Tag: 77006

Montrose
11/20/09 5:19pm

Going Attractions: Hollywood Video Gives Up on the Tower Theatre

by
Openings and Closings, Retail
14 Comments

Unless the owners of the former Tower Theatre on Westheimer just west of Montrose have another feature ready to go, it looks like Houston will soon have a second shuttered and lonely Art Deco theater left to spin its reels. A reader reports:

I went to drop off a video game at Hollywood Video . . . and was told by staff there that they are closing down. I asked the guy there why; he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Bad economy, I guess.” They were clearing the store out and taking down the Hollywood video letters on that Montrose-y iconic sign on the building; I snapped a quick photo while driving away of the letters sitting on the pavement outside the store.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , ,
Cherryhurst
11/19/09 2:26pm

Comment of the Day: The Market Has Spoken

by
Comments, Home Prices, Montrose, Quicklink
28 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN “TO ANYONE WHO CARES – THE HOUSE HAS SOLD FOR $415K. NOT quite what we were hoping, but clearly the original poster, who claimed this should be priced in the mid 300Ks, is rather mistaken.” [Justin, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Your Cherryhurst Neighbors]

, , , , ,
Art
11/18/09 6:29pm

Montrose Giant Mushrooms: Still Adjusting to the Local Climate

by
Gardening, Landscape, Montrose
No Comments

Sprouted in the patio behind the Art League Houston building at 1953 Montrose, home of the Inversion Coffee House: 3 giant mushrooms, built out of rebar, soil, and moss by artists Nicola Parente and Divya Murthy.

And how are they doing? Not so well, reports the Chronicle‘s Molly Glentzer:

One is planted with herbs; one is planted with Texas natives; and the third is planted with non-native ornamentals. They’ve pretty much been left to survive or thrive on their own through next year, and the artists are perhaps expecting that only the native-planted mushroom will survive.

Just one catch. When we looked on Saturday, they all needed water.

Nothing lives in a black plastic pot for long without a little help from the gardener. And biodegradable brown pots would’ve been more environmentally friendly — not to mention better-looking.

Inside the Art League building: the second part of the installation, which Parente and Murthy put together from debris they collected from the surrounding eight-block area.

Photos: Nicola Parente (top); Aaron Courtland (bottom)

, , , ,
Attractions
11/17/09 2:46pm

The Block Party’s Over

by
Lower Westheimer, Streets
18 Comments

Organizer (and Free Press Houston editor) Omar Afra calls it:

This will be the last Westheimer Block Party. However, the next one will be the return of the Westheimer Street Festival. It may take 2 months or it may take 2 years but this festival has outgrown our singular capacity. There can only be a return of the Westheimer Street Festival. The streets must be shut down, the city must get behind the event, and I can no longer personally foot the bill. Our staff can no longer handle the capacity of the growing festival and squeezing all of these people into the same block is becoming hazardous. The streets must be shut down. We have an on camera commitment from Annise Parker, that if elected, she will support street closure if we can find financing for necessary portopotties, police, and clean up. She even shook my hand on it. But we need the community involved. So whoever is elected, we are asking for a big community turnout at the first city council open session the new mayor presides over. We need 500+ people to swamp city hall and show city officials that there is indeed a large constituency that supports arts and music. We will let you know when this transpires but we NEED your support. We love this community so much and want to see WestFest grow but it cannot in it’s current form. We will be forming a non-profit to meet this challenge which will be made up of only Jedi’s who have an unyielding love for arts and music. It is time to take BIG steps and we will do whatever it takes to shut down the streets. . . .

Photo of Behind Buildings performing at last weekend’s Westheimer Block Party: Ramon Medina [license]

, , , ,
Audubon Place
11/10/09 2:57pm

Comment of the Day: The Neighborhood of the Traveling Pants

by
Comments, Crime, Montrose, Quicklink
3 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS “My friend lives in a small Montrose (Audobon Place) apartment complex. He had a pair of pants and a sweatshirt stolen out of the dryer. He called the police AND THEY CAME OUT! For a pair of pants! I didn’t think they came out anymore even for a car break-in. Even more unbelievable is the police actually caught a homeless guy wearing my friends clothes about 20 minutes later and brought him back and made him take the clothes off and give them back.” [Tangyjoe, commenting on The Front Porch Gang]

, , , ,
Home Prices
11/09/09 12:47pm

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Last Resort in Montrose

by
Homes for Sale, Hyde Park, Montrose, Price Adjuster
31 Comments

The Swamplot Price Adjuster needs your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.

Location: 1206 Hyde Park Blvd., Hyde Park, Montrose
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths; 3,680 sq. ft. on a 10,100-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $1,199,999 [corrected from before]
History: On the market for 7 weeks

All the fine furnishings in this 1920 Montrose mansion didn’t sway the Swamplot reader who nominated the property:

“River Oaks living in Montrose”? Certainly River Oaks pricing in Montrose!

Given the location, the neighborhood, and the house itself the HCAD appraisal of almost $700k seems excessive. . . .

This house was sold in 2004 per HCAD, and the 2005 valuation was $563k – my guess is that is very close to the sale price.

The 2009 valuation of the house is about $700k. All the neighboring houses are about $300k in value. The neighborhood average is well under $200/sq ft (a beautiful house, fully restored . . . on Harold recently sold for about $200/ft on a similar sized lot)

And a better price for this property would be . . . ?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , ,
Comments
11/06/09 5:03pm

Comment of the Day: Staying Safe in Midtown, Back in the Good Old Days

by
Crime, Houston History, Midtown, Quicklink
2 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: STAYING SAFE IN MIDTOWN, BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS “Last I lived inside the loop was 17 years ago in Midtown…before it was chic. I lived behind an 8 foot chainlink fence topped with razor wire. My friends called it “the compound” but I never ever had a problem.” [Tex, commenting on The Front Porch Gang]

, , , , , , ,
Apartments
11/05/09 1:26pm

Replacing Richmont Square: The Low Cost, Bohemian Option

by
Menil, Redevelopment, Renting
22 Comments

Communications director Vance Muse tells the River Oaks Examiner‘s Michael Reed that the foundation’s board won’t replace the bargain-rent Richmont Square Apartments in a way that’ll change the character of the Menil campus:

“It’s on our mind that we could, in a low-key Menil way, build a (residential) property along Richmond Avenue,” he said.

Apartments at Richmont Square range from $650 for one-bedroom, one-bath units of 575 square feet to $955 for two-bedroom, two-bath units of 1,064 square feet. Deposits are between $250 and $300.

Asked about the possibility of the Menil plan including dwellings that are priced similarly to what would be replaced, Muse said specifics have not been discussed yet.

“We’d like to keep it bohemian, if at all possible,” he said. “There has always been a commitment (by Menil) to offering a break.”

Photo of Richmont Square parking lot, 1400 Richmond Ave.: River Oaks Examiner

, , , , ,
Demolitions
10/06/09 5:54pm

The Slowest Demo in Town: Karen Lantz Pulls a House Apart

by
Green Design and Development, Museum District, Ranch Estates
28 Comments

Meanwhile in Ranch Estates, architect Karen Lantz is deconstructing this 1950 Rancher, piece by piece. Her goal: building a new home on the site — but only after finding new homes for most of the materials that are already there.

This type of disassembly is almost unheard of in Houston, where relatively low local landfill tipping fees make crushing and dumping a much cheaper alternative. After 5 local demo companies turned down the work, Lantz decided to contract it all herself. She says she expects to be able to recover and donate 90 percent of the materials in the Banks St. home. Working with an appraiser, she’s been sending materials to the city’s new Reuse Warehouse, Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Harris County, the Houston Habitat Restore, Century Asphalt Materials, and Lone Star Disposal.

“The house going up will absolutely be going for LEED, hopefully the highest rating,” Lantz tells Swamplot. It’s intended for her and her husband. Lantz, the founding president of Houston Mod, says it’s been difficult to convince clients to commit time, energy, or funds toward this sort of attention to materials. Since she’s now preaching the benefits of building deconstruction, she sees this project as an opportunity to practice it.

How much will it cost to strip the place this way?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , , ,
Apartments
10/02/09 5:08pm

Chipperfield Sculpts the New Menil: Goodbye, Richmont Square

by
Art, Institutional Buildings, Menil Collection, Museums, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
13 Comments

The Richmont Square apartments on Richmond Ave. get knocked down in the new master plan for the Menil Collection campus. Speaking at a public forum last night, British architect David Chipperfield referred to the Menil’s big multifamily property as “this thing getting in our way.”

Cite magazine’s Raj Mankad describes more details of the Chipperfield plan:

The car park along Alabama would be strengthened with the new bookshop, cafe, and auditorium nearby. The key change would be to connect West Main across the site [to Yupon] through the area occupied by the northern end of Richmont Square. The complete street grid would surround a new green space that would also be made possible by the clearing of the north side of the apartments. It would connect, slightly off axis, with the current Menil park between the main building and the Rothko. The Drawing Institute and Study Center and Single Artist Studios would be sited around the new green space. And along Richmond itself, the plan calls for dense residential and commercial development.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , , , , ,
Cherryhurst
09/25/09 3:51pm

Comment of the Day: The Townhome Effect

by
Comments, Home Prices, Quicklink, Townhomes
31 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TOWNHOME EFFECT “A lot of people would think twice with the townhome next door, I know I did. Cherryhurst is a nice area but has evidently let whatever deed restrictions it had slide. This will hurt prices there in the long run as older homes are replaced with townhomes. Apart from the aesthetic, which is subjective, great neighborhoods aren’t build round townhomes. It probably already has hurt this seller.” [sidegate, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Your Cherryhurst Neighbors]

, , , ,
Cherryhurst
09/21/09 12:33pm

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Your Cherryhurst Neighbors

by
Home Prices, Montrose, Price Adjuster
87 Comments

The Swamplot Price Adjuster needs your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.

Location: 1617 Fairview St., Cherryhurst
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths; 1,810 sq. ft. on a 5,000-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $475,000
History: On the market for almost a month and a half.

Note: We now have a response from the seller! See updates below.

The reader who nominated this expanded bungalow on Fairview likes the place, but . . .

What’s not evident from the photos are the basic problems with this house at this asking price:

[First, it’s ] across the street from Wilson Elementary. Not such a bad thing if you have kids who might attend Wilson, but otherwise a drag. School buses have a tendency to idle in front of the property. Noise and trash coming from, well, kids. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, year in and year out, a litany of soccer matches, volleyball tournaments, Frisbee “flag football”, etc. emit a constant din. You know, just what you want when you’d like to sleep in a bit.

Some opinions about the home’s other immediate neighbors, too:

The townhomes aren’t that big of deal other than the residents can peer into your backyard and house. But, the house to the east is a nightmare. . . . Overgrown yard, house falling in on itself. Great for Boo Radley’s house. I can imagine prospective buyers looking at the thing next door and immediately saying, “Nope.”

So . . . what might be a better price?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , ,
Lower Westheimer
09/14/09 12:10pm

Sweet and Fruity Afterlife of the Montrose Taco Cabana

by
Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
13 Comments

A reader snaps this photo of the former pink Taco Cabana drive-thru at the corner of Montrose and Westheimer, “now painted white w red stripes at the bottom” — and asks if we know what’s going in there. Fortunately, another reader has the answer:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , ,
Harwin
09/08/09 9:22am

Do Not Resuscitate; Move to Harwin

by
Montrose, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants
7 Comments

DO NOT RESUSCITATE; MOVE TO HARWIN A reader who’s been intermittently monitoring the vital signs of the DNR European Cafe and Deli in Chelsea Market on Montrose reports that the restaurant has closed: “There is a sign out front announcing the impending opening of a new restaurant called ‘Chelsea Grill.'” Meanwhile, a notice on DNR’s listing at restaurant website B4-u-eat notes that DNR will be opening “soon” at 10400 Harwin Dr. [Swamplot inbox]

, , , , ,
Avondale
08/31/09 2:18pm

Brushed Away: Lower Westheimer Lot Clearance

by
Landscape, Lower Westheimer, Montrose
6 Comments

“Looks like someone’s getting ready to build,” reports a Swamplot reader about this lot on the corner of Westheimer and Helena, at the very lowest end of Lower Westheimer:

All of the brown earth you see in the photo was formerly a tree or bush of some type. See the steel gate I’m taking the picture through? Just on the other side of it (about 3 yards from the steel gate), there was a chain link fence that provided shade, shelter and ‘hideability’ to local bums. If I had taken that photo the day before, you would have seen a lot of brush, bums and beer cans.

Even the bushes in the ‘sidewalk’ area (the sidewalk stops at this lot) were removed.

It could just be a beautification or bum-preventative project, but due to the midtown/downtown/Montrose location, I’m guessing that someone plans to construct a business there.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

, , , , ,
« Previous Page Next Page »