A SIDEWALK HAZARD’S SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY 
A coverless manhole just west of Shepherd on 34th St. in Garden Oaks has taken to Twitter to broadcast its plight. “I am a gaping hole in the city’s underbelly,” declares Gringo Trap 34, between drooling appreciations of photos of attractive manhole covers posted on other Twitter streams. By the hole’s third-ever tweet, yesterday, it had snared a response from Mayor Parker, who commiserated over problems caused by copper thieves. (“Like roaches, they mess up more than they take,” quipped the mayor.) Shout-outs to various reporters followed. But as of Friday afternoon, the square hole under the constable sign is still uncovered, and Gringo Trap 34 has posted its latest “glamor shot.” “I may be pretty,” reads the latest report, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t tear your ACL.” [Twitter] Update, 9:13 pm: The Gringo Trap 34 account appears to have been suspended, but its tweets live on in this Chronicle story. Photo: Gringo Trap 34
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Tag: Garden Oaks
A studio, spa, and amped-up patio share a 10,000-sq.-ft. lot in Garden Oaks with this 2-or-3-bedroom house of 1,800 sq. ft. The master bedroom’s open-ended double shower features hot tub access and views of — and from — the great outdoors. Rooms overlooking the back yard have lots of windows, too. The days of curtain-free living here may be numbered, however. A listing photo (at top) shows something under construction rising over the fence, its neighborly vantage point yet to be determined.
- 1034 43rd St. [HAR]
The next contender for the endcap of the Modern strip center at the corner of North Shepherd Dr. and 34th St. refashioned last year from the longtime home of Garden Oaks’ Binswanger Glass Co. is almost in. Taking over from the stalled out Octane Coffee and Wine Lounge will be the Shepherd Park Draught House — a pub featuring a full menu and an interior festooned with punk, pop, and rock memorabilia. Its owner: Ken Bridge of Delicious Concepts, the same company behind Heights restaurants Lola, Dragon Bowl, and (most notably) Pink’s Pizza, which has a convenient location next door. Expected opening date: “very soon.”
Several readers have written in to report on the apparent demise of the Octane Coffee and Wine Lounge at the corner of 34th St. and North Shepherd. “As of Sunday,” says one correspondent, “the place was shut with a computer-generated ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ sign taped to the door, and a Pink’s employee next door said the owners had been carrying stuff out all day.” The morning and night spot opened almost exactly a year ago, one of the first tenants in the renovated but still-modern Garden Oaks strip center.
- Previously on Swamplot: Shock of the Redo: The Garden Oaks Strip Center Miracle on 34th St.
Photo: Candace Garcia
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FOLLOW THE MINI STORAGE “Mini Storage facilities are almost always limited partnerships designed to last 7-10 years and put on strategically poised land the developers/LLP’s have determined will increase in value. The facilities are generally inexpensive to build and maintain and are easy to demo once the property has gained enough value to where it is sold for development. The area all along 34th street is just not ready for redevelopment yet. It’s currently a dump. Additional years of creeping development from the Northern Heights will be required to eventually turn the 34th St. blight into the redevelopment gem many hope for.” [CK, commenting on What They’re Doing to Food Land on Ella]
These gold-colored turret-toppers were at long last delivered to the Hare Krishna Temple on 34th St. at Golf Ave. this week, reports a Swamplot reader who sent in photos. Construction on a new 24,000-sq.-ft. temple at the facility — scheduled to include a vegetarian restaurant inside — began in 2005. The Houston congregation of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness first moved into a former church at 1320 W. 34th St. in 1984. Two deities made out of brass — but which looked like they might be gold — were stolen from an altar at the temple last October. Here’s what the new building is supposed to look like when it’s finished:
How is it that Garden Oaks residents are so sure that the former Food Land supermarket at the corner of Ella and Judiway is going to be turned into a storage facility and not, say, a long-rumored H-E-B? Well, there’s this sign up on the property, which pretty much makes it clear what’s happening to the 32,596-sq.-ft. space.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
COMMENT OF THE DAY: DONUT RUSH HOUR IN OAK FOREST 
“That Shipley’s must draw folks from miles around. Theres almost always a long line of cars, often extending out onto Ella. I am always amazed too at the long lines late at night…who eats donuts at 11pm? I guess they’re night shift workers.
Yep, they need to re-do that whole shopping plaza and center it around that Shipleys, providing tons of drive-thru space :)” [JRo, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: The Ella Square Deal] Photo of Shipley’s Donuts, 3410 Ella Blvd.: Chad & Susan Harris
Swamplot advertiser Robert Searcy typically knows his way around southeast Houston, but finds himself a bit disoriented on a recent venture north to Garden Oaks. An encounter with the former strip-center home of Binswanger Glass at North Shepherd and 34th St. has him stumped:
Someone renovated it and anyone who takes a center like this and DOESN’T slather it in stucco with the obligatory strip of crown molding on the top, well, in my book they deserve kudos just for that. They seemed to have brought it back to its original design. There is one tenant in there now and a sign on the corner slot saying an application to sell liquor has been filed. It says it is for some kind of a coffee shop named Octane, (but apparently one that sells booze too). At any rate, a sensitive renovation and then a tenant mix that isn’t a combo of a check cashing place, a nail salon & a subway sandwich shop? I don’t know how to act.
Oh, but part of it’s already gone to the dogs:
All hail the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game: Ms Cleo! Well, we promised you glory if you won. Now’s your moment to shine. Congratulations!
Some lovely sleuthing and commentary appeared in this week’s round. Our runner-up, Claire de Lune, was oh so very close but ended up on the wrong side of Shepherd.
Want to see a little more of this home . . . say, the outside?
What’s going on at the corner of West 43rd St. and Ella in Oak Forest? A team of Swamplot photographers went to find out.
This is their report. It’s also known as Swamplot’s 3rd group photo feature. How’s it looking?
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT HAPPENED TO CARTER’S GROVE? “I still go back to Carter’s Grove Apartments as an example of restoration vs. teardown. They were the shame of Garden Oaks and a proven hazard to residents with over 240 municipal court violations resulting in a $100K fine for the owner. Take a drive around North Shepherd at 34th and see what restoration hath wrought with minimal disruption to the area and improvements on utility infrastructure as well as property values. If those ratholes can have a future life as pricey condos, anything is possible.” [Hellsing, commenting on Wilshire Village Fire Hazard Sale: Everyone and Everything Must Go!]
Ready for the market: the site of the Great Tuscan Wedding Fantasy Crash of ’08! Listing agent Bill Burge says the sellers of the wedding venue in Garden Oaks once known as the Tuscany Gardens and Villa will be asking $4.5 million.
The Tuscany of Garden Oaks, at 835 W. 34th St., was built from the ashes of the famed Bill Mraz Ballroom, by Titus Inc. — operators of that other wedding stage set on Chimney Rock, Bella Terrazza. Titus of course is better known as the company that stranded all those brides and grooms without the $2 million in deposits they had paid for their weddings before Hurricane Ike hit. (Though maybe the company isn’t quite so well known: HCAD lists the property’s owner as “Tutus Inc.”)
We all know the ending: Rachael Ray swooped in and gave that big de-Tuscanized group wedding in the middle of the baseball field at Minute Maid Park — and 33 couples got to get married on teevee for free! Happily ever after, right? Well, almost.
This home on Sue Barnett went on the market in early February for $410,000, but it’s only been downhill since. It’s been listed since July at $375K.
The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and claims 1,872 sq. ft. The lot, however, is more than 17,000 sq. ft. How many prospective buyers in Garden Oaks will be looking long or hard at the home’s 1950 Ranch pedigree — or the singular collection of dolls and figurines inside?
More pics of the Sue Barnett Doll Ranch, after the jump!
