09/14/09 1:13pm

Here’s a view of the new sign up at the now-scrubbed site of the former Wilshire Village Apartments at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy. It’s . . . for sale! Apparently, all that demolition work was just for staging.

Can we get a closeup on that sign?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

09/11/09 12:40pm

A reader from the Heights sends in photos documenting only the latest scene in Houston’s long and theatrical history of commingled real estate and political ambition. If you like, say, the pricing on the homes Karen Derr’s former company sells — like this one at 946 Arlington St. — you’ll certainly want to see Derr join city council!

But what’s with that part in red letters? Maybe just to let voters know she’s a little less favorably disposed toward freeform demolition than, say, former candidate/broker Michael Berry was. Writes our reader and snapshooter:

I am guessing that Karen Derr’s office rec’d so many calls as to the future of this house- one the few remaining 19th century homes in the Heights, that she had the “Remodel” sign made and stuck atop her broker sign. . . . Karen used to be on the board of the Houston Heights Association and she is locally active and running for office, so she does not want to piss off too much of her long time neighbors.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

09/04/09 12:54pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SURE, BUT WOULD WE GET TO DEMOLISH THAT, TOO? “There are more than just two options (that we relocate the facade and strip it of its artistic integrity, or that we demolish it). For the price of meticulously deconstructing it, storing it indefinitely, and ultimately (maybe) reconstructing it, we could commit contemporary design principles (to modern building materials, as they should be) to designing a completely new artistic expression, one that is neither a half-hearted attempt at some ill-defined goal or that sullies the meaning or memory of Sterling Laundry, but which has a purpose that is an end in itself.” [TheNiche, commenting on Saving Time on the East End Line: Sterling Laundry and Long-Term Storage]

09/02/09 6:14pm

THE SECRET TRAIN STATION HIDDEN DOWNTOWN “See, everyone in Houston thinks that our old train station was over by Enron Field (this blog does not recognize Minute Maid’s sponsorship deal) and that it’s been preserved as part of the ballpark. But actually, we had TWO stations – the Southern Pacific had their own, seperate from the Astros station, a mission/art deco fusion with beautiful murals on the walls and great big arched windows. Pictures of the place . . . are few and far between, but the ones I’ve seen show something that rivals LA Union Terminal or [Philadelphia’s 30th St. Station.] That station was torn down to make way for the Barbara Jordan [Post Office], except that ONLY THE WAITING ROOM WAS TORN DOWN. The whole mess of platforms and switchtracks that goes along with an art deco station building is still there, behind the post office, rusted and overgrown but still in existence as a huge chunk of UP-owned real estate.” [Keep Houston Houston]