REMEMBER THE LONG WEEKEND 
That’s all for this week; Swamplot will be back, as usual, after the long Memorial Day weekend. But that doesn’t mean our inbox will be taking a break: If you see something while you’re out and about that you think our readers need to see, snap a photo or three and send ’em our way! See you Tuesday. Photo: HAR
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The ‘bay’ at this multilevel 1990 property in Walden on Lake Conroe is a 2-story space with a modern, multi-pane frame of the water. Photos of the vista-boosting room — and its contemporary decor — dominate the early-in-May listing. The asking price, $925,000, apparently includes the furnishings.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CHEAPER, CLOSE-IN “I would just add to what Cody said. You can avoid traffic AND get a big house and lawn here in Houston. You just need to set aside your prejudices about certain neighborhoods. We’ve been living in the Brays Oaks area, formerly known as Fondren Southwest, since 2007, and it’s wonderful. Houses prices are on-par with far-flung suburbs like Jersey Village and Spring; far less than Inside the Loop. Barring any major accidents we can get from our house to the Museum District in less than 25 minutes; the Medical Center in under 20. My commute to work only takes me one exit on the Southwest Freeway. I take a certain satisfaction and watching all the people from Sugar Land sit in traffic, knowing that they spent more and got less house than we did. (Crime issues here are overblown, by the way – the result of sensationalized local news reports. The public schools are lousy, but we have some great private schools.)” [ZAW, commenting on Comment of the Day: First We Crowd]
- 2110 Stonewalk Dr. [HAR]
This 1940 bungalow in Magnolia Grove had been all set to be torn down, showing up in the Daily Demolition Report on Wednesday. But the previous owners, who bought the 1,200-sq.-ft. Gibson St. house in 2005 and sold it in 2012, say that it has been “spared.” Here’s their story:
After discovering that we were expecting our second child, we quickly realized that the 2 bed, 1-1/2 bath was not large enough for our growing family. We hoped that perhaps a single person or couple would purchase the property. We were naive, of course, as the only offers received were from builders planning to build the typical 3 story, 4K square foot beast near downtown. After much heartache and a few tears, we accepted an offer from Urban Living and fully expected the home to be demolished.
- Astrodome’s Future Likely To Be Decided at Ballot Box, Says Judge Emmett [KUHF]
- $350 Million Project Would Divert More Drinking Water from Trinity River to Lake Houston [abc13]
- Construction of Osteria Mazzantini in Galleria’s BBVA Compass Plaza Coming Along; Hugo’s Owner Plans Concept There, Too [Houston Business Journal]
- No Rail Service This Weekend Between UHD Station and Downtown Transit Center [abc13]
- Houston Area Saw 106 “Flash” Home Sales Last Month [Prime Property]
- IAH Ranks As Third Most Expensive Airport in U.S. at End of 2012, Finds Report [Houston Business Journal]
- UH Community Design Resource Center Imagines Better Uses for Transit Centers, Utility Easements, Ditches [OffCite]
- DIY Craft Studio and Shop Opens on Main St. in Midtown [Culturemap]
- 1919 Steam Train Donated to Planned Nau Center for Texas Cultural Heritage Downtown [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Zsa Zsa Gabor’s 1955 L.A. Home, On the Market for 2 Years, Finally Sells [Curbed L.A.]
Photo of construction work at Savoy Hotel Downtown: Swamplot inbox
What’s this sandbox right beside the Hungry’s Cafe and Bistro in Rice Village going to be? A Hungry’s. An employee at the not-that-old one next door at 2356 Rice Blvd. says it will be demolished and turned into a parking lot for what a rendering on a sign at this construction site shows is a 2-story new one.
Hungry’s, you’ll remember, is owned by an entity controlled by Fred Sharifi, who earlier this year purchased and now appears to have plans to redevelop the Gramercy Place Apartments on the 200 block of Portland St. — just a few miles away on the east side of Montrose Blvd. — into townhomes.
A rendering of the new Hungry’s wasn’t made immediately available; what follows after the jump is a photo of what’s on that sign at the construction site:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MANIFEST DESTINY “One day, this entire area will be called The Texas Medical Center.” [john@UHD, commenting on The New Mixed-Use Building in the Museum District]
Red-crested and around the block from the Heights Transit Center on North Main, an updated 1940 Stude cottage has been sticking to its initial $285,000 asking price. After a 3-month first attempt, ending in February 2013, the neatly trimmed property took a spring break (while the market heated up). Earlier this week, the same agent relisted the basic-but-boosted cottage at the same price. It last sold for $227,000 back in January 2010. That was after a 2009 remodeling project overhauled the interior but kept the old-timey ribbon driveway with hinged gate.
- 3510 Bahia Ct. [HAR]
That excavator first rolled out here on La Branch and Binz last summer — and 11 months later this is how the site looks: Catty-corner from the Children’s Museum, the Museum Point Professional Building appears to be all but complete. The 4-story building at 1401 Binz was originally planned to be 30,000-sq.-ft., with retail on the first floor, a clinic and offices on the middle floors, and some kind of residence (“with a garden terrace”) up top. A 160-car parking garage was also planned.
The next tenant in the former Jeannine’s Bistro space will be Jus’ Mac, the restaurant announced on its Facebook page last week. It would appear that this new location will be open by July. Jeannine’s closed here at 106 Westheimer just west of Midtown at the beginning of May. Jus’ Mac has other locations on Yale St. in the Heights and at First Colony Mall in Sugar Land — and a comment posted beneath the original Facebook announcement indicates that a 4th Jus’ Mac is in the works: “We have inside track,” it says, “on a location in heart of memorial.”
- Locations [Jus’ Mac]
- Jus’ Mac [Facebook]
- Jus’ Mac to open its third cafe in Montrose [29-95]
- Previously on Swamplot: Updated: Jeannine’s Closing is Only, Umm, Permanent, Says Jeannine’s
Photo of Jeannine’s: Allyn West
- City To Consider Adding $3.8 Million Subsidy for Midtown Arts Center [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Super Bowl Bid Includes Rocket Ship Ride at Discovery Green, Space Needle, Concerts [Culturemap]
- Future of Astrodome Not Connected to Super Bowl, Says Judge Emmett [Culturemap]
- Newest Little Woodrow’s Now Open on Shepherd with Pub Fare, Free Parking [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- Among Big Cities, Only New York Added More People Than Houston This Year, Finds Latest Census Figures [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Houston Home Builder Wins $1.3M in Architectural Copyright Suit [Houston Chronicle]
- Proposals from UH Architecture Students for HSPVA’s New Downtown Campus on View Starting May 30 [Your Houston News]
Photo of Katy Fwy. and Kirkwood: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
