Office building or home? It depends on which listing you read. One on LoopNet appears to have marketed the property for a while at $599,000 — as an office building. But it popped up as a single family item this week on HAR, asking $535,000. Built in 2001 and updated in 2010, the corner-lot custom live-work structure is 2 blocks south of the Katy Fwy. in the Brunner subdivision in Cottage Grove.
A reader writes: “Any news ever come down the pike about the huge empty lot on the Northeast corner of Larkin and Arabelle? It’s been empty for years, and all I’ve ever seen done is occasional mowing. . . . When I first moved into the neighborhood in 2006, there used to be an old blue shack house and the rumor was it was a brothel. But it was knocked down (I THINK in 2007 or 2008?) and goes from overgrown grass forest to freshly mown about once every 3 months. I could have sworn there was a real estate agency sign on that fence before, which was what I thought that No Trespassing sign was from afar, but it seems to be gone now. The other weird things is that they are CONSTANTLY building new patio homes in the area. . . . 3 more just went up a few doors down on Larkin street. But this land . . . just sits.” Photo: Swamplot inbox
It’s twins — and they’re holding their ground as new townhomes morph up the Darling block east of T. C. Jester in Cottage Grove, near Detering. This new listing pegs the double-dip property at $149,999, leaving its future use to the buyer.
Another reason for checking Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Reports on a regular basis: You might find your home listed on it. Two years ago today, the city’s neighborhood protection department took out demo permits on the houses at 1315 and 1317 Shepherd Dr. at the southeastern tip of Cottage Grove, listing them as dangerous buildings; they showed up on Swamplot the next day. But in a lawsuit filed this week, Bellaire Bead Shop owner Katie Koenig claims she was never informed about the impending demolition of her 2 houses, where she stored her bead inventory. Koenig says she only discovered the houses had been torn down when she tried to visit them sometime around January 8th, 2010; she also claims she was injured on the property after tripping over fencepost stumps left after city crews came back later and partially removed a 6-ft. privacy fence she had had built surrounding the houses.
Startup Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. will be located much closer to I-10 than to its namesake waterway, but founder Rassul Zarinfar says that’s by design. A Swamplot commenter dug up the address yesterday: The company has leased a 7,800 sq. ft. warehouse at 5301 Nolda St., at the corner of Detering, in Cottage Grove.
Zarinfar tells Swamplot he was happy to find a location that wasn’t “on the outskirts of town in a super-corporate industrial project.” The company plans to hand-deliver all the kegs it brews themselves, so highway access mattered. Having a location people could easily walk or bike to was also important to him. “Plus,” Zarinfar adds, “we wanted a warehouse that didn’t feel too much like a warehouse, but instead more like an art studio (since beer is art!).”
A new craft beer company named after the fine waters of Houston’s premier waterway signed a lease last month for a brewery somewhere near The Usual on Allen St., reports beer blogger Leslie Sprague. The Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company isn’t ready to announce the exact location, but founder and Harvard B-school grad Rassul Zarinfar lets Sprague say it’s “in the area south of I-10 between TC Jester and Shepherd.” [Lushtastic] Update, 6/22: Details on the actual location.
Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:
Answers to your questions:
Next establishment moving into the restaurant testing ground known as 1511 Shepherd, according to a tipster: pidgin-Spanish promoters Lupe Tortilla. Shuck Daddy’s, which replaced Mak Chin’s just last year in the Cottage Grove location between Maxie and Eigel, closed up its oysters last month. Before that, yes, the building was home to fine-dining-establishment Richard Head’s.
Photo: Fred Eats Houston
Got an answer to one of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.
No official confirmation yet, unless you count one corroborating report on Yelp — but reader Jack McBride reports that Shuck Daddy’s seafood restaurant at 1511 Shepherd in Cottage Grove appears to have closed. Writes McBride: “I drive by here everyday on my way home from work, and it was just in the last week that I saw it super packed.” [Swamplot inbox] Photo: Jack McBride
Bringing you the happening sounds of the vacant former Morse Wholesale Paper Co. on the east side — live, via YouTube!
Can’t get enough of this sort of thing? More Industrial:
“I took a look at the flood map which gave me the first inclination of worry. I guess hurricanes don’t give me the biggest concern since they’re not as frequent… *knock on wood* – I guess I’m just trying to get a feel for how often you might find water in your house. One of my friends lived in the Heights and would have a couple inches of water in her house everytime it rained reasonably hard and I’m just trying to avoid that situation. Once again, any insight or other experiences people have had or heard of in Cottage Grove would be great!” [Ryan, commenting on The New Inner Loop Townhome Poster Child]
Comment of the Day: Trust the Website
“I live in a bungalow in cottage grove . . . since 2005. [7677 Homes] bought the house in 8/2006. We have paid our rent on time and have asked SEVERAL times even as short of time as 3 months ago (when I saw land being surveyed next door) if they had plans on doing something with our home. They reassured me no worries the market is bad and we would give you 90 days to 6 month notice before doing that. Told me how well we have always paid, yada yada yada, well guess what found out Saturday they have plans on demolishing the house, only after we had to pay 155.00 so we could have heat, we have a 4 yr old in the house. They gave us 30 days to move (verbally) . . . and ofered us “another” house for 200 more a month, and failed to tell me it is listed as being demolished as well. I really thought the men were nice when we met them, but to do this behind our backs when we asked them to please give us alot of notice. Sad thing is, it is Christmas, times are hard, and they have had our house on their website to demolish since September and we never knew it or else we could have had all this time to save money to move. . . .” [Susan Dugas, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Truck Tired]