Tag: Neighborhood Disputes

Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Quicklink, Rice Village

15 Comments

THE PARTY WILL GO ON AT HANS’ BIER HAUS The little bar in the long shadow of the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby Condominiums can keep its alcohol license, a TABC hearing judge ruled today. Residents of the Rice Village condo building contested the license renewal of Hans’ Bier Haus after earlier efforts to silence nosy patrons — with beer cans, lasers, water hoses, and video surveillance — failed. “In his decision, Donovan noted that although police had been called to the bar more than 20 times for noise, they never were cited. . . . The feud continues to be litigated in civil court.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

77005, Bars, Condos, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Rice-Village

Condos

06/16/10 9:03am

Bar Fight in the Village: Hans’ Bier Haus Fights for Its License

Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Rice Village

26 Comments

Thought Judge Hancock’s January restraining order had quieted the ongoing feud between residents of the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condo tower and the little Rice Village bar next door, Hans’ Bier Haus? Well, maybe a little. But both sides pulled out their best complaints for yesterday’s hearing at commissioners’ court, where Robinhood residents are protesting the renewal of the partly open-air bar’s beer and wine license. While January’s court order appears to have quelled the beer-can throwing, the band-dousing, and the collar-grabbing, lawyers for the bar claim that condo residents have been intimidating bar patrons by putting them under surveillance: “They installed high tech videotape and audiotape recording and surveillance microphones and cameras and filmed virtually everything that occurred on the premises of Hans Bier Haus,” bar piano player and attorney Ken Ward complained to the court. Sure, but how else are they gonna have highlights to show in court? The hearing will continue on Thursday.

Video: Jason Witmer, Houston Chronicle

77005, Bars, Condos, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Rice-Village

Comments

05/13/10 10:06pm

Comment of the Day: Those Friendly Neighbors with the Chickens

Houston Heights, Neighborhood Disputes, Quicklink

No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THOSE FRIENDLY NEIGHBORS WITH THE CHICKENS “. . . I feel obliged to disagree with the comparison between Lone Star [Poultry] and a train. Weâ€™ve never smelled chicken or been bothered by truck noise or anything. I heard from some old-timers that Lone Star used to be a problem but neighbors complained and itâ€™s no longer an issue. Our interaction with Lone Star has been nothing but positiveâ€¦one of the truck drivers had to make room for a load of chicken and gave us a whole sack of cabbage as we were walking by.” [Katie, commenting on Hanginâ€™ with the Large and Lonely Homes of Bammel Lane Park]

77008, Comments, Houston Heights, Neighborhood Disputes

04/30/10 3:20pm

Montrose H-E-B Gets Its Variance; A “Reasonable” Number of Wilshire Village Trees Will Be Preserved

Proposed Developments, Trees

19 Comments

With several neighbors and a city council member speaking in support and no one protesting, Houston’s planning commission granted a variance yesterday to the new owners of the former site of the Wilshire Village apartments at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy. The variance will allow Sul Ross and Branard streets, which currently dead end into the 7.68-acre vacant tract, to remain dead ends as the property is redeveloped into a new Montrose H-E-B market.

In return, the planning department will get some vaguely defined involvement in planning the site. “As a condition of granting the variance,” explained the planning department’s Brian Crimmins,

the applicant will be required to coordinate with the planning department during the site plan stage to establish a reasonable landscape buffer between the subject site and and adjacent properties as well as reasonable preservation of the mature tree canopy on the site. The applicant has agreed to these conditions.

Neighbors had complained about earlier plans submitted for the property — which did not require city approval because they followed the city’s development ordinance. Those plans connected Sul Ross and Branard to form a loop, like this:

Freeland Historic District

77098, Cul-de-Sacs, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Trees, Variances, Wilshire Village

04/15/10 2:40pm

Freeland Rush: Your Best Chance To Mess with the Freeland Historic District

Historic Preservation, Homes for Sale, Houston Heights, Neighborhood Disputes, Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment

7 Comments

When last Swamplot visited the tiny Freeland Historic District at the foot of the Heights almost a year ago, Samantha Wood and her husband, architect Jack Preston Wood, had just given up on plans to purchase a little bungalow at 536 Granberry St., demolish it, and replace it with a new 1-1/2-story bungalow. The Woods’ earlier plans — to build two 4-story townhomes on the property — stirred up protests from neighbors and a rejection from the city historical commission.

Did all that hullabaloo in the newly-minted historic district scare off potential buyers? A Freeland neighbor says no — and suspects most of the neighborhood’s new attention is coming from builders:

525 Granberry Street (now listed on the tax rolls and MLS as 525 E. 5th 1/2 Street) went on the market last week. So many offers have been received they ask that final bids go in tomorrow, April 16.

Why would builders be so interested in this property?

77007, Bungalows, Freeland Historic District, Historic Preservation, Homes for Sale, Houston Heights, Neighborhood Disputes, Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment

Apartments

04/12/10 3:35pm

Ashby Highrise Developers Drop Names, Move To District Court

Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Development Strategies, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Southampton

61 Comments

ASHBY HIGHRISE DEVELOPERS DROP NAMES, MOVE TO DISTRICT COURT What do the Fairmont Museum District, La Maison on Revere, Millennium Greenway, and 2121 Mid Lane apartments, the Medical Clinic of Houston, and the trigger-happy Sonoma development in the Rice Village have in common? They all make cameo appearances in the latest version of Buckhead Investment Partners’ lawsuit against the city of Houston. The claim: that none of those projects were subjected to the same traffic restrictions as Buckhead’s proposed 23-story tower on the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby, next to Southampton: “The Ashby high-rise developers re-filed their lawsuit April 7 in state district court, where it will focus more heavily on claims the project was denied permits for its original design because it was subjected to ‘capricious and unreasonable’ standards. Court documents submitted by attorneys for the Buckhead Development Partners, show the suit against Houston continues to center on the cityâ€™s application of the driveway ordinance as a basis to refuse a final building permit. The city has said it is correct in its application of the ordinance and the inclusion of ‘trip-count’ standards to guarantee safety and ensure streets in the neighborhood remain passable.” [River Oaks Examiner; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Buckhead Investment Partners

77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Development Strategies, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Retail, Southampton

04/09/10 5:07pm

Why We Do What We Do

Landscape, Neighborhood Disputes, Quicklink, Redevelopment

3 Comments

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO From Michael Reed, the River Oaks/Bellaire/West University/Memorial Examiner newspaper reporter who’s been covering the long, strange tale of the Wilshire Village Apartments all the way from the evictions last year to the recent mysterious weed-tag flare-up: “You know, I figure if all the Wilshire stories combined have caused just one person to rent ‘Blow Up’ my work is complete.” [Swamplot inbox] Photo: Michael Reed, River Oaks Examiner

77098, Lancaster Place, Landscape, Neighborhood Disputes, Redevelopment, Wilshire Village

Demolitions

04/08/10 11:36am

Lost in the Weeds: Solving the Latest in a Long Line of Wilshire Village Mysteries

Development Regulations, Development Strategies, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes

10 Comments

Intrepid River Oaks Examiner reporter Michael Reed tries to get answers to that nagging question on the mind of every person who’s walked or driven by the vacant site of the former Wilshire Village Apartments on Dunlavy near West Alabama in the last month: What’s the deal with that little square of land in the back of the site that’s been taped off with a handwritten address sign?

Since the yellow tape was not in the shape of a fallen body, our first guess was the little cordoned-off area had something to do with some â€œtruly oddâ€ city code. . . . Perhaps it involved an obscure extremely minimum lot size ordinance, an idea we soon discarded because it almost made sense.

Carefully attuned to Wilshire Village’s well-documented vortex of absurdity, and being careful — professional journalist that he is — not to trespass on the site, Reed takes a photo of the city green tag on the sign while standing on the public sidewalk. Then, all David Hemmings-like, takes it home to enlarge it and read what it says:

77098, Demolitions, Development Regulations, Development Strategies, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Wilshire Village

Condos

04/05/10 8:37am

Is 2520 Robinhood at Kirby Ready for Another Neighborhood Bar?

Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Rice Village

10 Comments

Remember that fun feud between a few residents of the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condominiums and the tiny bar directly to its west? Well, now it looks like there’s a brand new bar getting ready to open directly to the tower’s east!

When last we left the 16-story Rice Village condo tower, residents had been placed under a court order prohibiting them from “running or pouring water or any other liquid” and “throwing any object whatsoever” onto Hans’ Bier Haus — after the bar’s owners complained to district court judge Patricia Hancock about an ongoing liquid and projectile campaign mounted against their partly open-air establishment by its eastern neighbors. (For good measure, the judge similarly prohibited the proprietors of the courtyard bar from trespassing on or “interfering with [residents’] peaceable use and enjoyment” of the condo building next door.)

But just as the legal and dousing action on the tower’s west side appears to have subsided comes the prospect for more neighborly interaction on the tower’s east: From Swamplot’s tip line we find these photos of another small building directly adjacent to the tower. What’s that new sign posted on the front window?

77005, Bars, Condos, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Rice-Village

Comments

03/16/10 2:39pm

Comment of the Day: Montrose Ain’t Like It Used To Be

Montrose, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

7 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: MONTROSE AIN’T LIKE IT USED TO BE “Whatâ€™s with the petitions and the rainbows and unicorns? Renderings? Real hippys would squat on the land, throw up some tents to sell their bead jewelry and homemade hippy stuff until the police and/or bulldozers come. 21st century Montrose is full of pussies. 20 bucks sez the guy with the hearts on his sign is in line on opening day ready to fill his hemp messenger bag with organic chicken breasts and a sustainably farmed pomengranate flavored something or other at the overpriced new neighborhood-centric HEB.” [meatsack, commenting on What the Montrose Land Defense Coalition Really Wants To See at Wilshire Village]

77006, Comments, Grocery Stores, Montrose, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments

03/15/10 12:07pm

What the Montrose Land Defense Coalition Really Wants To See at Wilshire Village

Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Trees

42 Comments

About 100 people showed up to that Saturday protest on the former site of the Wilshire Village Apartments, organized by a group calling itself the Montrose Land Defense Coalition. Organizers had originally expressed a desire to have the 7.68-acre site at the southwest corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy be turned into a park. Protesters told reporters they wanted the property’s trees preserved. But the organization’s website now features this clarification:

The aim of our campaign is not to alienate or place our Coalition in direct opposition to any one entity seeking to develop the land. We are concerned with the degree to which communities have a say in the development of land directly adjacent to their places of residence.

Specifically, organizer Maria-Elisa Heg tells Swamplot,

We are still fighting for a green space, a public commons, and we need to show HEB that they need to be mindful of smart urban planning.

And . . . uh, they have some plans for the site to present — shown to them by an unnamed “group of architects”:

77098, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Trees, Wilshire Village

03/10/10 2:45pm

Looks Like That Publicity Campaign for the New Montrose H-E-B Has Already Begun

Land for Sale, Neighborhood Disputes, Parks, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

25 Comments

LOOKS LIKE THAT PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN FOR THE NEW MONTROSE H-E-B HAS ALREADY BEGUN If H-E-B can figure out a way to keep this sort of thing going even after the new store is built, that Fiesta won’t have a chance: “The Montrose Land Defense Coalition will hold a rally this weekend at Menil Park to raise awareness of H-E-B’s plans to build a new store on the site of the long-gone Wilshire Village apartment complex. The group will walk from the park to the property at the southwest corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy on Saturday around 1:30 p.m. Last week, H-E-B confirmed that it’s under contract to buy the nearly eight-acre site across from a strip center anchored by a Fiesta. Resident Maria-Elisa Heg recently formed the Montrose Land Defense Coalition to call attention to the property and attract investors who might be interested in buying it with the city of Houston for use as a public space.” [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]

77098, Grocery Stores, Lancaster Place, Land for Sale, Neighborhood Disputes, Parks, Proposed Developments, Wilshire Village

Demolitions

03/08/10 4:44pm

Immanuel Lutheran: Okay, We Won’t Trash Our Old Church Building

Historic Preservation, Houston Heights, Institutional Buildings, Neighborhood Disputes, Religious Facilities

1 Comment

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance has sent out an email reporting that the congregation of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in the Heights voted in a special meeting this past weekend not to demolish its sanctuary building after all.

So what’s going to happen to the unused 1932 brick structure instead? Says the GHPA:

The Gothic Revival building on Cortlandt Street at East 15th Street will be used as flex space to accommodate church functions and Immanuel Lutheran School activities as well as community events.

Sure, it’s likely to make a great space for events. But how could any church function match an all-out building demo for fun?

The GHPA reports the congregation has committed to spending $150,000 on the rehab — about twice the cost of the demolition, which had already been scheduled for May. GHPA credits the 90-days-to-oblivion feature of the city’s otherwise toothless preservation ordinance for the save:

77008, Churches, Demolitions, Historic Districts, Historic Preservation, Houston Heights, Institutional Buildings, Neighborhood Disputes, Religious Facilities

Buying and Selling

03/04/10 10:49am

Wilshire Village Saved from Foreclosure; Who’s Your Sugar Daddy Now?

Foreclosures, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes

2 Comments

The demolished Wilshire Village Apartments appear to have been rescued from threatened foreclosure. A source tells Swamplot that the $13 million the owners owed to Wedge Real Estate Finance has been paid off in full — within days of a scheduled trustee sale. Where’d all that money come from?

If this Wilshire Village rescued owner-in-distress situation sounds familiar to you, you aren’t alone. Jay Cohen, the longtime sole owner of the apartments that stood at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy until last summer, faced foreclosure on the property back in 2002, according to a Houston Business Journal article written at the time by Nancy Sarnoff. Details of what happened next have never been published, but within a few years the 7.68-acre property had a new ownership structure, and apartment developer and former director of real estate for Landry’s Restaurants Matthew Dilick was its general partner. (Jay Cohen is likely a limited partner.)

So . . . who’s Dilicking Dilick, now that his own rescue efforts have flopped? Does the Wilshire Village site have a new owner?