07/23/12 4:50pm

Decorative panels mimic and emphasize the vertical orientation of windows on the front of this 1977 Fleetwood home just past the Energy Corridor. Around back, though, it’s all windows overlooking the pool. Behind the property, a shared alley provides access to the home’s 2-car garage as well as the garages of similarly pooled-up homes on the street. The alley also ups the distance between the back fence and the homes beyond it.

Last week, this corner-lot property resurfaced when a new agency relisted it at an even $312,000. The initial asking price back in February 2011 had tested the waters at an unusual $343,343, with a dive 2 months later to $328,328 — before throwing in the towel in October.

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05/01/12 11:53am

Joining the style smorgasbord on a cul-de-sac in Wilchester, a 1966 home’s exterior nods to the Space Age in the city where orbits were controlled. Check out the entry portal. Wider versions of its elongated arch — would that be paraboloid or inverted catenary? — appear in the decorative pewter-toned brickwork. The elevation is one-part 1-story, one part 2-story. (The listing averages out the two sides and calls the home a 1 1/2-story.) The floor plan includes 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 half-baths. The family room’s fireplace has an interesting configuration.

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04/11/12 1:14pm

ARCO OFFICE GOING DOWN; DOWNTOWN HOUSTON CLUB BUILDING WILL STAY PUT Dismemberment of the former ARCO office building west of Eldridge at 15375 Memorial Dr. should begin sometime within a month or two, Catie Dixon reports. What will new owner Skanska USA do with the 21-acre site — rumored as a possible location for the new Phillips 66 headquarters? Skanska is currently hunting for an architect to provide a master plan, Dixon writes, “potentially with a couple of offices.” Meanwhile, the other pre-owned office building purchased recently by the Swedish construction firm appears safe from the wrecking ball: The company’s regional manager tells Dixon he expects to begin remodeling the Houston Club building at 811 Rusk St. downtown by the end of 2012. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Houston Club building: Silberman Properties

11/18/11 3:31pm

If, as rumored, Skanska USA Commercial Development is the buyer of this sprawling former ARCO building at 15375 Memorial Dr. west of Eldridge, the Swedish construction giant will soon be the owner of a small one-of-each collection of Houston office types: The Houston Club building Downtown, the 20-story tower Kirksey designed for the company that just began construction on the Galleria side of the West Loop, and this 21-acre Energy Corridor campus. According to reports, the company is likely to tear down both the Memorial Dr. building and the one Downtown and build office buildings on each site from scratch.

Photo: Silberman Properties

01/28/11 12:32pm

A reader who says he’s always been curious what the gaudiest house in Houston looks like on the inside tells Swamplot his wish has come true — now that photos of this 5-bedroom just-outside-the-Beltway home at 12930 Memorial Dr. have been published on MLS. Four readers have written in to express awe at its appearance. “I’m not sure how to even begin describing the living area decor,” writes another, who also seems transfixed on the “giant high heel and giant lady statues (or are those murals?) in the entryway,” as well as the mermaid-themed master bathroom.

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12/23/10 3:55pm

ALL THEY WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS WAS THE SKYLANE WEST Here’s a heartwarming holiday story. Embarrassed by media reports that all residents of the Skylane West apartments on I-10 were being kicked out of their homes with only 10 days’ notice just days before Christmas, the property’s new owners have given tenants, many of whom pay weekly, a wonderful Christmas present: Now they’ll be kicked out of their homes just days before New Year’s. Sonia Azad reports the new owners of the property just across the Beltway from CityCentre is Houston Garden Centers, which operates a nursery next door to the ratty complex and plans to tear it down. In the holiday spirit, the company “extended family leases through December 29 and gave them each $500 Walmart gift certificates. In an email, the new owner says, ‘We had no idea that there were children living here.'” [abc13] Image: 39Online

09/07/10 3:42pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: RACING AHEAD “Dunno about demolishing before [a] permit is issued. But I do know that when they took down the Nissan dealership on the Katy Freeway a year or so back I was able to look at the already demolished and cleared site on StreetView the day the permit came up in the Daily Demo Report. So it certainly happens.” [Jimbo, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Chelsea Place Lately]

03/02/10 8:14am

THE FERAL PEAFOWL OF NOTTINGHAM FOREST Jay Lee shoots game in Houston’s wild west: “Off Memorial Drive between Kirkwood and Dairy Ashford reside the wild peafowl of West Houston. Peacocks and Peahens roam the yards and streets, putting on a show and making a racket. Their call sounds like a baby crying out or a cat in severe pain. Some residents describe their call as “sounds like somebody being murdered.” Overall they seem oblivious to the human residents and the occasional gawkers like myself who drive down to see them. Apparently the population of about 50 birds are offspring from a pair that a landowner gave his wife more than 30 years ago.” [Bald Heretic]

02/04/10 7:04pm

MariaO was the first to name the Yorkshire in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. Which means she’s our . . . runner-up! First prize goes to DavidW and his exhaustive descriptions of this west-side home. Congratulations to you both!

Wanna see more details?

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12/10/09 9:43pm

Who won the prize for this week’s game — a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

Somebody who made one of these guesses: Memorial, Bunker Hill Village, Piney Point Village, Sugar Land, Champions (2 guesses), Charnwood, the San Felipe and Voss area, Katy, Cinco Ranch, “Memorial/Kirkwood area,” “Memorial/Dairy Ashford area,” Richmond Ave. inside the Beltway, Riverside Terrace, Fleetwood (2), Quail Valley, Greenwood Forest, Hedwig Village, Ponderosa Forest, Timbergrove Manor, along Sims Bayou near the Gulf Freeway, “Memorial Northwest, just north of Louetta and off of Champion Forest,” and Sandalwood.

Congratulations to Phil Hyde, for winning with this:

This house has some obvious updates, like the granite countertops. But the herringbone floors and wood paneling scream 70’s. Very typical of houses in Fleetwood.

Would you like your membership wrapped? Also guessing Fleetwood was this week’s runner-up, KimmerTX.

Let’s have a look:

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09/18/09 11:56am

ALL THOSE NEW ENERGY CORRIDOR OFFICE BUILDINGS “Among projects slated to begin construction soon are the 477,000-square-foot Energy Tower III from Mac Haik Realty Ltd. on the Katy Freeway, the 170,000-square-foot Enclave Corporate Center and the 230,000-square-foot Energy Crossing II, developed by Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. on the Katy Freeway. Currently, 13 new office buildings are being constructed in the Energy Corridor, according to the Energy Corridor Management District. Major developments coming online in the near future include the 300,000-square-foot Three Eldridge Place at 737 North Eldridge Parkway being developed by Dallas-based Behringer Harvard; the 447,000-square-foot Energy Tower II, which is expected to be completed this fall and will be occupied primarily by Technip; and Eldridge Oaks I, a 350,000-square-foot building at 1080 Eldridge Parkway being developed by Transwestern. In all, the market will gain an estimated 1.25 million square feet of new space, of which about 33 percent is pre-leased. Class A vacancy is expected to increase by about 50 percent this year, its highest rate in five years, according to market experts.” [Houston Business Journal]

06/25/09 9:39pm

Who won that membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

Someone who made one of these guesses in this week’s game: Meyerland (there were 2 of them), Oak Forest, Garden Oaks (2 as well), Spring Branch, “somewhere along Brays Bayou near the Loop,” “the south side of Braeswood between Stella Link and Kirby,” Highland Village, Linkwood, Westbury, Spring Oaks, Timbergrove Manor, Lazybrook, Glenbrook Valley (2), Conroe, on Lake Conroe, “out Westpark/Richmond in the Dairy Ashford area,” Bellaire, “somewhere within a quarter mile of Westview from Gessner to Antoine,” Willow Meadows (2), Afton Oaks, Memorial Plaza, Rustling Oaks, Braes Heights, Quail Valley, Westbury, “Old Kingwood/Porter area,” “somewhere south of Bellaire Blvd. very close to Pershing Middle School,” Southside Place, Memorial Bend (2), Pearland, Alvin, Lake Jackson, “Memorial Spring Branch side, right outside of Beltway 8,” Spring Valley, Westbury, “adjacent to Pirates Beach and Galveston Country Club, on Lake Como, on Christmas Point,” or Maplewood.

Vincent, Em, and marmer all had guesses in the neighborhood. But our judges said this entry came with the best explanation:

No one’s said Memorial Bend yet? Really? Gotta go with that because of the interior brick and the triangular bedroom clerestory. Also the big picture window and the high window in the dining area, and the open floor plan. They’re trying to fight the good fight against the McMansions.

Vincent and Em are the runners-up. And marmer wins a one-year individual membership in the RDA. Congratulations!

Now where are we?

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04/10/09 4:32pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE NOTTINGHAM FORESTS OF THE FUTURE “. . . it is amazing how that works in Houston. Same house, probably same builder, same sort of subdivision when it was new. If that same oil and gas junior executive had bought the same new house back in ‘70 in Nottingham Forest, he’d be looking at a $450K + pay day. It will be interesting to see which areas developed in the most recent boom will be the Nottingham Forests and which ones will be more like this subject. Any speculations out there??” [subprimelandguy, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: The Houston Highlands]