Shhhhhhhh! It’s still parking! Roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia happens upon this swan-label vehicle, hanging out late Tuesday a few streets off Westheimer: “My only guess is that since we are so close to Mango’s there may be a performer in town. Or, I guess it could be someone at KPFT. The plates are from Cali. Anyway it’s a really nice truck with a great design on it. The small windows on either side of the cab have curtains hanging on the inside.”
The last time a Glassman Shoemake Maldonado house in the Museum District with a notable staircase went up for sale, things didn’t end so well. Now the 1997 home the local architecture firm designed for Carl and Pam Johnson in Ranch Estates is on the block, for $1,395,000.
The 3- or 4-bedroom, and — yes — 5-bathroom — house is probably best known for its inset nautilus-spiral-stair nose, dramatically framed at night (and in magic-hour photos) by porch and interior lights. Inside, at the end of the staircase spiral on the first floor there’s a round bar, which faces into the double-height dining room. One of the exciting things about the sale of a minimalist house like this: There’s no telling how much furniture and stuff a new buyer will be able to pack in there. Just look at all the available space:
Heading into the former dealership back office at 2600 Travis near McGowen, one door down from the old Pontiac and Oldsmobile showroom that’s now home to Reef: a second installation of Barcadia, a bar-arcade-restaurant amalgamation begun in Dallas. The original location, just a few hours’ drive up I-45, offers an entire wall of eighties arcade games, brunch, a couple-dozen beers on tap, and a vaguely retro-carnival interior. A company website declares the Houston branch will be opening this summer, but a quick glance at the progress of construction in the 3,000-plus-sq.-ft. interior makes it easy to imagine a debut later than that.
The art-gallery building at 4411 Montrose, just north of the bridge over the Southwest Freeway, stands only a few feet back from the front sidewalk. But just one block south, the Midway Companies is planning to plant its new 13-story office tower (which, like 4411 Montrose, will feature a restaurant space on the ground floor and gallery spaces upstairs) a full 25 feet back from the Montrose Blvd. property line. But that’s not because Midway is shy about getting any variances necessary to get around mandated city setbacks.
No, Midway director Shon Link tells Swamplot the M Fifty-Nine building must stand clear of the bright yellow Clear Channel billboard that pokes out from the southwest corner of the property. Restrictions require the billboard to have a clear view of oncoming traffic driving south on Montrose. Currently peeking out from the bottom part of the billboard: The Nesquick Bunny.
Behind Montrose, M Fifty-Nine won’t be so shy with the streets:
That’s 4,000-sq.-ft. of art-gallery space on the second floor of M Fifty-Nine, a new 13-story office building Midway Companies is planning for the northeast corner of Montrose Blvd. and the Southwest Freeway. This view is from the southwest, looking toward Downtown (in the lower left, you can see the ghostly image of a portion of the Montrose Blvd. bridge that would actually be in the foreground). The design, by local architects Muñoz + Albin, includes 64,000 sq. ft. of office space and 7,000 sq. ft. of “restaurant ready” retail on the ground floor facing Montrose. Behind the gallery space: an enclosed parking garage for more than 200 cars. Midway Companies, the developers of CityCentre, hopes to begin construction on the project early next year.
What’s on the site now?
House-sitting the JustDinner bungalow at 1915 Dunlavy in Montrose for the month of August: A “pop-up” restaurant called . . . Just August. While JustDinner’s regular chef Andrew Rebori enjoys a summer vacation, Laidback Manor veteran Seth Siegel-Gardner and partners Terrence Gallivan and Justin Yu will take over the joint, even running their own creations out to the dining room. If you’re just learning about this little escapade now though, too bad: The five-course experience is booked through August, though a few openings might still be available close to Labor Day, when Rebori returns to reclaim his kitchen. Just August dinners will set you back (Just) $45, though there’s no extra charge if you want them to pop open your bottle of wine.
A few exciting scenes of the migrant chefs moving in and cleaning up house:
Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:
Some odds and ends to tie up from last week:
With the economy the way it is — these mega-lesbian bars – there are four bars there, and in the `90s they were thriving. Now, I don’t know, maybe there’s too much competition.
So yes, the bar and the entire block it’s on are for sale, though the owners hope to sell the 27,341-sq.-ft. property at 1100 Westheimer at Waughcrest to “someone who won’t change things too much.” The owners plan to keep the place open in the meantime.
We’ll post more reader questions tomorrow. Send us what you’ve got before then!
Photo: Commercial Gateway
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.
I drove by the other day and asked one of the workers what the construction was for and he said “Wine store” his English was a bit rusty so I really could not get much more out of him.. Maybe a new Specs ?
A couple more pix from the scene:
A reader writes in to let Swamplot readers know the unpublished asking price for the 8-unit apartment building going up on the ashes of The Norman apartments at the corner of West Alabama and Stanford, featured here last month. Pssst: It’s $875,000, all stucco colors shown included. The building is expected to be complete next month. And here’s one of the last pics of its hot hot predecessor, taken during a little incident last August:
“The building has not been shut down, I am still renting there. They have not communicated any plans. It would make an excellent art studio building, and there is money in that- take Winter Street Studios as an example. Would also make great living spaces, but would require tremendous remodel. If you hear any clues about plans of owners, please post!” [Stoney, commenting on Scott Gertner’s Skybar Closing, May Take the Whole Building with It]
“Only in Houston would someone use a blog post about a building’s code violations to advertise FOR the building.” [JCoy, commenting on The Somewhat Public To-Do List Posted at 230 West Alabama]
“Apparently ‘Houston’s newest chic address‘ has some code violations on its hands,” writes the reader who found a well-worn code enforcement tag at 230 West Alabama, the Midtown-ish apartment tower formerly known as Executive House:
I stopped by on Sunday, July 4, to see if the leasing office was open and found this notice on the door. The violation from the City of Houston Code Enforcement Department says: OBTAIN ELECTRICAL PERMIT AND REPAIR UNSAFE ELECTRICAL IMMEDIATELY…OBTAIN PLUMBING PERMIT AND REPAIR UNSAFE PLUMBING IMMEDIATELY…REPAIR UNSAFE STRUCTURAL IMMEDIATELY…SEE REPORT FOR DETAILS…SUBJECT TO CITATIONS DAILY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE. The date in the bottom right hand corner appears to be 04-04-10. I think I’ll keep searching for that apartment elsewhere.
The tag:
Armed with your suggestions, roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia set out to document the smallest freestanding commercial buildings in Houston she could find. And here are the results! Above, “The Spot” hair salon at 1207 Westheimer in Montrose, at the corner of Commonwealth.
More tiny:
Big Star Bar owner Brad Moore, former Beaver’s bartender Ryan Rouse, and a crew of bartending partners have bought Ernie’s on Banks in the Museum District and shut it down. But they plan on reopening the bar at 1010 Banks St. across from Bell Park later this month as “a little two-story neighborhood bar…and then some,” Moore tells the Houston Press’s Katharine Shilcutt. Moore says he wants to “[keep] the vibe as casual as possible.” One new feature: a large grill on the back patio, tended by a “rotating roster of guest cooks.” But the Ernie’s name is gone: “We actually don’t have a name yet. Nothing with an apostrophe-s. We’re not into those names.” [Eating Our Words] Photo: Citysearch
From brendanmoody (brendan moody): Why is metro so terrible RT @swamplot: Feds To Metro: Back off the Spanish Trains and Well Fund Yr N and SE Lines http://tinyurl.com/282htmu
From DavidLeftwich68 (David Leftwich): Glad to see city approve things w/o all the facts. RT @swamplot West End Walmart Development Gets Koehler St. Jog http://tinyurl.com/28dduxk
From hounews (Houston News): RT @MartinHajovsky - So long Heights Blvd. apartments. RT @swamplot West End Walmart Development Gets Its Koehler ... http://bit.ly/9uBvlt
From MartinHajovsky (MartinHajovsky): So long Heights Blvd. apartments. RT @swamplot West End Walmart Development Gets Its Koehler St. Jog http://tinyurl.com/28dduxk #hounews
Comment of the Day: Kicking Off the Golden Age of Montrose Blvd. Extended Patio Dining
“This is so Houston it hurts. This has got to be nominated for some kind of best of/worst of award at the end of the year. I don’t know what the category is, but making a building less sidewalk and pedestrian friendly in order to accommodate a billboard is a classic.” [Cap'n McBarnacle, commenting on Must See This: Billboard Bunny Pushes Back New Montrose Office Tower]