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09/14/18 8:30am

Pressing Pause on the Fairview District in Montrose; Tallying Up Houston Ave Bridge Collisions

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Photo of the Southwest Fwy.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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Featured Posts
09/13/18 4:00pm

Hwy. 6’s Chamberlin Ace Hardware Is a Goner

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The second Ace Hardware liquidation of the week will leave behind a slightly larger hole than the one on Westheimer: 19,930 sq.-ft. as opposed to 18,900. Pictured above is the retail co-op’s Hwy. 6 location in the Providence Plaza shopping center off Bissonnet. Management’s selling off everything it’s got left there now, reports a Swamplot reader. And the post office inside the store has already shut down for good.

Before a few years ago, the storefront entrance looked like a smaller version of Dollar Tree’s next door:

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Retooling
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Demolitions
09/13/18 1:00pm

A Final Farewell to the Former Houston Press Building

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A FINAL FAREWELL TO THE FORMER HOUSTON PRESS BUILDING The former alternative newspaper HQ at 1621 Milam St. that’s also done stints as an auto dealership will be demolished, reports the Chronicle’s Craig Hlavaty.  Back when the Houston Press moved into it 15 years ago, the structure’s parking-lot sides were unadorned; artist Suzanne E. Sellers slapped her trompe-l’œil mural onto the north and east facades in 1994. Along Milam, however, things haven’t changed as much since the building’s first tenant Shelor Motor Company opened up in the ’20s — according to former Press staffer Abrahán Garza. Even its original 1920s glass windows — he reported — stayed put on the second and third floors through 2010. Now construction barriers are up around the whole block, and the property owner Chevron tells Hlavaty that a demolition permit is under review by the city. The oil company bought the 38,000-sq.-ft. structure in 2013, the same year Houston Press staff left it for a new spot on the corner of La Branch and McGowen. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Capital Realty  

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Featured Posts
09/13/18 10:45am

Aldi Has Dibs on Soon-to-Close Batie’s Ace Hardware in the Tanglewilde Center

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The mark of Aldi now appears at 9525 Westheimer, smack in the middle of the strip where Batie’s Ace Hardware is going out of business. Liquidation sales began there on Tuesday — reports a Swamplot reader — with the goal of creating an 18,900-sq.-ft. hole in the portion of the building pictured at top, adjacent to Party City.

Currently about half a dozen Aldis are open inside the Beltway, with additional reinforcements scheduled to arrive soon.

Photo: Swamplot inbox. Map: Brixmor

Westheimer Near Gessner
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Headlines
09/13/18 8:30am

Pat Green’s Downtown Venue Sets Opening Date; Accounting for the ‘Harvey Effect’ in August Housing Comparisons

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Photo of the University of Houston-Downtown: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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Featured Posts
09/12/18 4:30pm

The Timbergate House of a Million Tiles Is Now Under Contract

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It’s been just about a week since 4006 Timber Falls Ct. hit the market and already some lucky buyer has the place — along with its many constituent parts — nearly locked up. Pictured above is the double-high living room that sits at the front of the 3-bed, 2-and-a-half bath house, north of Westpark Dr. and west of Addicks Clodine. Despite its already-high level of Gaudí-ness, there’s plenty more where that came from.

Just back up and you’ll start to see the whole picture:

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4006 Timber Falls Ct.
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Apartments
09/12/18 1:00pm

Affordable Housing HQ Planned Across from Affordable Housing on the Edge of Emancipation Park

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Although only one includes living space, both structures shown separated by St. Charles St. in the rendering at top are intended to give people spaces to live. The big one — depicted in more detail above — is Kirksey Architecture’s 5-story design for an affordable housing operations center, to be placed directly across the street from 20 units of actual housing. The Midtown Redevelopment Authority bought the vacant land for both sites along Elgin in 2015, back when the renovation of neighboring Emancipation Park was still taking shape.

On the left in the aerial below, you can see the parcel where the HQ is planned across from the park and its on-site Emancipation Community Center:

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Third Ward
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Featured Posts
09/12/18 9:30am

Former Randalls Strip Section Now Pledging Its Allegiance to El Rancho

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That’s El Rancho’s signage taking the place of Randalls’ in the photo above — which views the Keegan’s Meadow shopping center from the north along W. Bellfort. At 53,200 sq.-ft., the new Stafford store will be slightly bigger than El Rancho’s one other Houston location, opened along I-45 just inside the Beltway in June. There, all the typical grocery standards are present, along with a butcher shop, seafood counter, produce section, and bakery. Plus, there are some extras: a tortilleria and in-house Latin-American-style kitchen.

Two more El Ranchos are in the works, too: the first further up the North Fwy. on the outskirts of Spring, and the other in the old Oak Forest Randalls, gone from 34th St. since earlier this year.

Photo: Dennis Scipio

Supermarket Goes Supermercado
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Headlines
09/12/18 8:30am

What’s Next for Montalbano Tire Shop; Cannabis Oil Store Opening in Fort Bend; Waffle Bus Will Go Brick and Mortar

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Photo of Tinys Milk and Cookies, 3636 Rice Blvd., West University Place: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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