04/24/08 11:57pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game 4: Media Room

Some pretty sharp photo-detective work — and plenty of good guesses — in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. But . . . no winner. This was a tough one!

This week’s guesses were rather variously described . . . and one-of-a-kind: “near the Medical Center off McGregor;” 77024; Oak Ridge North; Northampton in Spring; Briar Forest; Memorial/Dairy Ashford area; River Oaks; Avalon Square; Yorkshire; Frostwood; West Memorial between Beltway 8 and Eldridge; Briar Forest; Bunker Hill; one of the Memorial Villages; Southgate-Rice Village area; Southmore/Riverside; Braeswood Place; Ayrshire; Braes Heights; Braes Manor; Braes Oaks; Braes Terrace; Emerald Forest; Southern Oaks; Conroe; Afton Oaks.

That’s quite a tour of the Houston area!

The closest guess came from karen, who failed to tease out the memory of a similar property she once looked at “on Lexington, between Greenbriar and Kirby.” Think of a more upscale version of that house — where would that be?

How about . . . on North or South Blvd.? The exact neighborhood of this week’s home was Edgemont. But a guess of West Edgemont . . . or Broadacres . . . or Boulevard Oaks would have won it. Southampton might even have been good enough.

Possibly, some of you were thrown off by the order of the photos. If the first photo had been of the Living Room, followed by the Dining Room . . . and the paneled and partially sunken Media Room had not been shown until later, would the apparent pattern of remodeling and addition have been more obvious?

A few key clues were unearthed in the comments. An honorable mention goes to last week’s winner, HoustonAreaGuy, who was first to identify the critical bathroom-door handle clue, and who made no mistakes in his description:

It’s a large house, easily 4000+ square feet. I could go with 60’s construction as well, except one small detail stands out to me…and it might not mean anything. The hardware on the bathroom door in the last photo appears to be OLD. Not sure if it’s original to the house or something bought at an antique emporium. It really throws me because if the house is as old as the hardware indicates, then it likely isn’t in my first-guess area zip code 77024.

After the jump: the big reveal!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/18/08 9:11am

Bissonnet St. Elevation of Proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet, Southampton, Houston

Today comes news that the developers of the Ashby Highrise won’t wait any longer to strike a deal with the city — and are proceeding with permit applications for their original 23-story apartment and condo tower next to Southampton. Writing in the Chronicle, Mike Snyder reports that Buckhead Investment Partners had submitted a proposal for a slightly smaller tower to the city three weeks ago but had received no response.

The proposed smaller 22-story tower, which didn’t get much support from neighborhood groups, would have featured a narrower tower with 130 condo units and four detached townhouses along Ashby, two floors of underground parking and two more above grade, plus a small park on one corner. Buckhead principals Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton told Snyder the reduced number of units would “eliminate any possibility the project would cause unacceptable traffic congestion.”

A document outlining the proposal, however, shows the offer is contingent on significant financial concessions by the city: An immediate refund of about $500,000 for new sewer lines the developers installed to serve the project, along with a payment to the developers of up to $2.15 million, over as long as 10 years, from revenue generated by increased tax values on the site.

Meanwhile, Buckhead’s fancy new website now features a far more complete collection of presentation drawings of what appears to be the original 23-story tower. There doesn’t seem to be any mention on the site of the 22-story all-condo tower proposal.

After the jump, lots of tower drawings from the new website — including . . . kids hugging puppies!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

02/18/08 5:05pm

Townhouses at Ashby, 1717 Bissonnet, Ashby Highrise, Houston

How do you reduce development in . . . uh, sensitive Houston neighborhoods — without imposing new regulations?

It can be done! A free market provides its own land-use controls.

Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners, developers of the proposed 23-story residential highrise at the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet, show how it can work:

In the Feb. 5 meeting, Morgan and Kirton offered to reduce the size of their building to 19 stories or to build a six-story project while accepting a $2.65 million payment to recoup their investment.

Street-level view of proposed Ashby Townhomes, 1717 Bissonnet: Buckhead Investment Partners

11/07/07 12:23pm

Slow-motion news flash: City Council has just voted to put off a vote on the mayor’s whipped-up-in-a-jiffy highrise traffic ordinance for 90 days. The ordinance would have required traffic-impact studies for projects “very much like” the proposed Ashby Highrise, and allowed the director of public works to force building-size reductions as a result.

Guess those signs will be staying up through the holidays.

10/29/07 12:30pm

Greenbriar Chateau Apartments, 4100 Greenbriar St., HoustonFirst, they came for Maryland Manor. And then: the Greenbriar Chateau apartments? Just what is happening to the great Mansard apartments of Houston? And what will be next on the chopping block: that birthing place of Bushitude, Chateau Dijon?

No 23-story tower has been proposed for the Greenbriar Chateau site—yet. But think of the stylistic possibilities: a Tuscan shopping center . . . or taller, vaguely turn-of-the-century New York-ish apartments. Sure, it’s more than three-and-a-half acres at the northern edge of Boulevard Oaks, but really, it’s those mansards that have to go.

A local investment group has obtained a $10-million loan to buy the 145-unit Greenbriar Chateau in the near southwest submarket. Given the location, it could end up as a conversion into a higher-density project.

Bammelbelt LP bought the complex, built nearly 40 years ago at 4100 Greenbriar St., a prime infill location within minutes of Rice University, Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center. Sources familiar with the area say rising land costs for infill sites could prompt similar deals by investors buying aging properties as land plays.

Swamplot readers: is this your home? When you get that little slip in your mailbox, let us know.

10/01/07 9:43am

Highrise Protest Sign on Rice Blvd. in Southampton

So much continuing excitement over the new 23-story tower proposed for the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby in Boulevard Oaks:

  • Mayor White sends the city a letter: “I will be prepared to use any appropriate power under law to alter the proposed project as currently planned.” Just wait’ll we get a mayor who’s actually an architect.
  • Next, the architect who wants to be mayor proposes a moratorium.
  • Gentle opposition guest editorial in the Chronicle: “Imagine the diminished joy of looking out from your peaceful garden . . .”
  • Wednesday: Protest rally!
  • Interesting traffic analysis from Off the Kuff commenter Trafficnerd:

    In my experience, the residents of the affected areas almost always object vociferously to the residential components of the project, yet give the typical ground level retail and restaurant uses a pass because they somewhat see those as desirable uses.

  • What’s it gonna look like? See an actual drawing of the proposed tower, after the jump! Yes, it’s cartoonish, but it doesn’t look like the cartoon.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

09/20/07 8:16am

Cartoon of Highrise Planned for 1717 BissonnetOne advantage of keeping your Houston-style Big Tower in a Wealthy Residential Neighborhood project secret: You can plat the property, prepare traffic-impact studies, and upgrade utilities before anyone notices. One downside: Media-savvy neighbors might catch on and announce your project before you do. Or at least release renderings.

Here’s what Buckhead Investment Partners is saying about the 23-story mixed-use tower the company is planning for the current site of the Maryland Manor apartments, on the south side of Bissonnet near Dunlavy: A six-story base will include a 467-car parking garage, space for retail and a restaurant on the ground floor, and five live-work townhomes. An “amenity plaza” level on the sixth floor will have an exercise room, spa, and office space. Above it all: 17 floors of either apartments or condos.

Rainwater collection. LEED-Silver rating. Red-brick exterior with cast-stone details. But best of all is the spin:

The project design has been chosen so that all building residential units will be above the tree line, ensuring the greatest level of privacy for the surrounding neighborhood and the maximum view of Houston’s skylines and tree canopy from the units.

Emerging Boulevard Oaks development strategy: You won’t be able to see us, because we’ll be above the trees.