Possibly the largest house numbers in Houston belong to this painted-brick structure at — what is it? Oh, yeah — 2101 Banks St. in Boulevard Oaks. Among the perks available with the revamped 1935 home: built-in bookcases in the entryway, a 2-story back porch overlooking a landscaped back yard, and a vastly reduced likelihood that you’ll ever receive someone else’s mail by mistake.
Note: Story updated and corrected below.
Anadarko Petroleum announced to its employees last week that the company is ready to begin constructing a second office tower just west of its existing headquarters building in The Woodlands Town Center, a source tells Swamplot. The new building will fit on the corner of Lake Robbins Dr. and Woodloch Forest Dr., just south of The Woodlands Mall, and like the current tower will be visible from miles south on I-45. At the announced 31 stories, the new structure would be one floor shorter taller.
According to the report, parking will account for the building’s first 10 floors, though the renderings included in the announcement (above) appear to show a garage a bit shorter than that. The remaining floors are planned to accommodate company growth. Construction is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014. Anadarko did not announce the building’s contractor or architect.
Update, 1:25 pm: Groundbreaking is expected in a few weeks, our source adds; workers are beginning to clear the lot this week.
Renderings: Swamplot inbox
Workers began taking down the engraved stone Stanford Financial Group sign embedded in the facade of the company’s former headquarters building at 5050 Westheimer last Friday, reader Andrew Tyler reports with this tweeted photo. Federal law enforcement officials raided the building and Stanford Financial offices in Galleria Tower II almost 3 years ago; company founder Allen Stanford was arrested 4 months later. In July of 2010, Woodlands-based Black Forest Ventures bought the 3-story, 71,000-sq.-ft. structure across the street from the Galleria for $12.5 million.
Photo: Andrew Tyler
No permits were sold on MLK Day. Check back here tomorrow for the latest dust cloud locations.
Photo of Buffalo Bayou Overpasses: Thomas Hawk [license]
OFF TODAY FOR MLK 
Swamplot will be back with more Houston real estate fun — tomorrow! Photo of Southeast Line Construction on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: Candace Garcia
The biggest names in Houston demolition — for today, at least:
Photo of marathoners on the Elysian Viaduct: abc13
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE DRIVE HOME “I work in the Galleria. When I leave work, all of the main roads near my office and pretty much gridlocked. The first leg of my journey home (from the office to passing under the West Loop is 2 miles, and can take me as much as 30 minutes. (The rest of the trip, once I’m past 610, is a lot better.) That’s 4 mph, or the speed of a brisk walk. I’d get home faster walking. But I have no other choices. The bus sits in the same traffic and then would involve transfers and take about 2x as long as driving. That’s a normal day. Bad weather? Worse. And what happens as Houston grows and more and more people are using those roads? Where do you build more street capacity in the Galleria? We have a non-scalable system in a growing city, and our needs have already surpassed our transportation model in places. It’s only going to get worse. And what if you don’t have money? What if you have a disability that keeps you from driving – so much for being productive, you can’t get to work. What about when you get old and can’t drive? Sorry, go sit and rot. That’s freedom?” [John (another one), commenting on Comment of the Day: Parking Lot City]
Will the Decentralized Dance Party scheduled for Houston this weekend even happen? Not if fundraising goals aren’t met in time, declares the event’s Facebook page, and with less than 10 hours left only $591 of the required $999 has been raised on Kickstarter. What’s a Decentralized Dance Party? Exactly what it sounds like: a portable event made possible by a radio transmitter, lots of boomboxes, and at least dozens — and in most cities it’s been thousands — of committed partygoers ready to travel wherever the party takes them and all moving to the same synchronized beat. Begun in Canada a few years ago, the event is hitting Houston at least in part because one of the event’s originators, Gary Lachance (on the right wearing sunglasses in the above video), was also part of a small group of people that bought the entire contents of a small grocery store in New York’s West Village last year — on credit, just for kicks:
Apartment developer Marvy Finger tells Nancy Sarnoff that he’s the developer who’s buying the Fiesta Food Mart on the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy — and planning to build a 6-to-8-story complex in its place. Finger says the closing is scheduled for February, and that he’s looking to fit 390 apartments onto the 3.68-acre site. Finger has charged architects Wallace Garcia Wilson with designing something “Mediterranean” — presumably a structure dressed up in that style will fit the neighborhood better than Lake Flato’s new H-E-B Montrose Market across the street, the modern Menil Collection campus nearby, the many bungalows and brick homes surrounding the site in Lancaster Place, and the occasional new gallery along West Alabama. “We’re going to try to create something really beautiful,” he tells Sarnoff.
Photo of Downtown Skyline: Sarah Worthy [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FREEDOM, HOUSTON STYLE “Cars rule!!! And so does Houston. I’ve traveled the world and have friends and family in major metropolises from coast to coast. Those cities are nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Nearly every move outside your front door involves some sort of calculus including: time of day; parking availability; parking cost; potential grid lock; cab fare; cab availability; buses schedules; bus fare; bus routes; train routes, train schedules; train fare; the weather; public safety; shoe comfort vs shoe style; umbrellas; rain coats; etc. Call me crazy, but I place a high value on knowing that I can jump in my car 24/7 and drive wherever I want to go with full confidence that there will be ample and usually free parking in very close proximity to my destination. In Houston I go where I want, when I want. Usually with ease. It’s called freedom. . . .” [Bernard, commenting on Comment of the Day: Parking Lot City]
Liquid Gold Hospitality Group partner Stephen Ross tells Swamplot he and his companies have no involvement in Gravitas Restaurant’s lease of the building at 807 Taft St. or with any of the recently closed restaurant’s financing arrangements. “Until recent comments, we were under the impression that we parted on good terms,” Ross says of his relationship with Gravitas owner Scott Tycer. After shutting down Gravitas this past Sunday, Tycer sent a notice to employees and a couple of online publications claiming that the closure had been “driven by the failure of Liquid Gold Hospitality, under the terms of our Operating Agreement with them, to maintain current payments on our bank note.”
Ross’s Coconut Grove was under a management contract with Gravitas that began in May, Ross responds — but the company’s involvement had ended by November: “Liquid Gold Hospitality Group was NEVER involved officially in any of this, however, some principals of Liquid Gold are affiliated with Coconut Grove,” Ross says. “Mr. Tycer has chosen to close the restaurant for his own reasons, none of which involve Coconut Grove, Ltd or Liquid Gold Hospitality Group, LLC.”
Photo: Eater Houston
