Swamplot Archives by Tag: Condos

Monday, March 15, 2010

A 2727 Kirby Occupancy Update

If our math holds, 10 or 11 condos have sold or otherwise gained occupants over the last 5 months at 2727 Kirby. Last October, the developers of the new 30-story highrise near Westheimer reported that 20 units in the tower were occupied.

Now the Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff reports that the building’s owners have turned over management of the building to a separate agency:

The group has hired Houston-based Association Management to take over now that the building has more residents, said Sherri Atlas, who owns the unsold units in the high-rise with another investor. Fortress is the lender on the project.

Atlas said occupancy is at about 40 percent in the building, which has 77 high-end units.

Photo: Ziegler Cooper Architects

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Corner Site with Great Access: A Remnant of Houston Heights History

A commenter named Jamie fills in the details on this “Stairway To Nowhere” — which also appears to include a ramp — found on the corner of 18th and Ashland streets in the Heights. Blogger Viula of The Heights Life, who snapped the photo, is curious about where the stairs came from:

“They really struck me as part of a time gone by in the Heights,” she writes.

And what a time it was! Reports Jamie:

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Numbers on Commerce Towers

How has that condo conversion of the former Commerce Building at the corner of Main St. and Walker Downtown been working out?

The building has 122 finished units and a two-story-tall penthouse that has not been built out yet.

A total of 69 units have been sold, and another 25 have been leased. [Commerce Towers sales and leasing agent Susan] Speck said some of the renters are interested in buying.

Prominent Houstonian Jesse Jones built the first part of the structure in 1928, and added onto it in the 1930s, Speck said.

An entity named Premier Towers bought the building in 1999. It was redeveloped by New York-based Whitney Jordan Group with Tarantino Properties Inc. of Houston.

The first condo units were finished and people starting moving in during 2002.

Photo of Commerce Towers, 914 Main St.: Sandra Gunn Properties

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Monday, February 1, 2010

Your Brief Guide to Allen Stanford’s Houston Landing Pads

Having trouble keeping track of all the homes, condos, and apartments financier, philanthropist, and accused Ponzi schemer Robert Allen Stanford had set up for his relations in Houston? With all the recent news reports, following it all can get confusing.

We hadn’t encountered a comprehensive account from local media coverage. But we hadn’t checked the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, either. It turns out that reporter Patsy R. Brumfield — who is currently in the throes of withdrawal from a 6-year-long Nexium habit — had put together this quick survey of the sites of Stanford’s Houston-area comings and goings for the Tupelo, Mississippi, paper last August:

[Stanford] and his wife, Susan, now estranged, lived in the upscale Tanglewood area at 5476 Holly Springs Drive. The Spanish-style home, with red-tile roof and white stucco exterior, looks comfortable but not particularly impressive among a neighborhood of near-mansions.

His fiancée’, Andrea Stoelker, and Stanford maintained a home in the multi-storied Museum Tower at 4899 Montrose Blvd. Stoelker still lives in No. 1304 while a federal court document says Stanford’s son and daughter, Ross and Allena Stanford, and their mother, Louise Sage, who moved to Houston from Dallas, are living in the same apartment building in No. 1905.

Another reason for Stanford to ride those Museum Tower elevators:

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2520 Robinhood Alerts Its Residents: Watch Out for the Owners of That Bar We’ve Been Attacking

A loyal Swamplot tipster alerts us to a copy of a letter that appeared on a neighborhood email list late last week. The letter is signed by Mark Thuesen, president of the condominium association at the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condos. Loyal Swamplot readers, of course, will recognize that name — Thuesen is one of 3 condo residents named in a lawsuit by the owners of Hans’ Bier Haus, the little outdoorish bar that’s next door to the 16-story Rice Village residential tower. The lawsuit claims that Theusen and 2 others attacked patrons at the bar several times, throwing beer cans, bottles, and eggs at them from above, as well as spraying performing musicians with water.

Unsurprisingly, Thuesen does not specifically mention those allegations in his letter, which we presume is meant for fellow condo residents. But he is kind enough to include a copy of the temporary injunction handed down by Judge Patricia Hancock last week, which specifically prohibits Theusen [sic], 2 codefendants, and all residents of 2520 Robinhood from “throwing any sort of object whatsoever” or “intentionally running or pouring water or any other liquid upon” Hans’ Bier Haus.

Thuesen does, however, draw attention to the now-famous incident on December 13th of last year, in which Hans’ Bier Haus co-owner Bill Cave stormed into the condo lobby and dragged the concierge by his tie into an elevator — on a quest to turn off the water that was spraying onto bar patrons and musicians from a hose connected to the patio of an upper-story condo resident:

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Friday, January 29, 2010

Another Pedigreed Condo in The Huntingdon Readies for Sale

That condo in The Huntingdon belonging to Ken and Linda Lay may soon have company on the market. Randi Stanford, daughter of alleged swindler Robert Allen Stanford — who’s lived in a 2,803-sq.-ft. condo in the same highrise at 2121 Kirby for the last 3 years — has agreed to vacate her unit by the end of March.

The agreement ends a longstanding dispute. The court-appointed receiver for the assets of the Stanford Financial Group will put the unit up for sale.

According to HCAD records, Unit 16NE is owned by an LLC whose address is listed as 5050 Westheimer Rd. — the former headquarters of Stanford Financial Group. Writes the Chronicle’s Mary Flood:

A report by an accountant working for the receiver showed that Allen Stanford paid for the condo with
 $1.3 million in early 2006. It shows that at least $44,000 paid for condo maintenance came directly from company funds, and that $34,000 of that came from the certificates of deposits issued by Stanford’s bank in Antigua that are at the heart of the alleged fraud.

Photo of The Huntingdon: HAR

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Spilling It to the Judge: 2520 Robinhood and Hans’ Bier Haus Get Their Day in Court

When will the ongoing feud between Hans’ Bier Haus and the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condos be optioned for television? Fortunately for the scriptwriters among you busy preparing your treatments, the tale of the little open-air bar in the Rice Village and the residents of the 16-story condo tower next door who like to pour water and heave beer cans, bottles, eggs onto its patrons isn’t just a simple melodrama. It’s a simple melodrama with a rich lineup of stock supporting characters. Reporter Angela Grant introduces a few of them in her report on yesterday’s court hearing:

The helpful concierge. Reggie McGowan, the condo-building concierge Bill Cave dragged by the necktie into the elevator on the night of December 13th, had no idea what was happening, and feared the angry and shouting Bier Haus co-owner was going to bring him up to the roof and throw him off:

When the pair exited the elevator onto the 4th floor, McGowan said he heard Cave say that water was spraying the bar and he wanted to turn it off.

“I said oh, I understand. I can take care of that,” McGowan said. “I had already picked up the hose Wednesday morning of that week.”

The disgruntled former employee. Condo management company employee Alton Smith was fired on December 15th, after a confrontation with 2 of the 3 condo residents the lawsuit claims had been throwing items at the bar. Conveniently, both of those men — Mark Theusen and Richard Booker — “happen to serve on the condo association’s board of directors, which is responsible for firing decisions,” writes Grant.

The water that rained down on partygoers at Hans’ Bier Haus two nights earlier came from a hose that was connected to a spigot on a patio belonging to Robert Souders, the lawsuit’s 3rd defendant. But Smith told the court he had seen the hose in the same Bier-Haus-soaking configuration at least 2 times before that night. Writes Grant:

“Angry about his firing, Smith approached the Hans’ Bier Haus owners, told them what he knew about the incidents and he named the three defendants as the perpetrators.”

More bit parts that may soon be available:

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Comment of the Day: Fast Food Townhouses

   

“I’ve been in Houston for 3 years and I’ve noticed how many expensive townhouses and condos back up to fast food restaurants and other potentially noisy businesses. It would drive me nuts but I would also look around the neighborhood before I purchased or rented something there. I can’t imagine having to listen to the Jack-in-the-Box drive-through traffic all night long. ‘YA WANT FRIES??’” [Apartment dweller, commenting on 2520 Robinhood Vs. the Merry Men of Hans’ Bier Haus: It’s Come to This]


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And the Second Tower Too: The Montage Foreclosure

Real estate agent Sandra Gunn informs us that the Montage, the second glass Almeda St. tower across from Hermann Park, was foreclosed on yesterday. Originally named Mosaic to match its adjacent twin directly to the north, the Montage has been a rental property since it was completed.

Almost exactly a year ago, the developer of both buildings — a limited partnership between Phillips Development & Realty and Florida Capital Real Estate Group — declared bankruptcy in order to avoid foreclosure on the Mosaic, which at the time was officially a condominium tower. And Florida Capital’s chief operating officer expressed hope that the Montage’s separate $71 million loan with Corus Bankshares could be renegotiated.

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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2520 Robinhood Vs. the Merry Men of Hans’ Bier Haus: It’s Come to This

The long-simmering feud between Rice Village bocce bastion Hans’ Bier Haus and some residents of the 2520 Robinhood condo tower next door has reached the courts. The condo association and residents are now subject to a restraining order that forbids them from tossing “produce, water, or anything” onto the bar patrons below. Hans’ Bier Haus’s owners are seeking a permanent injunction and compensation for the damage and lost business caused by projectiles coming their way from the 16-story condos. And 3 Robinhood residents have apparently been planning their own civil lawsuit against the bar owners.

But as of today, the battle’s obviously become much more serious, as the story has found its way into . . . the newspaper! Writing in the Chronicle, Mary Flood adds a colorful account of a few details bar co-owner Bill Cave appears to have glossed over in the description he gave to the Houston Press — namely, how he wound up with a misdemeanor assault charge after a scuttled gig on that fateful December 13th:

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Thursday, December 24, 2009

2520 Robinhood Torments the Beer Drinkers Next Door

The notable lifestyle advantages of taking up residence at 2520 Robinhood, the condo building off Kirby just north of the Rice Village: convenient shopping nearby, no lawn maintenance, plus . . . it’s so easy to tweak those pesky customers at the tiny little mostly open-air bar right next door!

“They have been tormenting us, basically, for the last five years,” Hans’ Bier Haus owner Bill Cave tattles to the Houston Press’s Craig Malisow. How?

throwing eggs and roofing tacks; using a laser-sighted gun scope to train a red dot on various customers, thus freaking them out; throwing beer bottles and cans . . .

Sure, it sounds like a little fun nighttime activity from condo balconies above such an easy target. But do the merry residents of 2520 Robinhood realize the people they’re toying with have been . . . drinking?! Cave tells Malisow he’s “decided to file a lawsuit against every resident, because even if a particular resident didn’t take an active part in the war, they all were complicit” in the off-bar games.

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Ocean Tower Demo: How They’re Making More Sand on South Padre Island

You know you want to see it: Yesterday’s “controlled demolition” of the hobbled 31-story Ocean Tower condo at the northern end of South Padre Island. Controlled Demolition’s dynamite work took down the tallest reinforced-concrete structure ever to be imploded.

A few more videos below. South Padre sure knows how to party!

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Friday, December 11, 2009

No Second Shot: Saying Goodbye to the Leaning Tower of South Padre Island

Here’s a little drive-by tour with expert commentary on the lost and leaning Ocean Tower on South Padre Island, slated for implosion this Sunday at 9 a.m. The condo tower has supposed to have 31 levels, but accumulated many more stories: Construction was halted last year after one side of the building sunk more than 14 inches into the sand.

Three months after topping out the tower last spring, developer Antun Domit sent a letter to buyers noting that a problem of “differential settlement” had occurred:

Unfortunately, there is a layer or stratum of which the engineers tell us is “expandable clay”, meaning that it is a clay stratum that compresses [when] weight is placed upon it. Although our foundation is engineered to a depth above that stratum, the weight pressing on the stratum has caused sinking of the building on it.

But there’s a fix for that!

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ashby Highrise Developers: We Were Only Kidding!

Hey, good one! Remember all those revisions Buckhead Investment Partners finally made to the Ashby High Rise plans — cutting out a bunch of the ground-floor retail space, enlarging the restaurant, and putting that big driveway loop on Bissonnet — so that the city might finally approve the Southampton-side tower? Yesterday the developers told the Chronicle’s Mike Snyder they were really just part of an elaborate fake-out maneuver:

Between July 2007 and August of this year, city officials rejected applications for the project 11 times on grounds that traffic it generated would increase congestion on nearby streets to unacceptable levels.

In August, the city approved a 12th application after [Buckhead's Matthew] Morgan and [Kevin] Kirton removed all the commercial uses except the restaurant and reduced the number of residential units. The developers said Wednesday that they changed their plans to test whether the city would approve their project under any circumstances, but never intended to build anything other than the project they designed in 2007.

Aw, c’mon: If you actually did go ahead and build the approved plans, that would be a great stunt too! But how did these fun-loving developers happen upon such a wacky strategy? Snyder provides some insight into their inspiration:

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Comment of the Day: Endeavour Rescue Plan

   

“Original asking prices for the 80 unit tower ranged from $425k to $2.5 million. After all the hype about sales, it looks like the developer was only able to sell 36 units. Now Regions has unloaded 44 units for an average price of $216k plus back taxes and interest. OUCH! And what can we read between the lines of this comment? ‘The group also said it would pay normally budgeted homeowner assessments for 2010 for any condo owner current on their assessments for 2009.’ It sounds to me like MANY of the 36 original buyers are behind on their maintenance fees. Wonmore is trying to incentivize them [to] get current by offering to pay all their fees for 2010??? That sounds like an awfully big incentive? Are they trying to solve an awfully big problem? When condo associations go broke, look out below. . . .” [Bernard, commenting on Wonmore in Bankrupt Endeavour]

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