Tag: New Construction

08/17/16 1:15pm

Memorial Dr. Baskin Robbins Strip’s Planned Departure Could Make Bank, Retail, Parking Spaces

Memorial, Memorial Bend

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12740 Memorial Dr., Memorial, Houston, 77024 A few readers have written in regardingÂ the fate of the Baskin Robbins and its retail strip neighbors atÂ 12740 Memorial Dr., just south of Town and Country Mall. The building which housed the now-closed scoop shop along with Katy defector Anne’s Salon on Memorial and the local branch of More Hands Maid Service appears slated for a full tear-down and do-over (along with freestanding A-1 Cleaners next door), if plans from Streetwise Retail Advisor’s leasing flier are still on the mark:

Memorial Bends

77024, Demolition, Memorial, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Retail

08/16/16 10:15am

Used Car Vending Machine Germinates in Former Big Tex Nursery Lot

Memorial, New Construction

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Carvana, 10939 Katy Fwy., Memorial, Houston, 77079

The frame of the octagon-footed tower now rising atÂ 10939 Katy Fwy. suggests that Carvana’s first Houston used vehicle vending machine may be a few stories taller than the 5-story Nashville machine that opened last year (the one featured dispensing a car in the mostly-online company’sÂ noisy promotional video). Reader Tyler Battenfield sends the rainy day update above, showing the tower rising in place next to a more down-to-earth part of the structure, asÂ shown in the construction plan preview that made its way to Swamplot back in early March:

Katy Fwy. Auto Auto Dealership

77079, Auto Dealerships, Memorial, New Construction, Robots

08/12/16 5:15pm

How To Squeeze 3 Rentable Units into a Single Sunset Heights Driveway Strip

Homes for Sale, Sunset Heights

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855 E. 24th St., Sunset Heights, Houston, 77009

The agent listing this 3-bedroom home on E. 24th St. tells Swamplot that it’s one of the first homes in Houston specifically designed for potential AirBNB rent-outsÂ — the new construction includes private-ishÂ quarters with separate kitchens and bathrooms above both the main ground floor suite and the carport out back (above). The 3,000-sq.-ft. plot of land beneath the home(s) appears to have been formerly occupied by a driveway and aÂ 2-car garage associated with nextdoor 857 E. 24th (which, along with its companion guesthouse on the back of the block, hasÂ since been knocked downÂ for a taller rebuild. The surrounding area (which lies between covert N. Main tiki bar Lei Low and rhyming blues joint Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar) is populated by a shifting balance of low-slung 1930s-and-40s bungalows and long-and-tall townhomes.

The 2-story space was designedÂ by kinneymorrow (whoseÂ relocation and redesign of itsÂ ownÂ newly slotted office house got some AIA praise last year). Here’s what the place looks like from the front:

Trading Up

77009, AirBNB, Home Listings, Homes for Sale, New Construction, Rentals, Sunset Heights

07/29/16 10:45am

Cemetery-Side Digging for Human and Dog Park Wrapping Up in Old Sixth Ward

Old Sixth Ward

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Most of the lowÂ mounds of dirt appear to be in place nowÂ at the carefully labeled Park for Human & DogsÂ on Sawyer between Union and Decatur streets (though there’s still grass to plant and a port-a-potty to extract). The park-to-be (across from beaver-free barbecue pub Beaver’s)Â sitsÂ on city-owned land backed backed up against the Glenwood Cemetery and the 2411 Washington apartment complex. The Old Sixth Ward Redevelopment Authority (e.g.,Â TIRZ 13)Â was given to go-aheadÂ to build on the site back in October.

WavyÂ playhouse designerÂ Metalab currently has a few renderings of the project up on their website; those tiny hillsÂ popping up around the property make an appearance, as does the spindly gazebo off to the left above (which the firm says reemployedÂ the Witch Hat, the salvaged cupola of an 1899 house demolished in 1997 at 2201 Fannin St.):

People-Friendly on Sawyer

77007, Dog Runs, New Construction, Old Sixth Ward, Parks

Dunvale

07/26/16 5:15pm

The 387 Apartments Now Taking the Dunvale Sam’s Club’s Place

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A reader sends a few fresh shots showing the state ofÂ the new apartment complex going upÂ on Dunvale, flankedÂ by theÂ sprawl of the WalmartÂ andÂ AMC 30 parking lots to the north and south. After a few-year-stint as a Garden Ridge, the former Sam’s Club (and its short-lived Business Center experiment) got knocked out of the way last fall to make room for a 387-unit complex that developer Embrey appears to be calling Everly (though the entity that bought the landÂ lastÂ May before the demolition was called The Domain on Dunvale).Â Â Here’s a rendered taste of what the buildings may look like, once the structures growÂ out of that awkward Tyvek phase:

Between 2 Parking Lots

77063, Apartments, Dunvale, New Construction

Downtown

07/21/16 5:00pm

A Quick Wandering Tour of Stuff Going Up Downtown

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A set of skeletal construction updates are the product of Bob Russell’s downtown photo hunt earlier this week. The view above is a Hines 2-fer: Behind James Surl’s spikyÂ Point of ViewÂ sculptureÂ is the 32-floorÂ apartmentÂ building on its way up at the corner of Travis and Preston (now going by Aris Market Square), with a sliver ofÂ all-business 609 MainÂ visibleÂ on the right. The office tower has been gettingÂ its last few bits of steel stuck into place this week — check out a more centered portrait of theÂ rooftop actionÂ (plus moreÂ covert snapsÂ of bare beams from around the area) below:

All On The Way

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings, Skyscrapers

07/18/16 2:45pm

The Menil Drawing Institute’s Paper-to-Solid Transition

Menil, Menil Collection

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Reader and mixed-media picture-makerÂ Bob Russell sends along an update to his previous shots of the site of theÂ Menil Drawing Institute, now preliminarily sketched into place in broad steel strokes. The framework shown at the topÂ appears to be outlining that western interior courtyard that showed up in Johnston Marklee’s previous renderings of the building, whichÂ is going upÂ where the now-level back third of the Richmont Square apartment complexÂ once stood.

The Menil says construction should wrap up some time next year. Here’s a few more angles on all the angles already in place:

Refining the Line Work

77006, Menil Collection, Menil Drawing Institute, Montrose, New Construction

07/11/16 1:15pm

Multistory DWI Law Office Complex Underway Across from New Brewpub on Washington Ave

Sawyer Heights, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor

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Tyler Flood site, 2019 Washington Ave., Old Sixth Ward, Houston Meanwhile, catty- corner across White St. from the beer-and-haircut-related happenings to the east, work on DWI lawyer and billboard enthusiast Tyler Flood’s 3-story cafe law firm retail centerÂ at 2019 Washington Ave. is also ramping up. A reader sends the aboveÂ early-morning photo of recentÂ stirrings on the long and long-empty lot between White and Henderson;Â a demo permit was issued for the narrow stripÂ last Tuesday,Â with a building permit following hot on its heels 2 days later.

An 1,800-sq.-ft. ground floor retail spot (which Flood previously hoped would be inhabited by some sort of cafe) is currently listed for lease on LoopNet, along with some divisible office space. The listing includesÂ a look at the most recentÂ rendering for that building, which seems to have straightened up and gotten a little taller in places, compared toÂ the 2014 design (also shown below):

Making Preparations

77007, New Construction, Office Space, Restaurants, Retail, Sawyer Heights, Washington Ave.

Downtown

07/08/16 12:45pm

Skanska Will Get Out of the Tunnels, But Won’t Budge Upward on Capitol Tower Until Economy Goes First

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Capitol Tower Tunnel Closures
The connections to the Downtown tunnel system beneath the planned future site ofÂ 35-story Capitol Tower at 811 Rusk St. should reopen by the end of the year, a Skanska representative tells Swamplot, though a hard date hasn’t been set yet.Â Â The developer told Cara SmithÂ of the HBJÂ last month that the bulk of theÂ projectÂ wouldn’t go forwardÂ until leasing conditions look better, regardless ofÂ theÂ explosive evictionÂ of the former Houston Club building from the site, and last August’s foundationÂ pour. The closures have cut off 601 Travis, the rebranding formerÂ Gulf Building, and all 3 of the buildings tangled up inÂ that Hines-Linbeck-Houston-Chronicle tunnel lawsuit from the rest of the system since work on the spot first started in 2014.Â Take a look atÂ the once-and-future underground crossroads in broader context:

Under Downtown

77002, Downtown, Downtown Tunnel System, Highrises, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Skyscrapers

Condos

06/15/16 11:00am

Victoria Condos Now Rising from That Big Hole by Fisher Homes’ Heights Mansion Office

Condos for Sale, Houston Heights

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Renderings of The Victoria Condo Midrise, 829 Yale St. Houston Heights, Houston, 77007

The Victoria Condo Midrise, 829 Yale St. Houston Heights, Houston, 77007 The question that’s been bugging a number of SwamplotÂ readers: What’s planned by Fisher Homes for the .38-acre openÂ pit now getting filled inÂ at 829 Yale St., directly across from the company’sÂ 3-story home office mansion?Â The answer: a 40-unit condo midrise branded as The Victoria. Some 2- and 3-bedroom units hit the market at theÂ beginningÂ of June, running between $460,900 and $835,585; a reader got some shots of the current state of construction earlier today in a morning drive-by.

A look at the floorplans of the parking-footed building’s residential floors shows offÂ the structure’s increasingly hourglass cross-section as the viewer moves upward:

Filling In on Yale St.

77007, Condos, Fisher Homes, Houston Heights, New Construction

Apartments

06/14/16 12:45pm

Relabeled Crest at Fondren Now Leasing on Site of Bygone Westheimer Prosperity

Briargrove

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8820 Westheimer Rd., Briarmeadow, Houston, 77063

The 4-story apartment complex going upÂ on the northeast corner of Westheimer and Fondren roadsÂ (whereÂ Prosperity Bank and Landry’s Seafood Restaurant were torn down in a mildly apocalyptic displayÂ back in 2014) is now pushing leasesÂ and offering would-be tenants a chance to scope the place out. The place has also gotten a name tweakÂ since the project was first announced: the former Crest atÂ Fondren is going by West & Fondren these days.

The complex has sprung upÂ just south of the late-seventies garden-style Victoria PlaceÂ apartments (which appear to have beenÂ bought 2 summers ago by an entity controlled byÂ developer Michael Novelli). The Fondren-side entrance of the 4-story building is clearly labeled as such:

Briargrove Revival

77063, Apartments, Briarmeadow, New Construction

East Downtown

06/13/16 5:00pm

Greened-Up SEARCH Homeless Services Building Now Open By Cheek-Neal Building in East Downtown

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The new home of homeless services center SEARCH opened atÂ 2015 Congress Ave.Â this morning, next to the Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen and across 59 from Minute Maid Park.Â The 27,105-sq.-ft. facility’s design has been greened up since last summer‘s pass-around of renderings for the space — in addition to the color onÂ the exterior walls, renewable energy company and regularÂ grocery-store-front proselytizersÂ Green Mountain Energy footed the bill forÂ someÂ solar panelingÂ and other energy-efficient upgrades. Operations at the organization’s fifties-mod space on McGowen St. (whichÂ got that unintentional contemporary update to its facadeÂ back in 2014) will end around June 24th.Â

Below is a recent-but-still-mid-construction look at the new building from the corner of Franklin and St. Emanuel streets, showing the structure in place across CongressÂ from theÂ Cheek-Neal Coffee building, (which, unlike the homeless services building, appears to be explicitly spared by some of TxDOT’s potential future freeway expansion plans):

Congress at St. Emanuel

77002, East Downtown, Homelessness, New Construction, Openings and Closings

06/03/16 12:45pm

Watch 7 Months of Kirby Collection Construction Race Into Place in 30 Seconds

Upper Kirby

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A very quick summary of a long, long peek over the construction fence at Kirby Dr. and Colquitt St. shows the progress to date on the mixed-use Kirby Collection development. Developer Thor Equities has been working over the former site of the Kirby funeral bars since last fall, and has reached the top level of the complex’s parking garage. Thor plans to have the main skeleton of the office tower done by November and to put the last structural bits of the ellipse-footed residential tower in place by early 2017.

Previously on Swamplot:Â Kirby Collectionâ€™s Next Step Forward Leaves a Giant Concrete Footprint; They Tore Down the Cafe Express and Funeral Bars on Kirby for This; Signs Herald Kirby Dr. Funeral Barsâ€™ Impending Doom;Â The Jazzy New Bouquet of Towers Meant To Replace 4 Bars in 3 Buildings on a Kirby Block

Video: Thor Equities

Making Short Work Of It

77098, Apartments, Highrises, Midrises, New Construction, Office Towers, Upper Kirby, Videos

06/01/16 11:00am

A Peek Inside the Half-Baked Krispy Kreme near NRG Stadium

South Main

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3055 S Loop W Fwy., South Main, Houston, TX 77054

The jutting, Tyvek-wrapped facade of the under-construction Krispy Kreme donut shop at 3055 S. Loop W. hasÂ looked like this for a while now, saysÂ a reader curious about the store’s progress. Following the North Carolina pastry chain’s complete retreat from the areaÂ in 2006 after a lawsuitÂ with itsÂ main regional franchisee, the company opened 2 new Houston stores in 2015, thoughÂ the announced-then-retractedÂ February grand opening date of the Hwy. 6Â location turned out to be much more December-ish than originally planned.

EaterÂ attributedÂ the slow-off-the-line opening toÂ permitting delays, though regional franchise manager Guillermo Perales told the HBJ thatÂ the delays had to do with fears thatÂ theÂ crowds would be too large for the store’s originally-planned infrastructure to handle. As for the South Main store?Â Posted to the inside of the front window is aÂ highlighted letterÂ from October documentingÂ the donut stand’s theoreticalÂ ability to withstandÂ hurricane-strength winds: