COMMENT OF THE DAY: ALLISON’S AIM WASN’T TRUE “. . . The phrase ‘I didn’t flood during Allison . . .’ doesn’t mean anything. Most of Houston didn’t flood in Allison either because they didn’t get the large volumes of rain that portion of the city received. Many areas of Houston flood during minor summer storms, but didn’t flood during Allison. It always just depends where and when the rain falls and also if the runoff compounds downstream.” [kjb434, commenting on Riverside Terrace Stucco Redo, With or Without Garage]
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Columns accent the front porch — and are left to define rooms in the opened up floor plan of this $323,900 listing that popped up over the weekend in Candlelight Woods, south of Pinemont Dr. The shady northern approach to the 1964 ranch-style home is a contrast to its brighter pool-view side at the back of the home. Meanwhile, just beyond the back fence, there’s a patch of veggie garden — and a path along a ravine off nearby White Oak Bayou. CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
What’s going to replace the Willowick Court Townhomes (at right) at the corner of West Alabama and Las Palmas, west of Weslayan? Newer townhomes — at least for the strip along the west side of Las Palmas, on the western edge of the property. It’ll be covered with 38 3-story townhomes, about a dozen of them with rooftop patios. For the larger portion of the 11-acre site, Martin Fein Interests is planning 2 big blocks of apartments. The block pictured above from West Alabama will have 325 units in 6 stories on top of a 2-level parking garage, with a garden and pool in the courtyard and towers at the corners. Another 188-unit block lining West Main will have 7 stories on top of a single-level garage and feature an 8th-floor wine bar on the southeast corner (at left in the above image), a source tells Swamplot. The view below shows that building’s southeast corner, with the larger structure visible beyond it:
- Nordstrom To Open at The Woodlands Mall Sears Site by Fall 2014 [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- Commercial, Residential Development Planned for 128 Acres at I-10, Katy-Fort Bend Rd. in Katy [Houston Chronicle]
- $4.9M Renovations Begin on Sylvan Beach Pavilion in La Porte [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Luby’s-Fuddruckers Combo Now Open in Pearland [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
- A Brief History of the Galleria, Houston’s Milan Arcade-Inspired Mall [Houston Chronicle]
- Galveston Ends Busiest Tourist Season Since Ike with 44,000 Visitors over Labor Day Weekend [Houston Chronicle]
- Webster, Pearland Hotel June Revenues Hit Record-Breaking Numbers [Pearland Journal]
- Wooden Pedestrian Bridge in Grogan’s Mill Closed Following Heavy Rains [Woodlands Villager]
- In Spring, One Man’s Pet Chickens Are Another Man’s Loud, Smelly Nuisance [abc13]
- What You Can Learn from Other People’s Water Bill Disputes [Houston Advocate]
- Commuters Wanted for Online Survey on Katy Fwy.’s Toll Lanes [KUHF]
Photo of BBVA Compass Stadium: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool
COMMENT OF THE DAY: OUTGOING APARTMENT WARNING “And one other thing for all you lovers of vintage Inner Loop apartments. . . . A much larger bomb is about to be dropped.” [Bernard, commenting on Boulevard Oaks Kicks Out the Apartments on Poe Corner]
A bit like icing, the stucco smoothed over the exterior of this renovated-to-the-studs 1930Â brick home in Riverside Terrace was a finishing touch. Interior work reconfigured some of the space and added “engineered wood” flooring, fresh paint, and carpet, plus new wiring, plumbing, and HVAC. In mid-April 2012, the property changed hands at $67,000 after 3 months on the market — it was initially priced at $110,500, with $10K-or-so reductions coming every few weeks. The completed project appeared a week and a half ago as a new listing — for $249,900, though for an extra $20K prior to closing, the seller will add a 2-car garage to go with that new driveway:
Tenants in a bank of courtyard-style apartment complexes across from Poe Elementary School at the northwest corner of North Blvd. and Hazard St. have received notices that their structures have been sold and will be demolished, so that the buyer can build single-family dwellings in their place. “I know one tenant has a lease until May 2013,” a source tells Swamplot, “but they are offering free rent for Sep/Oct if the tenant agrees to vacate by Nov 1.” Another tipster claims the buyer is Lovett Homes, and that the homebuilder plans to build 6 new “very high end” homes on the property.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday city offices were open.
This time let’s take things down a notch. From the top:
- UTMB Planning $82M Expansion of Victory Lakes Specialty Care Center [Galveston County Daily News]
- Hines To Announce New Multifamily Project ‘Near Upper Kirby, River Oaks Areas’ [Houston Chronicle]
- Sovereign Tower Developer Aiming for Pedestrian-Friendly Apartment Complex [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- Ashby Highrise Battle Influences Memorial, Sugar Land Protests [Houston Chronicle]
- Repairing a Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Home Along Sims Bayou [Houston Chronicle]
- Transportation Officials Considering Freeway Roundabout Around Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Home To 4 Of TxDot’s 10 Most Congested Highway Stretches [Hair Balls]
- Highway Tolls Going Up 25 Cents, 10 Cents for EZ Tag Users Starting This Saturday [Click2Houston]
- Armed Lifeguard Officers To Patrol Galveston Beaches Another Year [Galveston County Daily News]
- Pay No Attention to the Brown Leaves; Relocated Ghirardi Compton Oak in ‘Great Shape’ [Galveston County Daily News]
- Space-Tech Cameras May Help Spot Wildfires [KUHF]
- West Nile-Infected Mosquitoes Could Be on the Decline, Say Officials [KUHF]
- Buc-ee’s a Finalist in Contest for Most Popular Restroom [Newswatch]
Photo of MD Anderson’s Zayed Building, 6565 MD Anderson Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
AN UPDATED GUIDEBOOK TO HOUSTON BUILDINGS NEW AND THROUGH 
The third edition of the Houston Architectural Guide won’t be available officially until October 8th, but the Houston AIA is now taking pre-orders through September at a discounted price (PDF). The latest version of the encyclopedic catalog and tour guide, updated by Stephen Fox, will include 340 new entries covering structures that have popped up in the last 13 years — plus a whole bunch more from the last edition, moved to the back-of-the-book “now demolished” section. [AIA Houston]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MACKIE AND KAMRATH DENTAL BUILDING WAS GETTING A BIT LONG IN THE TOOTH “That building may have looked good from the outside (from a distance; up close you could see the re-bar holding the granite slabs on) but it was WAY outdated on the inside. No way was it set up for a class of 100 students, which is what the School of Dentistry now enrolls every year. I taught in a basement classroom there for 4 years. Between the complete lack of reliable electricity to all of the outlets and the jury-rigged data cables and conduits, it was a minor miracle we didn’t burn the place down or break someone’s neck during labs. And don’t get me started on the thermostats! Never knew if I was gonna need a sweater or a shower after class.” [Sunsets, commenting on M.D. Anderson Planning To Extract Dental Branch from Med Center]
The lone residential unit atop the Proguard Self Storage office at the corner of Heights Blvd. and Center St. is available for you to rent — and of course fill up with stuff. Unlike the other units located on the premises, this one comes with a kitchen, a washer and dryer, and an actual bathroom, but lacks roll-up doors. Like the other units, it’s all bills paid. Shaded parking is available under this wooden structure against the north fence, past the controlled-access gate:
The sign isn’t up yet, but this new classroom building at the University of Houston’s business school is being named after a human-resources company. Insperity gave the school $8 million, apparently enough to warrant the company’s name appearing in 1-1/2-ft.-tall neon-backlit letters at the top of Insperity Center. According to a UH document, the sign should be clearly visible to visitors on the west side of campus.
The 140,000-sq.-ft. building, previously referred to as the “classroom and business building,” just opened west of the Bauer College of Business’s Melcher Hall. Construction began in 2009.
Photo: HAIF user fatesdisastr
In which we rid ourselves of these beasts: