- 14223 Woodforest Blvd. [HAR]
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“Since there are no TVs at the new fancy permitting center that show the soap operas while you wait, this will have to do,” a tipster quips. And yes! There does appear to be a bit of excitement today at the Houston Permitting Center at 1002 Washington Ave. on the west side of Downtown. The tipster tells us that the pictured protestors shown outside the building are “upset about an inspector and their garage in their backyard.” According to one of the protestors, Channel 11 is “supposed to cover it,” the tipster says.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
They’ve Got Your Number, David Crawford
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MY GALLERIA DREAM IS BIGGER THAN YOURS 
“The Ritz Carlton Hotel & Residences (50+ Floors) or W Hotel and Residences (50+ Floors).
Both are deciding where to locate in Houston, and either would be great there.
As for the church across the street, it will move or be incorporated/absorbed into Galleria 5 (which a new relocated Dillard’s will anchor with additional shops). Galleria 5 will also feature a 2nd new state-of-the art ice-skating chalet.
I have a developer friend in New York who says Donald Trump wants in on the Houston action, and plans to use the old Dillard’s and its parking lot for a major development. Three 55 story towers surrounding an elegant courtyard: Trump International Hotel, Tower & Residences: Houston Galleria.” [KB, commenting on If You Really Want To Live in the Actual Galleria, This Is Where Your Home Might Go] Illustration: Lulu
The firm hired by Rice University to manage the Village Arcade has produced a new brochure outlining coming and hoped-for changes to the couple-decades-old Rice Village multi-block shopping center and surroundings. Plans are being developed for new landscaping and storefronts for the 164,211-square-foot complex that lines the north side of University Dr. between Kirby and Morningside Dr., Trademark Property’s flyer notes. But perhaps more interesting is the simple map included (and shown above) documenting the university’s property holdings in and near its eponymous village. They include the 3-block Village Arcade, the office building and parking garage at 2500 Dunstan Rd. currently home to 24 Hour Fitness, and a good portion of the block across Greenbriar Dr. from Rice Stadium, where the university demolished an office building in 2010. “Additional Rice owned property in the Village (approximately 7 acres),” the brochure says, “is available for future mixed-use development.” Rice’s Rice Village Apartments complex on Shakespeare at Morningside is not outlined on the map.
- Rice Village Arcade [Trademark Property]
- Rice to take control of Village Arcade [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Map: Trademark Property
7 Acres for Mixed Use
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Hello and good morning! We’ve got these properties to take to the dumpster. Then we’ll be right back for construction fun!
- Blackhaw Partners Considers Selling the 21 Homes of the Addicks Dam subdivision It Just Bought [Houston Business Journal]
- Construction Starts on Millennium Kirby Apartment Complex at Kirby and South Main [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
- iFLY Breaks Ground on Indoor Skydiving Facility on the I-45 Corridor in Oak Ridge North [Houston Chronicle]
- University of Houston’s Sugar Land Campus Catching Up with Changes to the Area, To Become a Full Branch This Year [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- The 77494, including Cinco Ranch and Grand Lakes, Had Highest Number of Households Moving to It in May Nationwide, Finds Welcomemat Services [Houston Business Journal]
- Grocery Stores in the Works for Food Deserts in South, North Houston [MyFoxHouston]
- The Legal Battle Over Groundwater Contamination at the former River Oaks Cleaners Spot in Melcher Crossing [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot]
- Seeding Galveston Aims To Create Urban Farms in Vacant Lots Across City [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Galveston’s Seaweed Invasion Shows Signs of Slowing Down [Click2Houston]
- Fate of Endangered Kemp’s Ridley Turtle in Question with Low Number of Nests Laid on the Gulf Coast So Far [Houston Chronicle]
- An Attempt To Set the Record Straight About the Near Northside [Free Press Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- Connecticut Hoarder Dies After Overburdened Floor Collapses [Cheshire Citizen]
Photo of Hwy. 59 BBQ: Swamplot inbox
Headlines
- 1322 Vassar St. [HAR]
Smack in the middle of a Meyerland street of single-story ranch-style homes, an East-ish-meets-West property bumps up its curbside presence (and square footage) while keeping its inner life focused on the central courtyard with fountain (top). Was the mishmash of pan-Asian flavoring part of a 2001 remodeling or was any of it original to the one-of-a-kind 1970 home? The listing on Wednesday, which notes a $739,000 asking price, doesn’t make it clear. Let’s just say that there’s a whole lot more going on inside this home than might be hinted by the mostly quiet exterior.
There Be Dragons and Cabinets
Deccan Development is the firm behind the unlabeled and unannounced 36-unit brick-and-stucco apartment building now under construction at 1508 Blodgett St. just north of MacGregor Elementary in Blodgett Park. And here’s a grayscale version of a rendering of the design, by Houston’s Clerkley Watkins Group (architects of the new District at Greenbriar apartments in town, among other apartment projects). For the Hampstead, 4 stories of apartments are going on top of 2 garage levels, which will be accessed from separate driveways on Blodgett and La Branch.
- Previously on Swamplot: The Stealth Apartment Building Going Up in Museum Park
Rendering: Clerkley Watkins Group/Deccan Development
The Hampstead
Sure, there are plenty of highrise towers to live in in the Galleria . . . area. But what if you want to live in the Galleria mall itself? As in, step out the front door and take in a little Burberry, L.K. Bennett, or Apple Store, maybe still in your Neiman Marcus PJs? The folks at Simon Property Group, the mall owners, began mentioning the possibility of a 300-unit residential highrise at the corner of West Alabama and Sage last fall, when they announced the big Galleria III redo (going on now), which is scooting Saks Fifth Avenue over to the former Macy’s spot fronting Sage and open up about 100,000 sq. ft. of new retail space in its wake. And now they’ve gone and shown on a map where the new tower might go.
Mall Residential or More?
Builders of a home under construction in the 700 block of E. 8th St. in the Heights, near Antidote coffee house, are looking at the damage to the large structure after an apparent fire that took place a few hours ago. “We heard a fire truck, with sirens blaring, at 4:30 this morning,” reports a Swamplot tipster. The house, which is being constructed by Whitestone Builders, “dwarfs its bungalow neighbors and appears to fill the lot,” writes the tipster: “I have no idea how the fire started but it appeared to have been underneath the house with visible damage to the siding on both sides and on the porch.”
Under Construction
- Memorial Hermann Purchases 32-Acre Site in Cypress, the ‘One Hole Left’ in Its Geographic Coverage [Houston Business Journal]
- Hunington Residential To Build 382 Apartments, Townhomes Across from Hospitals in Park Ten [Prime Property]
- Hillwood Communities Breaks Ground on 2,100-Home Master Planned Community ‘Pomona’ in Manvel Along 288 [GlobeSt.com]
- Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Contemplating Building Beer Garden on Former Fast Tow Lot on Lyons Ave. Next Door to Brewery [Houston Business Journal]
- Former Kirby Dr. Cigar Bar Downing Street Apparently Closed Three Months After Going Non-Smoking [Culturemap]
- An Ode to Burgess Hall, the Historic But Dilapidated Building Recently Demolished in Independence Heights [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Fawning Over Marvy Finger and His Wonderful Projects [Houston Business Journal]
- Recounting the Brouhaha That’s Brewed Over the Restoration of Buffalo Bayou [Texas Observer]
- 10 Years After ‘In Harm’s Way’ Report, Air Pollution Still a Concern in Manchester [OffCite]
- Amid Protests from Highland Village Residents, Developers Cut Down 2 Oak Trees, Prepare To Cut Down 2 More To Make Way for West Main St. Development [Houston Chronicle]
- Homeowners To Burn Down $700K Vacation Home Tittering Over Lake Whitney Today [WacoTrib.com]
Photo of Southwest Fwy.: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
WOODLANDS MALL MICROSOFT STORE UPGRADE WILL INCLUDE DOORS THAT OPEN AND CLOSE, NEWER SURFACES 
The space outside of Abercrombie & Fitch on the lower level of the Woodlands Mall (shown at right) that Microsoft has been operating as a north Houston “specialty store” since its last upgrade — from a temporary “pop-up shop” installed for the 2012 Holiday season — will shut down entirely on June 25th. Its replacement, a new, full-strength Microsoft Store in the Macy’s wing, will open at 11 am the next day. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Yelp
Here’s an unfurnished-but-refinished 1962 Timbergrove Manor home that’s seeking a tenant for $3,600 per month. Renovations completed since its last sale, in 2012, transformed the look of the kitchen (at top) and bathrooms at least. Those spaces are the focus of the latest listing — though a view of the redone dining room is included, it’s a pretty tiny photo.
After the Slab Job
