Swamplot Archives by Tag:
Retail

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Highland Village: Work Above Waterworks, Filling the Gap Gap

May 29, 2008 – 1:06 pm

Construction on Top of Waterworks, Highland Village Shopping Center, Houston

A reader who lives near the Highland Village Shopping Center reports that work on “the structure being built (so slowly) on top of Waterworks” at the corner of Drexel and Westheimer appears to have started up again, after a long period of nothing-going-on. Plus: he hears it’s going to be a French restaurant. Wasn’t last year’s rumor that it was going to be a wine bar?

And speaking of rumors, the same reader wants to know what’s going to happen on the opposite corner of the same intersection, where the Gap used to be:

I have hear that it will be either a 5 story boutique hotel or 2 story retail, and, as of a few weeks ago, that they would be deciding between retail vs hotel by mid May.

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,

1:06 pm | Comment | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Highland Village, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The New Whole Foods at West Dallas and Waugh

May 14, 2008 – 9:18 am

Northwest Corner of West Dallas and Montrose, Houston

Whole Foods Market has just signed a 25-year lease with the Finger Companies for land at the northeast corner of West Dallas and Waugh in North Montrose. The company plans to build a new 50,000-sq.-ft. store there, reports the Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff. That’s the same size as the new Whole Foods that recently opened in Sugar Land, but the new Uptown store the company is planning as part of Boulevard Place will be 50 percent larger.

The North Montrose location is only a few blocks east of the site planned for Regent Square. And Finger has more ideas for the full 11 acres fronting West Dallas it bought from Knickerbocker Corp. earlier this year:

Plans for the site also call for 60,000 square feet of additional retail space and hundreds of apartments. The Finger Cos. will build a six-story, 445-unit multifamily complex on the property. Construction will start early next year.

A ring road will be created in the center of the development to tie into the AIG complex, located to the north of the site.

A future phase includes a high-rise apartment tower for the land closer to Montrose. Developer Marvy Finger said the building could be similar to his company’s 20-story Museum Tower on Montrose near the Museum District.

Photo of the corner of West Dallas and Montrose, proposed site of Finger highrise: Charles Kuffner

Read more about: , , , , , , , , ,

9:18 am | 6 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Commercial Real Estate, Land Development, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Neighborhoods: North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Retail
Monday, May 12, 2008

Via Las Vegas: New West Ave Spa, Italian Style

May 12, 2008 – 9:39 am

View of West Ave from Second Story

More imports for West Ave! A tidbit from the Chronicle:

Rome, a resort-style day spa and salon, plans to open at West Ave. in the summer of 2009. Conceived by Las Vegas-based spa operators, Resources & Development, the spa will encompass more than 10,000 square feet in the mixed-use development at Kirby and Westheimer.

West Ave rendering: Urban Partners

Read more about: , , , , ,

9:39 am | Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: River Oaks, Neighborhoods: Upper Kirby, New Construction, Retail
Friday, May 9, 2008

“Dude, What Gives?”: Cafe Artiste’s Disappearing Act

May 9, 2008 – 9:27 am

Cafe Artiste, Houston, April 18, 2008

“Café Artiste’s closing is fraught with mystery,” declares the River Oaks Examiner. A sign posted on the front door of the cafe at 1601 W. Main St. near the Menil reads “Café Artiste will be closed today — sorry for any inconvenience.” The sign has been posted for about a month.

People are pining for their favorite hangout and its owners’ whereabouts, but no one seems to have an answer. Messages scrawled onto the “closed” sign reveal the sudden nature of the cafe’s closing as well as people’s curiosity and, in some cases, their disappointment.

“Dude, what gives?” read one handwritten message, while the question “Forever?” had been scribbled right under the words “closed today” along with a sad face drawn next to it. . . .

A separate sign in the window, put there by Keller Williams Realty, said the property is up for lease, but calls to the company were not immediately returned.

After the jump: those signs!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , ,

9:27 am | 7 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: Lancaster Place, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

West Ave Food and Drink Details: Imported Beers and Restaurants

April 8, 2008 – 12:17 pm

View of West Ave, Kirby and Westheimer, Houston, by Looney Ricks Kiss, Architects

Houston restaurant reporter Cleverley Stone has names and details of four new restaurants and a bar slated to open at West Ave, the multistory mixed-use development now under construction on the corner of Westheimer and Kirby. All are culinary imports from Dallas, San Antonio, or California, though one has already moved nearby:

  • Cru, a wine bar with food, was founded in Dallas but already has a location open in The Woodlands.

    With the ambience of a European café, indoor and alfresco options will be available with dining areas separated by a wall of French doors. The décor will incorporate custom built wine racks and handpainted fresco wine labels on canvas. The menu will offer a contemporary collection of French-Continental, Asian Fusion and Wine Country

  • The Social House, a gastropub that will actually call itself a gastropub. Presumably this will be much like the Syn Group’s Social House in Dallas, although here it will be in West Ave, not in West Village.
  • Pie Bar, a 1,500-square-foot gourmet pizza place — also from the Syn Group — that’s also a bar and will stay open until 2 a.m. On the second floor.
  • Swig, a cigar-and-martini bar with locations in San Antonio and Memphis.
  • Wildfish Seafood Grille, an upscale seafood and steak house, already has locations in San Antonio and Scottsdale but was founded in Newport Beach by the owners of Eddie V’s and the Roaring Fork.

Though a number of the 390 luxury apartments upstairs are scheduled to become available this August, the restaurants and stores below them in West Ave’s first phase won’t open until August 2009.

After the jump, two more newish images of West Ave from the architect’s website.

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , ,

12:17 pm | Comment | Read more about Apartments, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: River Oaks, Neighborhoods: Upper Kirby, New Construction, Restaurants, Retail
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Dunlavy and West Alabama: The Fiesta Antiques District

April 1, 2008 – 1:18 pm

Dunlavy at W. Alabama, Houston

Design blogger Joni Webb identifies Houston’s latest “hot pocket of stores selling reasonably priced, yet very chic antiques.”

Where is it? At the Fiesta Mart!

Or more accurately, in and around the shopping strip that includes the Fiesta — on the southeast corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama. Webb’s Cote de Texas blog runs through items available at Antiques and Interiors on Dunlavy, the Country Gentleman, plus the latest shop to open: Boxwood Interiors, a second store by the same people who run Foxglove Interiors on Alabama, a few blocks to the east. Boxwood

. . . immediately called to me when, through the window, I glimpsed freshly laid seagrass matting stretching from the front door to the back. It’s amazing what spending a few extra dollars on seagrass will do to an old and ugly mall space.

After the jump: seagrass magic! Plus a few of Webb’s Fiesta-area finds.

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , ,

1:18 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Furniture, Home Decor, Interiors, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers
Monday, March 31, 2008

Logos and Lines: Cypress Outlet Mall Reader Reports

March 31, 2008 – 5:46 pm

Houston Premium Outlets, Cypress, TX

Reader photos and reports from the Houston Premium Outlets opening on 290 last weekend:

I had heard somewhere that the mall was supposed to have a Southwest theme, but with all the logos plastered over the entrance towers, it looks like they might have been aiming for Early NASCAR. Aside from that, though, it’s a surprisingly nice place. Yeah, there were lots of people there, but once you get out of your car, the mall handles crowds well. It’s much nicer than a lot of Houston non-outlet malls, and a whole lot less cheesy or pretentious.

After the jump: those logo-festooned towers and more on-the-spot pix! Plus: Chicken Now: Here. Now!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

5:46 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Malls, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Parking, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
Friday, March 28, 2008

Borlenghi: Houstonians Unclear on the European Concept

March 28, 2008 – 11:34 am

Arturo’s Uptown Italiano Restaurant in Uptown Park, Houston

Interfin Companies president Giorgio Borlenghi, who developed Uptown Park and the Hotel Granduca, explains how it’s done:

. . . developers must not forget the principles we Houstonians like so much such as ease of access to the various components of the building and plentiful and readily available parking. As an example, when we planned Uptown Park, we decided to keep it exclusively retail to allow our patrons to park directly in front of the shops and restaurants without having to deal with multistory parking structures.

Keeping Uptown Park “exclusively retail,” of course, meant that his luxury hotel had to go across the street:

I created Hotel Granduca as a unique, elegant and extremely exclusive boutique hotel for the Uptown/Galleria area. I wanted it to be very different from all the other hotels: It had to feel very Italian, of course, and to have a true residential setting, so that it could be someone’s home away from home. What surprises me is that a number of people in Houston are still not understanding this very European concept and somehow think that Granduca is not a regular hotel, but some type of apartment building.

Photo of Arturo’s Uptown Italiano restaurant in Uptown Park: Flickr user heyjebbo

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11:34 am | Comment | Read more about Apartments, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Hotels, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Galleria, Parking, Real Estate Marketing, Retail, Shopping Centers
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Outlet Mall Grand Opening: Cypress Will Never Be the Same

March 27, 2008 – 6:38 pm

Drawing of Houston Premium Outlets in Cypress, TexasIf the popularity of our story earlier this week about the Houston Premium Outlets is any guide, the new outlet mall off 290 in Cypress ought to be absolutely swamped this weekend. And hey — we didn’t have much to say about it, other than to report that the mall opens today. (And no, Swamplot isn’t offering any discounts, either.)

Evidently, a lot of people want to find out about this place.

So if you do decide to brave the crowds this weekend and have a look around yourself, feel free to send us your reports, videos, or photos — so we can share them with the Googling hordes online.

Drawing of Houston Premium Outlets: Chelsea Premium Outlets

Read more about: , , , , , , , ,

6:38 pm | Comment | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Malls, Neighborhoods: Cypress, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Houston Premium Outlets: The New Outlet Mall in Cypress

March 25, 2008 – 7:12 pm

Houston Premium Outlets, Cypress, Texas

Update: On-the-spot reader reports!

Fairfield residents: You picked the right location! Just outside your neighborhood’s front gates, a huge new outlet mall is scheduled to open . . . in just two days!

What’s going to be there? The Ecko Unltd. outlet store! The Juicy Couture outlet store! The Under Armour outlet store! Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom! And Chicken Now! They’re all opening this Thursday, March 27th!

Well . . . almost. As a commenter on HAIF points out, you’ll apparently have to wait for Chicken Now, which on the Houston Premium Outlets website is listed only as “opening soon.” The site indicates 100 stores in the 427,000-square-foot outdoorish highwayside complex will be ready for this weekend’s grand opening. 13 more are slated to open later.

After the jump: you’ll look askance at the plans!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , ,

7:12 pm | Comment | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Malls, Neighborhoods: Cypress, Neighborhoods: Fairfield, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Ashby Highrise Developers: Moving Ahead

March 18, 2008 – 9:11 am

Bissonnet St. Elevation of Proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet, Southampton, Houston

Today comes news that the developers of the Ashby Highrise won’t wait any longer to strike a deal with the city — and are proceeding with permit applications for their original 23-story apartment and condo tower next to Southampton. Writing in the Chronicle, Mike Snyder reports that Buckhead Investment Partners had submitted a proposal for a slightly smaller tower to the city three weeks ago but had received no response.

The proposed smaller 22-story tower, which didn’t get much support from neighborhood groups, would have featured a narrower tower with 130 condo units and four detached townhouses along Ashby, two floors of underground parking and two more above grade, plus a small park on one corner. Buckhead principals Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton told Snyder the reduced number of units would “eliminate any possibility the project would cause unacceptable traffic congestion.”

A document outlining the proposal, however, shows the offer is contingent on significant financial concessions by the city: An immediate refund of about $500,000 for new sewer lines the developers installed to serve the project, along with a payment to the developers of up to $2.15 million, over as long as 10 years, from revenue generated by increased tax values on the site.

Meanwhile, Buckhead’s fancy new website now features a far more complete collection of presentation drawings of what appears to be the original 23-story tower. There doesn’t seem to be any mention on the site of the 22-story all-condo tower proposal.

After the jump, lots of tower drawings from the new website — including . . . kids hugging puppies!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,

9:11 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Apartments, Condos, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Southampton, Proposed Developments, Retail, Townhomes
Monday, March 17, 2008

News from the Artist Front

March 17, 2008 – 11:58 am

View Inside Afront, 2205 Washington Ave., Houston

Razorblade and wheatpaste artist Give Up gives up this photo preview of the Artist Front (AFront for short) boutique and skate shop, opening March 21st on Washington:

anthony correa and matt fuller have decided to take their combined years of experience in pretty much every facet of the skateboard industry and turn it into something a little more physical. offering up a new skate/boutique/gallery space under the name A-FRONT. located at 2205 washington next door to the darkhorse tavern, A-FRONT is like houston’s answer to supreme or huf or ftc. with an even stronger emphasis on art. a fully functional gallery space, the shop’s grand opening will also be the opening of their first show.

Another inside photo of Afront — from the front — after the jump.

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , ,

11:58 am | Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: Old Sixth Ward, Neighborhoods: Washington Corridor, Openings and Closings, Retail
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

High Street: Under Way

March 11, 2008 – 11:21 am

Rendering of Building in Trademark Properties’ Proposed High Street Development

The square footages appear to have adjusted a bit since our last report, but Trademark Properties says it has its financing, and that High Street is a go. From a report in Globe St.:

The Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. and Coventry [Real Estate Advisors Ltd. of New York City] are redeveloping a seven-acre site of the former Central Ford dealership at 4410 Westheimer Rd. In turn, the JV signed a partnership pact with Indianapolis-based Kosene & Kosene Development Co. for the residential component of High Street. The redevelopment will have 233 apartments atop 100,000 sf of retail and 80,000 sf of office in a separate structure. The foundation’s been poured for the office building, with residential and retail to go vertical in 60 to 90 days.

After the jump, another pretty picture!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,

11:21 am | Comment | Read more about Apartments, Commercial Real Estate, Financing, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Highland Village, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Retail, Shopping Centers
Thursday, March 6, 2008

What the Billboard House Looks Like Without Its Billboard

March 6, 2008 – 7:51 am

Site of Former Billboard in Front Yard of House at 4743 Banning, Afton Oaks, Houston

From our email: Photographic confirmation that the 90-ft.-tall billboard in the front yard of the house at 4743 Banning has indeed been removed.

After the jump, the billboard that Afton Oaks ate!

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , ,

7:51 am | Read more about Lawn Care, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Afton Oaks, Retail
Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Greenway Commons: Gas Station Too!

March 5, 2008 – 11:42 pm

Greenway Commons Costco at Richmond and Weslayan, Houston

Didja know that the new Costco going up on the former site of the HISD headquarters building at the corner of Richmond and Weslayan . . . is gonna have its very own gas station right out front?

Costco liked the idea of coming inside the Loop so much . . . it decided to bring all its friends! The city just issued a building permit for the new Costco Fuel station. But that’s just the latest addition to Greenway Commons, which is turning out to be quite a mix: A 45,420-sq.-ft. LA Fitness is going above the Costco, next to a 4-story parking garage which is connected to a 2-story retail strip center. It’ll all be protected from the busy surrounding streets by more than 500 surface parking spaces and 2 corner pad sites slated for “banks.” In back: a 550-unit Morgan Group luxury apartment complex . . . with two more separate garages!

After the jump, more drawings and plans of this surprising development.

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11:42 pm | Read more about Apartments, Commercial Real Estate, Neighborhoods: Greenway Plaza, New Construction, Parking, Proposed Developments, Retail, Sprawl, Strip Centers

Storefront Ad: Midtown Full Frontal Oddity

March 5, 2008 – 11:12 am

Storefront Ad for Red Bull Art of Can Competition and Exhibition on Elgin St., Midtown, Houston

Here’s one advantage if you’re one of the not-so-large number of retail centers in Houston that doesn’t have a parking lot in front: If business ain’t so hot, you can always sell the highly visible adspace on your facade!

A reader sends in this photo of an ad for Red Bull’s Art of Can competition on the streetfront of a retail center on Elgin, across from the Calais apartments in Midtown. The Maple Leaf Pub is two doors down.

Is this the future of retail real estate? Sure, we’ve all seen ads painted onto the sides of old buildings and the giant window stickers on David’s Bridal storefronts, but doesn’t this go a bit . . . beyond that? Think of the possibilities: Stores . . . with ads covering their entire fronts, advertising . . . other stores. Or anything.

Forget billboards, graffiti, and wheatpaste posters. When this new market really kicks in, we’ll see Houston for its revenue-generating possibilities: We’ve got acres and acres of exploitable advertising space.

Tyvek Housewrap was only the beginning.

What comes after Tuscan-themed shopping centers? Billboard-themed shopping centers!

After the jump: a second photo, so you can get your Red Bull straight.

Continue Reading This Story >

Read more about: , , , , , , , , ,

11:12 am | Read more about Art, Commercial Real Estate, Neighborhoods: Midtown, Real Estate Investing, Retail, Shopping Centers