Swamplot Archives by Tag: Hurricane Ike

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Available Soon: Dashed Tuscan Fantasy Wedding Headquarters in Garden Oaks

February 18, 2009 – 11:46 am

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.

Continue Reading This Story >

11:46 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Neighborhoods: Garden Oaks
Read more about: , , , , ,
Monday, February 9, 2009

Seen on the Street: Vultures, Galveston Vacancy, Rice Trailer

February 9, 2009 – 3:43 pm

A few fun pics from around and about town! First, this crowd of black vultures ponders its next real-estate venture from atop a communications tower parked in a gated community in Cypress. Photographer Karen Morris happened upon the scene on Eldridge near Grant Rd.:

It was an awesome sight. Personally, if they adorned my rooftop every evening, I’d clean the roof, sell the house and move to the other side of town. . . . Black Vultures/Buzzards are a bit smaller and less colorful that the Turkey Vulture. They tend to follow the Turkey Vulture because it has a keener sense of smell and can find it’s meal through use of that sense. They eat dead animals and occasionally capture small live animals (field mice, etc.). Although they do not build a nest, they will take an abandoned nest. Often roost together as seen in this set of photos. If startled while roosting, they will regurgitate with power and accuracy.

More local habitat:

Continue Reading This Story >

3:43 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Art, Attractions, Critters, Development Strategies, Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Neighborhoods: Cypress, Neighborhoods: Rice University, Utilities
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Where Have All the Small Commercial Rehabs Gone?

January 27, 2009 – 8:25 am

A question from a Swamplot reader:

My husband and I lost our Heights bungalow (and the hundred-year-old oaks that shaded it) to Hurricane Ike. We have decided donate the remnants of the house to Historic Houston for salvage, sell our lot . . . and use our insurance settlement to pursue our dream of purchasing an older commercial building, like an old two-story brick grocery store, somewhere inside the loop in the $200K - $350 range, 3000 - 4000 sq. ft., for mixed use as a residence upstairs and studio space/small theater downstairs. We are not having much luck.

My question is this: aside from all the usual avenues–Commgate, Loopnet, HAR, reading blogs, driving around, submitting LOI’s, what other resources exist for novice commercial buyers, like us?

8:25 am | 6 Comments | Read more about Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Home Design, Homebuying, Mixed Use
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Thursday, January 15, 2009

Was Hurricane Ike Worth It?

January 15, 2009 – 1:16 pm

ttweak, the usually lower-cased folks behind the Houston It’s Worth It campaign, are hoping to put together a sequel to 2007’s HIWI: The Book, a breakthrough publishing event in the urban resignation genre. The subject of the new group project? Hurricane Ike.

Why bother?

Obviously this subject is still an open wound for many of our neighbors and we don’t want to be insensitive to those who still have a road of recovery ahead. Rather, we want highlight the camaraderie and support brought about in the storm’s aftermath – refrigerator cookouts/recipes, extension cord jungles, neighborhood cleanups. Tell us your stories or poems, dig up a “day ten without power” journal entry, find that song you penned by candlelight and of course, send us your photographs (even those taken on your iPhone or BlackBerry); if you made a hurricane song playlist, go ahead and send that too.

The HIWI: Ike upload page is waiting!

1:16 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Real Estate Marketing
Read more about: , ,
Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Baptist Church, the Hooters Waitresses, and the Hurricane Victims

January 8, 2009 – 2:46 pm
   

A 9-year-long relationship between congregants of the Rice Temple Baptist Church in Southgate and a group of Hooters waitresses led to a bit of help for residents of Ike-devastated Oak Island over the holiday. “Over the years, the church has found additional ways to develop the relationship. The church has been a sponsor of an annual Hooters golf tournament, giving away Bibles. They have also worked with the restaurant’s employees on Habitat for Humanity building projects. . . . The waitresses have even joined with the congregation in walking through the neighborhood singing Christmas carols. ‘You could tell they hadn’t gone Christmas caroling before, because they all showed up in high heels,’ [Pastor Clint Reiff] recalled.” [Associated Baptist Press]

2:46 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Neighborhoods: Oak Island, Neighborhoods: Southgate, Quicklink, Religious Facilities, Restaurants
Read more about: , , , , , ,
Wednesday, January 7, 2009

The End of Galveston As We Knew It

January 7, 2009 – 3:25 pm
   

John Nova Lomax tours the unsung wreckage from Hurricane Ike: “In Galveston, the progress looks superficially impressive. Scaled-back and/or rescheduled editions of major tourist draws like Dickens on the Strand and the Lone Star Biker Rally went over fairly well. Things seem to be getting back to normal, and here in Houston, the second our power came back on, the lines dwindled at the corner gas station and the streetlights returned to working order, most of us ‘moved on.’ Hasn’t Galveston as well? In a word, no.” [Houston Press]

3:25 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Quicklink
Read more about: , ,
Thursday, December 18, 2008

A Line in the Vanished Sand

December 18, 2008 – 9:03 am
   

Galveston Planning Commissioner Chula Ross Sanchez, surveying damaged properties on the island 3 months after after Hurricane Ike: “The General Land Office (GLO) has drawn a new line in the sand four-and-half feet above sea level. People can stabilize their properties on the beach but we cannot issue new construction certificates in that zone. The line is normally based on vegetation but the storm wiped that out and the new line is based on mean sea levels. Drawing that line, many houses have ended up on public property.” [OffCite]

9:03 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Development Restrictions, Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Quicklink
Read more about: , , , , , ,
Monday, December 8, 2008

Attack of the Mulch Mountains

December 8, 2008 – 2:43 pm

An awful stench has been wafting through the homes of Golden Glade Estates, just west of Hobby Airport and south of Sims Bayou. There’s also been backyard flooding after every rain, a constant din from trucks, and generator-powered lighting beaming into local Living Rooms during the night. The cause? Huge piles of wood debris, brought into the southeast Houston neighborhood after Hurricane Ike:

Their problems started when Federal Emergency Management Agency contractors began trucking in hundreds of semi truckloads of pungent smelling, steaming mulch. Local 2 Investigates cameras and Sky 2 helicopter footage show some mounds stacked taller than nearby homes, covering acres of land less than 100 yards from some homes.

Continue Reading This Story >

2:43 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Environmental, Flooding, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Golden Glade Estates
Read more about: , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pecan Shadows: The Long Sell

November 25, 2008 – 8:24 am

It took almost 3 years, but the Pecan Shadows Apartments have finally sold, says Globe St.’s Amy Wolff Sorter:

[Hendricks & Partners senior advisor Jeff] Eisenhardt, who represented the Santa Clarita, CA seller, says before the current buyer, another interested tax credit buyer had the complex at 480 W. Parker Rd. tied up in escrow for close to a year.

“Then they got a new CEO who decided he didn’t want to buy and rehab buildings, so they had to walk away from a ton of earnest money,” Eisenhardt comments. Shortly afterward, a second buyer signed a contract, went hard with the earnest money, then dropped out of the deal days before it was due to close.

“This is the third or fourth time this had been under contract,” Eisenhardt acknowledges. “Since day one, we had a lot of activity on this, but just bad luck with buyers.”

The 137-unit complex sits on more than 5 acres next to a forlorn-looking Family Dollar shopping center off I-45. One of apartments’ 12 buildings lost a roof to Hurricane Ike.

A partnership led by Houston investor Doug McGregor paid $4.5 million for the apartments and plans to spend another half-million on interior upgrades, Sorter reports.

Photo of Pecan Shadow Apartments: Rentsmart

8:24 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Apartments, Buying and Selling
Read more about: , , , ,
Monday, November 17, 2008

Trailers and Mobile Homes Scatter in Baytown

November 17, 2008 – 11:09 am
   

“In addition to the 871 uninhabitable apartment units left behind by Ike, the city also listed 123 single-family homes as uninhabitable and 60, from the Lakewood, Southwest Addition and Roseland, as destroyed. To assist these citizens while they try to rebuild, Baytown City Council wasted no time in passing an ordinance allowing mobile homes on uninhabitable property until the homeowners can make repairs and move back in. Those utilizing this program can only do so for six months, with two opportunities for renewal – not to exceed 18 months. However, the city has said they won’t evict citizens making progress. ‘We have six people who are living in trailers on their private property for now,’ [planning and development director Kelly] Carpenter said. [FEMA’s Ericka] Lopez said 12 households on private sites in Baytown have requested manufactured housing from FEMA so far.” [The Baytown Sun]

11:09 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Baytown, Disaster Aftermath, Manufactured Homes, Quicklink
Read more about: , , , ,
Monday, November 3, 2008

Galveston for Tourists: Not Quite Yet

November 3, 2008 – 3:01 pm

Dead Trees in Galveston after Hurricane Ike

Sure, we’ve all heard about the damage to Galveston — from news reports and the sad tales of returning residents. But how’s the place looking to tourists? Lou Minatti took his kids for a visit over the weekend:

The island is in sad shape. But there were some bright spots. The Moody Gardens Aquarium is open, and since there are so few tourists they have greatly reduced the entrance fee. (The Rain Forest Pyramid is closed until further notice.) The kids did get to see a beautiful shrimp trawler up close. They were fascinated.

What struck me most was the fact that all of the trees are dead. All of the beautiful live oaks, planted soon after the 1900 hurricane, are no more. They were killed by the flood of salt water. The only trees to survive are the palms and Norfolk Island pines. My best guess is that every deciduous tree more than 5 blocks from the seawall is dead.

Continue Reading This Story >

3:01 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Tourism, Trees
Read more about: , , , , ,
Thursday, October 23, 2008

Bolivar Panoramas from the Air: Private Disaster Tours

October 23, 2008 – 9:07 am

Panoramic Aerial View of Nelson Lane, Crystal Beach, Bolivar Peninsula, after Hurricane Ike

Tired of looking at the same old images of Hurricane Ike devastation? Now, thanks to the amazing aerial camerawork of Dallas’s Hawkeye Media, you can conduct your own Bolivar Peninsula post-disaster flyover, focusing only on the destruction you want to see — from the comfort of your own broadband internet connection.

Hawkeye’s interface allows you to navigate through the company’s panoramic overhead views of wasted homes and newly desolate landscapes, zooming in and out as fast as your middle finger can scroll.

Photo of Nelson Lane, Crystal Beach: Hawkeye Media

9:07 am | Add a Comment | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Neighborhoods: Bolivar, Online Resources
Read more about: , , , , , ,
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Gensler Layoffs

October 22, 2008 – 12:18 pm
   

A source who may have spent a little too much time with a chainsaw after Hurricane Ike reports on industry conditions: “It is super bad out there right now. Lending has absolutely ground to a halt. Most of my peers have almost zero pipeline beyond existing signed contracts or institutional work (esp. schools). [The Houston office of architecture firm] Gensler had layoffs this past week, though I would call laying off 16 people ‘trimming the dead limbs off the tree.’” [Swamplot inbox]

12:18 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Financing, Houston Architects, Quicklink
Read more about: , , ,
Monday, October 20, 2008

Ruh-Roh: What Ike and Scooby-Do Did to Frank’s Grill

October 20, 2008 – 12:58 pm

Franks Grill, 4702 Telephone Rd., Houston, after Hurricane Ike

Snapstream CEO Rakesh Agrawal finds the rooftop sign above Frank’s Grill on Telephone Road is still canine-consonant-challenged, a few weeks after Ike.

Photo: Rakesh Agrawal

12:58 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Restaurants
Read more about: , , , ,
Friday, October 17, 2008

Galveston Damage Map

October 17, 2008 – 12:31 pm

Hurricane Ike Damage Assessment Map of Galveston East of 61st St.

FEMA-approved colors liven up this property-damage-assessment map for 24,000 structures in Galveston.

The red areas are “unsafe; leaning; structurally unsound; completely destroyed; collapsed or structure missing.”

Yellow means “general interior flooding; wind damage; or significantly damaged, but repairable.”

And green means go! “No damage or only minor damage; or missing siding; shingles; handrails; breakaway walls.”

The gray areas? “Flood zone.”

More colorful maps of other Hurricane-Ike-hit areas of the city are available on the City of Galveston website.

12:31 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Flooding, Galveston
Read more about: , , , , , ,