Here — minus mysteriously absent lots 5, 7, 9, 11, 17, 19, 21, and 23 — are the outlines of the 19 homesites carved from the 10-acre wooded property that Holy Name Retreat Center sold off last year in Bunker Hill Village. Black Diamond Companies, the purveyors of two elsewhere-themed, other-worldly developments — the Cáceres Andelusion in Rice Military and vaguely Francophile Bammel Lane Park Homes on . . . uh, Bammel Lane — so far appears to be soft-pedaling the existence of any foreign entanglement in this latest development.
“It basically runs in between Beltway 8 and 610 and is crossed by the likes of Westheimer, Woodway, Richmond, Bissonnet et al. Basically these people met in drunken stupors along the Richmond strip in the early 80s at those cheesy night clubs; tried to make lasting marriages but eventually divorced; and then bought homes and patio homes close but not too close to their old stomping grounds. Incidentally, many of them work non-descript office jobs at middle market companies in the Westchase district and raaaaaave about the tres leches cake at the Churrasco’s out there on Westheimer. Yay Divorcee Belt!” [Bobby Hadley, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game: Blue Check]
Hey, what happened to Monday? Swamplot spent most of it fighting off a few tech demons. But hey, here’s some news!
Opened: The new and expanded Children’s Museum had its grand opening this weekend. Now twice its original size, the 90,000 sq. ft. museum features exhibits of children in various states of play. Also inside: an expanded branch of the Houston Public Library.
Opening: Backe’s Bullpen, a fine drinking establishment in Dickinson, will open with the backing of Astros pitcher Brandon Backe, reports the Galveston Daily News’s Laura Elder. Last October, Backe was arrested after a run-in with police at a Galveston bar.
Closed: Mike McGuff notices that the Meyer Park Chili’s, once “the big teen hangout in southwest Houston,” shut down in February.
Over at Eating Our Words, Katharine Shilcutt has posted photos of the now-vacant longtime home of Las Alamedas Restaurant. As noted in this featured comment from a Swamplot reader, the restaurant packed up and rolled away late last month, after long-extended lease negotiations failed. Restaurant owner Jorge Sneider told the Houston Business Journal the building’s new landlords were demanding a significant rent increase.
The Brennan’s Restaurant building at 3300 Smith St. in Midtown — designed in 1930 by Houston architect John Staub — was originally the home of Houston’s Junior League. A fire during Hurricane Ike left it a brick shell. But now the owners say they’ll rebuild.
Alex Brennan-Martin — and the Brennan’s website — have said as much a number of times before. But today he announced it at a press conference with the mayor. An unspecified “80 percent” of the building will be restored. The new Brennan’s is expected to open in October, its old courtyard oak replaced with a free-range model imported from Hermann Park.
Also snuck into the press conference: the 2 new restaurants Brennan-Martin be opening with partners in the aptly named CityCentre, the Town & Country Mall replacement parked at the crotch of I-10 and the Beltway. Café Rosé and Bistro Alex should open inside the new Hotel Sorella there in July.
“I drove by yesterday and there were two large U-Haul trucks backed up to the back door. I think Las Alamedas is toast. What a shame; I’ve had many good times there.” And later: “Well, I drove by a couple of hours ago and the sign out front says something like ‘Thank you for 28 great years. We will relocate.’” [Clive, commenting on Las Alamedas: Landlord Wants More]
Some of you may be ready for a refresher: What does a $5 million teardown look like again? Here’s one answer: It looks a lot like a very large lot in a tony neighborhood that doesn’t like the land, at least, to be chopped into smaller pieces.
This 1962 estate on more than 3.3 acres in Sherwood Forest, designed by Houston society architect John Staub, showed up in Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report this morning, which means it received a demo permit on Friday. The permit report identifies the owner as developer Giorgio Borlenghi, but HCAD records indicate Borlenghi sold the property in October 2007 to an entity known as ALV Interests, Ltd.
Only 2 months after that sale, the 7,334-sq.-ft. home went on the market — at $6 million. And it’s still listed, now for $1 million less. Though these photos, included with the listing, now might be slightly out of date:
Last week the Houston Business Journal reported that the owner of Las Alamedas had reached agreement on a new lease with its landlord and would reopen on February 6th. But the upscale Mexican restaurant on the Katy Freeway at Voss is still closed.
What happened to that agreement?
“The landlord came back and wanted at least 50 percent more rent and other things that we didn’t originally agree on,” says [restaurant owner Jorge] Sneider.
Sneider had previously told reporter Allison Wollam that the original landlord died in a plane crash, and various surviving family members had been fighting over ownership of the property for the last year and a half. “He now hopes he can work out another lease in a couple of weeks,” Wollam reports today.
He may have officially retired last summer, but the former CEO of Houston’s HCC Insurance Holdingsdoesn’t seem to have slowed down! A settlement with the SEC, which accused Stephen L. Way of backdating stock options on at least 38 occasions, means the former executive is barred from serving as an officer or director of any public reporting company for five years. But Way has apparently found a way to keep himself busy, making improvements around his Bayou Woods home.
There’s just one problem with the lovely boxwood-hedged and pine-shaded parking lot pictured above, along with a concrete driveway and speed bumps Way also had built down the street:
Las Alamedas Restaurant — the hacienda on the Katy Freeway — is on hiatus pending renegotiation of its 28-year-old lease.
According to a message on the restaurant’s voice mail, the storied location of countless wedding, birthday and anniversary fiestas is “temporarily closed” while negotiations continue.
When Las Alamedas opened in 1980 it was the first grand, high-end Mexican restaurant in town. The Memorial location — 8615 Katy Freeway at Voss — attracted diners who sought genuine Mexican cuisine in a large elegant setting. Colonial-style architecture, bayou views, banquet facilities and highly professional service pleased customers for whom Ninfa’s on Navigation was terra incognita.
From HAIF, a brief but classic conversation from earlier this week about the house for sale at 423 Electra in Memorial Bend:
Has anyone been inside this house lately? The realtor seems to be a little confused in the HAR listing. It reads that it is 2 bed from 3, has 6 bathrooms, a garage and a manned gate?? well I guess the fence and gate was put in by a man. And its a “absolutely gorgeous must see” and also sold for “lot value”. huh? My biggest question is what’s with that front yard nursery plantings?
Is the house re-muddled too far?
The response, after the jump — from someone who’s been there. Plus: all the remaining photos from the listing!
Problems with equipment deliveries are being blamed for the delayed opening of the Lucky Strike Lanes in the Houston Pavilions project Downtown. The party and pool venue, 16-lane bowling alley, and restaurant was originally supposed to debut this Wednesday, but now may not open for business until the beginning of next year. There are 20 other Lucky Strikes open or planned; the Pavilions location will be the first in Texas.
Meanwhile, all is swell at the new 300 Houston, the reimagined and rebranded former AMF Bunker Hill Lanes bowling alley that opened earlier this month near the Memorial City Mall:
. . . instead of an apathetic teen in a ill-fitting polo attending bowlers’ needs, each lane is outfitted with its own personal lane captain who is outfitted in a tuxedo vest.
“[The captain will] get them their drinks, get them any food and beverage that they want, take care of any issues on the lane - if they have a scoring issue, they miss a frame, one of the pins gets stuck - the lane captain takes care of all of that and they close out with the lane captain,” [Sales Manager Jill Maxwell] says. Before that you head to an equipment specialist who sizes you for a ball, gets your shoes and escorts you to your lane.
A third Pronto Cucinino “fast casual” restaurant is on its way: “The new restaurant will be located at 791 Town & Country Boulevard, Town & Country Village, on the west side of Houston. A March 2009 opening is planned. Mary Mandola will design the interior, as she has done for all of their restaurants. . . . This will be the sixth restaurant in the Vincent Mandola family of restaurants. The two other Pronto’s are located at 1401 Montrose, Houston and 3191 West Holcombe Boulevard . . . The family also owns and operates Nino’s, Vincent’s and Grappino’s in Houston.” [Cleverley's Houston Restaurant Blog]
Swamplot covers real estate, home design and renovation, architecture, and the landscape of Houston, Texas. Swamplot did not flood during Allison — or Ike! Honest! Read more
Comment of the Day: The Great West Houston Divorcée Belt
“It basically runs in between Beltway 8 and 610 and is crossed by the likes of Westheimer, Woodway, Richmond, Bissonnet et al. Basically these people met in drunken stupors along the Richmond strip in the early 80s at those cheesy night clubs; tried to make lasting marriages but eventually divorced; and then bought homes and patio homes close but not too close to their old stomping grounds. Incidentally, many of them work non-descript office jobs at middle market companies in the Westchase district and raaaaaave about the tres leches cake at the Churrasco’s out there on Westheimer. Yay Divorcee Belt!” [Bobby Hadley, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game: Blue Check]