Tag: Buildings for Sale

Buildings for Sale, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Woodland Heights

4 Comments

Noting the new handcrafted plywood “for sale or lease” signs now hanging on White Oak in front of King Biscuit Patio Cafe, a few Swamplot readers have written in to tell us that it looks like the Woodland Heights restaurant’s promised comeback has been called off before it even started. Restaurant guide b4-u-eat announced last month that building owner Pat Quinn would be teaming up with former Fitzgerald’s owner Sara Fitzgerald to reopen the restaurant. One reader tells Swamplot that remodeling work came to a halt 2 weeks ago, and that Fitzgerald spent all of last Thursday moving out of the building. The signs — one of them advertising the availability of owner financing — were posted over the weekend.

Previously on Swamplot: Will King Biscuit Bounce Back?

Photos: Swamplot inbox

77009, Buildings for Lease, Buildings for Sale, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Woodland Heights

Art

12/24/10 1:23pm

Among the Giant Bugs of Midtown, Up on the Roof

Buildings for Sale, Development Strategies, Midtown, Public Art

5 Comments

Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia, who’s been steadily documenting the transformation of the vacant former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building on Fannin between Tuam and Drew into a canvas for street artist Daniel Anguilu and a few friends, was able to tour the building’s roof earlier this week. Commissioned by commercial real-estate broker Adam Brackman — whose family owns the building — Anguilu has already wrapped critter-filled paintings around much of the building’s ground floor for his “Public Decor Project.” But up in the Midtown sky, the work he and a few collaborators are creating on a few stray surfaces comes across as something else entirely:

77006, Art, Buildings for Sale, Graffiti, Midtown, Public Art

12/01/10 12:56pm

Auction of Old House in Police Station Parking Lot Held Over by Lack of Popular Demand

Historic Preservation, Houston History, Old Sixth Ward

9 Comments

How about another go of it? The auction of the 1872-vintage former home of Gottlieb Eisele, now a vacant and dilapidated former HPD office surrounded by parking lots and the Gulf Freeway, ended last night with no bids. But today it’s back on the block, with a brand-new item number and a new closing-gavel time of 8 pm tonight. For a minimum bid of $1,000, the opportunity to partially demolish, jack up, repair, move, restore, and then register this property can be yours.

77007, Auctions, Buildings for Sale, Buying and Selling, Historic Preservation, Housemoving, Houston History, Old-Sixth-Ward

Art

11/02/10 2:18pm

How You Can Help Large-Scale Graffiti in Midtown Get Off the Ground

Buildlings for Sale, Graffiti, Land for Sale, Midtown, Public Art

22 Comments

Street artist Daniel Anguilu hopes to cover the entire surface of this 4-story Midtown building with his distinctive animal-friendly murals. Anguilu — also known by his nom-de-spray, weah — began painting the former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building at 2850 Fannin St. in June. But it’s not exactly a stealth project: Anguilu was invited to take on what he’s calling the Public Decor Project by commercial real-estate broker Adam Brackman, whose family owns the building. And Brackman’s been providing him with mistinted no-VOC paint from New Living, the Rice Village green-home-supplies store where Brackman’s a partner.

77006, Art, Buildings for Sale, Crime, Graffiti, Land for Sale, Midtown, Public Art

07/19/10 1:33pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Last Chances

Commercial Real Estate, Montrose, New Construction, Nightlife, Washington Corridor

No Comments

Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood youâ€™d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we canâ€™t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:

Some odds and ends to tie up from last week:

Montrose: “Let’s just say business has not been getting stronger,” Chances Bar co-owner Anne Vastakis tells Houston Press reporter Richard Connelly, who followed up on Swamplot’s hot tip from last week. Vastakis continues:

With the economy the way it is — these mega-lesbian bars — there are four bars there, and in the `90s they were thriving. Now, I don’t know, maybe there’s too much competition.

So yes, the bar and the entire block it’s on are for sale, though the owners hope to sell the 27,341-sq.-ft. property at 1100 Westheimer at Waughcrest to “someone who won’t change things too much.” The owners plan to keep the place open in the meantime.
Washington Corridor: That warehouse at 1120 Knox St., across the street from Benjy’s on Washington, will become Washington Wine Storage, according to a state license uncovered by commenter Guy Incognito. The building’s owner is the Urban Meridian Group. Expected opening date: around the end of August.

Weâ€™ll post more reader questions tomorrow. Send us what youâ€™ve got before then!

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Chances Are [Swamplot]

Photo: Commercial Gateway

77006, 77007, Bars and Clubs, Buildings for Sale, Commercial Real Estate, Montrose, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Washington Corridor

07/19/10 10:56am

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Some Unfinished EaDo Business

East Downtown, Foreclosures, Land for Sale, Price Adjuster, Townhomes

26 Comments

The Swamplot Price Adjuster runs on your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.

Location: 2312 Sperber Ln., East Downtown
Details: 3 bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,006-sq.-ft. unfinished townhome on a 1,400-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $151,700
History: Current listing up since mid-April

For your consideration: this special property, just over the tracks from EaDo. Submitted by a reader, who comments:

Hereâ€™s another one from the Waterhill debacle. Thereâ€™s a set of 3 townhouses in the corner of this EaDo neighborhood that all appear to be in tear down condition.Â HAR description states â€œGreat opportunity for investor or builder to purchase 3 partially completed townhomes, never lived in.â€ HA!Â I beg to differ!Â I bet homeless people have been living there off and on for the last 2 years! HAR lists this stand-alone unit for $151,700.Â Is it really worth that?

Then . . . well, what is it worth?

77003, Buildings for Sale, East Downtown, Foreclosures, Land for Sale, Price Adjuster, Townhomes

Apartments

07/12/10 1:58pm

The Norman’s Replacement Price

Buildings for Sale, Montrose, New Construction: Residential, Redevelopment

14 Comments

A reader writes in to let Swamplot readers know the unpublished asking price for the 8-unit apartment building going up on the ashes of The Norman apartments at the corner of West Alabama and Stanford, featured here last month. Pssst: It’s $875,000, all stucco colors shown included. The building is expected to be complete next month. And here’s one of the last pics of its hot hot predecessor, taken during a little incident last August:

77006, Apartments, Buildings for Sale, Fires, Montrose, New Construction: Residential, Redevelopment

06/30/10 4:13pm

West Alabama Antique Compound Available More Than Fully Furnished

Commercial Real Estate, Dearborn Place, Furniture

1 Comment

This string of antique-store buildings on West Alabama just east of Shepherd has been on the market since last fall. Swamplot noted the Brian Stringer Antiques 40-percent-off going-out-of-business sale in December, but the 25-percent-off sale on the buildings began only last month, after a second price reduction. The bungalow, showroom, and 2-story warehouse on the 14,004-sq.-ft. lot are now priced at $1,099,000. The listing notes the store and its inventory are also for sale “for additional consideration.”

“Everyone in Houston knows the shopping ritual here,” explained ritual antique shopper Joni Webb last year. “You go [through] the main showroom first, work your way to the back storeroom, stop at the side showroom, then exit through the metal garage door to go outside where you then enter the little French house through its side door.”

77098, Antiques, Buildings for Sale, Commercial Real Estate, Dearborn Place, Furniture

06/07/10 12:56pm

All Others Must Pay Cash

Land for Sale, Signage, Washington Corridor

11 Comments

The view from along good Shepherd Dr. at Center St., where Metro Realty Group is hoping and praying it can unload up to 32,500 sq. ft. of property. In front of the signs is the office for Alvagraphics; the South Beach car wash and detailing center is directly behind.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77007, Buildings for Sale, Land for Sale, Signs, Washington Corridor

Apartments

04/27/10 12:47pm

Lovebird Hideaways: 3 Out of 4 Fourplexes on West Gray

Buildings for Sale, Land for Sale, North Montrose, West Gray Terrace

17 Comments

Three fourplexes in a row, plus a vacant lot that used to hold one, are for sale on West Gray between Stanford and Taft, across the street from Barnaby’s and next to the West Gray CafÃ©. And Swamplot brings you this exclusive color commentary from a former tenant:

. . . they’re roach motels inside. Plus, the back parking has potholes deep enough for cars to get stuck in. The maintenance was horrible while I lived there, and then they jacked up the rent. But, for the price, the apartments were quite large with central AC. Just had to ignore the mice, roaches, ants and leaks.

No idea why, but there have been instances of lovebirds using the back parking lot to get some privacy in the past. Guess they drank too much at Cecil’s.

Why is the listing agent insisting all 4 properties “must be sold together”?

77019, Apartments, Buildings for Sale, Land for Sale, Multifamily Properties, North Montrose, West Gray Terrace

04/26/10 8:57am

Meadowcreek Neighbor Swings Either-Or

Homes for Sale, Interiors, Meadowcreek

21 Comments

Eastside mod chaser (and Swamplot advertiser) Robert Searcy reports on a peculiar property he toured last week on Allendale Rd., not too far from Meadowcreek Village Park:

“. . . it is an odd mix style & architecture wise. The exterior looks like some suburban office building while the interior has a semi-commercial utilitarian feel with a heavy dose of Boogie Nights decor. The rooms are all ridiculously large with huge vaulted ceilings and lots of glass. Giant room dividers, not unlike what you see to partition off hotel ball room spaces, divide the giant open kitchen from . . . large U shaped front living areas. Could be a living room and a den, or a conference room and a reception area. Walking through the cavernous space, which appears much larger than HCAD records, you find yourself describing the rooms with sentences that all start with “well it could be either….”

Seems to fit right in with another hint in the listing: If you like that cute little white home you see next door [see bottom photo], it’s . . . available too!

77017, Buildings for Sale, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Meadowcreek

03/24/10 10:43am

More Real Estate Wisdom from Joel Osteen: Let Them Get Comfortable with the Transaction, and Show Them My Smiling Face

Buying and Selling, Greenway Plaza, Land for Sale, Leasing, Real Estate Investing, Religious Facilities

21 Comments

From the Twitter feed of KHOU reporter Alex Sanz, Swamplot hears news that Houston’s city council has postponed a vote on a proposal to sell the former Compaq Center at 3700 Southwest Fwy. in Greenway Plaza to Lakewood Church, for an-appraised-but way-below-assessed-value price of $7.5 million. As Swamplot explained yesterday, the church has more than 20 years left on a prepaid lease for the property and an option to extend the lease for an additional 30 years after that for a little more than $22 million — both of which significantly affect the present value of the property to the city.

Is the postponement of the sale a setback for Lakewood? Why should it be!? Followers of church pastor Joel Osteen, who’s now written 3 books filled with real-estate investment advice, know that he advocates patience — especially in complicated sale or purchase situations. Why wouldn’t he want councilmembers to feel entirely comfortable with the decision they come to?

Here’s how Osteen explains it in a relevant passage from his latest book, It’s Your Time:

77046, Buildings for Sale, Buying and Selling, Greenway Plaza, Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, Land for Sale, Leasing, Real Estate Investing, Religious Facilities

03/23/10 11:47am

Real Estate Lessons from Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church: It Is Better To Lease, Then To Buy

Greenway Plaza, Land for Sale, Leasing, Real Estate Investing, Religious Facilities

18 Comments

You might be thinking, “How can I buy me some prime Greenway Plaza real estate from the city for, say $12.50 a square foot?” If, as expected, city council approves the sale in tomorrow’s meeting, that’s the amount Lakewood Church will pay for the Southwest Freeway building it’s currently leasing.

Lakewood took out a 30-year lease on the property — which formerly served as home court for the Houston Rockets, first as the Houston Summit, and later as the Compaq Center — in 2001. Lakewood prepaid the entire $11.8 million lease amount, then spent more than $80 million to turn the former basketball arena into a proper TV-worthy megachurch. But the key to Lakewood’s current real estate good fortune is the lease extension it negotiated: an option to extend the lease for an additional 30 years for $22.6 million.

Since the city likely won’t receive any income (or tax revenue) from the property until the year 2061, city real estate managers think selling the 606,000-sq.-ft. property on more than 7 acres at 3700 Southwest Fwy. to the church is a good idea. The price? A value only net-present-value adherents, real-estate appraisers, and the Lakewood faithful could love: $7.5 million.

Feeling a little inspired by the church’s ability to swing such a deal? It is yet another testament to the remarkable real-estate skills of Houston’s leading property-investment guru, Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen. In this passage from his latest book, It’s Your Time, Osteen virtually screams, “GET IN FIRST, BUY LATER”:

77046, Buildings for Sale, Greenway Plaza, Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, Land for Sale, Leasing, Real Estate Investing, Religious Facilities

Audubon Place

03/01/10 1:14pm

What’s Happening to That Spanish Bookstore on West Alabama?

Buildings for Sale, Land for Sale, Montrose, Retail

8 Comments

Roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia spots a for sale sign up at the Libreria EspaÃ±ola on the north side of West Alabama between Stanford and Audubon:

I know the owner/manager was elderly, but watching him in the mornings get his shop ready and opening the gates was really a nice thing to see. I’m hoping he is not ill or deceased. It’s always sad to see small businesses close.

Who said it’s closed?