Tag: Buying and Selling

01/23/19 1:15pm

Mandell Montrose Midrise Developer Officially Calls It Quits, Offering Up Land and Leasing Office for $2.6M

Condos, Hyde Park, Montrose

7 Comments

The development team that had hoped to put a 7-story, 24-unit condo building dubbed Mandell Montrose on the corner of Commonwealth and Fairview streets appears to have given up entirely on that effort now: 3 days ago, the property — which includes the house-turned-leasing-office pictured above — was listed for sale at a price of $2.6 million. It’s the second condo project that failed to get off this particular ground in the past 2 years. The seller Midtown Uptown Development Partners picked up on the site after a different developer’s plans to put an 8-story building called Flats on Fairview there fell through.

The good news is that this porch view from the adjacent house remains totally unobstructed:

Condo, Discontinued

77006, Buying and Selling, Condos, Hyde Park, Montrose

Apartments

12/17/18 9:45am

Bayou Park Apartments Have About a Year Before the Highrising Starts

Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment

6 Comments

BAYOU PARK APARTMENTS HAVE ABOUT A YEAR BEFORE THE HIGHRISING STARTS Nitya Capital, which closed on the â€™70s-era Bayou Park Apartments at 4400 Memorial Dr., east of Shepherd, last month â€œplans to carve out a spot for a high-rise condo towerâ€ as soon as a year from now, reports the Chronicleâ€™s Katherine Feser. That shouldnâ€™t be too hard, seeing as the new tower will take up â€œless than an acre,â€ says Nitya CEO Swapnil Agarwal, within the 15-acre environs of the 3-story complex thatâ€™s there now. Some of its existing 679 units should be receiving a few touch-ups under the new landlord: â€œnew floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances,â€ and â€œnew lighting and fixtures,â€ reports Feser. And outside, she writes, plans call for “fresh landscaping, new signs and changes to the leasing center,” which neighbors a handful of retailers in the spot shown above where the complex lets out onto Memorial. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Apartments.com

77007, Apartments, Buying and Selling, Condos, Proposed Development, Quicklink, Redevelopment

12/12/18 5:30pm

Abandoned Battelsteins’s Building Bought by Its Main St. Marriott Neighbor

Downtown, Retail

8 Comments

The new owner of 812 Main St. (shown above) is the same entity that owns the JW Marriott next-door at 806 Main St. Well, sort of. Technically, the properties belong to 2 separate entities, but they both tie back to the same real estate overlord: Pearl Hospitality, a Houston-based hotel operator with a few extra properties in Lubbock. Pearl closed on the 812 Main St. building last month for $3.6 million.

Designed by Houston architects Joseph Finger and George Rustay the recently-transacted tower was completed in 1950 for the Battelsteins’s department store — which occupied each of its 10 floors. It’s now been vacant for roughly 30 years. Battlestein’s signage has been replaced by the smudges visible above the mural-ized storefront face in the photo at top. But 2 naked flagpoles remain on either side of where the lettering once was.

After visiting the property in December, 2015, PDG Architects estimated it’d cost nearly $17 million to renovate it into something suitable for office tenants to inhabit. Just bringing it up to code could cost $8 million, according to public records.

The JW Marriott next-door at Rusk St. — formally known as the Samuel F. Carter building — underwent its Pearl-Hospitality redo starting in 2010 with a bit of financial help from the city and HUD, as well as architectural know-how from Gensler:

Department Store Skyscraper

77002, Abandoned Properties, Buying and Selling, Downtown, Hotels, Retail, Skyscrapers

12/10/18 1:00pm

Abandoned Heights Jack in the Box: Sold

Houston Heights, Restaurants

You may remember the Jack in the Box at 2001 N. Shepherd that was left high and dry in September after shutting down. It’s got a new owner: an entity connected to New York brokerage firm Edry Real Estate. The sale closed last month and includes just over half an acre at the northwest corner of Shepherd Dr. and W. 20th St.

Previously on Swamplot: Blank Abel Motors Sign Now Directing N. Shepherd Traffic to Its Burger Joint Replacement; Abel Motors To Vacate N. Shepherd Spot and Head to Halls Bayou; Whatâ€™s Getting Wrapped Up on the Corners of 19th and N. Shepherd,Â Strip Center Alteration Planned for Houston Alternator Shop at N. Shepherd and 19th St.

Photo: Swamplox inbox

Burger Flip

77008, Buying and Selling, Fast Food, Houston Heights, Restaurants

Bars and Clubs

12/07/18 11:30am

Are the New Fitzgerald’s Owners Planning To Bring Down the House?

Houston Heights, Quicklink, Redevelopment

3 Comments

ARE THE NEW FITZGERALD’S OWNERS PLANNING TO BRING DOWN THE HOUSE? â€œThey came and tested for asbestos,â€ Fitzgeraldâ€™s longtime owner Sara Fitzgerald tells the Chronicleâ€™s Marcy de Luna, â€œso I think theyâ€™re looking to tear it down. It was their original intention to build a high-rise there.â€ Fitzgerald sold Fitzgeraldâ€™s along with 3 home lots behind it on E. 6Â½ St. in July to the same Chicago-based company, Easy Park, thatâ€™s been planning that automated parking garage a few blocks west down White Oak Dr. in place of the existing, analog garage next to Tacos A Go Go (which it also owns, along with some other retail nearby). Sheâ€™s now renting the building at 2706 White Oak from her new landlord and running the 41-year-old business remotely from Seguin, Texas, outside San Antonio, de Luna reports. Following a spree of farewell shows scheduled throughout the month, the club will close with a New Yearâ€™s Eve party featuring â€™70s and â€™80s cover band SKYROCKET! [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Caramels D.

77007, Bars and Clubs, Buying and Selling, Houston Heights, Redevelopment

Boulevard Oaks

12/07/18 9:30am

Stahlman Lumber Up for Sale by Landowner That Didn’t Replace It with a Car Dealership

Buying and Selling, Retail

2 Comments

Evidently, those plans to put another car dealership across 59 from the existing 7-story Audi Central Houston wonâ€™t be panning out since the land where it wouldâ€™ve gone is now up for sale. A newly-erected sign at the corner of the Greenbriar and the Southwest Fwy. feeder road advertises its availability.

A group connected to Sonic Automotive bought the property — which stretches all the way east to Shepherd Dr. — in January 2017. When news orgs got wind that itâ€™d changed hands, Sonicâ€™s executive vice prez Jeff Dyke told them heâ€™d have more info on what the dealership would end up looking like near the end of the year. The parcelâ€™s 2.4-acre size prompted at least one guess thatâ€™d the plans — like those Sonic implemented across the street — would involve something tall.

Amidst all the hubbub, itâ€™s been business as usual at Stahlman. Itâ€™s entering its 59th year at 4007 Greenbriar Dr.

Previously on Swamplot: Southwest Fwy. Midrise Showroom To Get a Dealership Neighbor on the Stahlman Lumber Land

Photo: Lulu

59 at Greenbriar

77098, Boulevard-Oaks, Buying and Selling, Retail

12/04/18 3:15pm

Your Chance To Own Half of Chapultepec Lupita and All of Its Richmond Ave Next-Door Neighbors

Montrose, Retail

5 Comments

Nearly the entire block-face of Richmond Ave between Roseland and Stanford streets is now up for sale; altogether: just over 19,400 sq.-ft. for $4.2 million. The offerings include the 2-story former Drew’s BBQ house pictured above, the residential lot behind it, the eastern half of the Chapultepec Lupita restaurant next-door to it (the portion of the restaurant with a red awning has a different landlord), and the former notary shop between the restaurant and the Koelsch Gallery on the corner of Stanford St.

The restaurant’s lease on its building at 817 Richmond — shown below — runs until next April:

Fitze Homestead

77006, Buying and Selling, Fitze Homestead, Restaurants, Retail, Roseland Estates

11/30/18 2:15pm

Kaldis Buys Coffee-Adjacent Cameron Iron Works Plant

Redevelopment, Second Ward

2 Comments

An entity connected to Kaldis Development is the proud new owner of the Cameron Iron Works complex across the railroad tracks from the shuttered coffee plant on Milby St. And already, the developer — which has a thing for refilling old Houston buildings — is marketing its purchase for lease as The Cameron and promising to renovate it into something that restaurant, bar, and event venue tenants can get in on.

The 1.43-acre property at 711 Milby St. is home to 2 buildings: the 3-story brick one shown above with Cameron’s name set in stone above the main entrance, and a less eye-catching warehouse next-door to it, shown below from the corner of Rusk St.

Forging a New Path

77023, Buying and Selling, Redevelopment, Second Ward, Warehouses

Mapping the Midtown Innovation District That Doesn’t Exist Yet But Keeps Getting Bigger

Midtown, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

5 Comments

The map above shows the land (in red) that Rice is confirmed to have grabbed around the Midtown Sears (orange) it bought out last October, including 2 new parcels (green) it snatched up through holding companies within the last few months.Â In an email sent out to university staff on Monday, Rice U. President David Leebron said the school “will ultimately redevelop approximately 14 acres of Rice-owned property,” near the Sears building into what it’s calling the Midtown Innovation District. So what are the latest spots it’s gotten its hands on? The first, catty-corner to the Sears building itself at the corner of Wheeler and San Jacinto, is Jack in the Box‘s nearly half-acre lot; Rice bought it in August.

More recently, the school pushed east by picking upÂ 4201 Caroline St., the brick office building shown below that occupies a quarter-acre directly next to Fiesta:

Sears and Friends

77004, Buying and Selling, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail

Brookesmith

10/15/18 3:45pm

I-45 ‘End Hunger’ Warehouse Sells to a Houston Food Supplier

The new owner of the former Mary Barden Keegan Center along the southbound Iâ€“45 North feeder goes by the name Houston Market Center LLC and is connected to J. Lunaâ€™s Produce, a longtime vendor at the soon-to-be redone Houston Farmers Market on Airline. The sale closed late last month and included both the parking lot and 5,000-sq.-ft. community garden that sit behind the warehouse, closed-off from Vincent St. and the rest of residential Brooke Smith by a wrought-iron fence. Last week — reports a neighbor — workers got rid of that fence, â€œcleared outâ€ an onsite homeless camp, began dismantling a retaining wall, and cut down a few trees adjacent to the parking lot.

The seller, Virgata Property Company, picked up the building from the Houston Food Bank 2 years ago and — last summer — leased it to the Peli Peli restaurant group as a prep center for the South African chainâ€™s catering operation and a production hub for its house-brand sauces and spices. Since then, Peli Peliâ€™s added 2 more order-at-the-counter restaurants to its lineup of formal and informal locations: one in the Esperson Building at 808 Travis downtown, and the other in the new 365 by Whole Foods Market on 610.

Previously on Swamplot: Empty ‘End Hunger’ Warehouse by I-45 North To Be Filled with Workers Making South African Food and Seasonings

Photo: Virgata Property

2445 N. Fwy.

77009, Brooke Smith, Buying and Selling

Demolitions

10/15/18 10:15am

Montrose Greased Lightning Burger Zapped by New Owner

Montrose, North Montrose, Restaurants

5 Comments

The owner of the abandoned restaurant storefront on Taft St. south of W. Gray didn’t waste much time in trashing the place after acquiring it in June. A demo permit filed last month condemned both the street-fronting building shown above and its backyard bungalow. The photo at top shows the state of things on Friday afternoon.

The new owner also bought the neighboring brick house on Peden St. around the same time:

A Flash in the Pan

77019, Buying and Selling, Demolitions, Montrose, North Montrose, Restaurants

10/12/18 10:00am

Hines Picking Up Less Than an Acre Across from Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot

Montrose, North Montrose, Quicklink

HINES PICKING UP LESS THAN AN ACRE ACROSS FROM MONTROSE WHOLE FOODS PARKING LOT The developer entered into an agreement earlier this year to buy the property at the corner of Waugh Dr. and Dâ€™Amico St., reports the HBJâ€™s Olivia Pulsinelli in her round-up ofÂ recent North Montrose land sales. On-site that nearly three-quarter acre parcel right now: a parking lot, driveways, and 2-story dingbat office building that backs up to the adjacent strip housing Pimlico Irish Pub and others. To the east, BMW-focused auto shop Bavarian Machine Specialties buffers the tract from whatâ€™ll soon be Stages Repertory Theatreâ€™s new theater and green space on Rosine St. [HBJ] Photo: LoopNet

77019, Buying and Selling, Montrose, North Montrose, Office Buildings, Quicklink

Apartments

10/05/18 5:15pm

What’s Staying Put in a Westmoreland House of 7 Units After It Finds a New Owner

Avondale, Buying and Selling, Montrose

12 Comments

A few of the tenants inside this 7-unit, now-up-for-sale apartment building on Hawthorne St., 2 blocks from Spur 527 appear to be on the same page design-wise. The photo above shows the living room inside one of the building’s 6 one-bedroom apartments done up with a Persian rug, atop which sits a glass tabletop covered in curios surrounding a floral centerpiece.

Now, compare that to that to the living room the building’s sole 2-bedroom unit, shown below:

429 Hawthorne

77006, Apartments, Buying and Selling, Montrose, Westmoreland

10/01/18 9:45am

Best Friends Animal Society Has a New Habitat Behind the Yale St. Walmart

The former Berger Ironworks complex shown above behind Walmart and across Koehler St. from the new Heights West End apartments now belongs to Best Friends Animal Society, a national nonprofit that keeps homeless creatures alive by diverting them from shelters where they wouldnâ€™t always be as lucky. To that end, the group hosts adoption and awareness events (like the upcoming Strut Your Mutt charity dog walk planned for Stude Park), partners up with non-lethal shelters, and in some cases operates its own facilities â€” the largest of which is a 20,700-acre sanctuary in southern Utah. (National Geographic ran a 4-season teevee documentary about it called DogTown.)

At 1414 Bonner St., just under an acre and a quarter currently serve as home to a pair of abutting metal-roofed buildings. Making use of the new vernacular, the landâ€™s previous owner Riverway Properties had been calling it Bonner Heights. A rendering released as part of that groupâ€™s old listing showed the buildings with a brand-new gap between them and â€” in a setup that now seems less likely to materialize â€” retailers inside them: