Tag: Leasing

Energy Corridor
03/04/11 12:06pm

If the Buffalo Grille Had Migrated West

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Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Strip Centers
2 Comments

Brock Silverstein tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam the strip-center endcap on the northwest corner of Briar Forest and Eldridge Parkway where he and his wife Stacey just opened the Pecan Creek Grille is one of the locations he had investigated a year and a half ago as a possible new home for the then-ready-to-roam Buffalo Grille. Fans of that West U breakfast joint, where the Silversteins worked for 10 years, may find this new lunch spot in the Energy Corridor a little familiar, in a way-out-west kind of way: Pecan Creek has an outdoor patio and serves “diner-style” food, Tex-Mex standards, and breakfast all day.

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Commercial Real Estate
02/28/11 2:38pm

The Art Institute of Houston Brings an End to River Oaks Plaza’s See-Through Years

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Greenway Plaza, Leasing, Office Buildings
3 Comments

When last we visited the lonely blue-glass office building next to the former site of the River Oaks Hospital, just west of Greenway Plaza, the brand-new structure had only a single tenant — a doctor. That was more than 2 and a half years ago. But Cushman & Wakefield’s latest flyer for River Oaks Plaza at 4140 Southwest Fwy. (it’s been on the market ever since) lists the 5-story, 105,000-sq.-ft. building as “fully leased.” Was there a huge influx of tenants in the meantime? Not exactly, though a second doctor’s office did move into the building a bit later. In fact, both offices are leaving the building. That’s so the Art Institute of Houston can move in, beginning in July. The institute and its 2,300 students will relocate from this somewhat less see-through 6-story building at 1900 Yorktown, in the Galleria area:

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Highland Village
02/17/11 11:12am

The Next Moves at Highland Village: Apple Store, Restoration Hardware, Tootsies Replacement

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Leasing, Proposed Developments, Retail, Shopping Centers
7 Comments

Apple fans, don’t be distracted — as Swamplot was earlier this week — by the construction being set up on the west side of the newish Highland Village Shopping Center building that houses Sprinkles Cupcakes at 4012-4018 Westheimer. Unless, of course, you’re wanting to know where the new Restoration Hardware will go once it relocates from across the street. The newly expanded housewares store will take up all of the space on the Galleria side of Paper Source.

Meanwhile, here are your verified coordinates for Houston’s first non-mall Apple Store: After a little bit of demo work, it’ll go on the east side of the same building (shown above), at the Drexel driveway. Across the street, there appears to be less urgency now that Tootsies has fled to West Ave, but the shopping center’s management still plans to tear down the stylish but now-vacant building the women’s clothing boutique occupied at 4045 Westheimer:

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Highland Village
02/14/11 12:12pm

The New Apple Store on Westheimer: Where the New iPads Will Hit the Street in Highland Village

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Leasing, Retail
28 Comments

Apple signed a lease last month on a storefront in the Highland Village Shopping Center, a source tells Swamplot. Houston’s first-ever not-in-a-mall Apple Store is heading for the street-front retail block that houses Paper Source and Sprinkles Cupcakes, across Westheimer from the old Tootsies, in a location that formerly housed the Gap. But which side of that building? There’s evidence of construction activity on the west end of the block (shown in the foreground above), but rumors dating from last summer — as well as the “partial” exterior demo permit for the space that appeared in this morning’s list of demolitions — point to the east side of the structure, adjacent to the shopping center’s Drexel St. driveway. That’s where this older map from Gary Allen’s Apple retail fan website had placed it:

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Attractions
02/10/11 7:25pm

Report: Sundance Cinemas Replacing Angelika Film Center at Bayou Place; Bar Smorgasbord Moving in Upstairs

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Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
18 Comments

The city of Houston and the Cordish Company are “deep into negotiations” with Sundance Cinemas to take over the former Angelika Theater spot at Bayou Place, Steven Thomson reports. Robert Redford’s Sundance Group has operated 2 Sundance Cinemas since 2007 — an 8-screen complex in San Francisco and a 6-screen multiplex in Madison, Wisconsin. If Sundance does end up taking over the vacant Angelika space at 510 Texas St. and maintains all existing screens, it would tie with the Sundance Kabuki Cinema near Pacific Heights as the largest complex in the small chain. The company appears to have scaled back the aggressive expansion plans it announced 4 years ago, which included new theaters in Chicago and Denver. The Angelika Film Center closed suddenly last summer.

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Houston Heights
01/24/11 10:32pm

Sew Crafty, So Long

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Openings and Closings, Retail
15 Comments

After 3 years, 2 locations, and hundreds of Knitting Bootcamp, Make Your Own Jeans, and Needle Felted Monster Balls classes, Heights DIY needle shop Sew Crafty has announced it will be closing its doors at the end of February. In a post on the store’s Facebook page, store owner Sarah Gabbart talks about the difficulty of running a small business in the current economy, the joys of seeing customers put together their own stuff; and she encourages everyone to keep on crafting. Then she gets down to business: Sale! Starting this Friday: sewing supplies, remnants, furniture and fixtures — everything must go! (Except all those rented sewing machines, of course.) Plus, the 2-story space at 321B 19th St. is now available for lease. Just call Marcela — she’ll hook you up.

Photos: Sew Crafty

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Commercial Real Estate
01/19/11 10:08pm

Here’s Your Missing Story About the Galleria Barnes and Noble

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Galleria, Leasing, Retail, Shopping Centers
29 Comments

“Dear Swamplot, Have I missed the story or has anyone else noticed that Barnes & Noble across from Galleria has closed and is being gutted?” Signs were posted at the Centre at Post Oak Shopping Center store as far back as September; the bookstore’s lease came up at the end of the year. Last we heard, Weingarten was still looking for a replacement.

Photo: Aaron Carpenter

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Highland Village
01/12/11 11:49am

The Sweet Deal Waiting for Tootsies at West Ave

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Leasing, Retail, Upper Kirby
2 Comments

Highland Village owner Haidar Barbouti “probably didn’t get hung up on the legal nuances” of how to shake Tootsies free of its Westheimer store when its lease ended, a source explains to Swamplot. But both he and Tootsies owner Mickey Rosemarin are ready to move on. Now that the court skirmish over the eviction and the store’s subsequent request for a restraining order have been formally resolved in Tootsies’ favor, Rosmarin’s clothing boutique will be able to stay at its Highland Village location through the end of the month. At which point, according to a store spokesperson, “The store will close one night and open the next business day” at West Ave. The new mixed-use complex at Kirby and Westheimer reportedly lured the retailer into a lease with generous terms: forgoing base rent in exchange for a percentage of Tootsies’ sales.

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Highland Village
01/10/11 1:41pm

Tootsies Beats Back the Landlord: The Sale Must Go On!

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Lawsuits, Openings and Closings, Shopping Centers
15 Comments

There’s a whole lot more drama to the Highland Village Tootsies shutdown battle than just that little overnight lockout, jackhammered walkway, and side-door goodbye sale customers got to enjoy late last week: The Chron‘s Purva Patel reports Tootsies sought a restraining order against the Highland Village Shopping Center, claiming the center was “interfering with its business.” Oh, but that was only after the landlord began eviction proceedings against the women’s clothing boutique on January 4th, a full 5 days after the long-term lease on its only Houston store expired.

The store paid rent of $159,834 at December’s end, but Highland Village plans to return the money, according to court records. The store plans to send it again.

Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia has pics of the scene in front the store at 4045 Westheimer from Saturday morning, just as workers were beginning to scrape off what sure looks like a fresh coat of black paint from the store’s windows. Oh, but that’s not all the trouble Highland Village CEO Haidar Barbouti‘s merry band of graffiti artists caused for its extended tenant. Painted over, and possibly beyond recovery: those “Tootsies Parking” signs on the curb in front!

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Highland Village
01/07/11 8:05pm

Highland Village Lockout Drama: Step Away from the Tootsies!

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Leasing, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Retail
21 Comments

HIGHLAND VILLAGE LOCKOUT DRAMA: STEP AWAY FROM THE TOOTSIES! What tenant lockout techniques at the Highland Village Shopping Center lack in effectiveness, they make up in chutzpah: Employees and shoppers arriving for the second day of the big sale at Tootsies this morning found the stores’ windows blacked out, the sign blocked, and the concrete path to the front entrance jackhammered and blocked off with cones and temporary fencing. But that’s no obstacle at all for the sale-obsessed: Black-booted employees of the upscale women’s boutique simply ushered shoppers in through a side entrance for deals on dresses, handbags and shoes! Shopping center CEO Haidar Barbouti announced plans last year to demolish the Tootsies building and replace it with 100,000 square feet of multi-level retail space and an underground parking garage. Tootsies’ long-term lease expired on December 31, but the company’s new store at West Ave hasn’t opened yet. Can’t they work something out? A Highland Village spokesperson tells Culturemap that landlord and tenant have not met “in several years.” Bring on the lawyers! [Culturemap]

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Downtown
01/04/11 6:16pm

Books-A-Million at Houston Pavilions: Back from the Dead!

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Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Retail
12 Comments

A source tells Swamplot that “an even sweeter deal” has just been struck between Books-A-Million and the management of Houston Pavilions, and that the bookstore chain has decided that its Downtown Houston store will remain open. “It seems the story has forced the company’s hand,” says the source. Swamplot reported yesterday that Books-A-Million had decided to close its store in the mall at 1201 Main St., even though the company was paying only $3,000 a month for the 2-story, approximately 23,000-sq.-ft. space.

Photo: Flickr user Holcombe of Hidalgo

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Downtown
01/03/11 12:46pm

Books-A-Million Bailing out of Houston Pavilions

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Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Retail
16 Comments

Update, 1/4: Reverse! Books-A-Million is gonna stay put.

Southeastern U.S. chain Books-A-Million has decided to close its Downtown Houston store on January 15th. The decision has left management of Houston Pavilions feeling rather put-out: Managers at the downtown mall reportedly had lowered the bookstore’s rent on the 2-story, approximately 23,000-sq.-ft. space facing the light rail line at 1201 Main St. to just $3,000 a month — in hopes the concession would prevent it from shutting down. A source insists the store “wasn’t a huge flop,” but says that the Katy Mills Mall Books-A-Million typically brought in more than 5 times the sales of the Downtown store — even though the 2 locations are about the same size.

Another factor that may have played a role in Books-A-Million’s decision to close: A pending lawsuit filed against the company after the location’s former manager reportedly kicked a man and his wheelchair-riding, apparently mentally disabled son out of the store. “At some point [the son] soiled himself and the [manager] took this as a vagrance and kicked them out. Needless to say the boy’s family were outraged,” a source tells Swamplot. The manager is no longer with the company, though reportedly for “unrelated” reasons.

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Leasing
12/28/10 12:30pm

A First Glimpse of Uchi in Houston: Leasing Lower Westheimer Retail by the Piece

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Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail
13 Comments

Here’s a first look at the not-so-distant future of Lower Westheimer, just a block east of Montrose, where sushi chef Tyson Cole and the owners of Austin’s Uchi and Uchiko restaurants plan to open a first Houston venture. The new Houston Uchi won’t be taking over the whole corner. The neighboring spaces will instead be available à la carte: The new owners are picturing as many as 3 separate businesses (one with a second floor and rooftop deck) leasing the 4,700-sq.-ft. building that used to house Caffe Den and Privé at 908 Westheimer. Also available, around the corner on Grant St.: a little 714-sq.-ft. structure with the address of 904B Westheimer. It’ll share restrooms with Uchi, which will be taking over the former Felix Mexican Restaurant space on the corner, at 904A. The left side of the Grant St. rendering above is the only view we’ve seen so far that shows any part of Uchi itself, but it contains a few clues about how Austin architect Michael Hsu (creator of the original Uchi on South Lamar as well as Houston’s Sushi Raku in Midtown) plans to transform a vintage Tex-Mex classic into something sushi-worthy. It looks like at least a few of those arched windows will stay:

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Leasing
12/17/10 3:43pm

Will Late Nite Pie Rise Again?

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Midtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
16 Comments

Update, 12/22: Late Nite Pie has reopened!

It looks like there’s been another shut-down at Late Nite Pie in Midtown. As first noted by the Houston Press late yesterday, the entrance to the pizza joint has been boarded up, with a stern-sounding note warning off trespassers and indicating the locks have been changed. The person listed as a contact on the note (presumably from the property’s landlord) would not comment on the situation. It may be a bit early to count Late Night out, though: Bell’s restaurant was able to start up again after a similar shuttering last year. The restaurant moved to its current location at 302 Tuam (on the corner of Baldwin) in 2008.

Photo: Aaron Carpenter

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Houston Heights
12/17/10 1:45pm

The Rush to White Oak: Is the Corkscrew Next?

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Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Washington Ave
12 Comments

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of hate mail that I have received since I closed it,” owner Andrew Adams says about the Corkscrew, the wine bar he and his brother Doyle opened way back in 2006 — the early days of the new Washington Ave — but shut down last year. But Adams has been paying attention. He tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam he’s planning to reopen the Corkscrew in the Heights in February, as well as a second location elsewhere, which he plans to call Little Corkscrew. Where in the Heights? Adams won’t say, “because he’s still negotiating leases,” but he says he’s “considering” a building on White Oak.

If the Corkscrew does make the move to White Oak, it’ll be joining several new restaurant neighbors: Christian’s Tailgate, Tacos A Go-Go, and D’Amico’s Italian Market Cafe.

The Adams brothers recently gave up on the Corkscrew’s successor, an organic-style cocktail bar they eventually called Sugarcane, after all of 5 months. They’ll be leasing out their space at 1919 Washington to club owners who plan to open a “trendy, upscale bar, complete with bottle service,” he tells Wollam:

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