Tag: 77020

04/23/13 11:30am

The Writings on a Fifth Ward Wall

by Allyn West

Fifth Ward, Public Art

14 Comments

Chalk this one up to wishful thinking: Over the weekend, the Fifth Ward CRC, led by a pair of interns fromÂ Rice University, hung a basket of chalk and this chalkboard on the exterior wall of a vacant corner grocery (with an awning seemingly inspired by Charlie Brown’s T-shirt) at 4101 Lyons. One of the interns, Heidi Kahle — who’s minoring at Rice in “Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities,” a brief bio states — says that the idea’s for Fifth Ward residents to compile a wish list for their community by completing the sentence and filling in the blank: “I wish the Fifth Ward . . . .” As of yesterday, the project’s blog adds, all the blanks had been filled in, with such wishes as “Prosperity” and “Nonviolence” andÂ “Overflow Blessings.”

77020, Art, Fifth Ward, Public Art, Vacant Buildings

Buying and Selling

11/28/12 5:34pm

New Mystery Owner of 136 Acres in the Fifth Ward

Fifth Ward, Houston Ship Channel, Land Sales, Quicklink

12 Comments

NEW MYSTERY OWNER OF 136 ACRES IN THE FIFTH WARD Missing from today’s announcement by KBR that the company has completed the sale of its Ship-Channel-front 136-acre former headquarters campus at 4100 Clinton Dr. in the Fifth Ward: any mention of the buyer — or the sales price. Both details were available earlier in the week on a different sale the engineering, construction, and military contracting company was involved in — of the 40-story Downtown office tower that KBR leases and partially owned. (The tower at 601 Jefferson went to an affiliate of New York’s W.P. Carey, for $174.6 million.) [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Image: HFF

77020, Buying and Selling, Fifth Ward, Houston Ship Channel, Land Sales

07/03/12 1:29pm

Country Living in the Lower Fifth

Japhet Community, Leasing, Quicklink

3 Comments

COUNTRY LIVING IN THE LOWER FIFTH Nancy Sarnoff surveys the collection of repurposed structures moved from Montrose, River Oaks, and Milby St. cobbled into the 4-block Japhet Community run by landlords Jim Ohmart and Eileen Hatcher near Clinton Dr. and Emile St. in the Lower Fifth Ward, off Japhet Creek just north of the Ship Channel-bound Buffalo Bayou: “The rental application for Ohmart’s properties includes questions like: ‘How would you contribute to the neighborhood to make it better?’ and ‘What skills do you have that you’d be willing to share with everyone?’ About 20 people of various ages live there, including several photographers, a professor, nurse and commercial painter. Some are families. Three babies were born in the community last year. Ohmart says he tries to keep the rents affordable, but the taxes have gone up. The cheapest house is $350 a month and the most expensive — a three-bedroom — rents for $980. . . . Ohmart would like to build more housing on a 4Â½-acre tract adjacent to the community the couple bought in 2003. He’s considered a multifamily development, perhaps with solar power, where tenants could share common facilities, but no official plans have been made.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Megan Parks

77020, Japhet Community, Leasing, Lower Fifth Ward

Bayous and Waterways

06/21/12 11:19pm

Comment of the Day: Up from the Ship Channel

Comments, Fifth Ward, Houston Ship Channel, Landscape, Quicklink

No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: UP FROM THE SHIP CHANNEL “Many will think Iâ€™m crazy, but I donâ€™t care . . . Buffalo Bayou (even on the east side of downtown) can be an aesthetically pleasing stream, and could be developed into something nice. Look at the recent improvements and re-naturalization at Eleanor Tinsley park, just a mile upstream. The section between downtown and the Ship Channel (the S.C. technically does not begin until the Turning Basin, about 4 miles east of downtown) is currently mostly idle with vegetated banks and a surprising variety of wildlife. A few more floating litter booms like they use upstream would clean it up a little more, and make for a nice park-like setting.” [Superdave, commenting on Along the Shores of Buffalo Bayou]

77020, Buffalo Bayou, Comments, Houston Ship Channel, Landscape

06/21/12 12:02pm

Along the Shores of Buffalo Bayou

Houston Ship Channel, Industrial Properties, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing

24 Comments

ALONG THE SHORES OF BUFFALO BAYOU Catie Dixon comes up with a few gems in her interview with the team marketing the 136-acre campus HQ at 4100 Clinton Dr. in the southern portion of the Fifth Ward just east of Downtown that Halliburton spinoff KBR has just put up for sale. HFF has given a name to what may be the “largest infill site” near a major U.S. Central Bus District: “Cityscape on Buffalo Bayou.” And members of the sales team believe it’s ripe for a mixed-use development, now that KBR’s industrial buildings have been demolished. Five office buildings dating from the early seventies (totaling 720,000 sq. ft.) and a 36,000-sq.-ft. employee center are still there. The property’s outstanding “water feature” is a mile of frontage on Houston’s scenic Ship Channel. [Bisnow] Image: HFF

77020, Fifth Ward, Houston Ship Channel, Industrial Properties, Land for Sale, Real Estate Marketing

Comments

02/07/12 11:44pm

Comment of the Day: The EaDo Virus

East Downtown, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing

8 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE EADO VIRUS “For goodness sake, when are people going to stop referring to random areas within the East End as EaDo! EaDoâ€™s northern most tip is on Commerce. The KBR site is pretty far removed from EaDoâ€™s borders! And realtors, please stop coming up with new names. I recently saw a listing near EaDo, with a location described as â€œSEDOâ€ (Southeast Downtown). When will the madness stop!” [Eddie, commenting on The Clearings on Clinton]

77003, 77020, Comments, East Downtown, Fifth Ward, Real Estate Marketing

Demolitions

02/07/12 1:06pm

The Clearings on Clinton

Fifth Ward, Industrial Properties, Landscape

30 Comments

“They have been taking down buildings like crazy the past few weeks and we are wondering what is planned,” writes a reader from the lower Fifth Ward, who wants to know what’s going on along Clinton Dr. near Jensen. More’s been coming down, apparently, than just the former KBR warehouses. “This morning,” read a note sent to Swamplot yesterday, “there was a Sheriff substation across the street, this afternoon it is a pile of twisted metal.” The demo work on Clinton Dr. just east of Gregg St. continues: “I can hear the bulldozer over there piling up debris as I send this,” reads a note from this morning. And here’s a pic from today of what’s left of it:

77020, Demolitions, Fifth Ward, Industrial Areas, Landscape

10/10/11 10:25pm

Comment of the Day: Uh . . . Hello?

Comments, Fifth Ward, Quicklink

8 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: UH . . . HELLO? “I would love to know more about the giant brick hand that greets you as you drive east of Lyons. Does anyone know what its origin is?” [RWBoyd, commenting on Hello from the Fifth]

77020, Art, Comments, Fifth Ward, Sculpture

10/07/11 1:49pm

Hello from the Fifth

Quicklink, Redevelopment

41 Comments

HELLO FROM THE FIFTH Charles Kuffner spots demographic shifts in the Fifth Ward: “To interview the candidates in District B, I made several visits into the Fifth Ward, which is a neighborhood I canâ€™t honestly say Iâ€™d been to before. One of these interviews took me past Fifth Ward Jam, which was cool to see. But what really struck me as I drove around was how close this all was to downtown. Gentrification and whirlwind change may not be a part of the Fifth Ward today, but I think itâ€™s inevitable, and frankly is probably just around the corner. If you look at the neighborhoods surrounding downtown, itâ€™s whatâ€™s left for redevelopment. The Heights, the Washington corridor, Neartown, the Museum District, Montrose, and Midtown are all pretty much built out — for sure thereâ€™s little if any cheap property available in any of them. EaDo and the Near Northside are getting there. But east of 59 and north of I-10, itâ€™s as Gray describes it. If youâ€™re a real estate developer, youâ€™ve got to see the potential there.” [Off the Kuff] Photo: Robert Boyd

77020, Fifth Ward, Redevelopment

08/19/11 12:53pm

Explosive Fifth Ward Bungalow Bandshell Just About Ready for Its Breakout Jam Session

Construction Materials, Fifth Ward, Openings and Closings, Parks, Public Art

10 Comments

Sculptor Dan Havel sends in photos of the construction he and fellow demo artist Dean Ruck have been working on for months in a new pocket park at 3705 Lyons Ave. More than a month before its debut as the backdrop for a community concert (yes, that’s a stage poking out from the front), Havel says their project is “substantially complete,” though there are still a few more details to fill in, including stairs for the stage and some landscaping. Working from a ready-to-be-knocked-down house from a couple miles northeast at 3012 Erastus St., Havel and Ruck added, ahem, a whole lot of support to the interior, as these photos taken earlier in the summer show:

77020, Art, Bungalows, Construction Materials, Fifth Ward, Openings and Closings, Parks, Public Art, Recycled Materials

01/13/11 9:34pm

Summary Report from the Recent Urban Garden Summit

Gardening, Harbordale, Quicklink, Restaurants

3 Comments

SUMMARY REPORT FROM THE RECENT URBAN GARDEN SUMMIT “There is a 2 acre plot of land beside the parking lot at the Houston Food Bankâ€™s new headquarters on I-10 east and that organization is looking for someone to build a demonstration garden there. Meanwhile, Covenant Community Capital is assisting a group of chefs including Randy Evans from Haven who are looking for a spot for a cooperative restaurant garden. Last Organic Outpost and the Harris County AgriLife extension office are looking for ways to help both groups. One idea under consideration is to turn the Houston Food Bank lot into a composting facility — at least to get that project started. The search for a restaurant garden is focusing on vacant lots in the Fifth Ward.” [Texas Eats; previously on Swamplot]

77020, 77029, Fifth Ward, Gardening, Harbordale, Restaurants

12/30/10 10:57am

Headwaters of the Houston Shit Channel

Hazards, Houston Ship Channel, Quicklink, Water Quality

5 Comments

HEADWATERS OF THE HOUSTON SHIT CHANNEL A sewer collecting system on the northern banks of Buffalo Bayou near Lockwood donated more than 100,000 gallons of untreated waste to the waterway last night. City officials expect the problem to be fixed sometime today. [MyFox Houston]

77020, Fifth Ward, Hazards, Houston Ship Channel, Water Quality

12/14/10 12:53pm

Fifth Ward Journey: Since When Did This House Become Art?

Demolitions, Development Regulations, Fifth Ward, Public Art

21 Comments

The City of Houston permitting office has worked its artistic magic: There’s a house now sitting on the lot at 3705 Lyons Ave. in the Fifth Ward that’s officially classified as a sculpture. Last week, it was just a run-down bungalow a couple of miles to the northwest, at 3012 Erastus St. At what point along its journey — which after several postponements finally took place last Thursday night — did the transformation occur? City officials and demo artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck can’t pinpoint it. But we’ve got a few photos of the move. Maybe someone can point out for us the exact moment the art began?

77020, Art, Demolitions, Development Regulations, Fifth Ward, Housemoving, Parks, Proposed Developments, Public Art

12/07/10 11:54am

Houston Building Permits Will Turn This House into Art — Tonight

Fifth Ward, Parks, Proposed Developments, Public Art

2 Comments

Note: Nope, not tonight. See update below.

Sometime after 9 pm tonight — if rain doesn’t postpone its scheduled journey from 3012 Erastus St. in Houston’s Fifth Ward to a new home on Lyons Ave. — this abandoned house will become art. That’s not just the contention of Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, the two demolition artists responsible for the move; it’s actually detailed in the city permits they obtained for “Fifth Ward Jam,” a temporary public-art project they’re creating with funding from the Houston Arts Alliance. After Wooten House Movers set up the structure in its new location, Havel and Ruck will start tearing it up and reconstructing it. But the move is what will make it art — because the city says so. “The permit office had a hard time categorizing just exactly what to call our project,” Havel tells Swamplot:

Is it a house, is it a sculpture? Is it both? The black and white rules of permitting needed to be utilized. The best way to do that is to first call the house a structure in order to obtain the permits to move it. However, once the house is placed on the property, it ceases to be an inhabitable structure and will be transformed into a sculptural environment. So, somewhere along the moving route, whether it is half way between two sites or when it physically enters the new site, it will be officially categorized as a sculpture.

So when we reconstruct the house into a sculpture, we do not need a building permit because it is now a sculpture. Pretty funny logic, if you ask me, but it makes sense. The permit guys were certainly scratching their heads, but we got our permits.