The flags have been lowered in front of the former N. Shepherd home of Fiesta Mart, now several days along on its journey toward pre-redevelopment flatness. A reader sends more photos of the action from yesterday afternoon, showing the demolition team munching its way east through the building:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Moving right along, nothing to see here.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A FINAL DESPERATE CRY FOR DEMOLITION PARITY IN THE HEIGHTS 
“The smashing has begun! Heavy machinery is on site, and the bricks are crumbling down. Where are the Friends of Heights Fiesta? Aren’t these bricks special enough to be saved???” [North Heights, commenting on Former Fiesta Site Preps for Teardown as Heights Dry Zone Petitioners Circle] Photo of demolition at 2300 N. Shepherd: Steven Byrne
Hobbyist demolition spotter Steven Byrne sends portraits of the end of the former Fiesta Mart at the corner of N. Shepherd and W. 23rd St. Byrne snapped these shots of the teardown action yesterday afternoon (right after the structure’s demo permit was issued), though there’s plenty more building left to rip apart today. The excavators at the site appear to belong to Cherry Demolition, which recently wrapped up the sometimes-slow sometimes-unsettlingly-fast takedown of the Corporate Plaza complex at Kirby Dr. and 59.
The Fiesta opened in the space in the mid-1970s and shut down in March. Here’s a few more closeups of the scene for further grocery-minded contemplation:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Beautiful lots, we must make.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Round them up and smash them down.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Just a couple of residual residences that need to be hauled off this time around.
The glowing parrot and red neon lettering previously decorating the front of the former Fiesta Mart at 2300 N. Shepherd Dr. have been traded out for a construction fence and a few streamers of festive caution tape. A pre-demo permit to disconnect the 1965 building’s plumbing was issued near the end of May, and a reader snapped the top photo of the site during a break in Friday’s rain.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
They can relocate or relinquish, but these structures can’t stay.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Galleria downsizing, Meyerland upsizing, and near northside neatening in today’s tongue-twister-titled short shortlist.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
No diving in allowed, unless it’s with an excavator.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Without forgetting these houses it is quite impossible to live at all.
The land between the Grand Parkway and Hwy.-6-FM-1960 contained more than 37 percent of the construction sites in Harris County over the last decade, according to the Houston in Flux report and interactive maps released by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research last week. The maps above highlight regions where demolition and construction permits were issued at above-county-average rates between 2005 and 2015. Red shows areas with high demolition rates, blue shows high construction rates, and purple shows spots where both stats beat the average — areas authors Kelsey Walker and Kyle Shelton refer to as high-turnover (mostly concentrated in the Inner Loop and to the northwest).
Each subsection of the walkthrough embedded above contains a “learn more” link that provides access to (and a quick explanation of) various data types that can be displayed. A section on census-tract-level trends (including building, demo, and turnover, as shown up top) is followed by a section allowing a detailed property-by-property browsing of the data, as shown below:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The pleasure isn’t back, but these are 99% tar free properties.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
We have a few houses and counterparts just in before the holiday weekend.
