A second-story job might be screened by strategically-unfurling treetops, but it’s still hard to miss the stacked silhouette on a Meyerland-area street of single-story homes in Marilyn Estates, south of Brays Bayou near Chimney Rock.
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Pelicans are symbols of self-sacrifice, said to pierce their own breast with their own beak to feed their young their blood. But the birds also have real big gullets — fitting, then, as the name of this 4,000-sq.-ft. restaurant under construction at 7819 Broadway in Galveston.
But the restaurant is just one part of the Pelican Rest Marina project developed by Harry Schulz. Across Offatts Bayou from Moody Gardens, the marina’s already operating as a fuel dock and weigh station. And construction is expected to begin soon on seaside condos:
- 10710 Bob White Dr. [HAR]
- Nalco Energy Services Expands in Sugar Land, Buys 18.5 Acres in Imperial Master-Planned Community [Houston Business Journal]
- Indoor Aquatic Facility To Start Construction at Golf, Wakefield in Oak Forest in Next Few Days [The Leader]
- Heights Starting To Mirror East Downtown with Addition of Lucky’s Near Little Woodrow’s [Eater Houston]
- Piney Point Village Mansion $5.9M Asking Price Gets You All the Furnishings, Including Ken Lay’s Desk [abc13]
- City Says CenterPoint May Be Overcharging 400,000 Gas Customers by More Than $15M a Year [Houston Chronicle]
- 150 People Expected To Take ‘Polar Plunge’ at Galveston’s Stewart Beach This Saturday [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Southwest Freeway at Montrose: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SLEEPY INNER LOOP “This complaining about what urban core growth will do to traffic and parking (make it worse / more difficult) is long past repetitive. It IS the middle of a growing, thriving city folks. Easy traffic in areas like the Heights and Montrose was an accidental luxury offered as a result of those areas having stagnated at low densities for so many decades until they were rediscovered by the market at large. Having a good connected street grid helped too (compare to major thoroughfare-and-cul-de-sac suburbs where congestion is nightmarish as soon as the subdivisions and strip malls are finished). But now the urban core is desirable, more investment, more people with disposable income, and yes, cars. Are we somehow supposed to be different from congested Los Angeles (which has much better transit and pedestrian infrastructure, by the way)? Will congestion in our central neighborhoods hurt your fondness for Houston? I seriously doubt it. We’re a great city. And if it bothers you enough to leave, three others who are quite willing to live with the traffic will replace you. And if we ever improved walkability and transit service enough, it would be six more people.” [Local Planner, commenting on Stealing a Glance at Proposed Alexan Heights on Yale]
Back in 2010, Skanska said it was going to build and finance an office building in the Galleria all on its own. Swamplot showed you the first and second Kirksey-designed renderings. This one’s the third. And there’s another detail to add to the story: Skanska announced today that Datacert will be the first tenant. Though the planned 20-story, 300,000-sq.-ft. building at 3009 Post Oak is still under construction, Skanska says that Datacert should be able to move in on the 10th and 11th floors later this summer. Right now, the 15-year-old “enterprise legal management solutions” company is headquartered in a building a few doors down at 3040 Post Oak.
- Previously on Swamplot: First Sign of Skanska: Where the New Spec Office Tower Near the Galleria Will Go, Skanska Post Oak Tower: We Don’t Need a Bank To Build This
Rendering: Swamplot inbox
A fire to one of the pits at Central Texas Style has forced the Pearland barbecue joint to shut down — but only for a few days. The older of their two pits, reports the Houston Chronicle, got a little carried away late Tuesday night, though Pearland Fire Marshal’s spokesperson Sparkle Anderson says the damage appears to be minimal. Since the fire, updates to Central Texas Style’s Facebook page suggest they hope to be back up and smoking at 4110 W. Broadway by Thursday or Friday.
- Fire damages popular Pearland eatery [Houston Chronicle]
- Central Texas Style BBQ [Facebook]
Photos: Central Texas Style BBQ (storefront); Facebook (fire)
- 1231 Rue de la Paix Way [HAR]
THE ART GUYS GO TO THE LIBRARY 
A Swamplot reader says that the eponymous live oak (shown at right) in “The Art Guys Marry a Plant,” acquired by the Menil Collection in 2011, has been uprooted from Menil Park. Art Guy Jack Massing “didn’t want to say where the tree has gone,” reports the Houston Chronicle: “‘We’ve got it all taken care of,’ he said.” Instead, he wanted to talk about the Art Guys’ 30 years of working together; they’re planning “12 Events:” a year of once-a-month “behaviors” beginning on January 23 with a marathon autograph session at the Julia Ideson Library on McKinney: “They see signatures as something both basic and profound that’s evolved from the simplest mark making — drawing a line — into a legally-binding expression of identity. ‘People say they can’t draw, yet they have a signature. It’s a way of drawing your identity with a linguistic connection so you can be relevant in the world,’ Massing said. ‘It’s simple and basic, and yet incredibly profound.'” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Robert Boyd
- Houston Home Sales Up 23 percent in 2012, Drive Inventory to 13-Year Low [Houston Business Journal]
- Woodlands, Cinco Ranch Among Nation’s Top-Selling Master Planned Communities [Prime Property]
- Downtown Businesses Lobby for Greenlink to Extend Hours, Offer Nighttime Shuttle Service [My Table]
- Study Determines That The Woodlands Doesn’t Need Expanded Park-and-Ride Service [Woodlands Villager]
- Metro Selects Consulting Team for ‘Transit System Re-Imagining Project’ [Houston Tomorrow]
- Houston Pavilions Food Truck Service So Popular It Will Extend into February [Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Makes Short List of Top Moving Destinations in 2012 [Prime Property]
- Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion No. 2 Amphitheater in the World for Ticket Sales [Houston Business Journal]
- What Has Happened to Washington Avenue? [Rocks Off]
Photo of light rail: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
The sporty midsize sedans are probably not included, but this rendering — included in a replat application to be voted on Thursday by the city planning commission — does give us a clue about what Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow might be considering for the 3.5-acre Heights lot between Yale and Allston that Swamplot reported on last week.
A FAKE STREET FOR REAL ESTATE SHOPPERS IN SPRING 
Opening in February, reports CultureMap, is a 10,000-sq.-ft. real estate “park” where a dozen lavishly turned-out showcase homes, ranging in styles from “The Midtown” to “The Calais” to “The Ashby Manor,” are presented for your perusal on a private cul-de-sac near I-45. Think of the immersive, don’t-mind-if-I-do shopping at IKEA blown up to the scale of Disney World — except at MainStreet America there will be fireworks and Christmases and tailgating parties and almost everything will be for sale: “Do you like the paint color, the metallic faux technique on the ceiling or the graphic wallpaper accent in the bedroom? The details are available and so are the prices. In fact, you can make the purchase on site. If that couch, occasional table or rug is what you are looking for, swap that credit card and have them delivered. Floral arrangements? Yes, those are for sale as well. Mirrors? Check. Artwork? In stock. Window treatments? You bet.” Admission for adults is only $10; children aged 5-17 can get in for half that. [CultureMap] Photo: MainStreet America
We shall see whether art can have a trickle-down effect: Glasstire reports that Patrick Renner will be taking a few loads of reclaimed wood and building this 185-foot “Funnel Tunnel” among the trees on the esplanade near Inversion and the Art League Houston at 1953 Montrose; the Houston-based sculptor will be piecing it together starting February 1.
- Renner Funnel Tunnel Coming [Glasstire]
Drawing: Glasstire
