ABOUT THOSE “EARLY MORNING” CONCRETE POURS 
A neighbor of the Park Memorial construction site in Rice Military writes: “Just a question on Houston city ordinances. Are there any restrictions on construction in the middle of the night? I was awakened at 3 am this morning by a massive concrete pour. The site has been lit up with floodlights and there are multiple trucks with back up signals, machinery noise and yelling workers. I found some general noise ordinances but wondered if there are any other rules? This is as bad as any nightclub or worse.” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot]
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Tag: Rice Military
If it’s, say, 1980, and you’re trying to get rid of a dead body, burying it at the foundation level of a brand-new condo complex going up over the reported site of an ancient cemetery might sound like a perfect after-offing disposal plan. But in Houston, you never know what’s going to get dug up next. HPD detective Carlos Cardenas tells Chronicle reporter Mike Glenn he doesn’t think the partial skeleton unearthed by construction workers yesterday on the site of the recently demolished Park Memorial Condominiums at 5292 Memorial Dr. (pictured above in a late stage of assisted decomposition) belongs to the native American graveyard reported to have existed there previously.
Forensic testing should give a clearer answer, but the circumstances of the body’s burial appear to tell a story on their own: The human remains were discovered along Chandler St. near Arnold, at the far northeastern corner of the complex, wedged between a retaining wall and a concrete slab that workers were taking out. The body was likely concealed there when the Park Memorial Condos were built, police detectives tell Glenn.
Plans for the 5- and 6-story complex Wallace Garcia Wilson Architects has designed for the new owners of Park Memorial at 5292 Memorial Dr. show that the former grounds of the park-like 108-unit Rice Military condo complex (pictured in better days above) will soon be home to 372 new apartment units. The new project by JLB Partners, currently out to bid, will fit buildings surrounding 2 courtyards, a narrow 7-level garage, and a detention pond onto the 4.85-acre site at the corner of Memorial Dr. and Detering. That’s the plan at the top. And below are a couple of elevations, in different scales, of the west and east sides:
Here’s a twilight view of a first test last Friday night of one of the new Light Garden sculptures installed a few weeks ago at the Washington on Westcott roundabout — in advance of Tuesday’s turning-on ceremony. Two of 3 LED light fixture assemblies by Houston sculptor Tim Glover are planned for the intersection, the “four corners” spot for native tribes from Woodcrest, Crestwood, Rice Military, and Camp Logan. The WOW Roundabout Initiative plans to raise funds for the third.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RICE MILITARY DITCH DEFENSE “The traffic issues including travel patterns and existing infrastructure are different in every neighborhood along WAve and need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis especially in these older, grid layout areas. If you think traffic on these 20′-25′ paved streets with 2′ deep swales on either side is fast moving — just wait until the streets are widened to 30′+ with new, smooth concrete and nothing but someones entry, home office or garage 10′ away! I’m very happy that 2 wayward, late-night autos ended up in the swale in front of my house instead of on my porch. Successful traffic calming devices in my ’hood include parked cars.” [MSchuler, commenting on The Rotting Drywall Is Flying at Park Memorial]
“There are at least 3-4 dozers making fast work of the demo” of the abandoned Park Memorial Condos on Memorial Dr. at Detering, reports Swamplot reader and real-estate agent David Hille, who lives nearby and snapped these photos of the onsite action this morning. The sale of the festering, overgrown property — which required the willing or resigned participation of 108 locked-out condo owners — was completed last month, and demo permits for 4 of the structures were granted yesterday.
After more than 3 years of negotiations and court battles, the fenced-off 4.85-acre property covered with overgrown and vandalized buildings once known as the Park Memorial condos has at last been sold. Owners of the 108 properties at 5292 Memorial Dr. who were able to hold onto their units after the city declared them unsafe and barred anyone from living there in 2008 (or who snatched them up for low, low prices later) should be receiving their checks soon. The buyer is JLB Properties from Dallas, developers of the Ava apartments on Highmeadow near Hillcroft. The company is reportedly planning a new apartment complex on the Park Memorial site, which sits north of Buffalo Bayou at the corner of Memorial Dr. and Detering.
- 682 Lester St. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RICE MILITARY MARCH “I walk around in Rice Military and between the old homes, new townhouses, ditches, curbs, overgrown lots, old pea-gravel concrete, newer brick-u-luxe pavers, electrical and cable boxes, new mailbox clusters, construction vehicles, and general chaos, there is hardly any contiguous sidewalk in any block in any direction.” [Miz Brooke Smith, commenting on Where the Sidewalk Takes a Little Break]
A reader who spotted a group of “official looking folks with hard hats and fluorescent vests” looking at the grounds of the Park Memorial Condominiums at 5292 Memorial Dr. last week (and sent in photos of the group congregating at the Detering St. entrance to prove it) wants to know if the visit means something is about to happen to the abandoned property. Swamplot’s most recent first-person report on the complex came from a runner who passed through with a group in March, to admire the mosquito-infested pool and “creepy” surroundings. Condo owners have been stuck in limbo for the last 3 years, since city officials ordered the property vacated. Attempts to sell the property to a third party for redevelopment have failed so far because condo owners have been unable to agree on terms.
- Park Memorial Condominiums coverage [Swamplot]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
The longtime owners of the now-shuttered original Otto’s Bar B Que and Hamburgers on Memorial Dr. filed suit on Tuesday against their former broker, Cushman & Wakefield executive director David Cook, claiming that he failed to let them know about several offers to buy their property. As a result, the lawsuit claims, the owners ended up selling their real-estate holdings for — and settling into retirement with — only a third of the money they might have otherwise received. Marcus and June Sofka originally listed their restaurant at 5502 Memorial Dr. and some adjacent property with Cook in August 2007. Two months later, according to the suit, the Ponderosa Land Development Co. submitted a written offer for the land to Cook for $105 a sq. ft. But the Sofkas claim they didn’t hear about that offer until much later. Why wouldn’t Cook have given them such good news?
COMMENT OF THE DAY: VIEWING THE PARK MEMORIAL CONDO POOL PARTY FROM THE AIR “On Google Earth’s time slider tool, the pool turns from a light aqua blue to a dark green pea soup between Jan. 2008 and Sept. 2008.” [Superdave, commenting on The Park Memorial Condo Wildlife Refuge]
THE PARK MEMORIAL CONDO WILDLIFE REFUGE A participant reports on a local running group’s visit last week to a thriving wilderness area off Memorial Dr. — otherwise known as the campus of the Park Memorial Condos: “We ran around the Rice Military area heading south, then ran into the parking garage under Park Memorial, winding our way into the courtyard gate and the path that leads to the swimming pool. [We] had a “beer check” (kind of like a water stop, but, you know, with beer) right by the mosquito-infested pool. This was about 8:30 p.m. and it was pitch dark (the moon hadn’t yet risen). It was creepy and also awesome. I was really surprised by how easy it was to get in there. We just walked right through the gate, then walked right back out. Several of the apartments’ doors were wide open too. It was rather spooky. I expected to see homeless squatting there but we never encountered anyone . . . . It was pretty cool to finally see what the inside of the complex looked like, but sad to see the state of disrepair they’re under.” [Swamplot inbox; previously]
“Can’t wait to find a buyer for this condo!” writes real-estate agent Veso Kossev. “Too bad I can’t take [anyone] to see it…..” Huh? Oh, yeah . . . it’s unit E5 at the Park Memorial Condominiums, otherwise known as the 4.85-acre land of limbo just north of Memorial Dr. at Detering. As of a few days ago, you can pick up this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, only partially smashed condo for the low, low price of just $47,000. But you won’t be able to have it inspected — or see it yourself — because the entire complex has been condemned by the city. Where’d these lovely interior photos in the listing come from, then?
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A DEMOLITION THAT REALLY HITS YOU IN THE GUT 
“Boy, seeing smashed Bibas truly hurts. It has been my ‘Hungry Heifer’ for the past 2 decades. The food was always kinda ‘meh’, often left me feeling horrible and greasy afterwards, but I had a wonderful love/ hate with that place. Oh, how I wish for one last mediocre gyro or [Aphrodite] pizza. My colon will never forget you.” [wilf, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Bibas Lost Pizza] Photo of Bibas Greek Pizza: Sonya Cuellar
