Tag: Montrose

Institutional Buildings
06/11/10 12:01pm

Kipling Street Academy: Doubling Kid Parking Places in Montrose

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Montrose, Parking, Schools
10 Comments

A reader sends photos to document the advance of Montrose’s Kipling Street Academy. The 2-story private preschool was set back deep in the 50-ft.-wide residential lot at 1425 Kipling a few years ago. Now it’s expanding one lot further, to the corner of Mulberry St. Owner Jennifer Pierce bought the small apartment complex on that site last year and had it demolished. The finished building will feature a wide second-story gallery tiptoeing over the back row of parking spaces, leaving the front of both lots clear for cars and kiddie drop-offs:

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Development Restrictions
06/09/10 9:53am

The Next New Historic District: First Montrose Commons

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First Montrose Commons, Historic Preservation, Montrose
23 Comments

There’s more historic-district action on today’s city council agenda than the proposed temporary ban on gonna-do-it-anyway waivers: Council members are expected to approve First Montrose Commons as Houston’s 16th historic district. The planning commission approved the new district more than a month ago. If the council also votes today to put in place a temporary moratorium on the designation of new historic districts, First Montrose Commons will have gotten in just under the wire.

When last we left the east Montrose hood — bounded roughly by West Alabama, Richmond, Montrose Blvd. and the Downtown spur — its quest for historic-district status had been stumped by HSPVA, which counts for a large chunk of the proposed district. HISD’s decision on the petition, wrote neighborhood-association president Jason Ginsburg at the time, would either “make or break” the district. So what happened?

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Montrose
06/08/10 4:15pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Something About Mary’s, Design Stalkers

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Nightlife, Photography, Riverside Terrace, Uncategorized
51 Comments

Got an answer to either of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.

  • Montrose: A reader wants to know if anyone has heard of any plans for the site of Mary’s Lounge at the corner of Westheimer and Yoakum — as well as the parking lot between it and Burger King. The famous Montrose club shut down last year.
  • Riverside Terrace and beyond: When strangers just love your style!

    My partner and I are renovating our house in Riverside Terrace, and the other day a well-mannered gentleman rang our doorbell requesting our permission to photograph our house. While we’d like to presume that his request was a compliment that our hard work is paying off, we didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of a stranger snapping photos of our house. Not knowing his true intentions, we politely declined.

    Otherwise who knows where your stuff would show up?! So . . . what’s the question?

    However, I know that applications such as Google Street View capture images from the public domain and make them readily available via the internet. Are there any restrictions to what we can or cannot photograph in Houston?

Photo of 1022 Westheimer Rd.: Swamplot inbox

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Foreclosures
05/24/10 11:20am

No Auction Action for the Harold St. Family Home Turned Party Pad

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Homes for Sale, Montrose, Price Reductions, Streetscapes, Trees
8 Comments

How’d that foreclosure auction go for the humongous early-eighties brick house on Harold St. in Montrose used in recent years as a party pad and chainsaw test site?

Let’s just say that the auction listing is gone, the property is back on MLS — and the price has been cut another $45K. But unlike the sudden, swift, and unexplained felling of the mature street trees surrounding this property, the chopping of the list price has resulted from a series of 6 hacks, from $644,900 last October to $469,900 just last week.

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Comments
05/20/10 1:47pm

Comment of the Day: Trying To Clean Up in Those Montrose Bungalow Bathrooms

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Interiors, Montrose, Quicklink, Renovations
10 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: TRYING TO CLEAN UP IN THOSE MONTROSE BUNGALOW BATHROOMS “I can’t tell you how many bungalows, Victorians, and other 1910-1940 houses I’ve looked at in Montrose in the past year where the remuddlers have totally destroyed the character of the bathroom with the ultra-trendy stone floor and walls with the disgustingly unsanitary jetted whirlpool tub.” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: The Heights of 2-2ness]

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Apartments
05/12/10 4:04pm

Small, Cool Apartment Contest Winner Explains How It All Began

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Home Decor, Houston History, Interiors, Montrose, Westmoreland
4 Comments

Well, whaddya know? Graphic designer Chris Nguyen’s tiny Marshall St. apartment (featured on Swamplot just last week) ended up as the grand U.S. prize winner in Apartment Therapy’s Small, Cool 2010 design contest. No fluke: Nguyen was, uh . . . thinking small from the get-go. Intrigued by the design website’s annual competition and the idea of living in a tiny space, Nguyen began his search for an apartment in Houston last July:

I really wanted this to be about a different way of living and not about compromises, so it was important that all my furniture remained real-sized. I carefully selected what I thought I needed and put away in storage extraneous collections and junk that we all end up hoarding over the years. . . .

I think the bedroom in the house I was living in last was the same size as this entire studio. It was a big room in a big house that was filled with an incredibly increasing amount of big things. That’s how we do it in Texas, right? All the while, I always held an admiration for smartly designed small spaces more commonly found in highly urban dense metropolises or cool under appreciated neighborhoods. Houston is not the first of those things, so I looked for something purposefully small in the latter.

And he found . . . ?

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Buying and Selling
05/07/10 11:23am

Rescued from the Bistro Vino Redevelopment Flop: Ocean’s Ceviche

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First Montrose Commons, Homebuilders, Leasing, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
15 Comments

Remember the swingin’ days of a couple of years ago, when InnerLoopCondos bought Bistro Vino and got ready to tear down the 24-year-old Montrose restaurant at the corner of West Alabama and Roseland? And then the company put out that goofy little internet survey asking us to vote on which type of condo-building cliche you’d like to see shoved onto the site? If you’re one of the lucky participants who somehow managed to write in “Give it up,” congratulations! Your choice has been selected!

Mexico City natives Jorge and Isaac Alvarez have since secured a lease-purchase of the former restaurant property from its would-be redevelopers. Jorge Alvarez, a custom-home developer himself, had a crew from his Alvgar Construction company renovate the 1930’s Tudor-style home and patio.

The brothers’ “modern Mexican” restaurant, Ocean’s Ceviche, isn’t expected to open officially until May 21st, but intrepid Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia brings you this little preview of the spiffed-up grounds:

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Comments
05/03/10 3:50pm

Comment of the Day: The Tower Theatre, Back To the Future

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Leasing, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Quicklink
3 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TOWER THEATRE, BACK TO THE FUTURE “But if we don’t get the sign from 1955 to 1985 before the lightning storm, Annise Parker will never be born!” [Evan7257, commenting on The Tower Theatre Puts No Name in Lights] Photo: Swampot inbox

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Leasing
05/03/10 10:01am

The Tower Theatre Puts No Name in Lights

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Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Renovations
4 Comments

A reader reports on the newest bright spot on Lower Westheimer:

My photo isn’t terribly good, but it will at least give you an idea of what they’re up to with the new marquee.  Half of the upper neon is working and the marquee is completely operational.  Even without everything functioning, it already puts the River Oaks to shame. It’s still not going to be as outrageous as the original setup with the taller spire and even more neon, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Adaptive Reuse
04/29/10 2:55pm

Comment of the Day: You See a Worn-Out Fourplex, I See a West Gray Bar Waiting To Happen

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Apartments, Comments, Montrose, Nightlife, North Montrose, Quicklink
No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: YOU SEE A WORN-OUT FOURPLEX, I SEE A WEST GRAY BAR WAITING TO HAPPEN “Looks like a great place to relocate the long dead but sorely missed Aquarium [Lounge]. Connect two. Demolish two for for parking. Win. Take a look behind the front room addition at Kenneally’s and you’ll find a building nearly identical to these: obsolete for housing, but many other uses.” [Bernard, commenting on Lovebird Hideaways: 3 Out of 4 Fourplexes on West Gray]

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Construction Problems
04/28/10 3:13pm

Why Montrose’s Fire Station 16 Is Back on the Job

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Hazards, Lancaster Place, Montrose
7 Comments

So what was the cause of all the hullabaloo over at Fire Station 16 at the corner of Richmond and Dunlavy that caused fire department officials to close it down for a few days earlier this month? A source told Swamplot on April 2nd that the building likely had foundation problems and was close to collapsing. Here’s what firefighters spotted:

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Montrose
04/27/10 9:48am

Drive-By and Walk-By Reports on the Tower Theatre’s New Headliner

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Renovations, Retail, Signage
8 Comments

A reader who’s had an eye on Montrose’s Tower Theatre ever since Hollywood Video moved out — and who became “rather upset” at the disappearance of the building’s original marquee — sends a few snapshots of the scene near the corner of Yoakum and Westheimer:

. . . I saw some workers putting up new wood a few weeks ago and painting the front of the building a few days ago.

And what do we see in these snaps?

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Dearborn Place
04/23/10 11:40am

Parking Hazard: A Brief Guide to Available Spaces off West Alabama

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Development Regulations, Montrose, Parking, Retail, Strip Centers, Winlow Place
18 Comments

Continuing his commentaries on city off-street parking requirements, blogger Andrew Burleson takes a snapshot of parking conditions near the often-crowded corner of West Alabama and Hazard. To the east: the little 8-parking-space head-in strip center that houses Candylicious, Retro Gallery, and The Chocolate Bar. To the west: Erick’s Auto Center.

Among Burleson’s startling finds: On a weekday evening, actual empty parking spots appear to be available in front of The Chocolate Bar! But what’s going on down the street?

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Foreclosures
04/21/10 2:45pm

Going, Going, But Never Can Say Goodbye: Will the Montrose Party Pad on Harold Survive?

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Homes for Sale, Interiors, Montrose
19 Comments

A reader with a longstanding appreciation for the party house at the corner of Harold and Graustark in Montrose writes in to provide a little background on the property for Swamplot readers. After sitting on the market since at least last September — and working its way down $130K to an asking price of $514,900 — the mammoth early-eighties brick in-town home with 4 bedrooms, 4 full- and 3 half-baths, and 4 staircases is now nearing the end of an online foreclosure auction. Who will end up with this 9,111-sq.-ft. prize?

The house is large and an odd mixture of no expense spared features (marble floors throughout, wood floors cut on bias, acres of woodwork…) and typical early 80’s tract home construction techniques. Design features include the dance floor off the master bedroom (complete with freestanding bar and speakers in the wall!), brass banisters on the winding marble staircase, scads of quick exit staircases and mirrors on the ceiling of every shower.

Oooh! Can we see any of that in the pix?

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Demolitions
04/19/10 4:12pm

Up and Down in Hyde Park

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Homes for Sale, Houston Architects, Hyde Park, Montrose, New Construction: Residential
14 Comments

The Hometta blog features construction pix of the pair of houses going up on Hyde Park 2 blocks west of Montrose — designed by Collaborative Designworks, Houston’s most notable practitioners of those folded-spiral stucco balcony-wall-soffit wraparounds. 1212 and 1216 Hyde Park won’t go on the market for another few months, architect James Evans tells us, but when they do they’ll likely be priced “in the low $1M range.”

But . . . haven’t we visited this little corner of Hyde Park before?

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