Tag: Houston Heights

Critters, Houston Heights, Museum District, Public Art, Streetscapes, Upper Kirby

6 Comments

Too hot for the squirrels, apparently.

This latest edition of Seen on the Street sticks close to the pavement. First up: Artist David Cook snaps this hot photo of . . . no, that’s not an egg frying on Kirby. Just a street button with . . . culinary aspirations?

What’s more to see around town when you keep your head down?

77005, 77008, 77098, Art, Critters, Houston Heights, Museum District, Public Art, Streets, Upper Kirby

Comments

05/13/09 4:08pm

Comment of the Day: Inner Loop Traffic Scare

Freeways and Toll Roads, Quicklink, Sugar Land, Traffic

12 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: INNER LOOP TRAFFIC SCARE “Iâ€™m always surprised at the people in the Houston metro area who live in the suburbs in order to avoid scary traffic. To me, the traffic in the commercial centers of the suburbs is just as bad, if not worse, than what I encounter within the Loop. My boss dropped me off at home once, with the surprised comment that ‘wow, you can drive from the Med Center to the Heights without going on the highway’. Then proceeded to tell me that the reason he lived in Sugarland was that his wife was terrified of highway driving. I still donâ€™t get it.” [Sunsets, commenting on Sub-Suburban SUV Adventure: Braving That Big Trip â€œDowntownâ€]

Comments, Freeways and Toll Roads, Houston Heights, Real Estate Marketing, Sugar-Land, Traffic

Demolitions

05/11/09 7:07pm

The Woods Back Off: Freeland Bungalow Free To Be Sold Again

Freeland Historic District, Historic Preservation, Home Design, Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Townhomes

44 Comments

And it’s . . . off! The building designer who had planned to demolish a 1920 bungalow in the newly designated Freeland Historic District and build two 4-story townhomes in its place has now backed out of the deal completely. In a letter to neighborhood residents, Jack Preston Wood and his wife, Samantha Wood, say they’ve canceled their purchase contract for 536 Granberry, in the soppy southern reaches of the Heights.

What made them change their minds? Maybe . . . the gentle encouragement of their would-be neighbors?

We received mean spirited mail, emails, blogs, and visits to our business website all because we were planning on tearing down a house in very poor condition and replacing it with a new compatible home.

The Woods say that after the city historical commission rejected their demolition and construction plans in mid-March, they abandoned the double-townhouse idea and decided instead to replace the bungalow with a new 2800-sq.-ft. 1-1/2-story bungalow. But the neighbors kept at it:

Even though we had sent a response that we were not going to build our original plans and we were working on new plans the neighborhood still held a protest and plastered Freeland with signs. As we watched the news clip on the protest we began to realize that any new home, no matter how compatible, would not be accepted because the Freeland mantra was to remain an â€œintactâ€ neighborhood. . . .

About three weeks into the six weeks, we realized that we had become the â€œPoster Childâ€ to deter and slowdown development in the area.

Lots more fun in the full text of the Woods’ letter, reprinted — along with a neighbor’s response — below:

77007, Bungalows, Demolitions, Freeland Historic District, Historic Preservation, Home Design, Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Theming, Townhomes

Development Regulations

04/23/09 12:26pm

The City Runaround and a City Council Run: Where Does It Say That the Heights Is Dry?

99 Comments

The proprietor of the Heights’ Beer Island writes in, breathlessly and at length, to report on difficulties he’s encountered getting a beer-and-wine license for the Trail Mix CafÃ©, a second establishment he’s trying to establish just a few blocks west:

I am opening a new cafe on White Oak Drive by the new trail and was given a permit from City of Houston for the approval of address to be able to serve beer and wine. After i picked up legal document from permitting office i went to receive stamp from state comptrollers office, than went to city of secretary, received stamp, went to county secretary, clerk placed notification in paper, pd fee, picked up application after 2 weeks had gone by, than took to TABC and they reviewed application, was given window notification sign, I placed in window, 3 weeks go by, checked w/ TABC to make sure no problem, no one called me but thank goodness I called, found out a hold on license, went to TABC to meet w/2 representatives from TABC, they informed me that City of Houston had reversed their approval on location . . .

. . . because the cafÃ© was in a “dry area.”

So . . . the owner of the new establishment at 3202 White Oak, next door to the Montrose Skate Shop, wants to know: Where, exactly, does it say that the Heights is dry?

77007, Alcohol Licenses, Development Regulations, Houston Heights

Apartments

04/21/09 2:59pm

Comment of the Day: Upper Midtown

Comments, Houston Heights, Midtown, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing

32 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: UPPER MIDTOWN “Talking of rimshotting onto the popularity of neighboring areas did anyone else notice that the Alexan Height[s] apartments became the Midtown Heights after changing hands despite the fact that they are at I-10 and Oxford. Exactly how big is Midtown these days?” [Jimbo, commenting on Watch for Cottage Cheese Dropping from Heights]

77007, Apartments, Comments, Houston Heights, Midtown, Real Estate Marketing

Comments

04/15/09 6:01pm

Comment of the Day: Heights Home Replacement Program

Demolitions, Historic Preservation, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Quicklink

25 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HEIGHTS HOME REPLACEMENT PROGRAM “Demo permits sold in the greater Heights last year – approx 220. (zips 007,008, 009) The Chronâ€™s real estate report showed that 25% of 2008 home sales in the Heights were new construction. And how many were built in the last 10 years? Donâ€™t know, but for anyone who thinks The Heights has NOT been decimated, go to HAR.com to see how nearly all listings were built since 1999 or are lot value only. Heard a story on the radio not long ago about how people stood in line for hours to see the Bill of Rights, but when an exact replica went on display, nobody bothered. What does that tell us?” [Sheila, commenting on Jack Preston Wood: Making an Impression in the Freeland Historic District]

77007, 77008, 77009, Comments, Demolitions, Historic Preservation, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential

Demolitions

04/15/09 11:37am

Jack Preston Wood: Making an Impression in the Freeland Historic District

Freeland Historic District, Historic Preservation, Home Design, Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Townhomes

37 Comments

House designer Jack Preston Wood has apparently had second thoughts about his plan to build two 4-story townhomes where this bungalow now sits in the Freeland Historic District. The city historic commission turned down both his new-construction and demolition plans last month, and neighbors have been writing him letters and protesting every weekend since.

Freeland Historic District is a collection of 35 bungalows, marked down from the original 37, on two blocks south of White Oak Blvd. at the damp end of the Heights. There’s been no new construction in the district — which was designated just last fall — and residents have been working hard to keep it that way.

Wood tells Chronicle reporter Robin Foster that neither the Realtor nor the owner of the house told him that the house at 536 Granberry was in an historic district before he signed a contract to buy it:

77007, Demolitions, Freeland Historic District, Historic Preservation, Home Design, Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Theming, Townhomes

Buying and Selling

04/14/09 11:31am

Latest Greenwood King Report: On the Double!

Houston Data, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Price Trends

2 Comments

Swamplot’s Greenwood King-watching reader informs us that the real-estate firm’s March survey of home sales in Houston’s tonier neighborhoods is already out — early, this time. And this month the report details separate data for new construction and resales. Snarks the GK watcher:

This is a typical reaction of the Realtors to falling prices. Find a way to re-segregate the market to make the bread and butter look OK. Last year it was â€œInside the loop never goes down!â€ Pretty soon we will see the market cut into â€œThree Story (-34%) Two Story (-2%) and One Story (-26%) homes.â€

Hmmm . . . not a bad idea! But what about the new numbers?

77008, Buying and Selling, Houston Data, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Price Trends

Furniture

04/02/09 12:46pm

A Sleepy Little Neighborhood Called the Houston Heights

35 Comments

“When it comes to the sparkly allure of a new mattress,” writes Heights newbie Taryn Peine, “Heights folks just canâ€™t seem to say no.”

After a year of living here, much . . . has become commonplace. We are careful not to hit the livestock, we donâ€™t even hear the drill anymore, and we barely notice the empty shopping carts. These are all things I never saw in Bartlesville, and certainly would never have gotten past the homeowners associations in the suburbs. (I know someone who recently got ticketed for having the wrong color of mulch in their flowerbeds. Can you imagine what the ticket would say for the family down the street who has an entire sectional in their front yard?) Yet somehow, Iâ€™ve gotten used to every weird sight around this neighborhood except for one. That is the mattress.

The mattress? What mattress?

77008, Furniture, Houston Heights

04/01/09 12:15pm

Welcome to Bizarro Heights. What Are You Drinking?

Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing, Washington Corridor

33 Comments

WELCOME TO BIZARRO HEIGHTS. WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING? Waving a highly abbreviated feature-comparison table, blogger tshu declares the new Washington Ave. is really “Bizarro Heights.” When will the custom neighborhood street signs go up? “For better or worse, Washington Avenue now provides all the elements that the Heights traditionally could not: trendy bars, restaurants, and large apartment complexes. . . . The explosive growth along Washington can be partly attributed to the support from the neighboring Heights area.” [Feed the Heights]

77007, Houston Heights, Real Estate Marketing, Washington Ave.

03/26/09 12:39pm

Floyd Trailer Park: “Not Pretty, but Right”

Redevelopment

14 Comments

Manson Floyd has a few things to say about that trailer park on 9th St., just west of Studewood in the Heights:

That park belongs to my Mother. She is 80 and on a respirator and has diabetes and the park is more an act of charity than an act of business. The renters do not pay on time, the City taxes the park more than the adjacent homes and yet she keeps it open. The Park represents what is very right and what is wrong with this country. . . .

77007, Houston Heights, Property Taxes, Redevelopment, Trailer Parks

Clark Pines

03/25/09 5:57pm

Comment of the Day: Buried Landscapes of the Houston Heights

Flooding, Houston Heights, Houston History, Landscape, Quicklink, Woodland Heights

4 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: BURIED LANDSCAPES OF THE HOUSTON HEIGHTS “Before developers established the heights and its various neighboring subdivisions, a massive filling project took placed. It was pretty much a landfill for the City of Houston. . . . Developer clear cut the existing pine forest (the oaks pretty much only existed near the bayous and tribs) and filled in the uneven landscape. A big example is in Woodland Heights. A 60-inch storm sewer line runs in an old trib to White Oak Bayou. The line is 20-ft below the current natural ground in the area. After the line was built, the natural channel was filled in and streets placed on top. The line currently goes under many people properties and houses and many donâ€™t know it exists. . . . Outside of that, several ox bows and other trib were filled in. A couple were not though. There is one just east of TC jester where it cross White Oak Bayou south of 11th. It has water in it. There is another just west of Yale that is dry. Iâ€™ve seen historic photos showing people jumping off the banks of the the natural streams in the bayous in the Clark Pines area (14th street west of Durham). A current development is actually being build on an undeveloped piece of land that was a site of the landfill in this oxbow. The houses are being placed on piles driven deep into the ground to avoid them from sinking or collapsing. I doubt they are telling the home buyers this. Long time residents know about it though.” [kjb434, commenting on Wet and Wild: Strip Redo on White Oak]

77007, 77008, 77009, Clark Pines, Flooding, Houston Heights, Houston History, Landscape, Woodland Heights

03/25/09 9:03am

Second-to-Last of the Great Heights Trailer Parks

Price Trends, Quicklink

60 Comments

SECOND-TO-LAST OF THE GREAT HEIGHTS TRAILER PARKS One of the last two trailer parks left in the Heights may not last much longer. Marian Floyd, owner of the Floyd Trailer Park — camped on a double-wide lot a couple properties west of Studewood on 9th St. since 1972 — has been having a tough time keeping up with rising property taxes. “Floyd said she needs to make a living, and sheâ€™s not willing to kick out her residents. She knows they donâ€™t have much money, so sheâ€™s kept rent low over the years. But as property values â€” and the taxes she has to pay â€” have soared, Floyd has struggled to make ends meet. Between 2004 and 2008, the value of the parkâ€™s land soared from about $155,000 to $362,600, according to county records. . . . When Floyd threatened to close the park last month, the residents offered to pay more rent. Gloria Aguilar who lives in a nearby trailer with her husband and three children said sheâ€™d pay $300 per month instead of $200. Carlos Salgado, who lives with three friends, offered $300 instead of $225. Gutierrez, too, said sheâ€™d pay more. The landlord relented. But the trailer parkâ€™s residents worry for the future.” [Houston Chronicle]

77007, Houston Heights, Price Trends, Property Taxes, Trailer Parks

Comments

03/24/09 1:59pm

Comment of the Day: Sultry, Scented Houston Summer Scene