East Downtown residents have been following the construction of a 2-story steel-framed structure going up on the corner of Polk St. and Chartres St., just beyond the I-69 overpass from the backside of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Photos sent to Swamplot show some of the framing going up last week (above) and a more recent view from the frontage at 2009 Polk St. (below).
Swamplot reader Marc Longoria has pics of some of the greenery added recently to the revamped interior of the former Houston Pavilions mall downtown, now known as GreenStreet. The rebranding of the mixed-use complex, which extends 3 blocks east from the Main St. rail line in a Discovery Green-ish direction, signifies more than just the infusion of cash from the new owners who are rescuing the project from bankruptcy, the Midway Companies (the folks behind CityCentre) and Magic Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds: There’s the notable addition of striped-green roofs over the escalators (above), for one thing. And more new plant-ish color has been added nearby:
Cherry Demolition crews are attacking portions of the Memorial Club Apartments at 904 Westcott St. this morning. A tipster tells Swamplot the section of apartments on the east side of Westcott have been vacant for a few weeks, and that ovens, washers, dryers, and other appliances were hauled off last week.
Without its stylized pediment and lip of aging awning, a funky mixed use property in Houston Heights is just a boxy building, its stucco in fading 1984 hues of seafoam green and coral. Inside, though, a more modern vibe takes hold (top) above studio space occupying the entire ground floor (middle). In its listing last week, the updated work-live pad’s asking price was $665,000.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CALL IT MIXED PARKING 
“The true benefit of mixed-use developments is the opportunity to reduce the amount of parking provided. Certain program types work well with others. For example, an office worker is usually parked in their space between 8 and 5 while other uses, such as residential and retail, pick up before and after those hours. This means the same space can potentially serve multiple uses, reducing the amount of garages and lots. This is a big deal in Houston, where market parking demands for office require about the same square footage of parking as the office space itself.
Mixed-use development can be about convenience, but the true potential lies in the opportunity to reduce the amount of useless parking and increase density and thus walkability. Houston actually has a mixed-use parking code that allows for this reduction. Ultimately, one could argue that mixed-use developments are not just good for reducing costs for developers, but they are also good for the planet.” [Mixitup, commenting on Comment of the Day: Stuck With That Same Ol’ Mix of Uses] Illustration: Lulu
Update, 3:30 pm: A spokesperson for H-E-B informs Swamplot that the company has no plans for a Joe V’s Smart Shop in this area. Separately, a rep from Lovett Commercial indicates that the plans and declaration posted on its website that a Joe V’s Smart Shop is coming to the center are “outdated,” and that no grocery store is currently planned for that site. We’ve updated the story below accordingly.
This row of metal warehouse buildings at 4300 Harrisburg Blvd. was used for a time recently as a temporary home for the Historic Houston salvage warehouse and more recently as a spraypaint-covered tribute to the deceased graffiti artist known as Nekst (see video below) — will be torn down to make way for a new grocery store from H-E-B, according to site plans posted online by the property’s developer. The 5.34-acre site, which stretches between Oakhurst St. and Eastwood St., sits just east of the Maximus Coffee plant east of Downtown, and just north of Eastwood. This should be the first new grocery store built on a light rail line, but it won’t be a conventional H-E-B. Instead, the plans show it’ll be a Joe V’s Smart Shop, the Texas grocery chain’s low-cost, low-selection, high-volume, low-touch warehouse-style market.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: STUCK WITH THAT SAME OL’ MIX OF USES 
“I don’t get people’s desire to live in a Mixed Use development, I lived in one for a couple of years and it’s as useless as a sh*t flavored lollipop. You get tired of the couple of restaurants there within 2 weeks, the drycleaner is not as good as the one you’re used to and you end up driving there anyway, you get all the noise and the traffic to deal with without any real world benefit. It’s the true case of the ‘grass is greener on the other side.'” [commonsense, commenting on Studemont Grocers Supply Redevelopment To Feature Fast Food and Bank Drive-Thrus, Store Pods in Parking Lot Now, Apartments Later] Illustration: Lulu
Signs are up at the soon-to-be-former Grocers Supply distribution center across Studemont from Kroger just south of I-10 announcing Studemont Junction, the name meant to bring some . . . uh, conjunction to the odd-shaped 15-acre food-storage facility Capcor Partners bought late last year. To judge from the proposed site plan for the project, that’ll be quite a task.
Real Estate Bisnow reporter Catie Dixon shows off this helicopter shot taken last week over Hughes Landing, the new mega-development overlooking Lake Woodlands where a whirlwind of construction is taking out a little more of those woods and putting in a whole lot more of those  . . . uh, concretes. And she’s been thoughtful enough to stick some big red numbers on it, so we can make out what’s what and where, and how it’s coming along:
Is it any wonder that this custom studio-home of a fine arts photography gallery owner is camera ready? From curbside, it comes with a limelight finish. Rice architecture prof Carlos Jiménez, who’s designed art museums, homes, and warehouses alike, incorporated ingredients of each in this 2011 project. A week ago, the Riverside Terrace property went up for sale with a $650,000 asking price.
The sloping roof accommodates a partial second story, as well as lofty living and a large, column-free exhibition space at ground level:
The firm hired by Rice University to manage the Village Arcade has produced a new brochure outlining coming and hoped-for changes to the couple-decades-old Rice Village multi-block shopping center and surroundings. Plans are being developed for new landscaping and storefronts for the 164,211-square-foot complex that lines the north side of University Dr. between Kirby and Morningside Dr., Trademark Property’s flyer notes. But perhaps more interesting is the simple map included (and shown above) documenting the university’s property holdings in and near its eponymous village. They include the 3-block Village Arcade, the office building and parking garage at 2500 Dunstan Rd. currently home to 24 Hour Fitness, and a good portion of the block across Greenbriar Dr. from Rice Stadium, where the university demolished an office building in 2010. “Additional Rice owned property in the Village (approximately 7 acres),” the brochure says, “is available for future mixed-use development.” Rice’s Rice Village Apartments complex on Shakespeare at Morningside is not outlined on the map.
Map: Trademark Property
HCC IS PLANNING A STUDENT DORM BUILDING TOO, AT ALABAMA AND ALMEDA 
A report from Houston Community College says the commuter school is “in the early stages of planning” its own new dorm complex on the 6 acres of land it bought late last year at the northeast corner of Alabama and Almeda, just southeast of the system’s central campus. The only building currently on the site is the trashed but still brightly painted 107-year-old house at 1625 Alabama St. (pictured at top left) that most recently served as a temporary satellite space for DiverseWorks.
The dorms, which would include first-floor retail space and a parking garage, would be modeled after the Tobin Lofts at Alamo Colleges’ San Antonio College in San Antonio (bottom photo). They’d be built and leased out by a private company “until the business makes a predetermined return on its investment,” according to the report. “After approximately seven years, the complex would be given to HCC to own and manage from then on.” [The Chalkboard] Photos: HCC (top); Tobin Lofts (bottom)
What’s this new construction being framed in wood and steel on the site of 2 former bungalows at 828 and 832 Yale St. in the Heights? A single 23,000-sq.-ft. residence that will also serve as the offices of homebuilder Fisher Homes, a source tells Swamplot. The builder is perhaps best known for the Morrison Heights 5-story condo building near Houston Ave. and White Oak; it is also planning a Studemont Mid-Rise at Studemont and Center St., just north of Washington Ave.
WHAT THEY’RE TWEETING ABOUT YOUR LEASE RATES 
We now join the Twitter discussion of the potential lease of spaces at 2502 Dunlavy St. just north of Westheimer Rd. in Montrose, currently home to the offices of Eurostone Marble and the Bacchus Mediterranean Winebar and Coffee Shop (both still open), already in progress. [Twitter] Photo: Davis Commercial (PDF)
Renderings and reports of a giant mixed-use development that would swallow up the entire block on the west side of Kirby Dr. between Colquitt and West Main St. have been shopped around for almost 6 years. But recently there’s been some action: Last week the planning commission approveddeferred for a couple of weeks a hearing on the proposed combination of the various properties on the block into a single “unrestricted” lot. The original hearing date was announced on signs posted in front of the Hendricks Pub (at right), Roak, and the OTC Patio Bar, created back in 2011 from portions of the former Settegast Kopf funeral home, as well as in front of Cafe Express (above). The website of New York real estate firm Thor Equities features the latest renderings of the block’s proposed replacement, called the Kirby Collection:
