Got an answer to any of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.
- Downtown: A reader wants to know why the backlit signage that used to be attached to those fancy Houston Pavilions multi-story hole-in-the-middle bridges over Fannin and San Jacinto streets Downtown is — gone! “You can see the remains of little black studs that supported the letters. Probably not a big deal at all, just something I noticed the last couple of trips [and] thought I would share.”
- Bellaire: From just outside the Loop, we have interest in the “extremely long residential lots” on the south side of Maple St., just east of S. Rice Blvd. (Map here.) Each property, bounded by a storm drain to the south, is the equivalent of 3 lots deep, a curious reader notes. And asks: “1) Why does Mimosa end before W. Loop? 2) Is a triple lot property 3x the value of single lot? What shapes their value?”
One more puzzle for you to solve:
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- Washington Corridor: “Any idea what the story is here?” asks the reader who submitted this half-cocked photo of the much-discussed (see some comments here) weathering experiment at the corner of Washington Ave. and Bonner St. “Every once in a while, someone attempts to fix these up and they seem to give up halfway through. These are wide open, and rain just goes right into the windows. It’s been this way for quite some time.”
Photos: Swamplot inbox
I was always curious about the history of those series of lots in Bellaire as well. I drive by that one house that is right up against the west loop. It is a single story old house but it has a HUGE backyard lot.
The Houston Pavilions signs have been taken down for around 2 months. I would guess they are going to be replaced with some kind of signage for NRG which is moving into the office tower soon. Construction is underway for their office spaces and lobby. As for the Washington townhomes, they might be better left to retail. They are pressed up against an established night club. Perhaps the land owner is waiting for the highest bidder for this ~12k sqft of space?
Washington – Those townhomes on Washington, from what I understand, were bought back from the bank by a Doctor and plans to move his practice there. He finished out at least one home in the back where perhaps he is living with plans to later tear down and office along Washington. Or perhaps he is going to office in that townhome he finished out in back and will tear down for parking on Washington. I dont know but I am pretty sure that is the destiny of the “$800k+ townhomes built on Washington next to Reign Lounge” Yeah, good thinking on that one.
No “before” picture with the sign still up?
A simple answer could be the sign is undergoing maintenance. A complicated answer could be a name change? Interesting.
Bellaire lots – outside the loop there are several streets with those huge and deep wide lots – most just west of Bellaire High School. Mimosa (and the adjacent smaller lots on the south side of Maple) ends short of the Loop simply because that was the edge of the Bellaire Oaks subdivision when it was developed in the 50’s. The larger lots are in a different subdivision likely developed by a different developer, and of course at that time the Loop didn’t exist for Mimosa to extend out to.
My husband grew up in a still-existing house on the northeast corner of Maple and Rice, directly across from Bellaire HS, which he also attended, and watched the West Loop being constructed. One of his best friends lived in a house on a double lot just down the street and his family used to refer to their neighbors on the other side of Maple as ‘the rich people.’ SubPrimeLandGuy is probably right when he says it was a different developer, but it would be interesting to know what the price difference was between the homes on either side of the street. His folks paid $18K for theirs in the mid-1960s and sold it for just over $200K in the early 90s.
Similar to what JE said, a lawyer friend of my husband’s, said a couple months ago that he bought 2 of them, was going to live in one and turn one of the Washington-side ones into his offices.