Tag: Apartments

01/13/12 11:21am

Apartments Planned for Montrose Fiesta Site Will Go Tall Mediterranean

Buying and Selling, Lancaster Place, Proposed Developments, Retail

36 Comments

Apartment developer Marvy Finger tells Nancy Sarnoff that he’s the developer who’s buying the Fiesta Food Mart on the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy — and planning to build a 6-to-8-story complex in its place. Finger says the closing is scheduled for February, and that he’s looking to fit 390 apartments onto the 3.68-acre site. Finger has charged architects Wallace Garcia Wilson with designing something “Mediterranean” — presumably a structure dressed up in that style will fit the neighborhood better than Lake Flato’s new H-E-B Montrose Market across the street, the modern Menil Collection campus nearby, the many bungalows and brick homes surrounding the site in Lancaster Place, and the occasional new gallery along West Alabama. “We’re going to try to create something really beautiful,” he tells Sarnoff.

77098, Apartments, Buying and Selling, Grocery Stores, Lancaster Place, Proposed Developments, Retail, Wilshire Village

Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Sunset Terrace, West University

11/30/11 9:58am

New Law Complex Would Replace Courts at West University

by CALwords

24 Comments

Houstonâ€™s Sunset Terrace subdivision could be getting a new neighbor. A five-story one. Trammell Crow Residential is floating plans for its proposed Alexan West University apartment project. The intended 2.5-acre site is bordered by Bissonnet, Law and Auden streets. Currently, that location is home to the Courts at West University, a 1973-vintage two-story garden style apartment complex at 3810 Law St., complete with its own bark park:

77005, Apartments, Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Sunset Terrace, West University

11/22/11 11:41am

West Ave-Style Apartments and Retail Planned for Dunlavy Fiesta Site?

Buying and Selling, Lancaster Place, Land Sales, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail

62 Comments

Survey stakes have gone up around the Montrose Fiesta Market on the southeast corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama, directly across the street from the brand-new H-E-B Montrose Market.

What could that mean? A source who is not a party to the transaction claims that the survey is connected to a sale of the property, which is already under contract for “‘crazy money’ — something on the scale of $85-$90 SF”:

The reputed use will be for a 6 to 7 story multi-use development — something on the order of West Ave or the Read-King chimera promised for the SWC of Alabama and Shepherd. . . . Personally, I find the land purchase price to be pretty hard to believe . . . because market value of land in that area is $40 – $50 max or maybe $60 at a stretch. Fiestaâ€™s lease expires in 2014 with no renewal and either they or the owner has an early out option. The other tenants in the center all have short lease terms with no renewal.

77098, Apartments, Buying and Selling, Grocery Stores, Lancaster Place, Land Sales, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Wilshire Village

11/16/11 12:45pm

Making Quick Art of the Tavern on Gray

Demolitions, North Montrose, Proposed Developments

5 Comments

What’s that? The metal scrap heap formerly known as the Tavern on Gray (and before that, Blue Agave and several other temporary food-and-drink installations). Coming next to the corner of West Gray and Waugh: this 5-story Hanover West Gray apartment complex. The Tavern on Gray is now the Tavern on Milam, at 3017 Milam in Midtown.

More reader pics of the North Montrose scene the bar left behind, from over the weekend and early this week:

77019, Apartments, Bars, Demolitions, North Montrose, Proposed Developments

11/14/11 12:36pm

What’s That Going Up Over Yonder Del Monte Backyard Fence?

Del Monte, Galleria, Highrises, Homes for Sale, New Construction

10 Comments

A delightful backyard scene at this home in the Galleria-area Del Monte subdivision. But hmmm . . . what’s that lurking behind the wood fence at the rear of the property? Could it be . . . the first of 19 stories of a new luxury apartment tower working its way to the sky? Or something more modest? Strangely, the listing for the just-on-the-market $576K home, at 5237 Chesapeake Way, includes this photo but no further details of the backyard goings-on. And yet there’s a crane and plenty of highrise construction action on the former parking lot on Brownway behind the home, between Sage and Yorktown, just west of the Walgreens on the corner of Sage and Westheimer. A Swamplot reader was kind enough to send in some photos of the project so far — along with a plea that someone who knows something about it provide some details:

77056, Apartments, Del Monte, Galleria, Highrises, Homes for Sale, New Construction

11/02/11 4:00pm

Dramatic Final Moments of the Houston Ballet on West Gray

Demolitions, North Montrose, Proposed Developments

2 Comments

A popular local dance move, caught on camera. Sent in from a reader who was shopping at the West Gray Kroger over the weekend: what looks like the final curtain call for the former Houston Ballet building a block to the west at 1916 West Gray. The Ballet’s new building opened Downtown earlier this year. Going up in place of its destroyed former home, which was previously a clothing factory: apartments.

Previously on Swamplot: The Apartments Taking the Place of the Houston Ballet on West Gray

Photo: Nate Frizzell

77019, Apartments, Demolitions, North Montrose, Proposed Developments

10/20/11 11:39pm

Funeral for a Funeral Home: Earthman Hits the Dirt on San Felipe

Demolitions, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments

5 Comments

A few memorial photos, from a reader who’s been marking the death and burial of the former J.B. Earthman funeral home at 5740 San Felipe at Bering, across from T.H. Rogers Elementary:

77057, Apartments, Demolitions, Funeral Homes, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Tanglewood

10/12/11 1:56pm

New Midtown Apartment Building Hopes To Extend the Calais’ “Headlights on the Street” Safety Formula

Midtown, Parking, Proposed Developments

10 Comments

A new 6-story apartment building is being planned for the now-cleared Midtown block surrounded by Elgin, Smith, Rosalie, and Louisiana streets — one block north of the Calais at Courtland Square apartment complex and a block west of High Fashion Fabrics. A variance request for the 147-unit building doesn’t name the developer or show any renderings, but indicates that the bottom 2 stories of the building will consist of a parking garage, topped by 4 floors of apartments wrapped around an interior courtyard.

That’s similar to the configuration of some sections of the Calais — notably the dramatic arched streetfront along Smith St. (shown in the photo above), which contributes a dynamic tableau of headlights, bumpers, license plates, and the occasional hood ornament to passersby at street level. (The view changes daily.) The developers of this new apartment building are looking to recreate some of that Calais streetside magic, according to the variance:

77006, Apartments, Building Setbacks, Midtown, Parking-Garages, Pedestrians, Proposed Developments, Retail, Variances

10/03/11 8:13pm

Comment of the Day: Houston Mod Lovers’ Googie Condo Collective

Buildings for Sale, Buying and Selling, Comments, Houston Landmarks, Modern Design, Quicklink, Upper Kirby

2 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON MOD LOVERS’ GOOGIE CONDO COLLECTIVE “OK mod lovers, this is your ONE BIG CHANCE. How many of you have commented on Swamplot that you would love to buy that about-to-be-torn-down mod home if you only could afford it? Six of you guys put your heads together and buy this place. You can each have a 1,000+ SF condo unit in an iconic building in a great neighborhood for less than $125,000 per person.” [Bernard, commenting on Penguin Arms, Houstonâ€™s Only Googie Apartment Building, Is Now for Sale]

77098, Apartments, Buildings for Sale, Buying and Selling, Comments, Condo Conversions, Houston Landmarks, Modern Design, Upper Kirby

10/03/11 5:07pm

Penguin Arms, Houston’s Only Googie Apartment Building, Is Now for Sale

Buildings for Sale, Houston Architects, Houston Landmarks, Modern Design, Upper Kirby

31 Comments

Arthur Moss’s 1950 Penguin Arms Apartments at 2902 Revere St. behind the Kirby Dr. Whole Foods is now on the market. Sadly, no pix showing the condition of the interior are included with the listing, though the agent’s reference to “lots of deferred maintenance” — along with the comments of a former tenant — should provide a clue. What gives this unique building its Googie cred? Well, a photo of it was included in the original 1952 House and Home magazine article that gave the style its name (amidst complaints about its “orgiastic” and “organic” features, of course). Penguin Arms “looks like something that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for George Jetson,” Chron columnist Lisa Gray declared a few years ago. These days, that’s considered a compliment.

77098, Apartments, Buildings for Sale, Googie, Houston Architects, Houston Landmarks, Modern Design, Upper Kirby

09/29/11 1:06pm

A West Alabama and Weslayan Kickoff to the Next Highrise Apartment Growing Season

Buying and Selling, Highland Village, Highrises, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments

22 Comments

Here’s a shot of the now-vacant corner of Weslayan and West Alabama, where PM Realty Group has announced it’ll be constructing a 35-story apartment building and parking garage — with a restaurant and “service retail” — beginning next year. The 2.6-acre site is the former location of the Confederate House at 2925 Weslayan, later known as the State Grille, which was torn down in 2008. PM Realty bought the site from Giorgio Borlenghiâ€™s Interfin Cos. last month. No renderings from PM Realty’s architects, RTKL, have been passed around yet.

Luxury high-rise apartments planned inside the Loop [Houston Business Journal]
Tower to rise on former Confederate House site [Prime Property]
PM Realty Group Unveils Plans for New High-Rise Multifamily Project [PMRG]
Previously on Swamplot: State Grille Demolition: Just for the Hell of It, State Grille Closing Down; 27-Story Tower Going Up?

Photo: Candace Garcia

77027, Apartments, Buying and Selling, Highland Village, Highrises, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments

09/28/11 5:06pm

Ashby Highrise Appears Ready To Rise Again, This Time as an Apartment Tower

Boulevard Oaks, Development Strategies, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton

41 Comments

The development company behind a proposed 23-story residential tower at 1717 Bissonnet near Southampton known as the Ashby Highrise submitted its plans to the city again today, after taking a 2-year break. Buckhead Investment partner Matthew Morgan tells the West U Examiner‘s Michael Reed that the plans sent in today are mostly identical to those submitted in August 2009. Those plans, which the city ultimately approved, were for a version of the tower that axed some of the buildings’ commercial features, including retail and office space and a pedestrian plaza in front of the building. The lawsuit Buckhead filed against the city early last year, challenging the repeated rejection of its earlier plans for the building, is still pending in U.S. District Court.

There is one notable difference in the new plans: The units will be rented, not sold, Morgan says.

They’re back! Ashby high-rise developers renew permitting process [Your Houston News]
Timeline of Salient Events [Buckhead Investment Partners]
Ashby Highrise coverage [Swamplot]

Rendering: Buckhead Investment Partners

77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Development Strategies, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton

Churches

09/26/11 11:05am

Central Presbyterian Demo: The Cross at Rest

Demolitions, Greenway Plaza, Historic Preservation, Modern Design, Proposed Developments, Religious Institutions

4 Comments

And now another Swamplot reader sends in this curious photo from this morning, showing the collapsed box formerly known as the Central Presbyterian Church on Richmond Ave. between Cummins and Timmons — and demonstrating to those of you who might have worried that the collapse of the 1962 building’s modern steeple could pose some threat to Richmond Ave. traffic that there was never anything to worry about. Everyone is safe. The congregation has decamped for the St. Philip Presbyterian Church just outside the Loop on San Felipe; the land is being cleared for apartments; the giant cross is at rest.

Previously on Swamplot: The End Comes for Central Presbyterian, Mod Richmond Ave. Church Ready To Fall for New Apartments

Photo: Eric Nordstrom

77027, Apartments, Churches, Demolitions, Greenway Plaza, Historic Preservation, Modern Design, New Construction, Proposed Developments

09/23/11 6:19pm

The End Comes for Central Presbyterian

Churches, Demolitions, Greenway Plaza, Historic Preservation, Houston Architects, Modern Design, Proposed Developments

8 Comments

Reader Brian Thorp sends in a couple of photos documenting the final hours of what he’s now labeled the “holiest” church in Houston — it was, at least for a time today. The Central Presbyterian Church at 3788 Richmond Ave. was designed in 1962 by Astrodome architects Wilson, Crain, Morris and Anderson; it sits on the site where the Morgan Group is ready to build a new apartment complex. By 9 am this morning (above), the church had developed a few punctures in its side. By noon, much of the dust, and a good portion of the church’s walls, had cleared: