IT’S BEEN COLDER THAN USUAL IN KATY 
“Subdivision Waterfalls” may have been frozen out of the winners’ circle in the Favorite Design Cliché category of the just-concluded Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, but the florid fountain-turned-ice sculpture fronting the Avalon at Seven Meadows development off Fry Rd. west of the Grand Parkway in Katy has been thrilling and chilling onlookers since early this morning. Photo: Andrea Musetti-Camacho, via Bill Bishop/KHOU
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A new green-screened construction fence has gone up around the perimeter of the Central Square Plaza building at 2100 Travis St., a reader reports. But the barricades aren’t an indication of impending renovation or demolition work on the long-vacant property. They’re part of an effort to secure the buildings and keep taggers and other would-be occupiers out.
Midtown Wrap-Up
Moving along at a steady clip — use these addresses to map the path of destruction:
- Walmart Opening Its Second Inner Loop Store, at Wayside and I-45 South, This Month [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- D’Agostino Cos. Building 3-Story Tilt-Wall Energy Corridor Spec Office Building at Greenhouse and Park Row Blvd. [Prime Property]
- Crews Now Clearing Site for 17-Story Hines Office Tower on San Felipe [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
- 1700 West Loop South Office Building Now Labeled with Burns & McDonnell Signs Following Expansion Deal [Prime Property]
- Houston Ranks Among Top 5 U.S., Global Cities in Real Estate for Foreign Investors in Survey [Prime Property]
- Number of Houstonians Buying Million-Dollar Homes Went Up Nearly 50 Percent Last Year, Finds Report [Houston Business Journal]
Photo of construction at 9807 and 9811 Katy Fwy.: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY THERE’S SO LITTLE TRAFFIC DOWNTOWN 
“Downtown traffic is some of the easiest traffic of any US city downtown I have ever been to, and actually some of the best traffic in all of Houston. Why? As near as I can tell, it’s because: (1) street parking is virtually not allowed or limited to one side of the street, which prevents people from aimlessly circling around looking for that one free spot; and (2) one-way streets. People complain about one-way streets as confusing but when there is a good grid like downtown or midtown, they work perfectly. I can’t ever recall sitting through more than one cycle of a light in midtown. There are other areas of Houston where this can easily be done. And ban street parking completely on major roads after 4pm. It’s just valets making money off blocking traffic after a certain hour.” [John Chouinard, commenting on Comment of the Day: A Few Remedies for Those Traffic Problems You’ve Been Having] Illustration: Lulu
With the First Ward’s accelerating townhomification, the fate of this vintage Victorian could have been different. Restoration won out, however — as indicated by the snazzy new tin roof, crisply redefined porch, and perked-up paint on the recently completed overhaul. It’s located in Barclay Estates, a subdivision south of Spring Street Studios and the Heights Bike Trail. The project’s more extensive efforts included disassembling and stripping the windows and trim and sealing the original paint of the bead board ceilings and walls. Other improvements included all new plumbing and electrical wiring. Reportedly an 1899 home, the property appeared on the market with the new year and has a $339,999 asking price.
Overhauled and Open
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- Attic Ease, with its cord-free attic-door pull system
- Apartment real estate broker Inner Loop West
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- 3424 S. Macgregor Way [HAR]
WHO WON THE SWAMPLOT AWARDS THIS YEAR, AND WHY 
Didja miss the grand finale of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate in all the New Year hullabaloo? Our grand announcement of 2013’s winners is patiently awaiting your recognition and appreciation here. Also equally worthy of your perusal is this accounting of the runners-up, which was published a day earlier. Thanks again to all the worthy contestants and commentators — your juicy contributions to this city (and this website) make the Swampies an annual endeavor worth repeating.
Slicker renderings of the 33-story almost-half-block apartment tower Hines is planning to plant on what’s now a parking lot catty-corner to Market Square downtown have been posted to the website of the building’s designers, Ziegler Cooper Architects. And an appended description annotates the more than half-dozen different facade treatments scheduled for different portions of the building’s 7-level parking garage, meant to allow the 289-unit structure to fit better into to its smaller-scale surroundings: The building will be clad in “a crisp combination of glass, aluminum, and stainless steel complimented by the richness of stone and masonry detailing.”
Between the garage and the apartments above them, according to the website, will be a 9th-floor gathering space featuring an “aqua lounge,” outdoor pool and terrace, fitness center, club room and kitchen, theater, and other typical apartment amenities. Facing Market Square at the corner of Travis and Preston streets will be “a welcoming porch for outdoor dining.” Ground-floor plans presented to the city’s historical commission in August showed retail spaces along Travis and Preston, but the latest renderings appear to show a garage entrance on Preston that might eat into some of it (on the building’s left) and don’t make clear which level will have the outside eats:
A Building of Many Faces
The new owners of Marfreless have updated the website of the shuttered River Oaks Shopping Center bar to indicate that it plans on reopening in January. Which makes sense, since the previously promised summer 2013 re-launch date for the 2006 Peden St. location has come and gone. A comment appended back in December to a Facebook photo album showing renovations of the signless institution’s famed dimly lit interior provides an actual opening date: “probably” January 17th. What delights await inside? A unisex restroom with 2 stalls, chandeliers, plus new VIP areas carved out of what were previously storage rooms: “There will be curtains upstairs that you can pull closed for privacy or open for groups. Or . . . pull closed for groups, if that’s what you’re into.” The stairs, however, will still offer the “same place to hit your head.”
- Marfreless To Reopen January 2014 [Marfreless]
- “Make-Out Bar” Marfreless is Expected to Reopen Soon [Eater Houston]
- Previously on Swamplot: The Return of Marfreless, Weingarten Responds: Hey, It’s Not Us, It’s Marfreless, The End Coming for Marfreless in River Oaks
Photo: Marfreless
Behind the Blue Door
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Let’s begin the week with the end of these:
- Randalls Will Have 30 Stores in Houston After Westchase Location Closes; Down 40 Percent Since 2005 [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
- More Than 3 Months After Departure of Namesake Chef Philippe Schmit, Galleria Restaurant Philippe Is Ready To Change Its Name [Culturemap]
- Most-Viewed Houston Neighborhood on Trulia.com Last Year: ‘The Greater Heights’ [Prime Property]
- 100-year-old Sycamore from Oxford and 23rd Downed by Developers Transformed into Handcrafted Furniture [Culturemap]
- Metro Still Working to Reclaim $740K in Unpaid Tolls [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Critical Mass Riders Say They Would Continue with or Without Police Escorts [Houston Chronicle]
- Galveston Historical Foundation Launches App Featuring Maps, Photos, Info on Island [AP]
- Cantinas Come and Go, But Magnolia Grove Pay Phone Remains [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Photo of East Downtown: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ADMIRAL LINEN AND THE WAY OF KATYVILLE “. . . 
Yes, it’s initially going to be utilized as an employee parking lot, but [it’s] hard to believe that long term Admiral Linen will stay. The trend . . . for any company with strong dependence on warehouse/distribution needs in the area has recently been to sell to developers and move out of the area. The increasing traffic on Center/Studemont/Washington makes the area increasingly difficult for trucks to move in an out of the area. Also the steady increase in land values will at least lead to any business owner with a brain and with a large parcel of land in the area to look at the possibilities of moving . . . as was the case with San Jacinto Stone (new LA Fitness, Guitar Center, Sprouts), Trinity Industries (Walmart) , Grocers Supply (400+apts, retail, movie theater), Studemont Kroger, Detering Lumber (on sale now). Living in the area, I’ve noticed my commute time to downtown increase by a factor of 2 (from 5 minutes to 10 minutes). Hard to believe that the traffic situation will get any better with Archstone Memorial Heights converting their complex to a high density property, 400+ new apts in the Grocers Supply site, and a new 24 floor office building being built behind the Bank of America on Washington. All of this development with absolutely zero changes in the surrounding infrastructure as of now will lead to some nightmarish traffic on S. Heights Blvd, Studemont, and Washington . . . the 3 main access roads for Admiral Linen . . .” [Debnil, commenting on Center St. Recycling Center Is Now Closed; Site Ready for Recycling] Illustration: Lulu
RIVER OAKS PLANTS IN RICE VILLAGE 
The River Oaks name spreads its tendrils again: Just a day or so after shuttering its location on the corner of Westheimer and Buffalo Speedway, topiary-in-a-pot hotspot River Oaks Plant House has sprouted in a new location, 6103 Kirby Dr., where it’s already open for business. Evicted from its longtime home on land bought last year by the St. John’s School, the greenery retailer has responded by buying the Village Flowery, an employee tells Swamplot. The Village Flowery is perched on the western reaches of the Rice Village on the southeast corner of Kirby and Rice Blvd. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Lisa Garvin
