Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It is a dark, unspoken truth that the powerful, the “demolition class” – make up the rules as they go along.
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- 5620 Bordley Dr. [HAR]
Update, 1 pm, March 21: The numbers of Sapporo restaurants under the same ownership but with different names have been clarified.
Now on its way to the former Fusion Taco space shown shaded by trees and orange awnings next to Barnaby’s in the photo at top: Sapporo Japanese Sushi & Bar. The restaurant’s spot in the Henry Henke Building on the corner of Congress and Milam — across from Market Square Park — will be its second location with this specific name; its first is just off the western end of Woodlands Pkwy. Two other Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse & Bar restaurants are also located in the Houston area.
Fusion Taco opened at 801 Congress in 2013. Here’s what the view east from its sidewalk seating area looked like before the place shuttered:
Fusion Taco Turnover
DIGGING UP THE LATEST ADDICKS AND BARKER RESERVOIR DIRT 
The Army Corps of Engineers is exploring the possibility of deepening the Addicks and Barker reservoirs in order to increase their floodwater capacities. The Chronicle’s Mihir Zaveri digs up a request the Corps posted online quietly in January for specifics on how to remove soil from the reservoirs. The notice says the Corps is “evaluating the level of interest” from contractors, government agencies, and others “to allow for the beneficial use of material by interested parties while increasing capacity of the Government project.” Respondents are asked how much how much soil they would remove from the reservoirs, what methods they’d use to collect and transport it, where they’d deposit it, and how long the work would take. The deadline for responding to the agency was last Thursday. [Houston Chronicle; posting] Photo of American Shooting Centers and Millie Bush Dog Park off Westheimer Pkwy. in Barker Reservoir, flooded after Memorial Day, 2015: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [license]
- Downtown’s Market Square Tower More Than 90% Rented [Houston Chronicle]
- Clear Sky Capital Has Acquired North Park Apartments in the Greenspoint Area [Realty News Report]
- Caldwell Cos. Launches New Co-Working Concept The Work Well [HBJ ($)]
- River Oaks Church Wrapping Up $1.8M Renovation [HBJ ($)]
- BuffBurger Opens Second Houston Location in Montrose [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Added 9,200 Construction Jobs Annually as of January [Houston Chronicle]
- Property Shark Ranks Houston’s 77005 ZIP Code Among the Wealthiest in the U.S. [Houston Chronicle]
- Astrodome Getting State Historic Landmark Designation [Houston Chronicle]
- State Planning Voluntary Buyouts of 900 Flood-Prone Harris County Homes Costing $180M [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Lake Woodlands: 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 truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Houses are a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.
- 3 Reichert Farms Ct. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO MAKE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD’S NEW STRIP CENTER MORE PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY 
“Just walk around to the other side and pretend that’s the front. Then the parking lot will be in the back! A walkable solution!” [Memebag, commenting on The Strip Center with Offices Above Planned for the Corner of Chimney Rock and San Felipe] Site plan of Shops at Tanglewood proposed for San Felipe St. at Chimney Rock Rd.: Edge Realty
When the owner’s work is finished on what he’s calling the McGowen Container House, the stack of boxes just east of 59 will be a 4-story house with a carport at ground level and a terrace atop the blue Hanjin unit shown in the photo above. A few windows, doors, and portions of the staircase that will climb through the building’s east side have been installed, according to the blog for the project. Rough-in plumbing and some preliminary electrical wiring is finished as well, but the utilities aren’t on yet.
Here’s a view of the cargo hold from the east, near Hutchins St.:
Third Ward Freight
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE THIRD WARD’S RIVERSIDE GENERAL HOSPITAL CAMPUS? 
The 3-acre Riverside General Hospital campus is home to 3 buildings: Houston’s first hospital for black patients fronting Elgin (pictured above) and a former nurses’ quarters along Holman (both opened in 1926 as the Houston Negro Hospital), as well as a newer 1961 hospital building. The entire facility closed in 2015 after its former CEO Earnest Gibson III was convicted of Medicare fraud. Earlier this week, the Harris County Commissioners Court voted to buy all 3 buildings. If they don’t become a part of the new mental health facility the county plans to open on the site, what purpose might the 2 older buildings serve? The neighborhood may get a chance to review smaller-scale proposals for those historic structures: a job training center, small business incubation facility, maker space, cultural museum, library, youth hostel, swing dance club, chess club, or dominoes club. UH architecture professor Alan Bruton tells Houston Matters host Craig Cohen that the Emancipation Economic Development Council — a Third Ward nonprofit — invited him to collect residents’ ideas for the space. His students next fall will create designs for some of those concepts; the Council may use them to raise money and rally support for the proposals. [Houston Public Media; audio] Photo of former Houston Negro Hospital building at 3204 Ennis St.: Ed Uthman [license]
- Halliburton Will Auction off Its Vacant Oak Park Campus in Westchase [HBJ]
- Houston’s Industrial Market Is Catching Up Quickly to Dallas’ [Bisnow]
- Baker Ripley and Frank Liu Developing Office Building in the East End [HBJ]
- WeWork Reveals Opening Date for Downtown Houston Location [HBJ ($)]
- La Sicilia Italian Bakery & Cafe Opens on Westheimer East of Montrose Blvd. [Eater Houston]
- California Chain Black Bear Diner Opening First Texas Location in Katy Monday [Houston Chronicle]
- Silt Removal Project Planned To Make More Room for Stormwater in Addicks Reservoir [Houston Chronicle]
- Harvey Relief Fund Distributes Another $42.4M in Nonprofit Grants [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston’s Rate of Underwater Mortgages the Lowest in the Nation, According to CoreLogic [Houston Chronicle]
- Artist David Adickes’ ‘We Love Houston’ Sign Moving from I-10 to a Spot Near the 8th Wonder Brewery [abc13]
Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
If my calculations are correct, when this bulldozer hits 88 miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious demolitions.
- 4303 Waynesboro Dr. [HAR]
YOUR GUIDE TO THE HOUSTON TOYS R US STORES NOW GETTING READY TO CLOSE 
As part of the bankruptcy filing it submitted this morning, Toys R Us announced plans to close or sell all of its 735 stores nationwide. Thirteen of those locations are in the Houston area: at the corner of Kirby and Old Spanish Trail, on Westheimer just east of Fountain View, in the Village Plaza at Bunker Hill shopping center on the Katy Fwy., in the Katy Mills mall, in the Houston Premium Outlets on 290 just east of the Grand Pkwy., on Beltway 8 just north of Fairmont Pkwy., in Pearland Town Center, in the Willowbrook Court shopping center next to the Willowbrook Mall, in Sugar Land’s Colony Square, in Baybrook Square on the Gulf Fwy., on the East Fwy. in Baytown across from the San Jacinto Mall, in Texas City’s Tanger Outlets on the Gulf Fwy., and in The Woodlands’ Pinecroft Center. Standalone Babies R Us locations are on the Katy Fwy. at N. Fry Rd., on Cypress Creek Pkwy. just west of I-45, on 59 northeast of First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, and on the Gulf Fwy. at El Dorado Blvd. in Friendswood. The OST and Westheimer Toys R Us boxes (both of which include in-store Babies R Us departments) measure 45,000 sq. ft. [USA Today] Photo of Toys R Us at 1212 Old Spanish Trail: Nhan N.
Here’s another development that the Oxberry Group has planned: a strip center for the northwest corner of San Felipe and Chimney Rock Rd. dubbed Shops at Tanglewood. The 2-story retail building and its parking lot would go in place of 4 houses that currently occupy the corner east of the Gables Tanglewood apartments — one pair fronts San Felipe and the other sits along Chimney Rock, as you can sort of see in this map:
Residential Replacement
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