Swamplot Archives by Tag:
November 9, 2007 – 1:27 pm

How do you pack so many condos into an old warehouse building in Houston’s First Ward? Easy! You knock the warehouse down, build a gate around the block, and pack ’em in!
Permit in hand, Terramark Homes begins construction on the Sawyer Brownstones at 2110 Shearn St. The forty-two units will take up the block surrounded by Shearn, Hemphill, Spring, and Henderson Streets, just south of I-10.
No images of the outside yet, so it’s hard to say if these brownstones will indeed have brown stone or just be brownstone-like. But continue after the jump and we’ll show you the secret to shoehorning so many townhome-style condos into a single block!
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Read more about: 77007, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Development Strategy, First Ward, Garages, Homebuilders, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Parking, Proposed Developments, Townhomes
October 10, 2007 – 11:14 am

If you’re looking for something just a little sleeker than the typical country-home-with-hangar featured here earlier this week, you might want to try the house right next door: It’s newly remodeled, sportier, and there’s still plenty of room to park your airplane, just steps from the Living Room. Best of all, though, you can bid for it on Ebay.
A completely remodeled home and new airplane hanger located in the beautiful country side of Waller Texas, just 20 minutes from Houston. Located in the Sky Lakes Subdivision this gorgeous home and hanger that backs up to the taxiway and leads out to the long grass runway allowing you the access to fly your plane at a moments notice.
Great, but 20 minutes from Houston?? Oh, right—by air. The house has three bedrooms and two baths in an open plan: 2330 square feet of living space, plus a 2000-square-foot hangar.
Hurry! There’s only about a week left to place your bids. Or buy it now for $274,900. Our quick fly-by photo tour begins after the jump.
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Read more about: 77484, Airports, Auctions, Ebay, Garages, Home Design, Homebuying, Homes for Sale, Sky-Lakes, Transportation, Waller
October 8, 2007 – 10:00 am

It’s just down the street from the golf course and from Skylake Airport in Waller. A three-bedroom, two-bath house with an attached woodshop, listed at $249,900. Oh, and you can probably fit several of your airplanes in the hangar. The current owner has three in there, plus a helicopter.
After the jump, more pictures of this lovely airport home, including . . . an aerial view!
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Read more about: 77484, Airports, Garages, Home Design, Homes for Sale, Sky-Lakes, Transportation, Waller

Channel 26 news reporter Isiah Carey’s Insite blog features scans of a scalding memo distributed recently to residents of the Blue Creek Ranch subdivision, near Highway 249 and Beltway 8. The memo scolds four residents by name (and address) who “wish to make the neighborhood a ghetto” and urges residents to attend a Blue Creek Homeowners Association meeting at Doss Community Center last Wednesday night, with this gentle rejoinder:
IF YOU REMAIN SILENT AND DO NOT SHOW UP THEN YOUR HOME WILL BE WORTHLESS AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WILL BE A GHETTO. [original emphasis]
Way to increase attendance at neighborhood meetings!
Among the attendees: reporter Vicente Arenas from Channel 11 News, who asked association president and memo author Tamika Harris exactly what she meant by the term “ghetto.” Maybe he hadn’t read the memo carefully enough:
The Ghetto Agenda:
- Play loud music
- Allow the kids to play in the street
- Barbeque in the front
- Let the gang roam the neighborhood
- Use the garage and driveway as a place for family meals, hanging out, parties, and hair dressing
- No deed restriction enforcement
- Get rid of security
- No consideration for the many cultures in this neighborhood
- Allow trucks, trailers, and commercial vehicles in the neighborhood
- Not concerned with the books being in proper order
- Allow people not to pay their assessments
- Use the Association as a social club
- Increase annual assessments
The memo ends with what appears to be an invitation to some sort of real-estate duel:
. . . PUT UP or SHUT UP. If you lose, you move. The Board challenges these women to sign a legally binding contract where each side agrees to put their house up for sale and move if they lose at the Special Meeting. This Board is willing to put their money where their mouths are. Ellen, Lorraine, Patricia, and Wendy are you? We are waiting to hear from you to set a time to sign the contract.
No word if this strange challenge was accepted, but after an election, Harris did survive the meeting as board president.
Photo: View from 13426 Fountain Hills Ct., on HAR
Read more about: 77086, Blue Creek Ranch, Gangs, Garages, Homeowners' Associations, Neighborhood Disputes