COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: THROWING OUT SOME NUMBERS ON THE FIFTH WARD “The 5th Ward as a whole is light years away from a full gentrification, but the part south of I-10 and west of Bringhurst is about 60% there.” [LRS, commenting on What’s That Cooking on Bringhurst and Clinton?]
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- 7911 Greenbush St. [HAR]
All day Friday these 3 parking spots in Market Square in front of Frank’s — and where Hines wants to build that 33-story residential tower — will be unavailable. Why? Well, Gensler and the Houston chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (including firms Asakura Robinson, SWA Group, M2L, and Elizabeth Austin Landscapes) are gonna be using ’em to set up a parkette for National Park(ing) Day.
Just as the similarly hopeful Better Block project attempts to reproduce pedestrian-friendly street life for a few hours in a controlled environment, these wee pop-up parks work like dioramas of urban leisure: A rep tells Swamplot that a shade structure, trees, shrubs, and board games (checkers and Jenga, yo!) will be rolled in and set up here at 417 Travis from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone who wants to park it and stay awhile.
Additionally, a group of architecture students from Texas Tech are trying to stimulate the same simulation at the corner of Leeland and St. Emanuel in East Downtown, near the food trucks at the Houston Food Park.
- Houston Park(ing) Day [Facebook]
- Previously on Swamplot: A Few New Views of the 33-Story Apartment Building Hines Wants To Build in Market Square, A First Look at Some of the 33-Story Apartment Tower Hines Wants To Build in Market Square, How To Build a Buffalo Bayou Pedestrian Bridge: A Photo Tutorial, Hines Interested in Building Residential Tower on Downtown Block Near Market Square Park, East Downtown’s Food Truck Parking Park, Planning for the Future of Washington Ave, The Great Houston Street Life Simulation
Photo: Barbara Novoa
Here are the first renderings of Mid Main, what appears to be a 2-block, mixed-use development planned to stand along the Red Line in Midtown. And it appears to be an active project, too, though details are still pretty skimpy. Rogers Architects is partnering with Gensler and Rice prof and architect William T. Cannady on the designs. The text accompanying these renderings posted briefly on the architect’s website indicates that 70 percent of the development would comprise studio apartments, and the renderings themselves suggest plenty of parking, pocket parks, young people, and ground-floor retail.
It appears that the development would go in around the Ensemble/HCC light rail station on the 2 blocks bound by Main, Travis, and Holman, most of which are now surface parking lots. A commenter on HAIF asserts that Berry St., which provides access to those lots, would be abandoned.
- Houston-Area Home Sales Slow Just a Bit in August [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Fire Destroys 10K SF, $1.1M Home in Northeast Houston [abc13]
- The Bus Routes Sunday’s Macy’s Implosion Will Impact [Click2Houston]
- What’s the Capacity of the Expanded Katy Freeway? [Off the Kuff]
- Playboy Marfa Illegal Advertising Controversy Might Affect Prada Marfa Too [Glasstire]
- Houston Artist Makes Sculptures out of Beach Pollution [KHOU]
Photo of 2929 Wesleyan: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
A reader has spotted some signs hanging on the fence outside 4003 Washington near Leverkuhn, where the Guadalajara Bakery used to be: The slick one in the photo above for La Roux, and another just a few feet away indicating that La Roux has applied to sell alcohol. County records show that the 1930 4,368-sq.-ft. building at 4003 Washington and 2 nearby vacant lots — the 5,100-sq.-ft. one at 4011 Washington, and the 28,045-sq.-ft. one at 4015 Washington — are all owned by Kaplan Kalan Properties.
TACOS A GO-GO GOING IN NOW THAT LA FENDEE’S ENDING 
Culturemap reports that La Fendee, the Mediterranean restaurant at 1402 Westheimer in Montrose, will be closing by the end of the month and will be replaced soon thereafter by another Tacos A Go-Go. This new spot — right across Westheimer from the former Wendy’s that’s being renovated into Doc’s, the Austin sports bar — would be the 3rd location in Houston. Elsewhere, the Tacos a Go-Go owners have said they plan to open Retrospect Coffee at that artfully abandoned gas station near HCC in Midtown. [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Trip Advisor
COMMENTS OF THE DAY: SELLING THE BEAUTY OF NORTH SHEPHERD 
“I can tell you for certain, that most typical national retailers would have a hard time jumping into the Shepherd/Durham corridor without some serious handholding. Regardless of what the demos might look like in the surrounding neighborhood, it’s tough to sell non-locals on being surrounded by cheap auto malls, pawn shops and tax-preparing locations.” And later: “At a previous job I was managing the Texas expansion for a large national retailer. Circa 2006 or so my Houston-based broker brought me a site in the neighborhood of Shepherd & Washington. I visited the site and told him no way. It was across from a pawn shop and had general junky retail around it. He eventually talked me into it. I took it to my boss. He rejected it and my broker and I had to talk him into it. We took it to my boss’s boss. She rejected it. My boss, my broker and I had to talk her into it. We sent it for approval to our local Operations manager. He had to be talked into it. When it went up for approval before the Real Estate committee, there was a big fight and only after much cajoling was it narrowly approved.
When that store finally opened, it was the #2 performing store in the chain.
It’s tough to get people to look outside the box, but sometimes it can be very rewarding.” [Drew J, commenting on Comment of the Day Runner-Up: Drying Out North Shepherd] Illustration: Lulu
A reader sends in photos of a purty sunset lighting up this building’s “new paint and wood” in the Fifth Ward, right across Clinton Dr. from the former KBR site and its improved dirt. And what’s all this paint and wood gonna be for? A pizza place? Taco stand? The reader can only speculate: “Keep asking the construction folks when they are around but they don’t know. If you notice on top of the building they added a brand new ventilation/AC system, so we hope something starts soon.”
Frequent flipper and Swamplot commenter Cody Lutsch of Fat Property is upgrading this apartment complex in the Third Ward. A listing for the remaining 2-bedroom units on HAR describes some of the improvements: “central air, new paint, ceilling fans [sic], windows, blinds, refinished hardwood floors, etc.” Apparently, Lutsch has also found a buyer for the property, who will be closing on the 3-building complex at 3008 Truxillo, just south of Alabama, in October. The photo above shows the northwest face of the complex — right across the street from the Truxillo Washateria — as seen from Ennis St.
- Former Foley’s Exec Criticizes Downtown Retail Task Force for Lacking Retailers [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Tanger Outlets, Buc-ee’s Generate Interest in Developing Along I-45 in Texas City [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Houston Home Sales Went Up for 27th Consecutive Month in August [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
- Home Prices Near Ashby Highrise Up 58 Percent Over Same Time Last Year, Finds Greenwood King [Prime Property]
- Springwoods Village Has Already Sold Land for 500 Homes [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
- State Seals Polluted League City Oil Production Site [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Texas Residents Using Much Less Power Than State Predicted [StateImpact Texas]
- City Putting Up Hidden Cameras To Catch Illegal Dumping [abc13]
- Natural Environment Largely Recovered from Ike Damage [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
Photo of the Houston Methodist Training Center at Reliant Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
New signage is up, it appears, on the Heights General Store at 350 W. 19th St., and an executive chef has been named: Antoine Ware, who’s been cooking at The Hay Merchant. The store, whose logo gives a typographical nod to its predecessor here at the corner of 19th and Ashland, Harold’s in the Heights, will include a market, restaurant, and bar. (Though it’s in a dry area, a private alcohol “club” will be put into practice to sidestep that restriction.) The opening is set for October.
- Previously on Swamplot: What’s Becoming of Harold’s in the Heights?, Torchy’s Tacos Taking Harold’s Old Corner Spot in the Heights, The Last-Ever Sale at Harold’s in the Heights Is Over, Harold’s in the Heights Is Closing Down
Photo: Heights General Store
- 4837 Kinglet St. [HAR]
