A STRAIGHT-UP SAM’S CLUB SWAP IN WEST HOUSTON 
Tomorrow, one big old Sam’s Club will be closing and another new one opening, reports the Houston Business Journal: The store on Hwy. 6 and the Katy Fwy. near the Addicks Reservoir will turn out the lights after 20 years, and the new 136,000-sq.-ft. store will begin its run at 13331 Westheimer near Eldridge Pkwy. [Houston Business Journal] Photo: Ben Huynh
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Tag: Energy-Corridor
Note: Story updated with an additional rendering.
More action from Skanska: Now, the Swedish development and construction company has begun work on West Memorial Place, which for now will comprise a single 12-story, 325,000-sq.-ft. office building on the site of the demolished ARCO building in the Energy Corridor. It’ll be accompanied by a 9-story parking garage. Though the rendering above shows a pair, only one building is going up; the second, a PR rep tells Swamplot, depends on the market. The HOK-designed building will stand on 12 acres at 15375 Memorial Dr., between Westlake Park Blvd. and Southmayde Creek Dr., bumping up against the hike and bike in Terry Hershey Park. Petroleum Geo-Services has already signed on to occupy about 122,000 sq. ft.
Kirksey designed both of these 7-story, 175,000-sq.-ft. office buildings for PM Realty, which expects construction to begin on the first of them — dubbed Jacobs Plaza — here at 12140 Wickchester Ln. this month. They’re part of a proposed office park north of the Katy Fwy. and east of N. Dairy Ashford that, as this rendering shows, will comprise a manmade pond and pedestrian paths that lead out to the nearby Addicks Reservoir. Houston Business Journal reports that the primary tenant and namesake for the first building will be Jacobs Engineering.
- PM Realty to break ground on Energy Corridor office complex [Houston Business Journal]
Rendering: Kirksey Architecture
ENERGY CORRIDOR TO GET ‘BOTH BRICK AND STUCCO’ ALEXAN COMPLEX 
More Alexan-brand apartments are going up, The Memorial Examiner reports. But unlike that pair of ’em planned for those 2 stacked lots in the Heights, this one beyond the Beltway will have almost 6.25 acres all to itself. Trammell Crow says it should have ready this spring the 4-story, 354-unit Alexan Enclave at 13411 Briar Forest Dr., just off Eldridge Pkwy. in the Energy Corridor. Worried that the complex will disrupt the stylistic unity of the area? Or that it might be built with strange, atypical materials? There’s no need, Trammell Crow explains: “The traditional, exterior facade, which will incorporate both brick and stucco, is in keeping with the architecture of the surrounding neighborhoods.” [Memorial Examiner; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Trammell Crow Residential
COMMENT OF THE DAY: VISIONS OF A FREEWAY LINED WITH OFFICE BUILDINGS 
“I live in the area and I think it’s a big improvement on a used car lot. I would love to see the remaining car dealerships gradually moved away and a continuous strip of mid/high rises from Memorial City to Hwy 6. Now that would be a true ‘Energy Corridor.’†[outwest, commenting on A New 17-Story Office Tower Just Like the Others in the Energy Corridor] Illustration: Lulu
Here’s a look at the design from Morris Architects for the new 17-story Energy Tower IV. Does it seem familiar? That’s because it’s going to be identical to 2 existing ones: Energy Towers II and III. Construction, reports the Houston Business Journal, is expected to start next month. Developed by Mac Haik Realty, the new tower is planned to be 450,000 sq. ft., bringing the total amount here in the Energy Plaza at Kirkwood and I-10 to more than 2 million sq. ft. of office space. Prime Property adds that the building will be open in 2014.
- Houston developer to add new tower to Energy Corridor [Prime Property]
- Mac Haik Realty to move forward on next Energy Corridor tower [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: All Those New Energy Corridor Office Buildings
Rendering: Mac Haik Realty
Set back behind the trees along I-10 and Memorial Dr. and beside the trails of Terry Hershey Park, the ExxonMobil Chemical Company Headquarters have gone up for sale. Marketing firm HHF says that the sale of the 35-acre Energy Corridor property was precipitated by the company’s impending consolidation northwest of here at the under-construction 385-acre campus behind other trees in Spring. Standing now on the property at 13501 Katy Fwy. are a 5-story, 576,968-sq.-ft. office building and a 20,463-sq.-ft. conference center.
- 1603 Cherry Ridge Dr. [HAR]
- 2127 Linea del Pino St. [HAR]
- 2015 Shadowbriar Dr. [HAR]
“I love burst mode on my Samsung S3,” writes the Swamplot reader who used it to capture these photos looking north from the Katy Freeway just west of Hwy. 6. “What’s the deal with the giant flagpoles?” More than 2 dozen of them are up now, arranged in a semicircle on I-10-facing property, immediately west of Sam’s Club adjacent to a building under construction. As of yesterday evening only 1 flag was up, flying at half-mast.
- 12707 Emsworth Cir. [HAR]
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.
- 2218 Holly Knoll St. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CLEARING OUT THE ENERGY CORRIDOR “Seems like there is one come down in 77079 almost everyday. Prices are really getting up there too.” [Candor, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Queensbury Clearing]