- 3733 Turnberry Cir. [HAR]
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Tag: 77025
The long-vacant former home of Samaritan Assisted Living was brought to the ground yesterday after demo crews got permission to knock it down, a reader tells Swamplot. The owners of the property at 8800 S. Main St. have been trying to get the scrawny strip (a full 68-by-640-ft. acre) into a new long-term ground-leasing relationship for at least the past year, and appear to have found one in September, per documents filed with the county — including a lease for a smidge less than the next 25 years for an entity housed in Tuscon, AZ, which shares an address with the converted-church-school corporate headquarters of Mister Car Wash.Â
Car Wash Cleanout
- 3018 Conway St. [HAR]
Here’s a recent view from the Buffalo Spdwy. side of the long-vacant 12 acre property at 9330 Main St., now listed as under contract by broker HFF.  The land — a set of parcels outlined in the above aerial photo from HFF listing flier — appears to have never held much in the way of built structures, save for the section at 9403 Buffalo Spdwy. (which sported a branch of Oklahoma-rooted Lebanese steakhouse Jamil’s in the 1970s).
A reader notes that someone has been at work on what appears to be soil testing for the site, which faces Main between the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the Public Storage facility, with Prime Storage across the street. The Buffalo Spdwy. frontage is flanked by  some David Weekley homes to the south, and the Pemberton Park townhomes to the north (visible on the left below:)
Stirrings on S. Main
In other de-tree-ment news along Brays Bayou, a reader further upstream sends some photos of recently cross-hatched stumps now dotting the Valero-inhabited corner of Stella Link Rd. and N. Braeswood Dr. The top shot looks east past the gas station and the Church’s Chicken roosting within; the second shot looks south down Stella Link Rd. toward the former Pilgrim dry cleaners, which these days accepts clothing only as donations to the Shriners Hospital. A neighbor on NextDoor says that the 5 trees (mostly of just-over-15-inch diameter) appear to have been trimmed all the way down to the toes in mid June; at least 4 separate 311 complaints have been made on the matter since then.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
Green Gone
That’s 5 stories of sticks now stacked up at 9000 Main St., the triangular former site of the Medical Inn & Suites complex that met its unmaker late last year. The property was bought in 2013 by an entity named Shree Shriji LLC, which shares an address with the Days Inn & Suites near Hobby Airport at 9114 Airport Blvd. The land sits a half block north of Broadmead Dr., directly across Main from Superbowl-prepping NRG Park’s parking lot (the one spanning between Murworth Dr. and McNee Rd.).
The land wasn’t empty for long following deconstructive operations — but another reader did manage to snap a view of the property back in January, when the freshly emptied spot provided a clear view all the way to the since-sold land 2 parcels north, where Regency Car Wash holds soapy court:
More Rooms on Main St.
A mid-day shot from the Starbucks at the intersection of S. Main St. and Buffalo Spdwy. shows the new fencing now up around the 4-and-a-half-ish acres boxing in the coffee drive-thru. The snapping reader says the lot was cleared out and fenced off last week, a little more than a year after the America’s Best Value Inn and its abandoned grocery-and-nightclub strip center friend were demolished in the name of Lovett. Here’s a peek through the chain link at the palm-lined lot:
S. Main
- 3784 Bellaire Blvd. [HAR]
White walls, glass walls, and mirrored walls provide ample opportunities for looking inward and outward from this 1958 house designed by Houston architect Arthur Steinberg. Overlooking Brays Bayou across Glen Arbor Dr., the home contains 3 bedrooms and 2 and a half bathrooms on 3,765 sq. ft. of pale polished concrete and marble floors. Mid-century minimalism comes with a $1.495-million price tag. CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
A Whiter Shade of Pale
- 4130 Grennoch Ln. [HAR]
The 1959 strip center that once hid the top-secret bar known as Carolyn’s — as well as the Fruit of the Spirit Community Church — is all gone now. Demolition crews tore down the 18,600-sq.-ft. center at 4122 Willowbend Blvd. 3 blocks west of S. Main St. last week and the week before (see in-action shots below, sent to Swamplot by an area resident). And in late May, the planning commission approved a couple of variances to allow the all-in-a-line seeding of 29 3-story townhomes on the lot, in 2 rows facing Willowbend, like so:
Summer Crop
- 3623 Maroneal St. [HAR]
If you’ve been staking out the demolition action around the Starbucks drive-thru at the corner of Buffalo Speedway and S. Main St., a block north of the South Loop, you’ll know crews have now knocked down the entire vacant strip center at 9714 Buffalo Speedway as well as the former America’s Best Value Inn at 9604 S. Main St. behind it. For the rest of us, a couple of pics sent in by a reader will help you catch up on what’s been going down to make way for a rumored townhome development from InTown Homes.
America’s Best Value No Longer
Crews are already at work (above) removing asbestos from the vacant shopping center at 9714 Buffalo Spdwy., one block up on S. Main St. from the South Loop and a mile and a half west of the Astrodome. Plans have already been made for the 1.26-acre property, as well as for the former America’s Best Value Inn immediately south of it at 9604 S. Main St. An entity controlled by developer Frank Liu bought the motel and its 3.13-acre lot in January, and pre-demolition activities are going on there now too.
Only the Starbucks Will Remain
Tended plantings have been a priority at a 1954 Braes Terrace property across from Brays Bayou’s southern banks and hike-and-bike trail. One cluster of trees near the sidewalk screens the updated home from passing traffic on the thoroughfare it fronts; another, closer to the home, adds a second layer of privacy (top) at the circular driveway. Dense ground cover, meanwhile, creeps across much of the shady lot, which is located near Bevlyn St., west of Buffalo Speedway. The interior is also well-groomed (above), though room purposes have been rotated:
Plant Matters
