PARK PLACE APARTMENT FIBERFEST Workers from Inland Environments will be taking “extra precautions” with the demolition of 4 apartment buildings at the corner of Park Place and Telephone Rd., the mayor’s office promises. There’s plenty of asbestos to go around in the Park Place Apartments at 7410 Park Place Blvd., but the buildings, which have been sitting vacant for 20 years, aren’t considered structurally sound enough for the asbestos to be removed. A bankruptcy filing by the owner last week delayed the city-ordered demolition, but it’s now scheduled to begin at 9 this morning. Update, 2:10 pm: Now there’s video! And the dust is flying. [Mayor’s Office; previously on Swamplot]
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Tag: Demolitions
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday city offices were open.
What can we knock down next? How about all of these:
Just a bit of light cleanup for the holiday weekend:
Three houses and a couple garages. That’s a full house down.
Doin’ a little diggin’ in Glenbrook Valley, plus an 86 in the Old Sixth:
Can’t wait for that demolition fix? Here’s what we’ll be busy smashing next:
PARK PLACE APARTMENT DEMO PARKS IN BANKRUPTCY COURT “Not so fast on the daily demo report,” cautions a reader. There’s been a last-minute delay: Park Place Apartments owner Rodolfo Yannarella has thwarted city attempts to demolish the complex near Long Dr. and Telephone Rd. by going to court this morning to declare bankruptcy. The 43-unit complex at 7410 Park Place was tagged with a police demolition order in February. A representative of council member James Rodriguez says his office will “continue to work with the Mayor’s Office, Neighborhood Protection, and the Legal Department to move forward to demolish this nuisance in the community as soon as possible.” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot]
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
In this episode: clearing out the warehouses on lower North Main, plus a bit more dusty fun.
Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’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:
Not sure the “answers” readers provided for this week’s Street Sleuths feature were satisfying enough to merit a summary post, but it’s nice at least to have another excuse to run Jason Tinder’s dramatic photo showing the end of the Komart Marketplace. Here’s what we, uh, “learned”:
- Spring Branch: So yes, Tinder now does have some “clues” that might help him figure out what’s going on with the Gessner Place Shopping Center on the west side of Gessner just north of I-10, and the remains of Komart. The property is owned by MetroNational, but any redevelopment schemes the company is hatching from its Death Star overlook remain a mystery. Harmonica adds another tidbit to the Memorial City Mall area rumor mill:
I also understand that they own the center on the other side of Kingsride from the professional building on the South side of 10 and have not been renewing leases.
In this photo, the Death Star surveys its vanquished foe:
Note: Story updated below.
The owners of the original Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Kirby between West Main and Branard plan to demolish the restaurant, rebuild it, and construct 2 more restaurants on adjacent blocks. First step: building a new 275-car parking garage one block to the north, at the northwest corner of Branard and Argonne. Next, a new and larger Carrabba’s (marked [A] in the site plan above) would go up directly south of the existing building, which would remain open during construction. Once the new digs are complete, they’ll tear down the existing restaurant and put in a parking lot and porte-cochere in its place. Two more restaurants — one possibly named Grace’s, and one with office space upstairs — are planned for blocks north of Branard, one facing Kirby and the other at Argonne.
The Kirby Carrabba’s is one of 2 still owned by the family of co-founder Johnny Carrabba. All other Carrabba’s Italian Grills — more than 200 in 27 states — are owned by OSI Restaurant Partners, the same company that runs Outback Steakhouse and Fleming’s.
The new Kirby restaurant complex may be the first in the city to take advantage of the “transit corridor” incentives passed by city council last year. In return for building a 15-ft.-wide pedestrian area and street-front entrance along Kirby, designers get to push 2 of the buildings close to the street, well into the normal 25-ft. setback. The planning commission approved the site plan earlier this month — along with several related parking variances — even though the transit corridor itself (the University Line on Richmond) hasn’t even started construction yet.
Getting rid of another runway model:
Got an answer to any of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.
- Midtown: A couple of readers are curious about this new sign, which went up at the end of last week at the long-languishing lot south of West Alabama between Travis and Main, across the street from Julia’s Bistro and the Breakfast Klub. There were plans to build a hospital in this location a few years ago. In the last year it’s become an inexpensive parking lot, notes roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia, who’s curious how whatever’s being envisioned for the property might “tie in with the rail, the church (SMBC), and the Men’s Center nearby.”
- Spring Branch: Reader Jason Tinder snaps the dramatic photo below, showing the final moments of vanquished Korean grocery store Komart, and notes the entire Gessner Place Shopping Center, on the west side of Gessner just north of I-10, is being demolished. It looks to him like something else is going in there . . . can anybody give him some clues?
Just a light snacking for the front-end loaders this time. Save your appetite for the big stuff.
