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2190 Pine Dr., Lake Forest Falls, Conroe, Texas

2190 Pine Dr. [HAR]

77304, Bathrooms, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors

Splashing Down Behind the Wall of a Split-Lot Property in Westhaven Estates

6 Comments

6005-inwood-unit-A-02

6005-inwood-unit-A-01

The frontrunner on a split lot with a shared driveway, this 2002 contemporary in the Westhaven Estates area captures space for a splash zone courtyard. Sculpted landscaping and decorative panels soften the curbside appearance of the sturdy wall erected near the sidewalk on Inwood Dr., south of San Felipe Rd. between Nantucket and Potomac drives. The front property’s relisting by a new agent this week set a $1.139 million asking price. Back in February, a previous market appearance had begun with a $1.195 million price tag. A reduction in April, to $1.145 million, briefly snagged a contract in June before the property took off for the summer.

Front and Center

77057, Home Decor, Home Design, Home Staging, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Open Houses, Price Reductions, Swimming Pools, Westhaven Estates

Apartments

09/12/14 12:45pm

A Few Months After Completing Demolition of 3400 Montrose, Construction Crews Begin Building 3400 Montrose

19 Comments

3400-montrose-const-fence

3400-montrose-digging Construction appears to have begun on the site at 3400 Montrose Blvd., where a 30-story apartment towerÂ by Hanover named 3400 Montrose will replace the 10-story 1953 office building formerly on the site. That building was named 3400 Montrose as well, but was also also referred to as “That building with the Skybar on the top floor,” or (later in its life) “Don’t walk along that sidewalk or you might get hit on the head by a limestone panel.” Demolition was completed this past spring. A reader sends Swamplot these views of the corner of Montrose and Hawthorne, where a wooden construction fence has recently gone up.

Previously on Swamplot:Â The Art of Disappearance at 3400 Montrose;Â Demolition of 3400 Montrose Building Reaches the Skybar Removal Phase;Â A Deck Pool, but No â€˜Skybar,â€™ for the new 3400 Montrose;Â New 30-Story 3400 Montrose Tower Will Face Kroger, Show Montrose Blvd. Its Garage and Drive-Thru;Â Apartment Developer Buying Montrose Blvd. â€˜Skybarâ€™ Building;Â What 3400 Montrose Looks Like Inside;Â Redo Plans for the Office Building at 3400 Montrose Blvd.;Â Will 3400 Montrose Rise from the Dead?;Â Stone Panel Leaps to Montrose Blvd. Sidewalk from Former Skybar Balcony;Â Everybody Out: The Ghost Town at 3400 Montrose;Â Comment of the Day: A 3400 Montrose Blvd. Inspection Report;Â Why Scott Gertnerâ€™s Skybar Is Leaving the Montrose Sky;Â Scott Gertnerâ€™s Skybar Closing, May Take the Whole Building with It

Photos:Â Swamplot inbox

3400 Montrose

77006, Apartments, Highrises, Montrose, New Construction

Construction Materials

09/12/14 11:00am

What Happens When You Stuccoat a Brick Shopping Center in Copperfield

17 Comments

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STUCCOAT A BRICK SHOPPING CENTER IN COPPERFIELD Before and After Renovation Views of Easton Commons Shopping Center, Northeast Corner of Hwy. 6 and West Rd., Copperfield, Houston It’s not exactly a stucco jacket — a marketing brochure for the redone Easton Commons Shopping Center at the intersection of Hwy. 6 and West Rd. in Copperfield indicates the new coating and foam cornice (pictured at top) on top of the old brick structures (pictured at bottom) are actually Dryvit, a brand of EIFS, or a way to get that stucco look without all the layers and labor. (It’s Oyster Shell #456 above and Monastery Brown #381 below, plus Lantana Cobble Texas Stone on the columns, if you’re keeping score at home.) But Real Estate Bisnow’s Catie Dixon says the new brick-hiding exercise for the shopping center is “paying off” for its landlord: “in the five months since beginning renovations at Easton Commons, NewQuestâ€™s Josh Friedlander and team have brought on eight new tenants totaling nearly 33k SF.” Among the newcomers drawn to all that relieving smoothness: Pet Club, UFC Gym, Beauty Empire, West Oaks Music Studio, and FJ Liquor. NewQuest Epic Investments will be building up a few freestanding buildings in the center facing Hwy. 6, Dixon reports, to make room for a new Smashburger, Verts Kebap, and a third unnamed restaurant, possibly (the brochure indicates) a Corner Bakery. [Real Estate Bisnow; brochure (PDF)] Photos: Catie Dixon (after); LoopNet (before)

77095, Construction Materials, Copperfield, Leasing, Real Estate Marketing, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers

Uncategorized

09/12/14 9:15am

Daily Demolition Report: Casts Away

8 Comments

5 Briarwood Ct., River Oaks, Houston

What use is keeping it around if you’re not really going to love it?

Headlines

09/12/14 8:30am

The Transformation of the Southwestern Heights; Dreaming Up a Walkable Energy Corridor

by Meredith Deliso

12 Comments

buffalo bayou

In Once Heavily Industrial Area of Southwestern Heights, Apartment Complexes and Homes Are Replacing Warehouses [Houston Chronicle]
CBRE Acquires The Plantation at The Woodlands Apartment Complex [Houston Business Journal]
The ‘Senior-Friendly Amenities’ of 55-Plus Community Bonterra at Woodforest North of The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal]
Charles Bishop of Cottonwood, Liberty Station and Chef Lyle Bento Opening Southern Goods, Somewhere in the Heights, by January [Food Chronicles]
Moving Northbound Gulf Fwy. to Hwy. 59 Traffic to Current Downtown-Only Elevated Ramp Will Cost $28.4M, According to BidsÂ [The Highwayman]
Clark Martinson’s Ambitious Vision for a Walkable Energy Corridor, from Expanding the Trail Network to an Air-Conditioned BridgeÂ [OffCite]
Huge Sink Hole Discovered Near MKT Trail Portion of the White Oak Bayou Trails During Improvement Project [The Leader]
Six Years After Ike, Is Galveston County Ready for the Next Big Storm? [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
How The New York Times Covered the 1900 Galveston Hurricane [Houston Press]
Is Houston the New ‘It’ City? [Conde Nast Traveler]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines

Energy Corridor

09/11/14 3:15pm

This $1.3 Million Lakeside Venture Home May Look a Bit French-ified, But It’s Filled with Ranch Dressing

7 Comments

1222-Heathwood-01

1222-Heathwood-16

This Energy Corridor area home may present Frenchier lines to its neighbors, but there’s some whoopin’ country-style living hidden inside. Located in the Lakeside Venture neighborhood — west of S. Kirkwood Rd. and north of Briar Forest Dr. — the property’s large-but-narrow lot is just over an acre and shaped a bit like a boomerang, with one tip near the street. In its relisting earlier this week, the 1979 home’s asking price took another tack: $1.295 million.Â A previous listing by the same agent in July 2014 had begun at $1.695 million but dropped the asking price a month later to $1.475 million.

Le Country Interiors

77077, Energy-Corridor, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Lakeside Venture, Swimming Pools

Home Decor

09/11/14 1:30pm

Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Spray and Hold

9 Comments

Interior, 9760 Westview Dr., Spring Branch Woods, Houston

9760 Westview Dr. [HAR]

77055, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Spring Branch Woods, Spring-Branch

Downtown

09/11/14 12:30pm

With Actors and Company Gone, the Alley Theatre Catches Fire

9 Comments

WITH ACTORS AND COMPANY GONE, THE ALLEY THEATRE CATCHES FIRE Fire at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., Downtown Houston Fire broke out late this morning at the Alley Theatre at 615 Texas Ave. fronting Jones Plaza downtown. The acting ensemble is performing at UH this season, to allow workers to complete a $46.5 million renovation of the brutalistÂ concrete building and its parking-lot-tower appendages. Fire department officials are reporting that construction workers spotted smoke streaming from the building’s duct work, apparently from an electrical fire.Â Shortly before the fire started, construction photos of the roof being opened up above the main theater space were posted to the organization’s Facebook page [Click2Houston; Alley Theatre] Photo: Emma Q

77002, Downtown, Fires, Theaters

Landry’s Is Cooking Up a 30-Story Hotel and Conference Center for the West Loop

3 Comments

Proposed Development at 1600 West Loop, Galleria, Houston

Proposed Development at 1600 West Loop, Galleria, Houston Landry’s is planning a multi-use development including a 30-story hotel, a parking garage, and a conference center for a site adjacent to the restaurant and entertainment company’s headquarters on the Loop 610 feeder road in the Galleria area. The proposed address for the new structures is 1600 West Loop, but the tower, conference center, and garage would be tucked back from the freeway toward Hollyhurst St., according to a site plan (above, tilted clockwise 90 degrees) submitted to the city. Along with it, the developers have submitted a variance application asking for a reduced setback for the development along Hollyhurst.

1600 West Loop

77027, Galleria, Hotels, Landry's, Mixed-Use, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Daily Demolition Report

09/11/14 9:15am

Daily Demolition Report: Maryland Clubbing

4 Comments

2410 Avalon Pl., Avalon Place, Houston

Where good friends gather and destroy.

Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions

Headlines

09/11/14 8:30am

The Most Expensive Listing in Sugar Land; Making Fried Chicken in a Heights Crawfish Spot

by Meredith Deliso

7 Comments

micro-pavilion-hermann-park

Houston Home Sales Up 1.1% This August over Last with 7,505 Sold, Finds HAR Report [Prime Property]
Galveston Housing Authority Breaks Ground on Public Housing That Replaces Homes Lost During Ike [Click2Houston]
Colorado-Based Century Communities Acquires Houston Homebuilder Grand View Builders for About $14M [Prime Property]
Slideshow: This Venetian-Style Home Listed at $12.8M Is Sugar Landâ€™s Most Expensive ListingÂ [Prime Property]
HISD Documents Show How Houstonâ€™s 1929 Original Phillis Wheatley High School Ended Up Slated for Demolition [Houston Advocate]
H-Town StrEATs Team Opening The Bird House in the Same Heights Space as Seasonal Crawfish Restaurant Boil House [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
Torchyâ€™s Tacos Opening Fifth Houston-Area Location on Sept. 18 in Vintage Park [The Spring Observer]
Houston Getting $10M from Feds To Upgrade Its Transportation Monitoring System [The Highwayman]
City Council Approves Water Conservation Plan Requiring Residents To Reduce Usage By About 1 Gallon per Day by 2019 [abc13]
Work More Than Halfway Complete on Buffalo Bayou Dog Park; Will Include Bayou-Water Dog Wash FacilitiesÂ [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Why the People in Charge of Transit Systems Should Be Required To Ride Transit ThemselvesÂ [The Atlantic CityLab]

Photo of Rice Building Workshop’s “Micro Pavilion: Convergence” in Hermann Park: Swamplot inbox

Headlines

Buildings for Sale

09/10/14 5:00pm

This Concrete Building from 1946 Is Still Hanging Around an East Downtown Corner

16 Comments

2102-leeland-02

Were it nighttime and the glass a bit more seamless, this mod industrial storefront might work as a stand-in for the scene of Edward Hopper’s iconic Nighthawks. The contoured corner hugs the corner of Leeland and St. Emanuel St.,Â a block past the Eastex Fwy. overpass and the eastern border of Downtown.Â The building’sÂ 4,250 sq. ft.Â footprint sits on a 5,000-sq.-ft. corner lot in a warehouse-y district within eyeshot of the Toyota Center.Â It was listed on the MLS for $600K last summer, but has stayed on the market through various relistings since October 2013 for a bit more:Â $650K.