THE COVERED-UP HISTORY IN THE FORT BEND COUNTY COURTHOUSE BASEMENT 
Renovations to restore as much as possible of the 1908 Fort Bend County courthouse, standing at 500 Jackson St. in Richmond, have revealed a couple of surprises from the building’s past, reports the Sugar Land Sun: “Beneath the building’s carpeting was finely-made Italian Terrazzo flooring, dating back to the courthouse’s original construction. . . . While installing the building’s electrical system and sump pump in its basement, a walled-up room with glazed tile was uncovered. [Director of Facilities Management Don] Brady said the hidden room is likely a segregation-era restroom for African-Americans.” [Sugar Land Sun] Photo: Terry Jeanson
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Tag: Richmond
In Jane Long in Richmond, this 4-bedroom house was designed in 1965 by Eugene Aubry and Howard Barnstone, with landscaping from C. C. Pat Fleming, and it is the shady, sloping grounds of the 3-acre lot that dominate the photos in this listing. At 109 Hillcrest Dr., the home has been on the market since early July; it was chosen as Houston Mod’s Mod of the Month for September. It’s listed at $449,900.
W. A. PARISH PLANT ONE OF THE WORST POLLUTERS IN THE COUNTRY, FINDS REPORT 
According to a new study published by Environment America, NRG Energy’s coal-firing W. A. Parish Electric Generating Plant, on Smithers Lake outside of Richmond, is really good at being dirty. Though the plant has been messing around with a way to clean itself up in the past year or so, the report, published today, still fingers it as the 5th dirtiest in the country when it comes to carbon emissions. And here, in order, are 1-4: “Georgia Power Co.’s Plant Scherer, Alabama Power Co.’s James H. Miller Jr. Plant, Luminant’s Martin Lake in Texas, [and] Ameren’s Labadie in Missouri.” [StateImpact; Environment America; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Flickr user Joe A.
- 6903 Dutch John Cir. [HAR]
Country living appears to have been easy on the curtain budget within a stone-and-wood hideaway in Richmond. The 3.6-acre property in Pecan Estates, shaded by water oaks and elms as well as at least one pecan tree out front, unfolds beyond the home’s many, many types of windows; some are double-displayed in a split-screen photo of the timber-vaulted living room (above). Last month, the 1977 home showed up in the for-sale listings again, seeking $325,000 — or $10K more than the asking price floated for 3 months last summer.
ROUTE 44 CHERRY LIMEADE FROM MASON RD. SONIC DRAWS OUT FBI FUGITIVE 
Why did an accused child rapist from Oklahoma come out of his hiding place of 5 days along the Brazos River in Stephen F. Austin State Park? “Because he was tired and thirsty and wanted a Route 44 cherry limeade from Sonic,” Charles Dyer apparently told authorities after he was captured near Pecan Grove carrying the drink in a cooler. As a shirtless pedestrian in a Richmond drive-in, Dyer may have aroused suspicion at the Sonic at 9835 S. Mason Rd. But it took someone spotting the former Marine blocks away to call the authorities. Over the last couple of years, Dyer has posted a series of YouTube videos (as July4Patriot) documenting his views about and problems with the government, as well as the various criminal charges filed against him. A member of the Oath Keeper militia movement, he has claimed that the rape charge was concocted as part of a government conspiracy. [KHOU 11 News; Instant News Katy] Photo: NEDSCO
Just how big is the South Grand at Pecan Grove apartment complex in Richmond? Well, moving from one side of the complex to the other can cost you just south of $8 grand — and maybe a little hospitalization. Tentra Allen’s moving adventure last weekend began after she responded to a little Craigslist ad and signed a little contract with the moving company that showed up:
. . . Before unloading things, Andy said Allen had to pay the bill: $7,684. That included 35 units of shrink wrap for $2,800 and a “long walk†that cost $4,300.
Allen said Andy whipped out the contract, which said all previous verbal agreements were null and void and laid out a menagerie of outrageous charges in the fine print.
“If you don’t pay, we’re taking everything to Maine,†he threatened.
Who won that Rice Design Alliance membership?
First, your guesses in this week’s game: Four of you guessed Sugar Land; 3 Hunters Creek, Tanglewood, and River Oaks. There were 2 each for Memorial, Bayou Woods or Sherwood Forest, Piney Point Village, Katy, Magnolia, Sweetwater, Bellaire, and The Woodlands. Plus individual votes for “Memorial/Beltway 8,” “somewhere off Memorial Dr. near Voss,” “south of Memorial Dr. between Post Oak and Voss,” Memorial and Dairy Ashford, Crestwood, Glen Cove, Kingwood, Sugar Lakes, Venetian Estates, “the Peninsulas in Oyster Creek,” Pecan Grove in Richmond, Tomball, Indian Trail, Rivercrest, Augusta Pines, Homewoods, Tall Timbers, Mt. Belvieu, Cinco Ranch, “along the Bay Oaks golf course,” Camp Logan, Royal Oaks, Crosby, “off 249,” Pinehurst, “Champions area,” FM 1960, Northgate Forest, west Friendswood, Brazoria County, Lake Jackson, West Columbia, “the 290/Highway 6/1960 area,” Pearland, “along Buffalo Bayou near the Houston Country Club,” and “Holly Creek, west of Tomball.”
That one-year individual membership in the RDA goes to this week’s hardest guesser, Matt Mystery, who mentioned no fewer than 15 different communities in the course of 7 separate entries — including one that’s very close to the actual location:
Sugar Land. It could be Sweetwater or possibly Sugar Lakes/Venetian Estates. Or maybe The Peninsulas in Oyster Creek. Then there’s Pecan Grove in Richmond. So many subdivisions. So many areas. It just has that Tanglewood look. And it’s 9 pm on Thursday and it’s still a mystery.
Matt Mystery happens to be the same matt who won last week’s contest. Congratulations!
A lot of great guesses in there from the rest of you, too!
How about the deets?
NEW FAT KROGER TWINS The largest Krogers in Texas will be opening late this year, 10 miles apart: “The 125,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace stores, which will both feature the same layout, will be located in Brazos Town Center in Rosenberg and at Waterside Marketplace in Richmond. . . . [Kroger’s Gary] Huddleston says the Brazos Town Center store, located at U.S. Highway 59 and FM 762 in Rosenberg, will primarily serve the Richmond/Rosenberg market, while the Waterside Marketplace location, at Grand Parkway and Mason Road in Richmond, will serve the Katy market. Both Kroger Marketplace stores will feature a Fred Meyer Jewelers’ store as well as a large home furnishing section with Ashley Furniture.” [Houston Business Journal]
Sell! Sell! Sell! screams the grand central Living Room of this 6,495-sq.-ft. wonder (seen here from the entry) in pond-spotted but down-to-earth Royal Lakes Manor. And really, it does look like the builder was able to get a rather comprehensive new-home design-cliché package to fire on all cylinders.
Sadly, all the entry melodrama hasn’t been drawing the buyers. The 2-story house — which looks to be about halfway between Sugar Land and Richmond, south of 59 — was completed in 2007, and originally listed for $1.2 million. The following May the price was cut to $1.1 million, then later listed with another broker for $1,025,000. By July, it was down to $949,000. It’s been listed with the current broker — at $899K — since last December.
LONE STAR SALOON CAMO REPLACEMENT The owner of the Lone Star Saloon in Richmond says he’s going to demolish what remains of the 120-year-old building at 102 and 106 S. Third St. and build a “gorgeous” new 4,000-sq.-ft. nightclub in its place. A fire last November gutted the brick structure and destroyed displays of American Indian memorabilia collected and installed by the previous owner. “[Bill] Lindquist, who owns the Lone Star along with his wife, Beverly, said last month he will rebuild the Lone Star as a large one-room nightclub, with a bandstand, dance floor, large modern bar and a kitchen. . . . ‘It’s going to be a metal building, camouflaged not to look like a metal building,’ Lindquist said.” [FortBendNow, via Hair Balls]
Houston’s middle-age spread continues:
- Just north of I-10 at the Grand Parkway, Kickerillo is starting a large residential development called Grandeur Park. It’ll be across the street from The Grand, Simon Property Group’s new mall. Homes there will cost 300 to 600 Grand.
- Houston will soon stretch to Sealy:
Silvestri Investments of Houston has purchased 1,375 acres just west of Firethorne, which is a mile south of Interstate 10 on FM 1463.
The new owner will hold the land for future development.
“With the historical trend of development in Houston, it was only a matter of time before someone purchased land in the next logical pattern of growth,” said Michael Carroll, president of Riverway Properties, who brokered the deal. The price was not disclosed.
- Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Development Company has bought Sienna Plantation South. What we’ll get there: about 7,000 single-family homes on the 3,827-acre site. Included in that total: 300 acres for offices and retail, 100 acres for schools and churches, and 1,000 acres of parks and open space. No breakdown available on the acreage of cul de sacs, lakes, or driveways.
- The fourth Del Webb retirement compound in Texas will be near Richmond, at Highway 59 and Thompson Rd. Fifteen hundred homes on 500 acres. You’ll need to be at least 55 years old to live there, and drive at least 55 to get there.
- It’s tough building slabs in Texas City:
After what developers described as a “minor slowdown,†the 574-home Grand Cay Harbour project in Texas City is back on track.
Persistent rain during the summer was part of the problem. But project manager Norman Reed didn’t elaborate about what other factors led to a long stretch of inactivity at the development. The project is on 250 acres beside Galveston Bay at the end of the Texas City levee system.
And don’t you worry about flooding after the construction’s done. This gated community will keep out the tides, too.
- Kickerillo Closes on Land Deal for a Community at I-10 and the Grand Parkway (PDF) [Kickerillo Companies]
- Commercial market still active [Houston Chronicle]
- Project targets older adults [Houston Chronicle]
- North Texas Real Estate Company Buys Sienna Plantation South [Fort Bend Now]
- Grand Cay Harbour sails ahead after delay [Galveston Daily News]
Plan of Grandeur Park: Kickerillo Companies
