Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A former wheel repair shop is pulled out of rotation, plus some Rice Military turnover:
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Construction appears to have picked up lately on the not-yet-named bar going up on the corner of Emancipation Ave and Rosewood St., according to the photo at top sent in by a Swamplot reader. The new structure is across the street from longstanding Third Ward watering hole Dbar and its adjacent parking lot. (Formerly known as Dowling Street Lounge, Dbar did away with that name around the same time that Dowling St. became Emancipation Ave.)
The new build on the west side of the street looks to include a few parking spots of its own on both Emancipation and Rosewood. One casualty of the work so far: the sign shown above telling truckers not to use Rosewood as a thru-street to the 288 feeder, which runs one block west of the construction site.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
4420 Emancipation
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- Houston Endowment Buys 1.5 Acres Overlooking Spotts Park To Build New HQ on Former YWCA Site [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Discovery Green Renovations Include More Playgrounds, Energy Efficient Lighting, and a Repurposed Hill [Houston Chronicle]
- After All That Flooding, Houston’s Midcentury Homes Are Disappearing [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Chinese Company Hailiang Group Applying for Tax Incentives for New Manufacturing Facility on 57 Acres in Sealy [HBJ ($)]
- After Losing Last Studio to Harvey, KHOU Moving into New Digs at 5718 Westheimer This Week [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of Discovery Green: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
An apartment complex, a distribution center, a church — demolition always delivers.
- 16201 Wall St. [HAR]
After decades of conformity, the house at 415 Aurora St. recently set itself apart from the other old bungalows on the block between Arlington and Columbia streets. So long to the pale green paintjob that left it camouflaged in with the lawn and the landscaping; the house wears all black now. And in the spots where typical siding once finished off the roof gables, big glass openings have taken over.
The view they afford, from the loft at the top of the spiral staircase:
In the Black
- Besting Rem Koolhaas, Studio Gang, and David Chipperfield, Architect Farshid Moussavi Selected to Design Long-Promised Ismaili Center at Corner of Allen Pkwy. and Montrose [Houston Chronicle]
- If Killen’s BBQ Pizza Experiment with Papa John’s Goes Well, Houston Could Score a Killen’s-Brand Pizzeria [Culturemap]
- Braun Enterprises Buys Yorktown Plaza Near Galleria with Renovation, Retail Redevelopment Plans [HBJ]
- Two Former Uchi Chefs Team Up for Kokoro, a Sushi Spot Opening Soon at Bravery Chef Hall Downtown [Eater]
- Dollar Tree has Tentative Plans for 1.2M SF Distribution Center in Rosenberg [HBJ]
- Junior’s Produce To Take Over Canino’s Spot Selling Farm-Fresh Goods at Heights Farmers Market [Houston Chronicle]
- Coworking Company Spaces Doubles Houston Locations, Leasing Space in GreenStreet, CityCentre [HBJ]
- Newly Elected Fort Bend DA Asks School Board To Halt Construction and Keep Convict Remains in Their Resting Place [Houston Public Media]
Photo of Hardy Yards: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The former Berger Ironworks complex is going to the dogs, and Dot Coffee Shop gets crossed out along the Gulf Freeway:
- 9414 Appin Falls Dr. [HAR]
BUC-EE’S’S FIRST OUT-OF-STATE LOCATION SUED FOR SELLING GAS TOO CHEAP 
Well, that was fast. Two weeks after opening, Buc-ee’s first out-of-state location in Robertsdale, Alabama has become the target of a federal lawsuit brought by a rival travel center chain that claims the newcomer has been violating the Alabama Motor Fuel Marketing Act, reports John Sharp of Al.com. The 35-year-old law prohibits gas stations from selling fuel for less than it costs to buy and transport it to a retailer. Between the store’s grand opening on January 21 and the end of the month, its regular gas prices have fluctuated between $1.80 and $1.87 per gallon, according to the plaintiff, Oasis Travel Center (whose location 4 miles east of the Buc-ee’s on I-10 features something it calls the Derailed Diner, a Southern-style restaurant built to look like a train car that crashed into the rest of the building). According to AAA, the average price of gas in the area has stayed much closer to $2 flat since Buc-ee’s arrived. [Al.com; previously on Swamplot]
The 0.4-acre property on Westheimer a few blocks west east of Weslayan St. where developer Randall Davis hopes to build a 20-ish-story condo tower has been listed for sale on commercial real estate portal CoStar, however, the highrise project is still in the works, a representative of the broker tells Swamplot. In the meantime, the site remains home to the closed-down Krispen furniture store pictured at top, whose owner, Pamela Parker, sold it back in late 2017 and vacated it after the new year.
The rendering shown above of what Randall Davis wants to do the site emerged early last month as part of a variance request that the developer submitted, seeking permission to build the tower closer to Westheimer than is typically allowed. Before the city planning commission could weigh in on the request, however, documents outlining single-family deed restrictions for the site turned up, and Davis withdrew his petition. A public hearing, at which the commission would consider getting rid of the deed restrictions, hasn’t yet been scheduled.
- Previously on Swamplot: Dusting-Off of Old Deed Restrictions Prompts Westgrove Court Highrise Hopefuls To Plan for a Public Hearing; Randall Davis Wants To Put This 20-Story Condo Highrise on Westheimer Just East of Weslayan St.
Photo: LoopNet. Rendering: Houston Planning Commission
Where Krispen Left Off
The yellow excavator pictured above showed up yesterday in the driveway behind 912 Marshall St., a roughly 100-year-old home that’s been empty since its previous owners moved out December, according to a neighbor. Its new owner, an entity known simply as Montrose & Marshall LLC, also holds the deed to the vacant third-of-an-acre field next door that ends at the corner of — as you might expect — Montrose Blvd. and Marshall St.
Formerly home to a lowrise building, the deserted lot more recently served as a parking lot and is now doing time as a grassy backdrop for Bacco’s Wine Garden’s boozy patio next door:
912 Marshall St.
- Texas Had the Fifth-Highest Gross Square Footage Per Capita of New LEED-Certified Space in the Country Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company Seeking Tax Incentives for New Facility on 1,700 Acres in Orange, Texas [HBJ ($)]
- Congresswoman Fletcher Vows To Help METRO Seek Funding, Support for Public Transit Expansion [Houston Public Media]
- Wood Partners Building 7-Story, 204-Unit Alta Washington Avenue Apartments on Former Industrial Site [PR Newswire; previously on Swamplot]
- Pearland Delays Planned Med Center and Downtown Park and Ride Routes from Shadow Creek Ranch [Community Impact]
- Houston Trust Ditches Downtown Office Space, Leaving 1001 Fannin for 3737 Buffalo Speedway [HBJ ($)]
- Galveston Officials Deviating from Street-Focused Approach of 2003 Drainage Plan, Instituting More Stringent Drainage Requirements for New Developments [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Stude Park: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
