What’s this sandbox right beside the Hungry’s Cafe and Bistro in Rice Village going to be? A Hungry’s. An employee at the not-that-old one next door at 2356 Rice Blvd. says it will be demolished and turned into a parking lot for what a rendering on a sign at this construction site shows is a 2-story new one.
Hungry’s, you’ll remember, is owned by an entity controlled by Fred Sharifi, who earlier this year purchased and now appears to have plans to redevelop the Gramercy Place Apartments on the 200 block of Portland St. — just a few miles away on the east side of Montrose Blvd. — into townhomes.
A rendering of the new Hungry’s wasn’t made immediately available; what follows after the jump is a photo of what’s on that sign at the construction site:
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Read more about: 77005, Demolitions, New Construction, Relocations, Restaurants, Rice-Village
That steel frame on Centenary St. that roused some West U residents to name-calling and concern-raising 2 years ago now has a steel house built around it — and a single father and his two sons inside. Still, says architect Cameron Armstrong, the build wasn’t as smooth as it might have been: “[C]ertain neighbors were actually quite hostile — they heckled the subcontractors (and not always from across the street!), and made numerous frivolous complaints to the police about things like (non-existent) parking violations by workers. . . . They thought they were living on a street with a predictable visual future, which turned out not to be the case.” Adds Armstrong: “[I]t’s hard to identify substantive objections. . . . The good news is that most of the neighbors are just fine with how the design turned out.”
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Read more about: 77005, Construction Materials, Home Design, Houston Architects, Tin Houses, West University
The only difference between this 1981 West University property’s new listing and a previous one in mid-March appears to be the $110,000 escalation in price since its sale in mid-April, for $525,000. The current photos are a bit grainy and bleak, but they document how the unoccupied interior and lot-filling pool and deck have been faring as prices rise:
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Read more about: 77005, Flipping, Homes for Sale, Housing Prices, Interiors, Rice-Village, Swimming Pools, West University
Here’s what’s going down over at 1717 Bissonnet. Making way for the Ashby Highrise — whose developers this week signed new builder Pepper-Lawson Construction to replace Linbeck, which decided to back out earlier this year — the salvaging and knocking down of Maryland Manor started last week. And this is what things looked like this morning:
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Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Demolitions, Neighborhood Disputes, Southampton
Though it remains to be decided in a court of law whether the 21-story Ashby Highrise will deprive nearby Boulevard Oaks homes of sunlight and rain, there now seems to be a firm at least agreeing to build it: Prime Property’s Nancy Sarnoff reports that Pepper-Lawson Construction has signed on, replacing Linbeck, which decided to back out of the project earlier this year. The Maryland Manor Apartments, shown here standing in the way at 1717 Bissonnet, started coming down last week. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia
Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Demolitions, Neighborhood Disputes, Southampton
Though the demo of the Maryland Manor apartments at 1717 Bissonnet has already started, a group of homeowners still seems intent to stop the Ashby Highrise from going up in their place, filing a lawsuit this week against developer Buckhead Investment Partners that argues the building will cast a shadow — literally — over the neighborhood: Among other concerns about traffic and privacy, the suit alleges that the 21-story tower would deprive neighbors of sunlight and rain, limiting the enjoyment of their yards and making the maintenance of their gardens impossible. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia
Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton
The retail ring facing Morningside, Dunstan, and Kelvin around the bottom of Hanover at Rice Village seems to be filling out: With Zoës Kitchen opening in February at 5215 Kelvin and Cloud 10 Creamery making plans to since January, Prime Property’s Nancy Sarnoff drops the names of the other 4 restaurants on the way: There’ll be Cyclone Anaya’s (shown in the photo here on Morningside to the right of Cloud 10 Creamery), a coffee shop called Fellini, Punk’s Simple Southern Food, and Coppa Osteria. Sarnoff also mentions the lone non-restaurant planned, “a boutique” called Saint Cloud. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Mixed Use, Restaurants, Retail, Rice-Village
April 29, 2013 – 10:00 am
There they go: The Maryland Manor Apartments received their demolition permit on Friday, clearing the ground for the Ashby Highrise. Salvaging work inside these 10 structures at 1717 Bissonnet St. is reported to begin today, prepping the fought-over Boulevard Oaks corner for the 21-story, 228-unit residential tower. The final few tenants were seen moving out of Maryland Manor at the end of March.
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Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Demolitions, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton
As of late last week, Torchy’s Tacos is open, having built out and taken up this corner suite formerly occupied by Gugliani’s at 2400 Times Blvd. in Rice Village. This is the Austin chain’s 3rd location inside the Loop: There’s one on South Shepherd Dr. half a block from the Arby’s that’s becoming a Dunkin’ Donuts and another under construction in the former Harold’s in the Heights building at the corner of Ashland and 19th St.
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Read more about: 77005, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Rice-Village, Shopping Centers
A Swamplot reader sends in this update on the progress at 1717 Bissonnet, where the Maryland Manor apartments are still standing in the way of the Ashby Highrise: ”I live around the block . . . and it looks like all the tenants are out. We have noticed fewer and fewer cars in the parking lot, but as of this weekend they are down to only 3-5 cars. We saw multiple moving trucks all weekend and lots of abandoned furniture at the dumpster. So I am guessing the demo is starting soon.” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Maryland Manor: Candace Garcia
Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Demolitions, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Southampton
It was abrupt, Thursday’s closing of Rice Village’s Juliet and Romeo Couture on the corner of Kirby Dr. and Times Blvd., an employee at a nearby shop tells Swamplot: No signs were posted anywhere before early Thursday morning, when the merchandise inside was gone. The store’s phone number, as of this morning, is “non-working.” Juliet and Romeo had a spot on Westheimer before it moved to the 9,650-sq.-ft. building at 6117 Kirby that dates to 1940, according to city records, shared by an alterations shop, Ovations night club, and the Main Street Theater offices around the corner, all facing Times Blvd.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
Read more about: 77005, Openings and Closings, Retail, Rice-Village, Shopping Centers
February 26, 2013 – 12:30 pm
A few doors down from the Main Street Theater at 2516 Times, Naked Body and Bath is closing on February 28, an employee tells Swamplot. Opening here not quite 7 years ago, the shop is looking to get out from under that blue awning in Rice Village and move its bath bombs and body butters to a smaller storefront sometime next year.
Photo: Allyn West
Read more about: 77005, Openings and Closings, Retail, Rice-Village, Shopping Centers
