These portraits of the Valero station at Westheimer and Crescent Park Dr., now largely bereft of its branding signage and its gas pumps, come from a reader on the scene this morning who speculates that the changes “must have happened very suddenly” on or before Saturday. The fencing has ensnared the Royal Oaks Cleaners’ retail spot as well, though that business’s allegiances and pricing are still proclaimed on nearby signage:
SWAPPING PERSPECTIVES ON THE HOUSTON STRIP MALL MODEL 
“They’re neighborhood centers,†not strip malls, developer Ed Wulfe insists to Katharine Shilcutt in this month’s issue of Houstonia. And call them — all 25,000 or so in the region — what you will, they’ve been scratching the relatively-high-density retail itch for Houston’s sprawling residential areas since WWII. Shilcutt admits that “in the Bayou City, defending the ubiquitous strip mall carries the same whiff of insanity as defending giant tree roaches or mosquitoes. . . . Their aesthetic merits are dubious; their environmental impact, baleful.” But is there any more pure distillation of Houston? (Shilcutt goes on to relay her discussion with restaurateur and actual strip mall tenant Kaiser Lashkari, who owns Himalaya restaurant in Olympic Center off Hillcroft and agrees that there are some benefits to the strip mall model. When asked if he would move to a freestanding building given the opportunity, his answer is still an unequivocal yes.) [Houstonia] Photo of strip center at 13326 Westheimer: Swamplot inbox
The credit card machines at the new Seiwa Market at 1801 S. Dairy Ashford Rd. weren’t up and running yet as of Friday, but the Japanese grocery store did open its doors this weekend to cash-only customers as part of a test run soft opening. The market and its internal food court options will eventually be flanked by other Japanese restaurants, from the looks of things: Ramen House Ichi is currently under construction next door, and the Seiwa store manager told the HBJ last month that a high-end Japanese seafood house is planned for the same shopping center somewhere on the other side.
A reader snagged a few shots of the scene inside Seiwa’s space in Suite 116 of the late 1970s Ashford Village Center shopping strip, across from the Dairy Ashford Roller Rink:
Don’t let the sharp exterior angles fool you —this Harvest Moon Ln. home now on the market in Ashwood Forest is well-rounded in its interior decor. This 1966 home includes a uniquely appointed master suite, complete with period-appropriate fireplace (visible just to the right of the railing, above) and featuring extensive slate tiling. Sold in 2011 for a little under $275,000, this 2754-sq.-ft. house boasts 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 half baths; the price on the home and all of its updates has since risen to around $456,000.
Here’s an aerial view of the Royal Oaks Village II shopping center, where the Houston area’s fifth Trader Joe’s is already under construction behind the Harvest Organic Grille. (That’s the unidentified pad-site restaurant at the top right of the shopping center, which is outlined in red.) There the new grocery store take its place among a spread of nearby food-shopping options along the south side of Westheimer, which include the Walmart Supercenter at W. Houston Center Blvd., the Chick-Fil-A and H-E-B at Kirkwood, and the Whole Foods Market at Wilcrest.
Windows have been replaced in a 1979 Shadowbriar home, its listing earlier this week at $375K proudly declares. But . . . where are they? Walls of solid brick and a deeply sloping roof appear to seal up the façade curbside (top); the deck out back has just a few panes by the French door access. What windows there are, however, appear to be heavy lifters:
This Energy Corridor area home may present Frenchier lines to its neighbors, but there’s some whoopin’ country-style living hidden inside. Located in the Lakeside Venture neighborhood — west of S. Kirkwood Rd. and north of Briar Forest Dr. — the property’s large-but-narrow lot is just over an acre and shaped a bit like a boomerang, with one tip near the street. In its relisting earlier this week, the 1979 home’s asking price took another tack: $1.295 million. A previous listing by the same agent in July 2014 had begun at $1.695 million but dropped the asking price a month later to $1.475 million.
