Swamplot Archives by Tag: Renovations

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Expanded Heights Kroger: Now Wider Than Wide Angle

October 28, 2009 – 1:00 pm

How big is the newly expanded mega-Kroger on 11th and Shepherd? So big that a Swamplot reader standing in the parking lot couldn’t fit the entire store in one photo. The best attempt, above, shows the place is “too big to do that now.” At 96,000 sq. ft., the Merchants Park Shopping Center Kroger at 1035 N. Shepherd is now apparently the largest grocery store inside Houston city limits.

The new section of the store opened last Friday, reports our reader,

to much rejoicing in the Heights. Both the new and the old section of the store is in use. I assume now that the new part is open they will begin renovations on the old part of the store.

The new part of the store has a Starbucks, large produce section & bakery, Mediterranean bar, hot food bar, and prepared foods section.

More reader-submitted pics from inside and out:

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1:00 pm | 9 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Redevelopment, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

On Heights Blvd.: Jacked Up and Ready To Go

October 27, 2009 – 3:55 pm

Snapped from the porch of Lola at 11th and Yale last week by a Swamplot reader: this photo of the 1903 Perry-Swilley House, formerly known to reside at 1101 Heights Blvd., and headed for 1103.

The city architectural and historical commission gave permission last year for the home to be moved one lot to the north. Swamplot reported on the owner’s plans for the site last November.

Why is the home being raised? So parking for that strip center planned for the corner can fit underneath.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

3:55 pm | 5 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Strip Centers
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Monday, September 14, 2009

West Dallas Royal Norwegian

September 14, 2009 – 10:33 am

What’s happening to this brick office building on West Dallas, just east of Dunlavy? The Houston Business Journal’s Jennifer Dawson reports it’s getting an energy-conscious renovation — overseen by Bailey Architects, designer of the original building in the early eighties.

The West Dallas building used to house local advertising firm Sachnowitz & Co. The vacant site of the former Aquarium Lounge is next door.

Early next year, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General will be moving in. The consulate general currently occupies offices in a tower on Allen Parkway.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

10:33 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Green Design and Development, Neighborhoods: North Montrose, Office Buildings, Renovations
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Friday, September 11, 2009

Karen Derr Promises Not To Tear Down City Hall, Either

September 11, 2009 – 12:40 pm

A reader from the Heights sends in photos documenting only the latest scene in Houston’s long and theatrical history of commingled real estate and political ambition. If you like, say, the pricing on the homes Karen Derr’s former company sells — like this one at 946 Arlington St. — you’ll certainly want to see Derr join city council!

But what’s with that part in red letters? Maybe just to let voters know she’s a little less favorably disposed toward freeform demolition than, say, former candidate/broker Michael Berry was. Writes our reader and snapshooter:

I am guessing that Karen Derr’s office rec’d so many calls as to the future of this house- one the few remaining 19th century homes in the Heights, that she had the “Remodel” sign made and stuck atop her broker sign. . . . Karen used to be on the board of the Houston Heights Association and she is locally active and running for office, so she does not want to piss off too much of her long time neighbors.

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12:40 pm | 10 Comments | Read more about Demolitions, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Renovations, Signage
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Plenty of Room in the Pool: What’s Available at Greenbriar Park North

September 9, 2009 – 4:24 pm

Globe St.’s Amy Wolff Sorter says the buyer of the foreclosed Greenbriar Park North apartments near Greenspoint has “a strong track record” of rehabbing complexes. That should help:

Wade Schmitz with Hendricks & Partners’ Houston office tells GlobeSt.com that CNC Investments was the former owner and like many owners during the mid-2000s, had bought too much with too much debt that couldn’t be refinanced. Schmitz, who marketed the asset for Bank of America adds that the 1980s complex at 818 Richcrest Dr. attracted a great deal of interest. . . .

“There were down units that needed to be brought back online,” Schmitz says. “The property had been neglected, and needed someone to take care of it.”

How neglected? Of 400 units in the complex, only around 60 are occupied.

Don’t want to miss out on all the foreclosed-apartment-complex rehab fun? Be patient, more is coming:

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4:24 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Buying and Selling, Foreclosures, Neighborhoods: Greenspoint, Renovations
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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Alabama Bookstop Stop Date: September 15th

August 6, 2009 – 2:36 pm

That summer clearance sale that’s been going on at the Bookstop in the Alabama Theater Shopping Center on South Shepherd is uh, final. The store will be closing for good on September 15th. The new Barnes & Noble in the River Oaks Shopping Center on West Gray will be opening the next day (a bit sooner than was announced earlier), but no unsold books from the Bookstop location will be making the trip north.

So what happens to the Alabama Theater after then?

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2:36 pm | 24 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Historic Preservation, Leasing, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Block 7: The Calm Before the Scene

August 5, 2009 – 6:01 pm

Alison Cook likes the recently opened Block 7 Wine Company:

The new venture, located in a smartly rehabbed appliance store on Shepherd just south of the Washington strip, combines retail wine sales with a wine bar that also functions as a restaurant. There’s a short, well-edited menu that will soon be expanded but which already looks and tastes promising.

The place looks smashing: airy and crisp and cool, all gunmetal greys and silvers, with black notes for ballast, a shimmer of glassware and a few bright pops of color.

I admired the vintage store fittings salvaged from the original appliance business and repurposed as a check-out desk, as well as the reasonable by-the-bottle prices and the distinct personality of the list, which does not try to be all things to all people.

Speaking of which:

From my window table, I could see Soma, the Japanese fusion and sushi spot on Washington at Shepherd, and I trembled to think of the ravening scenesters that might soon invade my little idyll.

Photo of checkout station, Block 7 Wine Co., 720 Shepherd Dr.: Alison Cook

6:01 pm | 9 Comments | Read more about Interiors, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Restaurants, Retail
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Hard To Find Green in Houston

July 29, 2009 – 11:42 am

A reader calls attention to this Chronicle letter to the editor from Pamela R. Zuteck of Clear Lake Shores:

Regarding “Texans can pay extra to rebuild the eco-friendly way if their home is hit by disaster” (Page A1, Sunday), trying to “go green” using Houston’s contractors will make you throw up your hands. They are clueless or resistant to even simple things like low-VOC paint. Product suppliers are hard to find or too far away to be practical. We saw Ike as a real opportunity to step it up but have met frustration at every turn. There’s no help out there. It was a victory just to get a few items, like Hardiplank removable interior wallboard. We had to do all the research and coordination, then design and supervise every step of installation. We sorted the waste for recycling. No wonder more people don’t go green. It’s just too hard.

Writes our reader:

I have no reason to doubt the contentions, but am stumped at the writer’s mention of “Hardiplank removable interior wallboard.” Since your reader/participants are so very knowledgeable, could you ask them to weigh in? My search of the internets provided nada.

11:42 am | 19 Comments | Read more about Construction Materials, Disaster Aftermath, Green Design and Development, Renovations
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Comment of the Day: What To Expect on That First Night in Your New Funeral Home

July 22, 2009 – 1:55 pm
   

“We are planning on buying a old [mortuary] that was built in the early 1900’s. Although I walk the old path & do a little dabbling in the Craft, even this is starting to creep me out. We are planning on [spending] our [first] night there around the 8th. of August. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE THAT HAS LIVED IN A MORTUARY / furnral home / Hauted house…what should I exspect ?????” [Tabby the Witch, commenting on Home Sweet Funeral Home: Washington Terrace Mortuary Seeks Residents]

1:55 pm | 12 Comments | Read more about Adaptive Reuse, Comments, Quicklink, Renovations
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Comment of the Day: Historic Preservation, Dallas Style

May 12, 2009 – 5:52 pm
   

“. . . Conservation Districts have existed in the city of Dallas since 1988. These districts exist primarily in East Dallas and Oak Cliff.(which are areas primarily developed before 1940) They concentrate on protecting such things as architecture styles, densities of the area, heights of structures, and setback guidelines. The process to become a conservation district typically takes 12 – 18 months from the initial authorizing of a study until the adoption by the city council. These districts are similar to and often compared with historic districts. While exhibiting comparable characteristics, the two are quite different. Historic Districts look to preserve the original structure exactly as when it was first built. They also attempt to preserve original materials, colors, styles, and other elements of the original structure. Conservation districts wish to maintain certain standards of an area. . . .” [JT, commenting on The Woods Back Off: Freeland Bungalow Free To Be Sold Again]

5:52 pm | 5 Comments | Read more about Comments, Development Restrictions, Historic Preservation, Quicklink, Renovations
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Monday, May 11, 2009

Comment of the Day: Little Houses Not Far from Prairie St.

May 11, 2009 – 7:26 pm
   

“I did get a chuckle out of the statement that the problem with the old houses was that they were 900 square feet and thus there was ‘nothing to do’ but tear them down. I actually think there’s quite a market for 900 square foot living spaces located right near downtown. When they are condos or apartments, they’re quite popular, and there are quite a few houses that size in the Heights that continue to sell - and not as teardowns. It’s an ideal, efficient living space for a single person or a couple, and the existence of smaller houses creates housing options - so the entry price in a neighborhood isn’t higher than many can afford - and thus you get a healthy mix of residents, from young professionals in the smaller houses to families in the larger ones. Having small houses in the mix is really good for an urban neighborhood; the idea that they all have to go is kind of crazy.” [John, commenting on Withering Townhouses of the First Ward]

7:26 pm | 9 Comments | Read more about Comments, Demolitions, Home Design, Neighborhoods: First Ward, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Renovations
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Friday, April 24, 2009

Redo, Rinse, Repeat: Brun Bungalow, Makeover Magnet

April 24, 2009 – 8:46 pm

Some Houston bungalows have to wait years before they can get into rehab, but this dark number on Brun St. has been the recipient of no fewer than 3 makeovers in the last decade.

Carol Isaak Barden bought the house in 2000 “to keep it away from the wrecking ball” — then spent so much “making it perfect,” she says, that she lost money when she sold it the following year.

The buyer, Mark Horn, thought the house was perfect . . . as a new location for his hair salon. So he made a few renovations of his own:

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8:46 pm | 5 Comments | Read more about Buying and Selling, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Hillcrest, Parking, Renovations
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Downtown Warehouse Rehab: Houston’s Next Permit Office

April 24, 2009 – 11:16 am

This 1923 former rice warehouse at the far eastern end of Washington Ave., used more recently as an annex for the Downtown post office on the other side of I-45, will become the city’s new permit office, reports Monica Perin in the Houston Business Journal. The building will replace the current 2-story office at 3300 Main St. in Midtown — which Public Works officials consider flood-prone — and consolidate permit offices from 3 other sites.

A LEED-certified renovation of the 4-story concrete-and-brick building, which sits on a 2 1/2-acre site Downtown — and which sat on the market for several years — is expected to be complete by the fall of 2010.

The property purchase is expected to close in July, along with council approval of a contract with Trammell Crow Co. as the developer, and Studio Red Architects as the design firm. . . .

“A building of this age and being a warehouse is relatively easy to recycle,” [Studio Red's Bill Neuhaus] notes. “It lends itself to an open plan and lots of daylight. We can do an economical job here, and it will be an extremely pleasant working environment.”

Permitting offices eventually will share space with the city’s new Green Resource Center, which is opening this week at 3300 Main St.

“The re-use of existing buildings is one of the greenest and most sustainable things we can do,” Neuhaus says.

He says the building’s prime location is part of the civic campus, next to the police department, the post office and rail station.

Photo of 1002 Washington Ave.: LoopNet

11:16 am | Add a Comment | Read more about Flooding, Green Design and Development, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Public Buildings, Renovations
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Monday, March 23, 2009

Wet and Wild: Strip Redo on White Oak

March 23, 2009 – 4:39 pm

What’s this — another deserted Second Life strip center? No: just a rendered view of Venture Commercial’s proposed new South Heights Retail Center, forwarded to Swamplot by a reader. The 32,100-sq.-ft. project promises to bring together a motley assortment of existing buildings into a single 2.2-acre development, all of its components refaced and decorated using what appears to be the latest in texture mapping technology.

The project is planned for the north side of White Oak Dr. between Studewood and Oxford St., bridging the great spatial and cultural divide between Fitzgerald’s and the Onion Creek Coffee House. The magic ingredient is a new 76-car parking lot on the south side of the street, directly behind Jimmie’s Place.

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4:39 pm | 34 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Strip Centers
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Reporting Live from the Westmoreland Stucco Renaissance

March 17, 2009 – 2:28 pm

A reader sends a couple photos of “what will soon no longer be a nice understated commercial building” at 315 W. Alabama, just south of the Westmoreland Historic District west of Midtown:

I watched the remodel work inside going on for a while and was a little shocked to see the brick facade receiving prep work to be refaced in stucco. You can see the nice bit of decorative garland in the process of being knocked off by the end of today.

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2:28 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Construction Materials, Neighborhoods: Midtown, Neighborhoods: Westmoreland Historic District, Renovations
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