COMMENT OF THE DAY: TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS “Undoubtedly, Walmart was attracted to Idylwood by Swamplot’s prestigious ‘Best Neighborhood’ award. I am now thankful my beloved River Oaks was omitted from the contest.” [LandedGent, commenting on Surprise! Walmart Buying Land Next to Idylwood for Houston’s First Inner-Loop SuperCenter]
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It’s not clear exactly who it was that first noticed the oh, maybe 9- or 10-inch-tall object sitting upright in the background of a bathroom photo included in the for-sale listing on Cressida Glen Ln. in Crescent Park Village. The listing for the Alief property — just minutes from the Westpark Tollway! — was first posted 15 days ago, but it wasn’t until early yesterday morning that email and online discussions about it really got going. The photo caption read “Large master with jacuzzi tub” and showed the sink, toilet, and a bit of the shower curtain, but that’s not what caught your attention. “I called [the real estate agent] to give her a heads up and she hung up [on] me so I took a picture to post on the internet for eternity,” a Reddit user commented around 1 pm. An hour or so later, the photo was gone from the listing.
What photo? The NSFW one below:
The first-ever inside-The-Loop Walmart SuperCenter will be built near the corner of South Wayside Dr. and the Gulf Freeway, a source tells Swamplot. The 28-acre site sits between Idylwood and I-45; according to a preliminary site plan currently making the rounds in that neighborhood, the store’s main entrance will be from Wayside, which also serves as the freeway entrance to a few other eastside neighborhoods, including Country Club Place and Forest Park.
According to Swamplot’s source, a real-estate entity connected to Walmart has an 8-month option to buy the property, home to 6 vacant warehouse buildings that once served as a distribution center for Oshman’s — as well as the former corporate offices of the defunct sporting goods company. Walmart has been completing its analysis of the property and is less than 30 days away from completing the land purchase, for a price of $35 a sq. ft., the source says.
Isn’t Walmart already planning its first Inner-Loop store on the other side of Downtown — just south of the Heights? Yes, but that store won’t be a SuperCenter. The Idylwood store is expected to measure approximately 210,000 sq. ft. — almost 60,000 sq. ft. larger than the planned Washington Heights District location. The site plan of the Idylwood store, which is not final (and which we’ve rotated to fit below), shows an asphalt parking lot with 722 spaces, plus a garden center on the store’s south side:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
And that house on Kimberley in Nottingham West? Something will make it go crack.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN THE HORMONE STIMULUS WEARS OFF “A bad economy causes low testosterone levels so it’s not surprising low-grade breastauranteurs are suffering. The only thing up is the stock market and that’s only because the Fed is gobbling Viagra, which will wear off any quarter now.” [DanaX, commenting on What Killed Houston’s Tilted Kilt?]
A reader who says he’s always been curious what the gaudiest house in Houston looks like on the inside tells Swamplot his wish has come true — now that photos of this 5-bedroom just-outside-the-Beltway home at 12930 Memorial Dr. have been published on MLS. Four readers have written in to express awe at its appearance. “I’m not sure how to even begin describing the living area decor,” writes another, who also seems transfixed on the “giant high heel and giant lady statues (or are those murals?) in the entryway,” as well as the mermaid-themed master bathroom.
The HBJ’s Jennifer Dawson picks up an interesting detail about Springwoods Village, the mysterious eco-themed community being planned by a mysterious company for 1,800 mostly forested acres just south of the Woodlands, at the intersection of I-45, the Hardy Toll Road, and (someday) the Grand Parkway. Coventry Development, still won’t talk about the project’s connection to the rumored but not-yet-announced corporate campus ExxonMobil appears to be building next door, which is expected to consolidate most employees currently based in Houston and Fairfax, Virginia. But it sure looks like Coventry is banking on something big close by: Development director Keith Simon tells Dawson that
Coventry will develop commercial parcels in Springwoods before the residential acreage. The company’s strategy is to build commercial first to create tax value that will funnel money through the tax district to fund infrastructure.
Building standalone office parks and strip centers in the middle of a forest is, of course, a time-honored Houston development tradition. More often these days though, the sprawling houses go in first. But if the major centralized campus of the second-largest publicly traded company in the world is going to bring in thousands of workers nearby pretty soon anyway, yeah — what’s the point?
Happy to leak to you the actual addresses of actual buildings posted for destruction:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ALL THE NEW THAT FITS “What exactly would be ‘in character construction’ in the Heights? Run-down 2-story apartment from the 1960s next to a body shop next to a faux Victorian?” [MarkM, commenting on Studewood Place: Some New Building Behind the 11th St. Someburger]
The sole Houston location of The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery, on Hwy. 6 between Westheimer and Briar Forest Dr., has closed. A reader, who writes that the popular breastaurant “always had a full parking lot whenever I drove by,” wants to know why. Sadly, the folks at the company’s Las Vegas HQ haven’t answered any of our questions directly. Instead, Swamplot readers, here’s your vague but perhaps carefully worded statement, purporting to give the lowdown on just how tough it is to run a little Vegas-style beer, wings, and skimpy costumes show out there in West Oaks:
Will the rumored reality TV show featuring Leslie Tyler Fink ever reach the airwaves? Or are these listing pics the best view you’ll ever get of the house the “lifestyle expert” and her husband (pictured at left) own in a gated subdivision just west of Uptown Park, and which the U.S. Attorney’s office has identified as “property involved in, or traceable to, money laundering”? Leslie and Randy Fink bought the the 4,096-sq.-ft. home at 5 Wynden Oaks Dr. 2 years ago for $740,000 in cash, but the entire amount (plus an additional $8,980 to cover closing costs) was wired in for the closing courtesy of Leslie’s pal Jonathan Barnes — as a gift, the Chronicle‘s Tom Fowler reported last week. How generous! Sadly, Barnes — who worked as a marine chartering manager at Houston Refining (now part of LyondellBasell), was indicted late last year along with two oil traders for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar kickback scheme. According to the Feds, Barnes’s thoughtful house gift came from funds “traceable to . . . unlawful activity,” and the ill-gotten property, which is named as the plaintiff in a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, is therefore subject to forfeiture if Barnes is convicted. Isn”t this exactly the kind of stuff great reality TV shows are built from?
“Drama right?! . . . This is going to be one of the episodes for the show,” the apparently unflappable Fink — who identifies herself as “princess of the modern Houstonian socialites” on one of her websites — declared last week in an email she sent to CultureMap’s Shelby Hodge. Can’t wait to see footage of the parties!
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE GOOD OL’ DAYS AT THE HOUTEX INN “I stayed there once for a few hours. It was nice.” [sally01, commenting on Houtex Inn, Round 2]
The Lovett Inn bed and breakfast may soon become a Montrose crash pad for globetrotting youngsters. Owner Dan Lueken tells Swamplot that he’s in negotiations to sell the 1923 home of former Houston Mayor Joseph C. Hutcheson to Hostelling International.
Lueken says the property at 501 Lovett St. is under contract, but that a closing date has not been determined, and that certain negotiations about the property are “ongoing.” Lueken has owned and lived in the Lovett Inn for 7 years. “They approached me,” he says, “And I decided to move on and do other things.” If the sale goes through, this will be Hostelling International’s second hostel in Texas. The organization manages a network of 60 properties in the U.S. and many more around the world; the nearest location is in Austin. Visitors of all ages are allowed to stay at HI properties (a membership is required), but the organization says the majority of its guests are between 18 and 30.
Having awarded a “development of distinction” award last night to New Hope Housing’s Brays Crossing project, ULI Houston is now letting y’all see the promo video, a slightly different version of which we posted briefly last week. Details and videos on other award winners here.
- Distinction Awards [ULI-Houston]
- Previously on Swamplot: What Happened to the Houtex Inn, A “Deep Renovation†Gone Wrong