Tag: Memorial Heights Apartments

05/09/17 5:15pm

Latest Glamor Shot Renderings of the Washington Ave. H-E-B Show Off Designer Labels, Street-Facing Parking

Washingto Corridor, Washington Ave

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A little more of the what’ll-go-where has been filled in lately for Midway’s H-E-B-footed midrise, planned at the corner of Waugh St. and Washington Ave. (and now under construction following the corner’s clear-outÂ earlier this year). Â The glassy box overlooking Washington from above the main H-E-B entrance will hold the structure’s office spaces, withÂ the face of theÂ parking garageÂ visible a bit further to the left; an updated siteplan also shows that the sides of the development will also be insulated from the street and sidewalks with a layer or 2 of parking spaces:

Buffalo Heights Close-Ups

77007, Apartments, Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor

Memorial Heights, Proposed Developments

02/06/17 4:30pm

Memorial Heights Construction Is Out with a Starting Gate

by Swamplot

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memorial-heights-gate

The peculiar scene pictured above, of a freestanding but fenceless gate, greeted residents of the Memorial Heights Apartments near the corner of Washington Ave and Studewood late last week. Demolition of buildings 1 through 6 of the complex, on the northwest corner of the complex, for a planned new 5-story apartment complex atop a new H-E-B market, appears imminent.

In anticipation, workers have been constructing fencing (now attached to the above gate) that appears to be intended to surround a portion of the remaining parking lot of the remainingÂ complex. There’s alsoÂ this construction going up at the corner of Studewood and Washington Ave.:

77007, Apartment Complexes, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments

Approaching Buffalo Heights

12/29/16 10:45am

J. Black’s Spot Marked For Lease near Future Wash Ave. H-E-B Midrise

Memorial Heights

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J. Black's, 110 South Heights Blvd., Memorial Heights, Houston, 77007

J. Black's, 110 South Heights Blvd., Memorial Heights, Houston, 77007 The building housing the Houston expansion of Austin’s J. Black’s at the southwest corner of Washington Ave and Heights Blvd. now bears a new for-info-please-call sign, a reader notes. The bar appears to have events planned through at least New Year’s Eve; the 5,948-sq.-ft. space was only listed online as up for lease about 2 weeks ago. Back before 2012, the property was home to Phil’s Texas Barbecue, for about the same amount of timeÂ as it took Phil himself to restaurantize the corner’s original muffler shop setup. And soon another corner at the intersection will be getting a full workover as well, if all goes as planned — J. Black’s sits across Heights Blvd. from the subsection of the Memorial Heights apartments slated to go away some time next quarter,Â to makeÂ way for that planned Midway midrise with the H-E-B at the bottom:

Cornered in Memorial Heights

77007, Buildings for Lease, Grocery Stores, Memorial Heights Apartments, Midrises, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Washington Corridor

12/19/16 12:45pm

Midway: H-E-B-Footed Midrise on Washington Ave. Will Be in ‘Buffalo Heights’

Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

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Rendering of Buffalo Heights Mixed Use Phase I, at Washington Ave. at Waugh Dr.

H-E-B preliminary plans for Washington Ave. at Heights Blvd. The complex containing Midway’s planned H-E-B-and-midrise at the southeast corner of Heights Blvd.Â and Washington Ave. won’t be named Northbank Buffalo Bayou after all, Nancy Sarnoff reports this week —Â it’ll be calledÂ Buffalo Heights. Above is Ziegler Cooper’s rendering of the proposed structure, which would take up the northwest corner of the old Archstone Memorial Heights apartments propertyÂ (which was bought in 2014 by the current owners). That development previously gave its moniker to the surrounding neighborhood; it remains to be seen if this latest rebranding attempt will stick.

The new midrise would sit about half a mile south of the official southernmost edge of the Houston Heights (as drawn for voting in last month’s local-option Heights moistening election), and about half a mile north of Buffalo Bayou (thoughÂ only a quarter mile from the Buffalo Wild WingsÂ a few blocks west down Washington Ave). The new design shows off 5 stories of apartments (tallying up asÂ 232 units) on top of the 2-story H-E-B, with about 37,000 sq. ft. of office spaceÂ and a couple of other retail spots in the mix.

First of Its Name in Memorial Heights

77007, Apartments, Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor

11/04/16 12:45pm

H-E-B’s Leased Washington Ave. Store May Have 6 Stories on Top

Washingto Corridor, Washington Ave

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H-E-B mapped on Washington Ave. by Braun Enterprises

Looks like the logo spotted in that Braun flierÂ earlier this year wasn’t too far off the mark: a lease signed in May by H-E-B for a new store onÂ Washington Ave.,Â which Nancy Sarnoff noted yesterday afternoon, includes some preliminary layout drawingsÂ for the grocery chain’s claimed spot — at the foot ofÂ what looks to be a mixed-used midrise planned on the Memorial Heights apartment complex property. (Also included in the document:Â the nameÂ Northbank Condominium #1,Â which sounds a lotÂ like that trademark that Midway was working on earlier this year.)Â H-E-B Houston president Scott McClelland toldÂ Sarnoff that this doesn’t change the company’s interest in putting aÂ store on the former N. Shepherd Fiesta siteÂ (and backing the ongoing campaign to getÂ theÂ Heights dry laws dampened); Sarnoff reports that the company would ideally like stores on Washington Ave., N. Shepherd, and in Garden Oaks, if they can find places to put them.

Where exactly will the WashingtonÂ store land? The lease shows a preliminary footprint right at the cornerÂ with Heights Blvd., stretching not quite to Wagner St. to the east. H-E-B’s yet-to-be-built space looks to include a 91,000-sq.-ft. ground floor store, topped by a layer ofÂ parkingÂ on the second level of the structure (plusÂ about 6,600 sq. ft. more of non-parking space). The document filed with the Harris County clerk’s office also shows plans for 5 more levels split between more parking and room for other tenants — including what it tallies up as about 36,000 sq. ft of office space and about 262,900 sq. ft. of multifamily residential space. A 2,200-sq.-ft. retail spot is also tucked in on the ground floor on the east side of H-E-B’s main store area.

Drawings in the doc depict the H-E-B-footed structure fitting into the space marked Zone A in the diagram below, just north of the northern edge of the Memorial Heights Villages midrise:

Northbank on Washington Ave.

77007, Condos, Grocery Stores, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Residential, Washington Corridor

03/16/16 10:45am

Yes, H-E-B Really Is Talking About a New Store at Studemont and Washington Ave

Memorial Heights

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H-E-B mapped on Washington Ave. by Braun Enterprises

H-E-B has confirmed that the grocery store chain is consideringÂ a store on Washington Ave at Studemont St.Â Public affairs director Cyndy Garza-Roberts tells the HBJ that the chain has “been in discussion for that site for months,” though aÂ deal isn’t finalized. The nod followsÂ yesterday’s story about a Braun Enterprises leasing flierÂ (advertising a property further east down Washington) that showedÂ the company’s logo stamped over the site of the Archstone Memorial Heights apartments.

Contemplating Memorial Heights

77007, Apartments, Grocery Stores, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor

Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor

06/04/12 2:26pm

Archstone Memorial Heights Clearing Out Residents Again for Bigger Buildings, 4 Years After First Attempt

by Swamplot

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The long-delayed piece-by-piece redevelopment of the 28-acre Archstone Memorial Heights compound at the corner of Studemont and Washington Ave. into a denser style of apartment complex appears to be back on track. Residents of the 3 existing 3-story “garden-style” buildings in the southwest corner facing Heights Blvd. have received notice that they will need to vacate their apartments by August 1st. (“I was trying to figure out why rent prices went up $300 in 5 months,” a resident quips to Swamplot: “Now I know why.”) Did those letters from management sound familiar? Residents of the same buildings were cleared out in March 2008 in anticipation of a similar redevelopment. A letter sent to Memorial Heights tenants refers only to a new 4-story apartment building planned for the site of those structures: Buildings 7, 8, and 9.

77007, Apartments, Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor

Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Washington Corridor

03/17/08 8:06am

Redeveloping the Memorial Heights Apartments: The Inside Story

by Swamplot

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Aerial View of Archstone Memorial Heights Apartments Showing First Area to be Redeveloped

Armed with only a camera and a healthy sense of curiosity, Swamplot reader and longtime Memorial Heights Apartments resident Michael W. Jones pokes around his apartment complex and unearths evidence of Archstone-Smith’s redevelopment plans. His conclusions:

Buildings 7, 8, and 9, in the southwest quadrant of the complex facing S. Heights Blvd, will be the first to come down. All tenants have been out of these buildings since March 1. The first of six new four-story apartment buildings will be built here.
The dingbat-Modern-style office building at 225 S. Heights Blvd. outside the complex will likely be torn down:

The fact that the building is not on the tax roll leads me to believe that 225 is actually owned by Archstone-Smith, and will be brought down as part of the redevelopment. The current state does give sign that there may have been some interior demolition already done, and itâ€™s waiting for the wrecking crew to come in to finish the job.
Though tenants have been hit with some large rent increases in the last two years, Archstone-Smith isn’t going out of its way to let them know what’s happening to their homes:

To date, other than the tennants in the buildings affected by the pending demolition, the rest of the complex has not been made aware of the pending changes. It is only through research and infomation from other sources have I been able to piece the information you see here together.

After the jump, photos — and a few more details — from Jones’s report.

77007, Apartments, Demolitions, Memorial Heights, Memorial Heights Apartments, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Washington Corridor