
Time for a little home gardening in Garden Oaks. Prune back heavy, and something should grow back.
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- MFAH Opens Daily Parking Lot Exhibit of ‘Curated’ Food Trucks [29-95.com]
- Rendering of Superblock Park Proposed for Midtown Superblock [Midtown Rocks]
- Hunt Begins for Developer of 1,000-Room Convention Center Hotel [Culturemap]
- Houston Averages 230 Water Main Breaks a Day [Click2Houston]
- Dayton Still Waiting on 2008 Ike Reimbursements [Cleveland Advocate]
- Hurricane Ike Dredging Debris Found Along Crystal Beach [Galveston County Daily News]
- Seawall Paid Parking Start Date Postponed [Galveston County Daily News]
- Power Rates May Increase in Texas This Summer [Click2Houston]
- Seabrook’s Pelican Grill ‘Restaurant Impossible’ Makeover Will Air in April [Bay Area Citizen]
Photo of Medical Center: darktiger via Swamplot Flickr Pool
A reader sends in this pic showing the construction going on at the former Knights of Columbus building at the corner of Dennis and Louisiana streets in Midtown. Moving into the space formerly occupied by Ruby Tequila’s Mexican Kitchen, next to Bar Munich: the first Houston location of Gloria’s, a chain of Salvadorian-style Tex Mex restaurants based in Dallas. Yes, Gloria’s is the same chain that announced last year it would be purchasing the Westheimer spot long held by Ruggles Grill. But that didn’t happen; instead, Ruggles owner Bruce Molzan sold the spot to someone else and eventually shut down his restaurant entirely.
- About Us [Gloria’s Restaurants]
- The Dallas restaurant invasion heats up: MILF-loved Tex-Mex heading to Midtown [Culturemap]
- Previously on Swamplot: Ruggles Grill on Westheimer: Gloria’s Got Your Number
Photo: Swamplot inbox
The real-estate fund that’s owned the half-vacant strip center at the southwest corner of Westheimer and Montrose for the last 4 years has put the entire 2.86-acre block up for sale. On the site now: Half Price Books, Spec’s Liquors, Papa John’s Pizza, and the 3-6-9 China Bistro in a stuccoed-over 41,838-sq.-ft. building once known as the Tower Community Center (to match the Tower Theater, now home to El Real Tex-Mex, across the street). Also included: the standalone Jack-in-the-Box on the corner of Montrose and Lovett. No list price, but broker HFF is indicating “price guidance” of $10 million or higher.
The Art Deco building still lurking beneath was designed by architect Joseph Finger in 1937, 2 years before he completed work for Houston’s city hall. Here’s how the shopping center looked then-ish, with a Walgreens on the corner of Yoakum St.:
Plus a brief star turn.
- Sports-Focused TV Studio Headed for Struggling Houston Pavilions [Culturemap]
- New Wastewater Treatment Facility Planned for Pasadena [Houston Business Journal]
- Turning a Neglected Century-Old House, Corner Store in Galveston into Low- and Moderate-Income Housing [Galveston County Daily News]
- East End’s Rufus Cage Elementary Declared Historic Landmark [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Zip Code Error Causes Outer-Loop Residents To Be Overcharged for Street Lights [Click2Houston]
- Conroe City Council Considers Tougher Ordinance To Preserve Mature Trees [Courier of Montgomery County]
- Bagby Slimming Down to One Lane in Midtown as Tunneling Construction Begins [InnerLooped]
- Memorial City Mall Debuts eVgo Charging Station [Covering Katy]
- Slideshow of Homes, Bungalows Less Than 1,000 SF Up For Grabs in Houston [Prime Property]
- Frescoes Leave Menil Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum Through the Roof [Culturemap]
Photo of Rufus Cage Elementary School: Candace Garcia
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LURE OF THE NOT SO COMPLEX APARTMENT “I’ve personally lived in all types of Montrose apartments — funky one-bedrooms, duplexes, town homes, and anthills. While the charm is nice, the real amenity older stock apartments offer is proximity to the street. Many of the big complexes are difficult to navigate and make it almost impossible for visitors to get to you. I would gladly live in a big complex if it took the same amount of time to get from my door to the street as my current place.” [paulbtucker, commenting on Comment of the Day: Funky Montrose Apartments Are in High Demand]
The upstairs-downstairs elevation of this new listing only hints at the similarly stacked interior.
A second Swamplot reader sends us a pic of another Burger King sporting what appear to be recently hacked-up live oak trees — this one at the corner of Scott St. and Cleburne. That’s far away from any freeway feeder roads, but across the street from UH’s Robertson Stadium. How recently were these trees guillotined? The reader isn’t sure, but the cuts look kinda fresh, and Google Street View is ready with images from last June showing how the sidewalk-side residents looked with their limbs still bushy and intact.
Spot any further Burger King beheadings around town? Snap a photo or 2 and send them in!
- Previously on Swamplot: Mysterious Oak Beheadings at the Yale and 610 Burger King
Photos: Swamplot inbox
CONFIRMED: NEW IPAD WILL HIT NEW HOUSTON APPLE STORE ON OPENING DAY 
To guarantee there’ll be Apple addicts camping outside the new Highland Village store on its opening day next Friday, Apple announced today that March 16 will also be the day the new iPad — yes, that’s what it’s being called — goes on sale for the first time. The Highland Village Apple Store, the company’s first not-in-a-mall store in Houston, will also be the first glass-front, glass-back, and glass-roof location to have entrances at both front and rear. Does that mean there’ll be 2 separate lines too? [Mashable; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Vinson
WHAT IS PAPPAS GOING TO DO TO MAMA’S? 
Pappas Restaurants is the new owner of Mama’s Cafe at 6019 Westheimer, west of Fountainview. The restaurant shut down over the weekend “after 30 years of serving Huevos Hofbrau and CFS,” reports the b4-u-eat newsletter. A Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is next door; a new restaurant in the former Mama’s location is expected to open in about a month, possibly with the same name. [b4-u-eat] Photo: City-Data
A little re-grilling for the Washington Ave McD’s. And time to grind a few burgers from these:
- League City Will Spend $197K To Move Compton Oak to Donated Land [Galveston County Daily News]
- Liberty County Sheriff: Watch out for Poachers Growing Marijuana on Your Property [Cleveland Advocate]
- Drought Blamed after Rotted Huffman Tree Falls on Trimmer [Click2Houston]
- Transportation Policy Council Approves $78M for US 290 Congestion-Easing Projects [Cypress Creek Mirror]
- Bellaire Keeping New Trash Pickup, Curbside Recycling Rules in Place [Bellaire Examiner]
- Highway 146 Closed This Weekend at Port Rd. for Ramp Construction [Bay Area Citizen]
- Four Finalists in National Student Competition To Reinvent Downtown Post Office [Prime Property]
- Slideshow: Alabama Theatre in the 1970s and ’80s [Bayou City History]
- How to Get Eminent Domain in Texas [State Impact]
Photo of the University of St. Thomas: bjoelio via Swamplot Flickr Pool
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FUNKY MONTROSE APARTMENTS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND “Here’s what I am seeing in Montrose this year and last year: Every nice garage apartment, side-by-side duplex, fourplex, etc brings on multiple applicants. (Sometimes renting for more than the stated price.) With several to choose from, the Landlord’s pick will have excellent credit and high income — a lot higher than you would expect for say a garage apartment. These tenants could afford to live in those shiny new apartment complexes. Easily. But they don’t want to. They want to live in the neighborhood, on a residential street. This doesn’t apply to every tenant — obviously there are more who want to live in the beehive. But the demand for funky old Montrose housing isn’t diminishing — It is tighter than ever.” [Harold Mandell, commenting on The Coming Flood of New River Oaks-Area Apartments in Montrose]
Wood shingles, gingerbread trim and a taste of a wraparound porch lend Victorian flavoring to the exterior of this new listing in the Brook Forest neighborhood of Clear Lake.
