Tag: 77006

03/09/11 11:48am

The Serious Business of Giving Away Furniture

Furniture, Hyde Park, Montrose, Streetscapes

8 Comments

Found relaxing in the Waugh Dr. median over the weekend, just north of Peden.

Street Art of the Week: Tittering Also Banned [The Loop Scoop]

Photo: Paul Viscontini

77006, Art, Furniture, Graffiti, Hyde Park, Montrose, Streetscapes

Buying and Selling

02/25/11 5:53pm

Yes, the Lovett Inn Sale Is Still On

by Jenny Staff Johnson

Montrose, Quicklink

No Comments

YES, THE LOVETT INN SALE IS STILL ON Despite rumors to the contrary, Hostelling International USA was granted a parking variance by the city for the Lovett Inn and plans to convert the Montrose B&B at 501 Lovett St. into a hostel are moving forward, says organization spokesperson Mark Vidalin. No permitting problems with the city have cropped up, Vidalin says, though the organization’s option period for buying the building has been extended. Lovett Inn owner Dan Lueken says the sale is still on, but declined to say when the option period would end or when a closing might take place. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Bart Vis [license]

77006, B&Bs, Buying and Selling, Hostels, Montrose, Variances

Comments

02/11/11 11:32pm

Comment of the Day: The Shops Around the Corner

Montrose, Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail, Third Ward

24 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE SHOPS AROUND THE CORNER “Where I live, in the Montrose area, I will soon be within a three minute drive of TWO Whole Foods, a brand new HEB, an updated Kroger, another supernice Kroger on West Gray, a Randallâ€™s, a Fiesta, etc. Three of these will be within a 10 minute walk from my house. Iâ€™d wager that there are few (no?) other neighborhoods in America offering this kind of variety and abundance. Meanwhile, my fellow Houstonians who happen to live in the 3rd Ward have no real shopping options nearby. They have to drive 10 or more minutes to perhaps suboptimal grocery stores and fresh produce. But there is a plethora of fried and fast food options in their neighborhood. So, when deciding where to eat quickly, McDonalds or the Navy Fried Seafood store seem to be the first choices. I think what Superhouston is implying is a possibly causal relationship between poverty, [poor] health, and a lack of fresh food. The connection is complicated, multi-dimensional, and definitely worth talking about.” [Matt, commenting on Where the Grocery Stores Arenâ€™t]

77004, 77006, Comments, Fast Food, Grocery Stores, Montrose, Restaurants, Third Ward

First Montrose Commons

02/11/11 10:27am

First Montrose Commons Historic District Won’t Be Going Anywhere

Historic Districts, Historic Preservation

18 Comments

City officials have informed the president of the First Montrose Commons neighborhood association that the recent historic-district reconsideration survey of residents has fallen “well short” of the 51 percent needed to dissolve the district. Under the terms of the recently revised preservation ordinance, city council could still vote to shrink the size of the district — which fits between Richmond and West Alabama just west of Spur 527 in Montrose — in order to exclude some properties whose owners favored repeal. But association president Jason Ginsburg considers that unlikely: “A brief review of the repeal surveys that were returned shows that most of the dissenting property owners are sprinkled throughout our historic district, as opposed to being clustered in one particular area,” he wrote in a post on the FMC website last night. First Montrose Commons became the 16th historic district just last year.

FMC Historic District Saved! [First Montrose Commons Neighborhood Association]
Previously on Swamplot: How Houstonâ€™s Historic Districts Could Still Shrink, The Next New Historic District: First Montrose Commons, High School Rules: HSPVA and First Montrose Commonsâ€™s Historic Decision

Map: First Montrose Commons Neighborhood Association

77006, First Montrose Commons, Historic Districts, Historic Preservation

Montrose

02/02/11 12:02pm

Here’s Your Montrose Kroger, All Dressed Up

by Jenny Staff Johnson

Renovations, Retail

50 Comments

Here’s a rendering showing the future of the Kroger now under renovation at 3300 Montrose. The construction will be contained entirely within the store’s current footprint — though a 2,400 sq.-ft. mezzanine “lounge” will up the store’s interior space to more than 43,800 sq. ft. Kroger spokesperson Kristal Howard says the changes to the store will improve the layout and allow changes to the food offerings, including an increased emphasis on “perishables.” The design comes from Houston’s CDA Architects, the folks who brought you the Costco at Greenway Commons, the Kroger on West Gray, and that yellow Walgreens at the corner of T.C. Jester and W. 18th.

What about parking? Has Kroger had its eyes on the land under the derelict office building across Hawthorne St. at 3400 Montrose, which Scott Gertner’s Skybar left last year — followed by everyone else in the building? “We have not been in communication with any nearby properties concerning an expansion of our Montrose store,” Howard says.

77006, Grocery Stores, Montrose, Renovations, Retail

Buying and Selling

01/26/11 4:42pm

Hostel Takeover: Lovett Inn B&B To Be Sold, Turned Over to Youngsters

by Jenny Staff Johnson

Montrose

28 Comments

The Lovett Inn bed and breakfast may soon become a Montrose crash pad for globetrotting youngsters. Owner Dan Lueken tells Swamplot that he’s in negotiations to sell the 1923 home of former Houston Mayor Joseph C. Hutcheson to Hostelling International.

Lueken says the property at 501 Lovett St. is under contract, but that a closing date has not been determined, and that certain negotiations about the property are “ongoing.” Lueken has owned and lived in the Lovett Inn for 7 years. “They approached me,” he says, “And I decided to move on and do other things.” If the sale goes through, this will be Hostelling International’s second hostel in Texas. The organization manages a network of 60 properties in the U.S. and many more around the world; the nearest location is in Austin. Visitors of all ages are allowed to stay at HI properties (a membership is required), but the organization says the majority of its guests are between 18 and 30.

77006, B&Bs, Buying and Selling, Hostels, Montrose

Commercial Real Estate

01/03/11 2:34pm

Everybody Out: The Ghost Town at 3400 Montrose

Mixed Use, Montrose, Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Public Safety, Retail

18 Comments

A reader tells Swamplot a sticker on the front door of the 10-story mixed-use building at 3400 Montrose notes the building is unsafe and does not have a working fire-alarm system:

They have gated off the garage and also all the first level tenants have now moved out. Any word on what is going on? Is the building being closed up? Torn down?

Renovated?

The building’s highest-profile (and -altitude) tenant, Scott Gertner’s Skybar, moved out over the summer, after complaining that the building’s new owner, a company out of Waco called FH Properties, wasn’t responding to maintenance concerns.

77006, Mixed Use, Montrose, Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Public Safety, Retail

Leasing

12/28/10 12:30pm

A First Glimpse of Uchi in Houston: Leasing Lower Westheimer Retail by the Piece

Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail

13 Comments

Here’s a first look at the not-so-distant future of Lower Westheimer, just a block east of Montrose, where sushi chef Tyson Cole and the owners of Austin’s Uchi and Uchiko restaurants plan to open a first Houston venture. The new Houston Uchi won’t be taking over the whole corner. The neighboring spaces will instead be available Ã la carte: The new owners are picturing as many as 3 separate businesses (one with a second floor and rooftop deck) leasing the 4,700-sq.-ft. building that used to house Caffe Den and PrivÃ© at 908 Westheimer. Also available, around the corner on Grant St.: a little 714-sq.-ft. structure with the address of 904B Westheimer. It’ll share restrooms with Uchi, which will be taking over the former Felix Mexican Restaurant space on the corner, at 904A. The left side of the Grant St. rendering above is the only view we’ve seen so far that shows any part of Uchi itself, but it contains a few clues about how Austin architect Michael Hsu (creator of the original Uchi on South Lamar as well as Houston’s Sushi Raku in Midtown) plans to transform a vintage Tex-Mex classic into something sushi-worthy. It looks like at least a few of those arched windows will stay:

77006, Leasing, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail

12/24/10 1:23pm

Among the Giant Bugs of Midtown, Up on the Roof

Buildings for Sale, Development Strategies, Midtown, Public Art

5 Comments

Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia, who’s been steadily documenting the transformation of the vacant former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building on Fannin between Tuam and Drew into a canvas for street artist Daniel Anguilu and a few friends, was able to tour the building’s roof earlier this week. Commissioned by commercial real-estate broker Adam Brackman — whose family owns the building — Anguilu has already wrapped critter-filled paintings around much of the building’s ground floor for his “Public Decor Project.” But up in the Midtown sky, the work he and a few collaborators are creating on a few stray surfaces comes across as something else entirely:

77006, Art, Buildings for Sale, Graffiti, Midtown, Public Art

12/21/10 2:12pm

Agora Cafe on Westheimer: The Phoenix Has Flown the Coop

Fires, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

7 Comments

That phoenix carefully painted only a week and a half ago onto the side of the Agora Cafe at 1712 Westheimer near Dunlavy is now gone, reports the camera of Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia. Agora and the Antique Warehaus that used to be next door donned extremely realistic fire costumes for this past Halloween. In place of the firebird, which onlookers took as a sign the cafe might soon reopen: A new sign for the cafe itself, probably a clearer indication. It looks like more paint has found its way to the front of the Montrose hotspot too:

77006, Art, Cafes, Fires, Graffiti, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Painting, Restaurants

Leasing

12/17/10 3:43pm

Will Late Nite Pie Rise Again?

Midtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings

16 Comments

Update, 12/22: Late Nite Pie has reopened!

It looks like there’s been another shut-down at Late Nite Pie in Midtown. As first noted by the Houston Press late yesterday, the entrance to the pizza joint has been boarded up, with a stern-sounding note warning off trespassers and indicating the locks have been changed. The person listed as a contact on the note (presumably from the property’s landlord) would not comment on the situation. It may be a bit early to count Late Night out, though: Bell’s restaurant was able to start up again after a similar shuttering last year. The restaurant moved to its current location at 302 Tuam (on the corner of Baldwin) in 2008.

Previously on Swamplot: Late Night Pie Scheduled To Reopen Monday, The Late Late Night Pie, Latest on the Late Late Night Pie Location

Photo: Aaron Carpenter

77006, Bars and Clubs, Leasing, Midtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

12/09/10 2:19pm

Westheimer Firebird Suite: Rising from the Ashes of the Agora

Montrose, Openings and Closings, Retail

3 Comments

Yeah, that does kinda look like a phoenix on the side of the Agora Cafe at 1712 Westheimer, near Dunlavy. A reader tells Swamplot a painter had scaffolding set up on the side of the building yesterday. Next door is the site where Antique Warehaus once stood; the sign on the fence says that store is “still open online.” Both properties were damaged by a Halloween fire. Closeups of the bird, captured by Swamplot nature photographer Candace Garcia, after the jump:

77006, Art, Fires, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Retail

Development Restrictions

11/29/10 1:15pm

Blame the Sun: Canopy Wants a Canopy

Montrose, Restaurants

2 Comments

The dangling 2x4s on the ceiling and the photomurals of giant oaks inside just aren’t enough. And umbrellas on the patio just blow over. So Claire Smith and Russell Murrell of Canopy, the restaurant at the southern end of the strip center at 3939 Montrose, now want to build an actual wooden canopy outside on the side patio. One small problem: any extension from the building to Branard St. will cross into the neighborhood’s 10-ft. building line, which means they need a variance. Can’t they just say, “hey, it’s in our name?” Naah — variances aren’t granted as the result of “a hardship created or imposed by the applicant,” says the planning department. So part of the restaurant’s application reads, “The limitations on the use of outdoor space are the result of the Houston climate.” A neighbor who’s “fine with it” whispers to Swamplot about the submission: “My boyfriend and I think it’s funny how The Sun is taking all the heat here.” The issue goes before the planning commission on December 2nd.

Previously on Swamplot: Openings and Closings: That Flood of New Establishments

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77006, Development Restrictions, Montrose, Patios, Planning Commission, Restaurants, Shade, Variances

11/24/10 11:34pm

Thanksgiving in Midtown: A Bird Is Born

Midtown, Public Art

3 Comments

From Swamplot roving photographer Candace Garcia come these shots of Daniel Anguilu‘s latest avian creation (with woodwork by Lindsey George), appearing at the base of the former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building on Tuam looking toward Main. The happiest of holiday, shopping, and non-shopping experiences — newfangled, revisionist, and otherwise — to all of our readers!

Swamplot will be back on Monday.