01/17/13 4:00pm

The four squares that were the Bissonnet Village Apartments are gone, and Hanover Co. has now denuded the site near Bissonnet and Dincans, preparing it for something else “residential,” says a company rep. The site extends along Dincans between Bissonnet and North, backing into the Bank of America that faces Kirby. Swamplot reported last week that Hanover has purchased property on Morningside for Phase II of their mixed-use midrise now under construction, less than a mile away, in Rice Village.

Photos: Allyn West

01/11/13 11:30am

A January newsletter from The Southampton Civic Club informs members that Hanover, building the mixed-use midrise pictured above, has purchased additional property on Morningside in Rice Village “just north” of the current construction site. The newsletter states that Hanover is planning to begin Phase II: a 12-story, 200-unit residential building with no retail. The newsletter’s language suggests that the property is bound by Morningside, Tangley, Dunstan, and Kelvin; that’s where the Village Commons, the Tangley Building, the Village Apartments, and Garden Gate are — at least for now.

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01/02/13 12:59pm

CLOUD 10 HITTING SWEET SPOT IN THE VILLAGE We’re guessing Chris Leung will be keeping his ice cream below 273 Kelvin in the shop and open kitchen he’ll be launching this spring at 5711 Kelvin in Rice Village. Cloud 10 Creamery will be one of the street-level shops in the new Hanover apartments set to open next month. This’ll be Cloud 10’s first storefront; Leung’s ice creams have been available since last summer at a few restaurants and food trucks around town. [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Chris Litherland

12/20/12 3:50pm

Seen any images floating around of the new building Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts is planning for the northwest corner of the Bissonnet and South Main, next to the Cullen Sculpture Garden? Well then, this watercolor-and-charcoal “concept sketch” for the building by architect Steven Holl from a year and a month ago may interest you. It’s going up for auction tomorrow — as part of a fundraiser for the nonprofit Architecture for Humanity. Holl was selected from a group of 3 finalists this past February, beating out LA design firm Morphosis and Oslo’s Snøhetta for the MFAH commission of a new structure to house 20th- and 21st-century art.

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10/15/12 5:51pm

Here’s a video recreation of the 180-degree light-and-sound show from German building-projection artists URBANSCREEN, for Rice University’s centennial celebrations last week. If you weren’t there, you’ll want to watch this full-screen at the highest quality setting — with a screen much, much bigger than what you have. A Lovett Hall-only closeup version is here:

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10/11/12 3:37pm

OMG! A RICE VILLAGE FOOD TRUCK CLAMPDOWN After receiving complaints from restaurant owners and residents, police have launched an inspection sweep of food trucks in the Rice Village area, an HPD spokesperson tells reporter Terrence McCoy. At least 50 citations for various violations were issued in the last month, and the campaign is scheduled to continue for another month. Recipient of 4 of those inspections: Korean barbecue and taco vendor Oh My Gogi!, which typically parks outside Brian O’Neill’s on Morningside Dr. on weekends. Manager Daniel Davenport says police walked away without giving him a citation last Friday night, but on a previous weekend the truck chalked up 3 infractions for having business permits on hand, but not displaying them in open sight. [Hair Balls] Photo: Houston Food Crawl

10/11/12 1:11pm

THAT ONE CHANCE TO BUY YOUR NEIGHBOR’S MANSION IN SHADYSIDE “These houses turn over once in a lifetime and if you miss the opportunity, you’re screwed,” declares an unidentified Shadyside resident in Terrence McCoy’s Houston Press cover story — about that epic lawsuit that residents and watchers of the gated neighborhood just north of Rice University have been whispering about for the last several years. “That house will never come up again. If you want to control your destiny, you have to buy the house. You got to get it and if you don’t get it, you’re screwed.” [Houston Press; slideshow] Photo of Shadyside: Alex Stoll

09/24/12 2:26pm

THE PLAN TO MOVE RICE UNIVERSITY CLOSER TO THE WOODLANDS — OR TRADE IT FOR THE GALLERIA It’s true, and was apparently taken reasonably seriously at the time. From the Rice Thresher in February 1973. [marmer, commenting on Headlines: Calculating Lower Westheimer’s Hip Factor; Westbury Gardens’ Walkable Kitsch]

09/13/12 1:15pm

ASHBY HIGHRISE FUNDING HUNT ENDS WITH HUNT FUNDING The developers of the Ashby Highrise tell Nancy Sarnoff they’ve got funding for the 21-story apartment tower that’ll replace the Maryland Manor Apartments at 1717 Bissonnet. The money’s coming from an El Paso real estate firm named Hunt. Buckhead Investment Partners also names the contractor they’ll be working with: Linbeck, whose top executive “lives in the neighborhood adjacent to the building site.” (Leo Linbeck III also started his own Super PAC, aimed at kicking out incumbents of both political parties in Congress.) The construction schedule has been pushed back, though — it’ll now begin early next year. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia

08/14/12 9:32am

There’s a stuccoed Dutch-Colonial-Swiss Colony on the not-so-mountainous streets behind Weslayan Plaza’s west side in the College Court section (aka the “chimney”) of West University Place. The lookalike cottage and quarters are steps away from the new Buffalo Grille and a U.S. Post Office. West U’s Judson Park to the south and a proposed rail station for Metro’s supposed University Line are also blocks away. Railroad tracks, meanwhile, are just up the street.

During construction of the 1983 main house, a former 1940s “barn” on the site became a 2-story guest house in lieu of a garage. HCAD cites some remodeling in 1991 to the home. Last Friday, the property re-listed at $462,500 after a previous listing by the same agent initially sought $575,000 in April 2012, with adjustments to $565,000, $550,000, and then a summer of $524,990. The home’s side entry and hipped roof make for an atypical floor plan:

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08/08/12 10:15am

Buckhead Investment Partners’ Kevin Kirton tells former HBJ staffer Allison Wollam that his company plans to submit the latest version of the now-21-story apartment building known as the Ashby Highrise to the city for its already assured permitting approvals in the “very near future” — in time to begin construction late this year. Building the project, he says, should take 18 to 24 months — about the same amount of time it took the proposed development to obtain its original permit approval — 3 years ago. There’s pricing info in Wollam’s report, too:

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