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Entrance to Memorial City Mall, Houston

Finger Apartments Now Going Up on Site of Former Ben Milam Hotel Will Mimic Style of Astros Stadium, Be ‘Virtually Noise Free‘ [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
Watermark Planning Similar Apartment Complexes Near New ExxonMobil and Noble Energy Campuses, League CityÂ [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Many of Galveston’s Surviving 46 Cast-Iron Buildings Are Rapidly Succumbing to Rust [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Minor Car Crash at Fulton Near Patton Mars New Light Rail Extension’s Opening DayÂ [AP]
No Toll Tags Needed on New Segment of Grand Pkwy. between I-10 and US-290 Until February [The Highwayman]
Houston Lost 15.2% of the City’s Total Water Supply To Leaks Last Fiscal Year [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Memorial Park Conservancy Seeking Public Input on Its Long-Term Master Plan [The Leader]
Security Cams Catch NJ Realtor Couple Using Client’s Bedroom for Sex [NorthJersey.com]

Photo of Memorial City Mall entrance: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines

East End

12/20/13 5:30pm

Houston Makerspace Now Ready To Make a Space for Itself in This East End Warehouse

9 Comments

100 Hutcheson St., East End, Houston

Having successfully reached its scaled-back crowdfundraising goals with a $10,000 Indiegogo run back in September, the team behind the Houston Makerspace says it has secured a lease for 21,000 sq. ft. in this warehouse building at 100 Hutcheson St., 4 blocks north of the coming rail line on Harrisburg. Inside, eventually, will be shops for jewelry fabrication, screen printing, rapid prototyping (with a laser cutter and 3D printers), carpentry, metalwork, and sewing and textile work, and plain ol’ work work. There are also plans to put in a commercial kitchen and classrooms, install 3,000 sq. ft. of climate-controlled office, studio, and lounge space. Outside, they hope to set up a garden.

Shop Talk

77003, East End, Leasing, Warehouse Space

Awards

12/20/13 2:00pm

How To Stuff the Ballots for the 2013 Swamplot Awards

Notices, Swamplot Awards 2013

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Have you voted yet in the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? In all 8 categories? If that answer’s yes, have you also taken advantage of our quirky system and voted up to 4 timesÂ for each? That’s right, you can vote once in a comment to the official ballot post for each category, once in an email to Swamplot, once from your Twitter account, and once on the wall of Swamplotâ€™s Facebook page. Just make sure you follow the rules listed hereÂ to make sure your votes count.

All 8 categories in this year’s Swampies are now open for voting, so there’s no reason to hesitate. They are:

Whichever method or methods you use when you cast your ballot, don’t forget to explain why you’re voting the way you are.

Did any of your favorites make it to the ballot? Then show them some love! And don’t be shy — tell your friends to vote for them, too. Just make sure to do it in time. All votes for all categories must be in by 5 pm on Friday, December 27th.

How To Vote in the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate [Swamplot]
Swamplot Awards Ballots 2013 [Swamplot]

The 2013 Swampies

Home Decor

12/20/13 1:00pm

Taking a Shine to a Sub-$300K Woodlake Forest Townhome

by CALwords

1 Comment

177_hr3290855-4

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Any foray into the Woodlake Forest community from South Gessner near Briar Forest Dr. likely passes by blocks of 1978-built townhomes that include this slightly recessed 2-bedroom unit peeking out from behind Orleansian iron grille barricades at the porch and balcony levels. Polished marble and parquet flooring give it a gloss finish downstairs. The spiffed-up property was listed Wednesday with a $298,500 asking price.

Where’s the Lake in Woodlake Forest?

77063, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Patios, Townhomes, Woodlake Foest

Buying and Selling

12/20/13 12:00pm

Grocers Supply Sale Will Supply 15 Acres for Apartments, Shops Across from Studemont Kroger

25 Comments

Grocers Supply, 3000 Hicks St., Houston

The group that completed the purchase of a 15-acre agglomeration of tracts at the southwest corner of I-10 and Studemont this week says it’s planning a mixed-use development for the site, including an apartment complex. Most of the land was owned by Grocers Supply, which has operated a 232,352-sq.-ft. produce warehouse and big-rig parking lot there for 42 years. The facility at 3000 Hicks St. is yet another chunk in the ~~First~~ Sixth Ward-areaÂ once-industrial swath south of the Heights that’s been turning to big-box-flavored retailÂ bit by bit over the last decade, and now stretches from Target on the east near Sawyer to Walmart just west of Yale St. Here’s an aerial view of that district from 1990,Â when it was still entirely industrial (you can see the western edges of Downtown in the background):

A Couple Years To Think About It

77007, Apartments, Buying and Selling, First Ward, Industrial Areas, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail

Cancellations and Delays

12/20/13 10:00am

Chevron Won’t Reconsider Plans for New Downtown Tower on Old YMCA Site Until 2015 at Least

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Proposed Chevron Tower at 1600 Louisiana St. and Pease, Downtown Houston The tallest, least-curvy tower in the trio pictured at left won’t be built any time soon, Chevron declared yesterday. The new 50-story structure, which the oil company announced over the summer and planned to combine with the 2 structures passed down to it from Enron into a consolidated Downtown campus, had been scheduled to begin construction shortly after March of next year. A spokesperson for the company tells the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff it won’t even make a decision on whether to proceed with the now-on-hold project until 2015. The 1.7-million-sq.-ft. building on a parking-garage plinth at 1600 Louisiana St. had been designed by architecture firm HOK for the former site of Houston’s Downtown YMCA.

Chevron puts downtown tower on hold [Prime Property]
Previously on Swamplot:Â Chevronâ€™s New 50-Story Tower on Site of Downtown Y: Bigger, Boxier, Just as Blue;Â The Ring of Chevron;Â Starting Now: Downtown YMCA Is Coming Down;Â Early Exit: The Fire at the Downtown Y; Downtown YMCA To Self-Destruct, Finally

Rendering: HOK

On Hold

77002, Cancellations and Delays, Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings

Daily Demolition Report

12/20/13 9:15am

Daily Demolition Report: Unfastened

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14006 Queensbury Ln., Nottingham West, Houston

If you have the right tools, anything can be loosened up enough to take it apart.

Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions

Headlines

12/20/13 8:30am

Fuming About the Fournace Flyover; The Good Life Still a Possibility

3 Comments

blacksmith coffee shop 1018 westheimer

Bellaire Mayor Doesn’t Like TxDOT Plans To Rebuild 610-59 Interchange, Add Fournace Flyover; Wants More Details [Memorial Examiner]
Buckhead Investment Partners Will Challenge Ashby Highrise Damages Ruling, Potential Construction Injunction [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
Group Acquires 1,350 Acres of Undeveloped Bolivar Peninsula Beach Front That’s a Bird Habitat [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
Midtown Bar The Good Life Is Closed for Renovations, Not for Good, Says EaterÂ [Houston Business Journal]
Gulf Coast Rail District Looking Into Implementing 9 Commuter Rail Lines To Connect Suburban Areas to Downtown [The Leader]
Metro Considering Re-Routing Buses To Avoid Peak Holiday Traffic [The Highwayman]

Photo of Blacksmith,Â 1018 Westheimer: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines

Awards

12/19/13 4:15pm

Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate: The Official 2013 Ballot

38 Comments

This is it, folks. We’ve reached the final ballot in the final category of the 2013 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. The award for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate is meant to separate those events that are especially noteworthy from those that were simply headline-worthy.

The nominees came from your suggestions. Now, we need you to pick the winner! Vote by adding a comment below or by email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can vote usingÂ all 4Â methods — if you follow these rules. Tell us which of the following nominees represents the greatest moment in Houston real estate. And then tell us why.

Here are the nominees:

Swamplot Awards 2013, Swamplot Awards 2013 Official Nominees, Swamplot Awards Ballots 2013

The 2013 Swampies

Brookesmith

12/19/13 12:45pm

Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Da Bears

3 Comments

Bedroom, 512 Enid St., Brookesmith, Houston

512 Enid St. [HAR]

77009, Brookesmith, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors

For $1.8 Million, a Repackaged Staub Estate by the Bay in Kemah

by CALwords

7 Comments

1215-kipp-31-2

1215-kipp-32-2

Once billed as “Somerset Estate,” a 1960 home designed by well-known Houston architectÂ John Staub occupies a waterfront lot in the Bay Breeze neighborhood, located an amble down the road from the Kemah boardwalk. The Bermuda-style stucco home with aluminum roof sold for $1.9 million back in February, though that previous listing had a $2.8 million asking price. When the property popped back up on the market in June, it featured a slightly trimmed footprint along with much-tidied undergrowth along its curving driveway. The repackaged property’s $1.8 million price tag still includes the furnishings:

A Walk from the Boardwalk

77565, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Houston Architects, Interiors, John Staub, Kemah, Waterfront Properties

Demolitions

12/19/13 10:30am

Courtyard on St. James Place Wedding Venue To Be Replaced By PoMo Office Wedding Cake