s problems. Yeah, we’re not like Boston or San Jose, and in some ways that’s good, but there is a lot we can do to get better without losing some sort of the mystical ‘Houstonness’ that makes us special.
To those marveling at how great and ‘vibrant’ Houston’s flaws are, would you like to go back to 1980 when billboards were three times more crowded along our freeways? Would you like to rip out all the trees that have been planted along those same freeways? Would you like to remove the historic restrictions in the Heights and Sixth Ward and watch those neighborhoods turn into Rice Military? Do you want to see another giant revolving gas station sign atop a downtown skyscraper? Shall we return Hermann Park to its former scraggly state, or put the sewage back in Buffalo Bayou?
If the answer to these questions is ‘No,’ then you must not be a fan of ‘Keeping Houston Houston,’ because before all that happened, Houston was a lot more ‘Houston’ than it is now. I would argue that the way it is now is a vast improvement, and that we should keep going in that direction.” [Mike, commenting on Comment of the Day: Still Waiting To See How Houston Is Going To Turn Out] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE REAL HOUSTON IS OUTSIDE THOSE TINY URBAN ISLANDS 
“Urban enthusiasts live in a bubble. I don’t care where they are. The reality is that the VAST majority of people like getting in a private air conditioned car, driving to an island of shopping or whatever and finding a parking space closest to where they are going without being bothered by street people. Urban enthusiasts are under the delusion that most people want to walk around in sticky moist air and sit at their desk stinking all day from sweat in order to pretend they live in a city that was built before cars were invented so they can live like the people they envy on t.v.
A dense urban environment in the inner city would be a novelty and I’m all for it. Choices are great. Downtown and Midtown are shaping up nicely. The center of Midtown is going to have a very cool buzz going on with all the new infill. The Match, Superblock, Mid-Main development, etc. East side Downtown is going to be a beast and so will Market Square.
But as cool as it may be to have a tiny, tiny, microscopic sliver of New York in the center of this city, it is totally unnecessary. Our booms have proven that. The VAST majority don’t have a problem with strip malls, blue glass or driving cars to get where they want to go. The VAST majority stay in Houston because they WANT to live in a suburban environment. Jobs? There are jobs in other cities. No one stays in Houston long if they really hate it. You can’t argue with success. Builders keep building things the way they do in Houston because it works.
‘Quality’ is subjective. Some people think Miley Cyrus is quality. But you can’t argue with ‘quantity.’ Houston is fascinating to people (even the haters) because whatever it is, unlike many of those true centers of urbanity on the east and west coast, Houston IS NOT stagnant. Even in slower economic times, things happen in Houston and it is fun watching it grow.” [Blue Dog, commenting on Comment of the Day: Still Waiting To See How Houston Is Going To Turn Out] Illustration: Lulu
LAST EDIBLE PIECE OF THE HANOVER RICE VILLAGE’S RETAIL FOOTPRINT FINALLY OPENS THIS WEEKEND 
It may have taken some time to weld all those custom steel bow windows, but the Cyclone Anaya’s Mexican Kitchen on the east side of the Hanover Rice Village apartment complex between Cloud 10 Creamery and Punk’s Simple Southern Food, is at last ready for its enchilada debut. The restaurant’s official opening is scheduled for this Sunday. The first Cyclone Anaya signs were spotted at the 5214 Morningside Dr. storefront last September. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
It’s taken awhile for the usual spotters of this sort of thing to notice, but Heights French bistro and créperie Salé-Sucré has been locked out of its storefront at 2916 White Oak Dr., between Tacos a Go Go and the Lucky Food Store, since last Tuesday. Philippe and Beline Harel opened the restaurant in the former White Oak Bakery 2 years ago. A letter posted on the door by the landlord, DC Heights LP, claims the restaurant’s operators have failed to pay rent. A lock box now attached to the front door is one sign that no one’s expecting them to return.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
À Plus Tard?
- Three New Tenants Sign Leases at Energy Tower at 11700 Katy Fwy.; 200K SF of Former Technip Space Still Available for Lease [Prime Property]
- Houston Added More Construction Jobs Than Any Other Major Metro in the U.S. in the Past Year, Finds Survey [Houston Business Journal]
- ExxonMobil Leader Says New Suburban Campus ‘Exceeds Highest Standards of Environmental Compliance,’ Now Has 2,200 Workers Onsite [Houston Chronicle]
- Boheme Owner Plans To Open Brewhub Brewheme at 2505 Mason St. in Mid 2015 [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- First of New Metro Light Rail Cars Passes Initial Testing [The Highwayman]
- I-45 To Be Shut Down in Both Directions from Woodlands Pkwy. to Highway 242 This Weekend [Click2Houston]
- ‘Hidden History’ Website Overlays State Current Aerial View of Houston with Historic 1900 Map [Houston Chronicle]
- The 11 Houston Buildings That Have Earned the State Antiquities Landmark Designation [Houston Press]
- Communities Like Brownsville That Are Outside the Major Metropolitan Areas Help Keep Texas Booming [Site Selection]
Photo of I-10: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
By day and by night, a swish penthouse in the 1982 Four Seasons tower downtown ensures a panoramic view from rooms throughout the open floor plan. Understated, light-filled, and seamlessly sleek in its 2006 design by notable Houston architect Bill Stern, who died last year, the luxury condo maxes out minimalism. In mid-September, after its owners left town, the highrise home’s asking price dropped to $3.85 million; its initial ask in April was $4.6 million.
The Lookout
Cutouts, diagonals, and other woodworking flourishes on the inside bring a contemporary zip to this stone-faced 2002 custom home located on an island within Lake Conroe’s Bentwater. The waterfront property landed on to the market last weekend with a $1.875 million asking price. The gleaming tawny trim sets up a mod nautical vibe:
Shipshape
- 719 Eleanor St. [HAR]
If you’re wondering, like the person who took this photo earlier today, what the story is behind the smoke seen here coming out of the top of the new Karbach Brewing Co. building under construction at the corner of Karbach St. and Dacoma St., just west of Mangum Rd., there’s no need to worry: A small fire at the the construction site was put out quickly a short while ago with minimal damage, according to a company rep.
Karbach was rated last year as one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in the U.S. The new 2-story, 19,000-sq.-ft. brewery building adjacent to its existing facility was designed by Three Square Design Group, and will include a public tap room and kitchen, along with a special-event space upstairs.
- Karbach Brewing Co. to break ground on major expansion [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: Karbach Brews Houston’s Newest Beer Can Warehouse
Photo: Swamplot inbox
Your Beer Is Safe
Residents of the Mimosa Lane Apartments at 2415 Mimosa Dr. (at top) and the Argonne Forest Apartments at 2115 Argonne St. (pictured above) will need to find new places to live before the end of November. An eviction notice reports that the buildings will be demolished and the property redeveloped after that date. Though the notice doesn’t describe any new development, a source tells Swamplot that townhomes are planned.
The two 2-story apartment complexes sit next to each other on a little more than an acre of land on a corner directly east of the Huntingdon condo tower, just past the eastern border of River Oaks. The Mimosa Lane apartments have 32 units and the Argonne Forest 14, according to county tax records. They were built between 1954 and 1960.
Mimosa Lane and Argonne Forest
