Buildings knocked down in the Rice Village for Sonoma. Plus demolition in Greenview Manor moves north. See the address listings in our daily report, after the jump.
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Tag: 77005
From the design mags to demolition . . . in less than ten years! Remember the modern house with the curious metal proboscis off Bissonnet, near the Museum of Fine Arts? It won a couple of design awards a few years back from the American Institute of Architects, but if the judges had realized it was temporary housing it probably would have swept that category.
A week ago 1 Waverly Ct. appeared quietly in our demolition report, but it became a smashing success just a few days later. It was built in 1999.
After the jump, what lurked behind the proboscis: photos of this record-shattering short-timer from the architects’ website.
The construction permit for the Medical Clinic of Houston’s new six-story building on Sunset Blvd. in Southampton has been approved by the city. So up it goes! Behind the new building, facing Rice Blvd., will be a new seven-story, 600-space parking garage.
After the jump, a view of the new garage from the adjacent alley.
Our story on the Rice Village’s Sonoma development last Thursday repeated KHOU reporter Lee McGuire’s claim:
The developer says potential buyers have reserved all but four of the new condos.
But Jennifer Friedberg’s writeup in this past weekend’s Chronicle sez otherwise:
A total of 115 of the 220 units for sale in Sonoma are already reserved, Tysor said.
That’s quite a number of buyers backing out of their reservations in a very short period, no? But even more curious is this:
The number of units continues to change depending on the square footage potential residents select for each condo.
Contracts won’t be signed until later in the process.
That’s right, ma’am, just tell us how big you’d like your kitchen and we’ll move the wall there.
- Why Houston is $1.5 M richer [KHOU]
- City Council approves sale, abandonment of Bolsover in Rice Village [Houston Chronicle]
- Council Bowls Over, So No More Street [Swamplot]
Ignoring the objections of snooty inner-loopers who think they’re somehow entitled to a continuous grid of streets, City Council voted yesterday to let a block of Bolsover in the Rice Village become two private circular driveways and a restaurant patio. The deal nets the city a whopping $1.5 million—the price of a couple of small luxury condos, maybe.
That’s the last hurdle for Sonoma, which appears to have gained two stories since its last appearance here. Developer Randall Davis claims buyers have “reserved” all but four of the 225 condos. There’s also 125,000 sq. ft. of retail and office space in the complex.
After the jump, a revised aerial view of the new Bolsover dropoff.
More homes around the city turn to dust. Plus a baker’s dozen demolitions in Greenview Manor—all after the jump.
The Doyle Mansion gets its dismissal papers. Plus a Riverside Terrace teardown (you’re looking at it) and nine more homes say goodbye—all in today’s report.
Four businesses and seven residences gained official release from the restricting confines of structural integrity yesterday. What’s going down? Our list of falling buildings is after the jump.
A fast food icon quickly devoured, plus the end of a house on an oak-lined Woodland Heights street. Details after the jump.
Sure, the canopy of coastal live oak trees along Sunset Boulevard north of Rice is purty and all, but what’s really great about it is that it’s going to block views of a new six-story medical tower going up in Southampton. Well, okay, the fact that car windshields don’t curve all the way up over our heads—that helps too. Just don’t look up while you drive by, okay?
Now if Southampton residents would just shut up about the new Medical Clinic of Houston building long enough to watch this drive-by video produced by the new building’s nice architects—showing the still-leafy drive along tree-lined Sunset Boulevard, they’ll see how silly their complaints are.
After the jump, un-foliated views of the new tower, plus the seven-level parking garage that’s going to face Rice Boulevard.
Coming down soon . . . in a neighborhood near you! It’s our daily report of sold demolition permits. Our list of casualties approved Friday begins after the jump.
A teensy item appears in the middle of a long list of projects on the revised agenda of an obscure public agency. The list is voted on, and presto! Nine months years later The Westpark Tollway gets extended all the way to Kirby Drive!
Christof Spieler spots this exciting news—sure to make a lot of West U-area residents take notice—and complains:
Once a project is on a list that gets approved by the TPC, it’s a lot closer to happening. Months or years from now, a neighborhood might object. And they’ll be shown the list and told, “it’s in the plan. It got approved. There’s nothing you can do.†Pieces of paper can have a lot of power.
And this piece of paper came out of nowhere. There was no public announcement, let alone hearings. It was a last minute addition to the agenda. David Crossley of the Gulf Coast institute spotted it only because he was looking through the TPC web site. [emphasis added]
- Writing a blank check [Intermodality]
Photo: Flickr user Danburg Murmur
Don’t let this happen to U: City Council voted last week to limit the size of porches in West University. You see, that’s the problem with those giant new megamansions in Houston’s priciest Zip: It’s those damn arched entrances!
The new ordinance limits the height of front porches that encroach onto front sebacks to a mere 20 feet on 100-foot-deep lots. Peristyle patrons need not panic prematurely, however. The ordinance will have to pass a second time, over the objections of angry, front-balcony-loving newcomers, before it can be enforced.
- After wait, council approves porch limit [West University Examiner]
[Photo: 6332 Auden, listed at HAR]
Lamesa Properties plans a large, upscale mixed-use project in the Rice Village.