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04/25/14 5:00pm

Maxing Out a Mini-Lot in Houston Heights

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A wee corner lot in the Houston Heights East Historic District carries a 1920 home’s addition on its back instead of in its back yard, which is occupied instead by the “tandem” one-car-wide garage. Renovations to the property since last summer, when it sold for $342K, moved around some of the interior walls and overhauled the kitchen and bathrooms. The current listing’s asking price of $574,900 is the ninth price point sought by a series of listings that ticked down nearly $75K in price reductions since the home’s January 2014 market debut at $650,000. 

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Spacing Out
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Brookesmith
04/25/14 12:45pm

‘Tampico Heights’ Is Now a Thing on Google Maps

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‘TAMPICO HEIGHTS’ IS NOW A THING ON GOOGLE MAPS Google Map Showing Tampico Heights, HoustonNear Northside residents who didn’t want their neighborhood to be called Tampico Heights have been successful in their campaign to keep the new name out. But it looks like Tampico Heights may be settling in as a new neighbor. A reader reports — and a quick online search confirms (see screen capture at left) — that Google Maps has now begun applying the new name Tampico Heights to area maps. Northside Village has been spared the Heights creep: The Tampico Heights name appears to have been applied to inner-loop neighborhoods Brooke Smith, East Sunset Heights, and portions of Sunset Heights west of I-45 and east of North Main, and not to Northside Village or the Near Northside, which lie east of I-45. That’s a more reasonable spot for a Tampico Heights to land anyway, since it incorporates the Tampico Refresqueria at 4520 N. Main St. and Tampico Seafood & Cocina Mexicana, at 2115 Airline Dr. [Previously on Swamplot]

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Featured Posts
04/25/14 10:15am

A Shrunken High First Ward Historic District Is on Its Way to City Council

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Map of Proposed and Revised High First Ward Historic District, Houston

The city’s historic commission voted 6 to 1 yesterday to give its approval to a new High First Ward historic district — but it’s a considerably smaller district than the proposed one area property owners squabbled over and then voted on in February. The colors in the map above show the city’s tabulation of the results of that vote. The dashed lines show the original boundaries; after the ballots came in, the city’s planning director redrew the boundaries so that the district would be in an area where at least 67 percent of the owners supported the district. Of the 55 tracts in the new district, 37 owners voted to approve it, 10 opposed it, and 8 didn’t return survey cards (which counts as a “no” vote). to the count, Next and final stop for the proposed district: A final vote by city council.

Map: HAHC (PDF)

55 Properties
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Headlines
04/25/14 8:30am

What IAH’s New Terminal D Will Look Like; The Decline and Fall of the Johnson Space Center

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East White Oak Drive and Norhill Street bluebonnets

Photo of E. White Oak Dr. and Norhill St.: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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04/24/14 3:15pm

Comment of the Day: Have You Noticed How the Heights Is Putting on Weight?

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW THE HEIGHTS IS PUTTING ON WEIGHT? Cupcake“I think they are going to have to change the name of the area from the ‘Heights’ to the ‘Widths.’ In addition to Fat Cat and the soon to be new doughnut shop, Gelazzi on White Oak is opening in May to serve gelato and other Italian treats. RED Dessert Dive & Coffee Shop is building out on Studewood. Then there is the recently opened Heights Candy Store on Studewood. All of this is in addition to great pastries, baked goods and other treats at Angela’s Oven, Kraftsmen, Revival Market, Boulevard Coffee (possibly the best cinnamon rolls in Houston), Happy Fatz, What’s Up Cupcake, Mighty Sweet Mini Pies and Dacapo’s. Yikes.” [Old School, commenting on More Sugar Headed for the Sweetest Strip Center on North Shepherd] Illustration: Lulu

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Bayous and Waterways
04/24/14 12:00pm

There’s a Lot of Lot Over Here by Little White Oak Bayou in the Near Northside

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Little White Oak Bayou meanders by the back of a property (and so do a couple of uh, hikers in the background of the top photo) located east of N. Main St. and about 3 sidewalk-lined blocks from the Metro rail station at Fulton St. Is the Northside property located in De Noyles, as indicated in the listing, or is it Booth North Main, as recorded by HCAD for all addresses on the block? The listing’s all-cap message is all about redeveloping the acre-plus lot of land, not the 1960 home that sits on it at the end of a long driveway (above). A month ago, the asking price dropped to $1.1 million. Since January (and in a previous listing dating back to September 2013) it had been sitting at $1.6 million. But even that was down a bit from someone’s expectations: In 2008, a six-month listing’s asking price kicked off at $2 million.

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Mind the Gap
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Buying and Selling
04/24/14 10:45am

St. Philip Presbyterian Is Not for Sale

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ST. PHILIP PRESBYTERIAN IS NOT FOR SALE Saint Philip Presbyterian Church, 4807 San Felipe St., Uptown, Houston“The enduring themes of conversation here include traffic and real estate,” intoned Pastor John Wurster in his Easter Sunday sermon in front of the blue tiled chancel wall in the sanctuary of the St. Philip Presbyterian Church, which is sited on a prime slice of Uptown land at 4807 San Felipe St. “The real estate conversations seem to happen exclusively with those outside of the church. These are the people who call expressing an interest in buying the church property. I explain that we’re not looking to sell. Of course, you are. Everyone is willing to sell at some point. Just tell us what that point is. No, really, we feel like this is where God has called us. This kind of theological talk tends to bring no response beyond bafflement, as if it’s not possible that one could be in a place and not be willing to leave it if the price were right, as if it’s not possible that decisions and actions might be motivated by something besides money.” Saint Philip’s congregation merged with Central Presbyterian Church a few years ago, shortly before that congregation sold its Richmond Dr. facility to the Morgan Group. Central Presbyterian was torn down for apartments in 2011. [St. Philip Presbyterian; previously on Swamplot] Photo: church member Jeromy Murphy

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Headlines
04/24/14 8:30am

Mapping Uber Usage in Houston; Turning Out the Lights Downtown

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allen parkway sunset

Photo of Allen Pkwy. sunset: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

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04/23/14 4:15pm

Man Who Almost Leased Home Built on Site of Todville Murder Mansion Wants His Money Back

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514 Villa Dr., Villas by the Sea, Seabrook, Texas

514 Villa Dr., Villas by the Sea, Seabrook, TexasWelcome to lovely Villa by the Sea, the quaint Mediterranean-themed gated McMansion development off Todville Rd. in Seabrook that just happens to be built on the grounds of the former mansion where owner, trailer-rental mogul, and child predator Bill List was shot by some angry houseguests back in 1984. That last detail about the neighborhood’s history, apparently, was unknown to Nir Golan, who recently signed a lease to rent the house pictured above. The 4,550-sq.-ft. seaside home at 514 Villa Dr. was built in 2006 on a section of the land where part of List’s absurd 34,000-sq.-ft. mansion itself once stood, facing east toward Galveston Bay.

Golan says his Realtor didn’t tell him about the homesite’s history, but that he simply can’t live there now that he knows what happened. “People say that they wouldn’t come to my house as a guest,” he tells KHOU’s Jacqueline Crea. Crea reports that the homeowner has agreed to terminate Golan’s lease, but won’t return the deposit; he tells her he had no obligation to disclose any information about the Todville mansion. (Law professor Gerald Treece, who appears in the story, seems to agree on the disclosure issue.) Golan plans to sue to the current owner to get his money back, he tells KHOU.

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Spooked by a Bit of Seabrook History
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Featured Posts
04/23/14 12:30pm

More Sugar Headed for the Sweetest Strip Center on North Shepherd

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Strip Center, 1901 N. Shepherd Dr., Houston Heights

For months, local ice cream shop Fat Cat Creamery has been the only business open in the recently expanded and redone strip center at the northeast corner of N. Shepherd Dr. and 19th St. (It’s over around the left side in the photo above.) But now there’s a sign up announcing that Smoothie King is headed for the spot a couple doors down from it along 19th. And there’s more to this sugar rush: It appears a donut shop is headed for a space next door to Fat Cat in the same center. A buildout for Hugs and Doughnuts, from the folks behind the H-Town StrEATs food truck, is now going on in Suite 4 of the 8,000-sq.-ft. center at 1901 N. Shepherd, a source tells Swamplot.

Photo: Re:Vive Development

Hugs and Donuts
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