Swamplot Archives by Tag: Notices

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Montrose Bar Where Souls Will Be Exchanged for Cocktails?

Last week, this sign showed up in the window at the old Sophia restaurant on W. Main and Mandell, indicating that something or someone called Faustian Bargain intends to serve Montrose some devil juice — er, liquor. Sophia closed here at the end of February, you’ll remember, and Café Artiste mysteriously disappeared several years before that. Some sleuthing by a Swamplot reader — later echoed by Eater Houston and Culturemap — turned up that 2 of the likely new owners of the 2,400-sq.-ft. standalone near the Menil Collection are Omar Afra and Jagatjit Katial of Free Press Houston and Fitzgerald’s fame. Inquiries for more information haven’t been returned.

Photos: Allyn West

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A Reprieve for the Almost Afton Oaks Apartments?

   

Here’s more from the reader who a week ago predicted the demise of the recently sold “very well-made” 1955 apartment building at 4724 Oakshire Dr., shown here under the glimmering purview of the Williams Tower: ”Well, now the latest rumor is that the new owners are not going to demo it (at least not right away) and tenants will have the option to do month-to-month renting with them (haven’t seen anything in writing yet, but the month-to-month thing doesn’t sound like they intend to keep the current complex in the long-term . . . .” Calls to the agent for more information haven’t been returned. [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot] Photos: Gary Greene

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The End of Another Almost Afton Oaks Apartment Complex?

Here’s a prediction from a reader about the fate of these apartments just inside the Loop at 4724 Oakshire Dr.: “It looks like another older apt. complex in/near Afton Oaks will probably soon be no more. At least, the building is being sold and all the residents just got a 45 day notice to move out (I don’t know for sure they’re tearing it down, but the odds are it will be). It’s a pity, because it’s a very well-made building (and, from what I’ve seen of some of the construction going up in the area, that’s not the case for a lot of the newer buildings).”

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Friday, March 29, 2013

And You Can See That It Is Friday

   

And you can see that it is good. It is Good Friday, you could say. So Swamplot will be back posting even more goodness on Monday, April 1. Really. No fooling. Photo of T.G.I. Fridays at I-45 and Fuqua St.: TripAdvisor

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Map, Drawing for Yale St. Retail Development Not Active Plan

   

This map from retail advisor UCR Houston that Swamplot reported as a potential site for retail development does not represent an active plan, says a company representative; UCR is not marketing this property on Yale St. north of I-10; it does not represent, and has never represented, the property’s current owner. The map and drawing reported this morning were created in November 2011 during a “conversation about the property,” says the UCR representative, but were “tossed.” The representative “really just [doesn't] know” why the flyer was still on the company’s website; it’s been removed. [Previously on Swamplot] Map: Swamplot inbox

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Mini Cooper Parked on Kirby Store Wall Now Permitted

   

Call it the artifice on the edifice: It took a few months, but the City of Houston seems to have embraced — or, at least, bureaucratically allowed — the fake Mini Cooper parked on the wall that was slapped with a red tag in early January at Internum, the interiors and design store at 3303 Kirby: ”After some back and forth about permitting,” explains The Highwayman’s Dug Begley, “the city granted a permit in late January. Turns out you need to let the city know when you hang something over the sidewalk, even if it is a temporary ad and not a permanent sign. Otherwise, you get a lot of attention . . . .” [The Highwayman; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Lisa Garvin

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

   

It seems as though it was just yesterday, but Presidents’ Day has come around again this Monday. Time to give these heads of state their due. Swamplot will be back as usual with more posts on Tuesday, February 19. Photo of David Adickes’s sculptures at SculpturWorx Studio in the Heights: Holly Middlebrook Pessoa

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Apartments Moving In on Freedman’s Town Rowhouse Lot

A pair of West Gray lots — nearly vacant save their seen-better-days Freedman’s Town rowhouses in the back — have been put on notice as the proposed site for Dolce Living: that’s 5 stories and 176,344 sq. ft. of 1- and 2-bedroom apartments, with some street-level retail to sweeten the deal.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Third of Former Shell Tech Center Eyed for Southside Place Homes

Shell Oil moved out the last of its things from the 3-building Bellaire Technology Center in 2012, consolidating R&D operations about 15 miles west of Southside Place in a spruced-up campus near Texas 6 and Richmond. Now, it appears that these 3.2 acres (shown in the map) of the 9.7 that the Center vacated are being eyed for residential development.

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Heights Lot Prepared for Midrise Apartments

This drawing shows the proposed replat of a 3.5-acre lot in the Heights. It appears that Dallas-based Trammell Crow is planning to build apartments on the property bound by Allston, Yale, 6th, and 7th, about half a mile from I-10. Terra Associates, identified on City of Houston paperwork as the replatting applicant, tells Swamplot that the development will be 4 stories of apartments atop 2 levels of parking, one of which will be underground. There are no plans for retail. Seventh St. dead-ends here; the Heights hike and bike trail runs past the lot on the north. The replat is slated to be presented at a public hearing on Jan. 17.

Images: Swamplot inbox

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Looking Ahead

And that’ll do it for 2012. Swamplot will be back with more Houston fun in the coming odd year — on January 2nd. Did you get a chance to check out all the award winners in this year’s Swampies? A happy new year to all!

Photo of I-10: elnina

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Voting for the 2012 Swamplot Awards Ends Today

5 pm today is the deadline. That’s when the polls for this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate will close. Only a few hours are left for you to get you votes in! Is there enough time for a come-from-behind candidate to win? Sure, if enough supporters cast each of their 4 possible votes in each category to sweep it over the top.

Without your votes, will the best candidates win all these categories? We need your help to make the 2012 Swampies the best they can be. Tell us who your favorites are!

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Friday, December 21, 2012

It’s Campaign Time for the 2012 Swamplot Awards

The official nominees for all 7 categories of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate have been announced, and voting is well under way.

There are 4 places you can vote for each category. But you don’t have to choose one of them — vote in all 4 if you like:

  • In a comment to the official ballot for the category
  • In an email you send to Swamplot
  • Using Twitter (it’ll help if you use the format spelled out here)
  • In a wall post on Swamplot’s Facebook page

Here, in one convenient place, are links to the official ballots for all 7 categories:

Got a question about voting? You can probably find the answer in this brief voting guide.

Already voted? There’s still time to round up more support for your favorites! Come-from-behind candidates, here’s your chance: All it might take is a little email, Facebook or forum post, or tweet to stir up your friends. If you explain your vote clearly when you make it, you’ll help build support for your choices.

Swamplot will return to regular posting after the Christmas holiday. And voting in all categories will end shortly after that — at 5 pm on Wednesday, December 26th.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

How To Stuff the Ballot Boxes for the 2012 Swampies

Did you know that you can vote up to 4 times in each category of the 2012 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? But you’ve got to follow the rules for them to be counted. You’re allowed to vote once in a comment to the official ballot post for the category, once in an email to Swamplot, once from your Twitter account, and once on the wall of Swamplot’s Facebook page. You’ll find more details on how to do each (and how not to have your votes disqualified) here.

Nominations in all 7 categories of this year’s Swampies are now closed; balloting has begun in 5 of them so far: Most Overlooked Neighborhood, the “It’s Alive!” Award, the Swamplot Award for Special Achievement in Traffic, Best Demolition, and Favorite Houston Design Cliché. Did any of your favorites make it to the ballot? Recruit your friends to vote for them. We’ve got 2 more categories coming up this week, and then a short voting season: All votes for all categories must be in by 5 pm on Wednesday, December 26th.

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

What’s That You Said?

   

Swamplot’s email appears to be up and running now, but it was down most of the morning, and some messages likely got lost. At least that tip about the stripper pole came through. If earlier today you sent us a different hot tip, a question about advertising, a vote in the first category of the Swamplot Awards, a last-minute nomination for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate (the Swampies’ final award category) — or anything else — please accept our apologies for dropping the ball, and please try again.

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