The new Menil Drawing Institute building, being designed by LA architects Johnston Marklee (winners of last year’s competition), will sit on land currently occupied by the Menil’s Richmont Square apartment building. The arts institution doesn’t have plans to tear down the entire apartment complex, however: Drawings submitted to the planning commission as part of a variance application show only the northernmost bank — at the back of the site — wiped clean.
Handling cavity searches since 1976, a 1940 home-turned-dental-office sits on a well-brushed corner lot in Montrose within spitting distance of a private school campus. The property appeared on the market earlier this month with a sparkly asking price of $499,900.
Declaring the 42-unit Montrose complex a “common nuisance,” the county attorney’s office and the state of Texas have filed a lawsuit against the owner of the former Skylane Apartments at the corner of Richmond and Hazard St. The suit claims that the apartment complex, now known as 1901 Richmond, “habitually” harbors criminal activity and that the owner has not done enough to fix the problem. Between August 2012 and October 2013, according to the complaint, police were called approximately 100 times to the property, resulting in reports of drug possession and sales, aggravated assaults, and the discharge of ï¬rearms. The attorney’s office wants the owner to post a bond and clean up the crime problem, or shut down for a year and forfeit the money.
BARS WITHIN A BAR AT LOWBROW IN MONTROSE 
Eater Houston reports that Lowbrow, the restaurant and bar from Free Press Houston founder Omar Afra, will open tomorrow night here at the corner of W. Main and Mandell in Montrose. This photo shows the mural that’s replacing the former Sophia sign. Inside, there will be even more art: The place will have wallpaper that sports drawings of the Astrodome, Houston Oilers logo, and Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk sculpture at the nearby Menil Collection. And it appears that there will also be a channel of rather meta reality programming for you to watch: “[A] projection screen . . . will play scenes from other local bars.” [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Eater Houston
BIENVENIDOS, BRICK AND SPOON 
Eater Houston’s Darla Guillen reports that brunch and bloody mary purveyor Brick & Spoon is almost ready to open in Montrose after renovating the spot to which Bocados said adiós at 1312 W. Alabama, just across the street from the University of St. Thomas. Owners of the Louisiana chain Bryan Jewell and Ryan Trahan tell Guillen that they will be ready to go November 11. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Bocados: Panoramio user Wolfgang Houston
Here’s a rendering of the renovations that JT ARC Studio has drawn up that show a 1938 house and former Methodist Hospital storage space gussied up into an art gallery. Located just south of W. Gray at 1707 Waugh in Hyde Park, the gallery and event space, to be called 1707 Collective, plans to open this spring. And it appears that work on the 1,674-sq.-ft. multipurpose building, which HCAD records show was finished in 1938 and renovated in 1990, is already underway:
Architecture firm Stern and Bucek has come up with this rendering of the Menil Collection’s new cafe, part of the free museum’s long-planned expansion of its Montrose campus. The design for the cafe — which is yet to be named but will be run by Greg Martin (of Cafés Annie and Express and Taco Milagro) — appears to adapt and elaborate upon the gray bungalow at 1512 Sul Ross St., on the other side of that path from the Menil Bookstore; this is the same site, says a press release from the Menil Collection, that architect Renzo Piano originally had in mind for a similar amenity. So there’s that. Whatever it’ll be called, the cafe, it appears, will split the difference between the museum’s main entrance and the parking lot off W. Alabama.
CUPCAKES AND COCKTAILS FOR THE DOME 
It’s been a long week for the Astrodome. And whether you want to see the old thing saved or destroyed you might feel fairly wrecked yourself at this point. Could you stand to tip one back or perk up with some sugary calories? Well, a pair of local retailers are providing wares that just might do the trick: Through November 5, the date voters will decide whether to approve that bond measure that would pay for the Dome’s conversion into convention space, Triniti on S. Shepherd will be offering a special cocktail, the Colt 45. And through October 24 Crave Cupcakes will be selling at its Uptown Park and Upper Kirby locations the “Save the Dome” cupcake toppers shown in this photo. [Preservation Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: @KPRCawillis
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CLUB SOME TIME AGO 
“Wow . . . far cry from the Emo’s and Club Some days that were housed on the first floor. Anyone remember the algae stricken pool as well as skateboard half pipe that was in the courtyard? Or better yet, the outdoor bathrooms that had no doors and long lines . . . shy guys need not apply. Those were the days. [AmyHM, commenting on A Serene Single Bedroom in an Un-Orphaned Villa Serena] Illustration: Lulu
THE NEW MONTROSE BAR SPORTING HOUSTON SPORTS WALLPAPER 
Looks like the name of the bar and restaurant that will be taking over the old Sophia and Café Artiste spot in Montrose just around the corner from the Menil Collection will be Lowbrow — and not, as the TABC sign that was hung in the window in April suggested, Faustian Bargain. Developed by Omar Afra, who heads up Fitzgerald’s and the Free Press Summer Fest, Lowbrow will be stocked with local craft beers and local insignia too, reports Culturemap: “[Artists] Blake Jones and Dual have partnered to create a wallpaper that incorporates iconic Houston images such as the Astrodome and the Houston Oilers derrick logo.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SIGHTS UNSEEN 
“Pictures don’t sell homes. People don’t buy sight unseen. At best, high quality photos will give you a few more showings (by people who were enticed by the photos, thus not likely your buyer).
List a property in Montrose, and take 6 photos of various homeless people, old-man armpits, and urinals, and it’ll still sell in a day.” [Cody, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Back Carpet] Illustration: Lulu
LA FENDEE TRYING TO FEND OFF ENDING 
Reports of La Fendee’s demise — and Tacos A Go-Go’s emergence — here at 1402 Westheimer might have been hasty: A tweet from freelance writer Amber N. Ambrose suggests that the owners aren’t going gentle into that goodbye: “Man on the phone says they’re ‘fighting it.'” And a manager tells Swamplot this morning that the stories about the restaurant’s closing “aren’t right,” though declined to elaborate. [Twitter; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Trip Advisor
TACOS A GO-GO GOING IN NOW THAT LA FENDEE’S ENDING Culturemap reports that La Fendee, the Mediterranean restaurant at 1402 Westheimer in Montrose, will be closing by the end of the month and will be replaced soon thereafter by another Tacos A Go-Go. This new spot — right across Westheimer from the former Wendy’s that’s being renovated into Doc’s, the Austin sports bar — would be the 3rd location in Houston. Elsewhere, the Tacos a Go-Go owners have said they plan to open Retrospect Coffee at that artfully abandoned gas station near HCC in Midtown. [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Trip Advisor
