SIZING UP BROADSTONE ARTS DISTRICT, THE UNBUILT APARTMENTS ACROSS FROM SAWYER YARDS 
328 units will crowd into the planned building according to a rundown of coming Houston residential developments put out by investment firm Berkadia and dug up by HAIF sleuth Urbannizer just the earlier today. (That’s a bit smaller-scale than the 375-unit Broadstone Studemont mid-rise now going vertical on a slightly larger 4-acre block of land half a mile away on Studemont at Summer St.) Although nothing’s changed physically at the site since several warehouse buildings were demolished on it 2 years ago, it has seen some recent action on paper: In March Houston’s planning commission approved a request to consolidate 2 separate, abutting parcels of land into a single nearly–4-acre property on which the apartment will rise just north of the railroad tracks that cross Sawyer St. The property owner: an entity connected to developer Frank Liu of Lovett Commercial and InTown Homes. He’s also got his hands on the 2 warehouses-turned-retail-buildings across the street where new tenants continue to file in, as well as the Salvation Army structure south of them. [Berkadia (PDF) via HAIF] Photo: Swamplot inbox
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The parking garage at the Lyric Centre has begun glowing as part of its transformation into Lyric Market, one in the trio of planned Houston food halls. Though the venue on the corner of Smith and Preston streets isn’t open yet, its exterior has been all over the light spectrum lately, radiating both the rainbow and patriotic displays shown above.
Solid color schemes have been in the mix too:
Bright Food Hall Future
Post-oak removal, the sidewalk outside The Wynden wedding venue and adjacent properties south of it on S. Post Oak Ln. are looking stumpier than they have in previous memory. About 15 trees total went down within the span of just an hour last Friday, reports a Swamplot reader. They’re now laying low between Tilbury Dr. and S. Wynden Ln., along a roadside stretch home to buried utility cables and some recently-planted flag markers — indications that work may be planned for the underground infrastructure.
Some trees, like the ones pictured below, managed to stay standing — but not by much:
Stumped
Framing is up for the row of houses dubbed Avenue Meadows that Avenue CDC is planting along Meadow Lea Rd., just south of Berry Rd. Each of the nearly 1,200-sq.-ft. structures will be 2 stories upon completion, although the photo at top shows most of them still haven’t risen above single-floor status. Within the set of 10 total houses, the architects at StudioMET designed 2 versions: The Monarch and The Admiral.
Builders laid the groundwork for each of the homes in April. Once they’re done, Avenue CDC plans to fill them with a mix of low to mid-income inhabitants, with a few market rate buyers sprinkled into the mix as well.
- Previously on Swamplot: The Slabs Are Down for Avenue CDC’s New Row of Northline 2-Stories
Photos: Avenue CDC
Avenue Meadows
- Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza Sells for Reported Record-Setting Price [HBJ ($)]
- Wheelock Communities Starts Selling Lots in League City’s Magnolia Creek Community [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Apartment Market Close to 90% Full, According to Berkadia [HBJ ($)]
- Opening of Grand Texas Water Park, Adventure Park Delayed Again to Unspecified Date [HBJ]
- Chris Shepherd’s Romance Languages To Close, Reopen Sept. 1 as One Fifth Mediterranean [Texas Monthly]
- New Bars 77 Degrees and Jack & Ginger’s Irish Pub Heading to Brazos St. in Midtown [Eater Houston]
- Slideshow: The Winners of the Latest Houston Apartment Association Honors Awards [Houston Chronicle]
- More Families with Children Are Renting in Houston, Finds RentCafe [The Urban Edge]
- Flood Plan To Look at Ways to Improve Warnings, Protections Along San Jacinto River [Houston Public Media]
- Bayou Greenways Completes Mile-Long Trail, Breaks Ground on Another Half-Mile Segment [Houston Public Media]
- Menil Collection Cuts Down ‘Favorite’ Oak Tree That Was a ‘Public Safety Hazard’ [Houston Chronicle]
- How Houston Survived the Great Oil Bust of 2015-16 [Forbes]
Photo of “Open House”: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The end for the garage of a garage; no more Mahoning for a couple of houses; more:
- 5524 Shadow Crest St. [HAR]
VEGAN FOOD TRUCK NOW PARKING AT HEIGHTS WATERWORKS ON NICHOLSON ST. 
Vegan food truck Ripe Cuisine is now well on its way to a brick-and-mortar spot in the soon-to-be redone Heights Waterworks utility turned retail complex on W. 20th St. According to a building permit filed yesterday, the owner is signing up for a 2,061-sq.-ft. renovation of one of the structures Braun Enterprises is leasing out. The map above from the developer — which began buying up portions of the property last year — marks the restaurant’s territory fronting Nicholson St. and its parallel bike trail with the bright red tomato logo that’s native to its food truck. But that’s not really the look to expect from the plant-based restaurant once its fully-grown; it’s rebranding to Verdine. Derived from the Latin for “green” and “truth,” explains the restaurant’s fledgling website, the name comes with a brand-new V-shaped logo, complete with a small bird nested in the crook of angled capital letter. [Previously on Swamplot] Map: Braun Enterprises
The storefront between Athleta and Altar’d State on University Blvd. won’t be vacant for much longer: a building permit filed yesterday indicates Warby Parker is about to move into the space. Before it gets there, a few renovations will overhaul the 2,500-sq.-ft. box pictured at top, which lost its Yankee Candle lettering (shown above) around January when the former tenant wrapped up its close-out sale and shut its doors for good.
- Previously on Swamplot: Rice Village Yankee Candle Going Dark This Month
Photos: Trademark (vacant store); Swamplox inbox (Yankee Candle)
Village Newcomer
- 33-Story Luxe Condo Arabella So Far 75% Sold [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
- ‘Pocket-Sized’ Retail Development Dubbed 18th Street Bungalows Planned for Durham Corridor in the Heights [Culturemap]
- City Department Focused on Harvey Recovery Relocating to Central Square in Midtown [HBJ ($)]
- Houston Realtor Nan & Co. Adding Office in the Heights with Nap Pods, Meditation Room, Juice Bar [HBJ ($)]
- Saint Arnold Officially Opens Beer Garden and Restaurant Near Brewery [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Burger Chain Wahlburgers Has a Houston Location Somewhere in the Works [Houston Chronicle]
- 72-Year-Old Kegg’s Candies on Beechnut Closing at the End of the Month [abc13]
- Citing Name Confusion, Hubbell & Hudson Bistro in The Woodlands Renovating, Rebranding to Tris [Culturemap]
Photo of the Glassell School of Art: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A mattress takedown in Sharpstown, plus these goners:
- 1226 Cambrian Park Ct. [HAR]
Here’s the latest look at the Gables Westcreek apartments from right outside their planned garage entrance on Westcreek Ln. south of San Felipe. The 302-unit highrise is set to take over a 2.6-acre southwest portion of the site once occupied by the Westcreek Apartments. (Other chunks of that demolished complex have already been divvied up among the Arabella, Wilshire, SkyHouse River Oaks, and some surface parking.)
In those digs, 14 stories will pile up atop the ground floor parking garage, as shown in the site plan below from architect Ziegler Cooper:
Gables Westcreek
TEXAS ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS ARE ON A RECORD-BREAKING POWER USAGE SPREE 
Texas customers shattered the state’s previous all-time 71,110 megawatt high for power usage last Wednesday and Thursday, reports the Chronicle’s L.M. Sixel. And today, they’ve done it again: 73,217 megawatts is the current demand, according to ERCOT, the operator that supplies most of the state’s energy. (It’s expected to increase through the late afternoon, peaking at around 5 p.m.) That’s enough juice to power, well, the entire state of Texas during a heatwave. But is it enough to overwhelm the state’s proudly independent power infrastructure? Unlikely, says at least one expert at UT’s Energy Institute. Although 2 NRG subsidiaries did send out emails last week pleading with their customers to ease up on the A/C and take other watt-saving measures. [Houston Chronicle] Photo of electric lines between 59 and Westpark Dr.: Swamplox inbox
A Swamplot reader sends a photo of the big white public hearing notice now up outside the Rothko Chapel; it’s the first sign of the work chapel management has planned for both the octagon and its surroundings. The proposed replat detailed by the notice would take 6 originally single-family deed-restricted lots occupied by the chapel, adjacent administration bungalows, and their surroundings — and merge them into a single parcel.
It’s all part of the prep work for modifications planned next spring that’ll alter the chapel’s skylight and tweak its acoustics, HVAC system, weatherproofing, and entrance vestibule. New York–based firm ARO — hired in 2016 — is overseeing all those changes, as well as plans for the 4 additional lots the chapel owns on the north side of Sul Ross St.
Now occupied by a few Menil-gray-colored houses — including one on the corner of Yupon St. home to the Da Camera music society — those properties are slated for their own consolidation under the proposed replat. Planned to rise afterward: a visitor welcome house (gift shop included) and energy building including a backup power station. Later on, a new administration and archive building with adjacent community engagement center will also move in on that side of the street.
- Previously on Swamplot: New York Firm Picked for Rothko Chapel Redo
Photo: Swamplot inbox
Gift Shop Incoming
