Northline
12/13/10 12:23pm

Wake Me When They Add Paintball: Walmart’s New Dollar Ice Cream and Juice Bar Stunner

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A reader who says he’s been to many Walmarts tells Swamplot he was “stunned” to find this ice-cream counter and juice bar in the newly opened store at Northline Commons off I-45 near Crosstimbers — “serving horchata no less.” The new section is near the produce and bakery. Stunned? Really?

It makes so much sense for walmart to do this when you consider the number of kids who tag along with their parents. I also [saw] lots of kids and adults eating ice-cream in store while shopping. And at $1 they will be eating coldstone’s lunch pretty soon. . . . the only other store i can think of that has ice cream counters in store is costco. So the all around awesomeness of it was what stunned me i guess.

Photos: Swamplot inbox

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Awards
12/13/10 10:27am

On with the Swampies!

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Nominations closed at midnight last night for the first 2 of the 10 categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Later today, we’ll announce the official nominees and open the voting for these categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Teardown.

This means there are now less than 14 hours left to make your nominations for the next 2 categories, which are new this year: Parking Lot of the Year and Drive-Thru of the Year. Take a look at the nominations other readers in the comments for each of those posts. Are any obvious contenders missing? If you’ve got a parking lot or drive-thru you’d like to add, do it now! Nominations for these 2 categories will close at midnight tonight.

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Awards
12/10/10 3:42pm

Can You Help the Swampies?

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Voting begins next week for the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. All 10 categories in the competition have now been announced. Some terrific nominations have already come in for many of them, but we still need your help to make sure that all the candidates are the right ones, and that each is presented in the best possible light.

So if you find anything missing from any award category, please add your nomination now! Or if you think you can improve on any of the explanations submitted with a nomination you like, feel free to write in with your own better presentation. If you see a nomination without an explanation, please add a good one! Got photos of any of the nominees? Please send them!

This Sunday at midnight, nominations will close for the first two award categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Teardown. On Monday, we’ll announce the official slate of nominees for those awards and open them for voting. For the next 2 categories we’ll close nominations Monday night and open the voting on Tuesday, then continue that way through the week with the rest of the categories.

There’s still plenty of time to contribute. Add your nominations to the comments section below the post that announces each category. Or send them to us in an email. Who are the contenders in Houston real estate this year? What deserves recognition?

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Demolitions
12/10/10 1:44pm

Jerry J. Moore’s French Chateau Is Still With Us — At Least Most of It

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Back in August, Swamplot noted that a demolition permit had been purchased for the home at 306 E. Friar Tuck, the notable former estate of strip-mall king Jerry J. Moore. Moore’s chateau was a true Houston-style original. In other words, it wasn’t your usual pretentious imitation of some old building style from some faraway country; instead, it was an imitation at least reputed to have included actual original old French building parts transported from across centuries and an ocean or 2 to Houston, and reassembled here with great care and some semblance of appropriateness. All of which has over the years allowed the entire assemblage to gain a certain authenticity — you know, in that uniquely Houston way.

Moore died in 2008. In May of this year the home was sold at a much-discounted price of $3.75 million to — appropriately enough — the CEO of a firm that helps other companies outsource their business processes. But three months later, after the property popped up in the Daily Demolition Report, Swamplot was unable to confirm the extent of the planned demo. Sure, work was already taking place on-site, but the permit was broad, and different sources were providing incomplete and contradictory information about whether the new owner planned to demolish all, some, or simply minor portions of the structures on the lot. Now, the dust has cleared enough to give us a partial answer.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Art
12/10/10 12:05pm

Peter C. Marzio’s Unfinished Business at the MFAH

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PETER C. MARZIO’S UNFINISHED BUSINESS AT THE MFAH Count the creation of Isamu Noguchi’s Cullen Sculpture Garden, the addition of the Rienzi estate, and construction of the Rafael Moneo-designed Beck Building as just a few of the accomplishments of the Museum of Fine Arts’ longtime director, who died last night at the age of 67. But more was being planned: “At the time of his death, Marzio was working toward the goal of a third building for modern and contemporary art, which he envisioned as presenting a global view of art movements in the Americas, Europe and Asia. He called his plans for the third building the most intellectually challenging work of his career.” [29-95]

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Awards
12/10/10 9:54am

Last Category: What Was 2010’s Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate?

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We’ve announced 9 categories so far in the 2010 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, Most Improved Neighborhood, Least Historic Neighborhood, and Neighborhood of the Year. Phew! What’s left to cover?

Here it is, the 10th and final category. And as usual, we’ve saved the best for last: What was the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate of 2010?

Swamplot is dedicated to covering great moments in Houston real estate. That’s why we’re here. Did we miss a few this year? Browse through the site if it’ll help you to draw up a list of contenders; or raid your own memory banks. Then tell us what moment deserves this recognition. (If you’ve got questions about how to make a nomination, you’ll likely find the answers here.)

A great moment is lost if there’s no one there to chronicle it or cherish it. Which is why we need your help. Add your comments or send us an email describing the moments you’d like to nominate.

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Awards
12/10/10 8:46am

Nominations Are Now Open for Houston Neighborhood of the Year

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This is it: The next-to-last category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far, we’ve opened nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, Most Improved Neighborhood, and Least Historic Neighborhood. Have you added your thoughtful suggestions to each of those categories?

The category this time is Neighborhood of the Year. What qualifications does a neighborhood need to meet in order to be declared Houston Neighborhood of the Year? You tell us — as you make your nomination! Of course, a neighborhood might be considered for Swamplot’s Neighborhood of the Year award for vastly different reasons than another one might be considered for an award of the same name from, say, the GHBA.

Please note that entrants in this category — as well as all the others — need not be located strictly inside Houston’s municipal boundaries. Swamplot tries to track the idea of Houston as it regularly travels outside the city limits. (In fact, last year’s winner of the Houston Neighborhood of the Year award was . . . yes, Galveston.)

We’re ready to receive your nominations in the comments below, or in an email. If you need more guidance, consult the official rules. Who are the contenders for this award?

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Awards
12/09/10 2:51pm

Now Accepting Nominations for Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood

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It’s neighborhood day here at Swampies Nominations Central! This morning we introduced the 7th category in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Here’s the complete list of our categories so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, the Washington Ave Award, and Most Improved Neighborhood. Keep those nominations coming! Are you ready for what’s next?

A lot of attention was focused on Houston’s designated historic districts in 2010. But really now, is that fair? Together, these areas make up only a tiny portion of this city’s considerable land mass. What’s it take for less-historic areas to get some attention?

Well, how about a Swampie award category of their own? That’s right: In this category of the Swamplot Awards, we aim to honor Houston’s Least Historic Neighborhood. Now, it’s one thing for an area not to be particularly historic — or even not to appear to have that potential. But what neighborhoods really excel in that regard? What parts of town would you nominate to be considered for the honor of Least Historic Neighborhood? And why?

Refer to the official nominating rules here if you need them. Add your suggestions below — or email them to us privately. What can you come up with?

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Art
12/09/10 2:19pm

Westheimer Firebird Suite: Rising from the Ashes of the Agora

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Yeah, that does kinda look like a phoenix on the side of the Agora Cafe at 1712 Westheimer, near Dunlavy. A reader tells Swamplot a painter had scaffolding set up on the side of the building yesterday. Next door is the site where Antique Warehaus once stood; the sign on the fence says that store is “still open online.” Both properties were damaged by a Halloween fire. Closeups of the bird, captured by Swamplot nature photographer Candace Garcia, after the jump:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Awards
12/09/10 12:18pm

What Would You Consider To Be Houston’s Most Improved Neighborhood?

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We’re on the home stretch! Yesterday Swamplot opened 2 more categories for nominations in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Here’s the list of what we have so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, Walmart of the Year, and the Washington Ave Award. Already, great suggestions have come in for each of these. But to make these awards as smart and razzle-dazzly as they can be, we still need your help!

The next category up is Swamplot’s version of the “Most Improved” award, the end-of-season back-pocket backslap of junior-high sports coaches everywhere. And it’s an award that often comes with a little jab: an implicit acknowledgment that — in the first part of the season — you kinda sucked. But if you were one of those coaches, and your team this year was a rag-tag crew of Houston-area neighborhoods, which of your players would be in contention for this blue ribbon? Every area has its ups and downs. For 2010, what parts of town have shown enough hustle to deserve the Most Improved Neighborhood award?

If you’ve been following these nominations, you know what to do by now: Add your smartly worded nomination as a comment below — or send it in an email to Swamplot. Be sure to include a convincing explanation for your choice. You’ll find the nominating rules here. Who we got this time?

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Awards
12/08/10 10:28pm

Announcing the Washington Ave Award. Your Nominations, Please?

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The category announcements are rolling here at Swampies central. Earlier today we introduced the 5th category in the this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. Here’s the complete list of our categories so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Teardown, Parking Lot of the Year, Drive-Thru of the Year, and Walmart of the Year. Keep those great entries coming for all of them!

Now we come to category number 6. We call it the Washington Ave Award. Is it an award for the best thing on or about Washington Ave.? Sure, it could be. But the award in this category could also go to something that isn’t necessarily anywhere nearby, but that still demonstrates the qualities most clearly exhibited by the Washington Ave area. The Washington Ave award! Got any potential winners in mind?

Refer to the official nominating rules here if you need them. But really: We need your smartly formulated suggestions for this category! Add them and explain them well below — or email them to us privately.

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