MOVING DAY AT MARYLAND MANOR 
A Swamplot reader sends in this update on the progress at 1717 Bissonnet, where the Maryland Manor apartments are still standing in the way of the Ashby Highrise: “I live around the block . . . and it looks like all the tenants are out. We have noticed fewer and fewer cars in the parking lot, but as of this weekend they are down to only 3-5 cars. We saw multiple moving trucks all weekend and lots of abandoned furniture at the dumpster. So I am guessing the demo is starting soon.” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Maryland Manor: Candace Garcia
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: I HAVE CRACKED THE RECYCLING BIN CODE “My green bin was getting overly full, so I went to Sears and bought a similar blue bin. They empty it just like the official one, without concern or question, every other week.” [anon, commenting on Actually, Say Critics, ‘One Bin for All’ Maybe Not Best Idea]
Far away from the Amsterdam canal along which it was originally envisioned (though perhaps with slimmer proportions), this timber-frame structure has been a stand-out property on Dunlavy since the mid-aughts. It’s a mixed-use building; its barreled-with-a-flattish-top roof — with an outlined upper lip — adds higher stucco stylin’ to the neighborhood just north of Westheimer. The retail-residence has 3 levels — each with some distinctively hewn and preserved wooden ceilings.
The work of former owner (and gallerist) Albert Cherqui, in 2010 the venue became the focus of a lawsuit filed by Cherqui — by then its tenant — against the building’s current owners. (The suit was settled out of court last year.) It shares a mostly commercial street that’s lined by galleries, shops, warehouses, apartments, and repurposed postwar houses. Inside, the all-in-one main floor — described glowingly in the listing as “cavernous” — includes a wavy pair of Gaudi-inspired staircases (above). They lead to 2 upper floors of living quarters, each with its own kitchen and yet more timberland touches.
POOP SCIENCE COMES TO FAIRMONT MUSEUM DISTRICT APARTMENTS 
And one of the “amenities” that the doubling-in-size Fairmont Museum District wasn’t ready to announce would seem to be that poop detection service picking up steam in Dallas: Houston Chronicle’s Carol Christian reports that the Richmond and Dunlavy apartment complex that’s right beside Ervan Chew Park has already asked tenants to submit their pets’ DNA to hasten the resolution of these mistakes most foul: “The main reason we decided to try [PooPrints] was because we had a specific issue on one of our floors with accidents,” Fairmont manager Molly Kalish tells Christian. Still, the whodunit service seems to have a few bumps, since it provides no way to sniff out a motive or track a rogue agent: “ . . . DNA testing did not identify any [Fairmont] tenant’s dog as the recent accident-prone culprit,” reports Christian, “suggesting that a visitor might have been responsible.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Fairmont Museum District: Allyn West
- 5809 Darling St. B [HAR]
Andrew Carnegie tried — and now, following his lead, a team with ties to Rice University wants to change the world with libraries, too. If it can raise $50,000 via a Kickstarter campaign, the team, whose 5 members are linked to Rice School of Architecture and Rice Design Alliance, will be able to take its talents to Ghana and build a prototype of this open-source, open-air digital agora it’s calling Librii.
And what, exactly, would it be?
Where’s all the new office space in Houston? Here, reports Metrostudy’s David Jarvis. The lemming-like red dots cramming together on the Beltway and Katy Fwy. out toward the Grand Parkway denote locations that are already under construction, totaling 12.5 million square feet of new office space. The green dots denote planned locations that would add 6 million more. The ExxonMobil campus up near the Woodlands, reports Jarvis, accounts for almost half of the new construction.
- Boom in office construction [Metrostudy]
- Previously on Swamplot: Welcome to the Land of ExxonMobil: A Tour of the Company’s New North Houston Campus
Map: Metro Study Report
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A swing and a base hit — right up the middle.
- Houston Housing Market Among Top in Nation for Affordability, Flash Sales [Houston Business Journal]
- Home Goods Designer Jonathan Adler Opening Store in West Ave Next Month [Culturemap]
- Marquette Developers Asking for Permit Extensions for Controversial West End Development [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Kroger Puts Opposed Plans for 24-Hour Gas Station in Woodlands on Hold [The Isiah Factor]
- Russo’s Italian Franchise Plans To Add Up to 20 More Locations in Houston Area [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Galveston, Kemah Hotels Reporting 90 Percent Occupancy or Better During Spring Break [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Parts of Houston ‘Abnormally Dry’; Climatologist Says City Still Needs More Rain [KUHF]
- Galveston Rolls Out New ‘It’s Island Time’ Slogan [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- The Reason Why Some New HAR Listings Are ‘Pending’ or ‘Option Pending’ [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Photo of Greenway Plaza: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
The excavator in the distance, the pick-up trucks, and the port-a-potty can mean only one thing: Here comes the Idylwood Walmart. Last week, a construction trailer showed up on the north end of the 28-acre site near the Gulf Fwy. on Wayside. This week, the heavy equipment started rolling in, chomping on trash trees along the property’s fences and churning up dust to make way for the city’s second store inside the Loop. So far, though, this proposed 185,00 sq. footer doesn’t appear to have attracted the same scorn as its predecessor on Yale St.
- 1415 Mission Dr. [HAR]
DNA TESTING HELPING TEXAS APARTMENTS DELIVER JUSTICE TO UNSCOOPED DOG POOP 
Up in Dallas, reports Click2Houston, dozens of apartment complexes are requiring tenants to file their dog’s DNA. That way, any poop that’s not cleaned up can be directed to the proper authorities — that’d be PooPrints, which uses as-seen-on-TVÂ crime-fighting technology to test the waste for DNA and finger any owner who’s not minding his dog’s business. PooPrints CEO Cedric Moses says that his company doesn’t have any contracts yet in Houston, but he has a distributor headquartered in League City who has a nose to the ground. [Click2Houston]Â Photo: Houston Pooper Scoopers
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT THE HOTEL ZAZA’S THEME ROOMS “You want the low down from an insider? I worked there for a year as a concierge. The dirty truth is that there is no dirt. There are seven multi-room suites, ten one-room concept suites and four smaller sized silly themed rooms. The smaller themed rooms are a result of the owners having too much fun while designing and decorating the hotel. They really do think the rooms are funny, it’s sad. The room in question is lovingly referred to as “The Martha Stewart†among staff. It’s not a secret, but most people don’t want to stay in it because it is so tiny. The hotel was built when bathrooms were in the hallway for guests to share so cramming a bathroom into every room made some of them very, very small. Occasionally when a guest checks in and is assigned to a room the person at the front desk forgets about the smaller themed rooms (either because they are new or because they just don’t pay enough attention) and the guest will asked to move to another room if they don’t like the size. Guests are never “paid off†to not talk about it, if they raise a big stink we would send them a bottle of champagne or offer them breakfast on the house, most people just ask what it is and have a laugh. If you go in for a tour (tell them you are thinking of staying for a birthday or something and they will show you some rooms if it’s not busy in the lobby) and ask to see the four smaller rooms they will most likely show you. So there you have it, any questions? [Cash,former employee, commenting on No, Says Hotel ZaZa, Room 322 Isn’t an Expensive Bondage Dungeon for Creeps, It’s Just Different]
ACTUALLY, SAY CRITICS, ‘ONE BIN FOR ALL’ MAYBE NOT BEST IDEA 
Mayor Parker’s prize-winning garbage program was questioned yesterday by activists and environmentalists, reports Hair Balls’ Vanessa Piña — especially because the $1 million the city won from Mayor Bloomberg seems awfully puny in light of the expected $100 million the new sorting facility could cost. And, reports Piña, critics are suggesting that “One Bin for All” seems kinda unnecessary: “There is a successful partnership between the city and waste management, and material is daily being handled. Waste Management’s single stream sorting facilities are running at an estimated 50 percent of capacity and can easily handle more if the city will only provide more carts to our citizens,” says Leo Gold. And here’s Dr. Robert Bullard, public affairs dean at Texas Southern: “For someone who has done research and written more than 18 books on this stuff it is rather odd that we would be opting for an unproven, risky idea.” [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot] Photo of recycling bin in the Heights: Charles Kuffner
Knock down the buildings with the wacky addresses first. Then come back for the rest.
