Time for a little neighborhood cleanup.
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- H&M Will Open Third Houston-Area Store, in Katy Mills Mall, This Fall [Houston Business Journal]
- Former Bocados Owners Opening Red Ox Bar & Grill in Northside Village; East End Bar To One Day Follow [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- Slideshow: Meet Houston’s ‘Kings of Commercial Real Estate‘ [Houston Business Journal ($)]
- Mayor Parker Promises City Government Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions an Additional 10% by 2016 [KUHF]
- Video: Metro Starts Testing Trains on East End, Southeast Light Rail Lines [KUHF]
- Heights Developer Tears Down Fence, Threatens To Rip Out and Relocate AC Unit and Water Heater of Neighbor’s Lawrence St. House That Extends Over His Property Line [abc13]
Photo of construction of the Susanne, 3803 Dunlavy: Loves Swamplot
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The half-an-acre lot in Old Braeswood, down Main Street from the Texas Medical Center, means there’s a yard left despite additions and expansions over the years to a 1938 home. Relisted a week ago, the stately property is trying again with another price reduction: $2.399 million. Its initial listing in April 2013 held out hopes for just under $3 million. A couple adjustments by $200K and $300K took it down to $2.499 million before a holiday hiatus.
Minding Manors
COMMENT OF THE DAY: EVERYTHING NEW IS SO MUCH BETTER 
“Your house was built in 1923? My condolences to you and your family. But do not despair, I know things seem now like it can’t get any worse, and it probably can’t, but one day with hard work and perseverance you will get out of the carcinogen and disease packed shelter of last resort and live in a actual house with modern plumbing and insulation. But do not wait too long, the current one can catch on fire and burn to the ground in mere minutes, due to that first growth wood, no fire blocking construction, and lack of sprinklers.” [commonsense, commenting on How It Was Before Air Conditioning Even] Illustration: Lulu
Here’s the 21-story spec office tower Peloton Commercial Real Estate is planning for the expanded site of one of the former Westcreek Apartment buildings. The 7-story parking garage, along with a driveway and a new street cutting through to Westcreek Ln., will snuggle up to the northbound feeder road of the West Loop. The tower and lobby, which will hold 14 floors of offices on top of the garage levels, will front Westcreek. So it kinda makes sense to call it Westcreek Centre — at least until a major tenant is roped in and maybe decides to flip the R and the E around, no?
Westcreek Centre
Here’s a view of the Wedge International parking garage at 777 Clay St. from across Polk St. taken yesterday. It’s not particularly notable — until you realize what’s no longer visible. For years, while a surface parking lot stood on the lot in the foreground, this was the scene of Houston’s most spectacular grid of auto headlights and taillights — changing daily, and screened from their cliff-like views at each level only by low, light-looking barriers of steel cables. (A closeup side view of the scene from last week, with a few levels already partially masked by new chain-link fencing, is shown at right.)
That’s a Wrap
From the ashes we can build another day. But for now, let’s crush these:
- Johnson Development Teaming Up with Dallas Firm To Turn 55 Freeway-Side Acres of Sugar Land’s ‘Imperial’ into Office Building Zones [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Grand Parkway Transportation Corp. Selling $733M in Bonds To Pay Back Construction Loans [Bloomberg]
- State Set To Award $10.9M Contract for Parkway Between Fort Bend and Waller Counties [The Highwayman]
- Woodlands Parkway Bridge Expansion Project To Finish in April, 4 Months Behind Schedule [abc13]
- Up to 15 Fare Inspectors Now Deployed To Check Light Rail for Freeloaders [abc13]
- City Keeps Saying It’s Fixed Garden Oaks Sinkhole That Continues To Grow, Complains Resident [The Leader]
Photo of Reliant Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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HOW IT WAS BEFORE AIR CONDITIONING EVEN 
A longtime Swamplot reader brings up the ‘H’ word: “I know Houston isn’t big on preserving many things, but I was wondering if you or your other readers knew of a good resource where I could possibly do some ‘historical’ research on my home? I must admit that I am jealous of homes on the East Coast that have a legacy of some sort. I am aware that something like this wouldn’t exist on my property, but I’d like to see if I could find older pictures of it and/or see how the area was like ‘back in the day.’ My home was built in 1923 according to HCAD, so there MUST be something out there . . . right?” Photo of 506 Cottage St., Brooke Smith: HAR
The color wheel got a workout within a 1992 brick home in Stafford. Its candy-colored rooms are as varied as a bag of gumballs . . .
The ROYGBIV Residence
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last Thursday approved the sale of its 18-ft.-tall painted but weathered bronze statue of Chief ‘Touch the Clouds’ from outside the Reliant Arena to an Oklahoma City suburb — for $50,000. The statue of the Miniconjou chief, who fought alongside his cousin Crazy Horse at the Battle of Little Big Horn, was donated to the Rodeo 16 years ago by its sculptor, Dave McGary. Reports that the Rodeo was looking to offload the sculpture from its perch about 300 yards southeast of the Astrodome surfaced late last year, a few months after McGary died of liver cancer.
So Long, Chief
- Average Texas Home Price Rose 9 Percent in 2013 to $226K, Finds Report [KUHF]
- $300M Development Project Planned for Former WaterLights District Spot in Pearland [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Slideshow: The Winners of Urban Land Institute Houston’s 2014 Development of Distinction Awards [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Galveston’s Broadway Cemetery Moves Closer To Landmark Status [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Slideshow: 40-Year-Old River Oaks Institution Marfreless’s Slicker New Look [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
- Closed for 2 Years, White Oak Hike and Bike Trail Reopening in Late March [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Photo at N. Main Street and E. 22nd Street: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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