Tag: New Construction

Apartments
03/19/09 12:39pm

West Ave School of Loud but Muffled Knocks

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Mixed Use, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Retail, Upper Kirby
22 Comments

The River Oaks Examiner‘s Cynthia Lescalleet says her recent tour of West Ave at the corner of Kirby and Westheimer “felt a bit like a campus visit for a really, really, ritzy college.” But wait, there’s more:

Rising seven-stories, West Ave. is hard to miss. The project by Gables Urban is massive and ambitious, and that’s only the first phase. The two-acre lot behind it, now used as a construction staging area, will be Phase II. Some day. It may spend the interim as overflow parking.

Further details about that Upper Kirby campus:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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New Construction
03/05/09 11:43am

Washington Ave. Nightlife Rumor Gauntlet: Who’s Ready To Pay the Bill?

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Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Washington Corridor
64 Comments

Yelp user Minh L. does his part to clear up all those Washington Ave. rumors. How many new bars are planned there? Really?

1. “The Lot” next to Pearl Bar will be open at 2 pm this Thursday.

2; The Daily Grind that closed down, the owners of Cork Screw has taken over the place, and is now currently being remodeled.

3. Owners of Whiskey Creek is opening a bar right next to “Busty La Rue” which is also right next to Pub Fiction new place on Washington. 5102 Washington Houston TX 77007

4. That Gawd awful yellow/stone place your talking about is called “Zen Ultra Lounge”

5. Owner of Pandora is opening another one down the street. Its that purple buidling. DBA is called “Blue Book” don’t think they have a name yet.

6. That really big one is called “Reign Lounge” One of the owners name is Luis. Very nice guy.

7. The old Pig stand is going to be called “Sawyer Sports Bar”

8. “Rare Bar” is opening soon on Durham & Washington

All in all there’s about 16 bars/club so far wanting to open on Washington, but we’ll see how many of them really open. These are all the ones I have time to confrm.

And where exactly does Minh L. get his info?

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New Construction
02/18/09 1:32pm

That New Park, Trailhead, Library, and Basketball Court on Eldridge

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Parks, Public Buildings, Thornwood
7 Comments

The new Belle Sherman Kendall Library in West Houston will have a little something extra inside: a half-court basketball gym. The ceremonial groundbreaking took place Monday on the site near Buffalo Bayou:

Besides housing a library and a community center, the building will be the first three-story building in the Houston system, and the first to have a drive-up window.

The site at 609 N. Eldridge will also serve as a city park and a trailhead to Terry Hershey Park. . . . At Kendall’s drive-up window, users will be able to return books, pick-up books they’ve reserved, and pay fines.

Image: English + Associates Architects

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Demolitions
02/18/09 12:40pm

Lone Star Saloon Camo Replacement

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New Construction, Nightlife, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Richmond
2 Comments

LONE STAR SALOON CAMO REPLACEMENT The owner of the Lone Star Saloon in Richmond says he’s going to demolish what remains of the 120-year-old building at 102 and 106 S. Third St. and build a “gorgeous” new 4,000-sq.-ft. nightclub in its place. A fire last November gutted the brick structure and destroyed displays of American Indian memorabilia collected and installed by the previous owner. “[Bill] Lindquist, who owns the Lone Star along with his wife, Beverly, said last month he will rebuild the Lone Star as a large one-room nightclub, with a bandstand, dance floor, large modern bar and a kitchen. . . . ‘It’s going to be a metal building, camouflaged not to look like a metal building,’ Lindquist said.” [FortBendNow, via Hair Balls]

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Leasing
01/23/09 11:39am

Design Source at West Ave: What’s Cooking?

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New Construction, Retail, Upper Kirby
4 Comments

Bruce Wolfe, who owns Houston’s Ligne Roset furniture showroom — and is about to open one in Austin — tells Houston Business Journal reporter Allison Wollam that business at the sleek and modern 3,500-sq.-ft. store in the strip center just north of the Rice Village at 5600 Kirby Dr. was better this holiday season than last, despite problems in the economy that have hurt other home-furnishings retailers:

“It’s not unusual for one of our clients to come in and show us their floor plan and hand us a $40,000 check to furnish their entire home,” he says. “When it comes to furniture, if you pay with peanuts, you’re going to get a monkey. And you can’t pay for a Pontiac and expect to drive away with a Mercedes.”

The Houston Ligne Roset store was one of the few in the chain to carry the entire catalog in Spanish, which Wolfe says that also helped attract new clients.

Wollam goes on to report that Ligne Roset will be expanding and moving up Kirby in April, to the new West Ave development — where the store will be 1 of 5 showrooms Wolfe will operate under the name Design Source:

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Commercial Real Estate
01/19/09 1:04pm

Hess It Is: Discovery Tower All Leased Up

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Downtown, Green Design and Development, Highrises, Leasing, New Construction, Office Buildings, Office Space
No Comments

Hot off the Swamplot tipline: Discovery Tower, going up across McKinney St. from Discovery Green Downtown, has its first tenant — and it’ll be taking the whole building.

Beginning in late 2011 — about the time Hess’s current lease at One Allen Center expires — the 30-story tower with the wind turbines on top will be renamed Hess Tower.

After the jump, details from an email announcing the move — sent out to Hess Corporation employees late this morning:

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Houston Architects
01/15/09 3:41pm

Chapelwood United Methodist: Greenbay Packer

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New Construction, Piney Point Village, Religious Facilities
No Comments

The new 3-level youth building on the growing campus of Chapelwood United Methodist Church on Greenbay St. in Piney Point Village is now open:

Tour members, most who were seeing the new construction for the first time, were visibly taken aback when entering the ground-level youth activity center Sunday, where they were greeted by loud music and kids enjoying the actiivites.

Complete with 13 video gaming stations, air hockey, foosball, ping pong and pool tables, a snack bar, tables and seating for hanging out, a small stage with a huge video screen for games, group study rooms, free wi-fi, and more.

Youth ministry offices are off to the side of the game room.

Drawing of Chapelwood United Methodist Church master plan and photo: Merriman Holt Architects

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Downtown
01/13/09 1:01pm

Pavilions Office Tower: First!

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Leasing, Mixed Use, New Construction, Office Space
2 Comments

That see-through office tower above the new Houston Pavilions development Downtown won’t be empty much longer. Globe St.‘s Amy Wolff Sorter reports that law firm Sheehy, Serpe & Ware has leased the top floor and a half.

Only 7 1/2 floors left!

Photo of Pavilions Tower: Houston Pavilions

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Downtown
12/24/08 11:08am

Slow News Day Staple: Construction Cam!

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Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings
No Comments

Hmmm . . . What’s going on in Houston real estate today? How about . . . the continuing construction of MainPlace! It’s the day before Christmas, and it’s still going on!

Scope out the scene yourself with the D.E. Harvey MainPlace webcam! Five-minute camera takeovers accepted.

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First Ward
12/18/08 9:47am

Coming Soon to the First Ward: Bikes from the Heights

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New Construction, Transportation
5 Comments

Sent in by a reader: Another view of construction along the new MKT/SP Hike and Bike trail meant to connect the Heights to Downtown bikeways. The photo, taken from around here, shows the scene along Spring St. in the First Ward, a couple blocks west of Houston Ave.

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Art
11/24/08 10:25am

More Images of the Asia Society Headquarters Design

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Institutional Buildings, Museum District, New Construction, Proposed Developments
2 Comments

Now available on the Asia Society website, amid pix of dragon dancers and Yao Ming shoveling dirt at the groundbreaking last spring: 2 more renderings of architect Yoshio Taniguchi’s design for the society’s new 38,000-sq.-ft. Texas Center in the Museum District.

The view from Southmore St. at Caroline, in 2010:

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Commercial Real Estate
11/14/08 11:41am

Costco Sidewalk Maze: Better for the Trees

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Greenway Plaza, New Construction, Quicklink, Shopping Centers, Streets
1 Comment

COSTCO SIDEWALK MAZE: BETTER FOR THE TREES Lee McGuire gets to the bottom of the wacky sidewalk screwup at Trammell Crow’s Greenway Commons, on the corner of Weslayan and Richmond: “It turns out the city actually required the new sidewalk to run right through the utility poles to save a row of trees. The developer said the project meets federal guidelines — except perhaps the blocked handicap ramp. The final inspection won’t take place until the shopping center is finished. If it’s in violation, the developer promises to fix it.” [11 News, via BlogHouston; previously]

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Demolitions
11/05/08 12:14pm

Buffalo Pharmacy Is Toast

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New Constructon, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University
4 Comments

Buffalo Pharmacy at Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway, West University, Texas

Earlier this year, Buffalo Pharmacy announced it would leave its soon-to-be-demolished digs at Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway and move inside the new H-E-B under construction just behind the store. In the interim, Buffalo Pharmacy was set to operate out of a trailer on the site.

But those plans have changed: Buffalo Pharmacy will close for good this Saturday, November 8. The pharmacy opening in the trailer 2 days later will be called H-E-B Pharmacy.

The new supermarket, meant to be a cross between a Central Market and a typical H-E-B, is scheduled to open next year. And it’ll have an H-E-B Pharmacy inside.

Photo of Buffalo Pharmacy: Flickr user Kevin Trotman [license]

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Uncategorized
10/31/08 4:42pm

Heights Hike and Bike Trail: Actual Construction Spotted

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2 Comments

Hike-and-Bike Trail Construction Along Nicholson St. Between 21st and 22nd Sts., Houston Heights

Martin Hajovsky notes progress on the long-promised hike-and-bike trail along Nicholson in the Heights. The path: South from W. 27th to W. 7th, then east to Downtown along the former Katy/MKT railway.

Photo of construction on Nicholson St. between 21st and 22nd Sts.: Martin Hajovsky

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Homebuying
10/30/08 2:25pm

Row House Duplexes: 60 Percent Occupied, Back Porches Half Done

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Homes for Lease, Houston Architects, New Construction, Third Ward
1 Comment

Hannah Project Row House CDC Duplexes on Francis St. Under Construction, Third Ward, Houston

Division St. Duplexes Behind Project Row Houses, Third Ward, HoustonRow House CDC has completed a second group of 8 duplexes for low- to moderate-income residents — on Francis St. between Dowling and Live Oak. That’s just north of the growing Third Ward campus of Project Row Houses, the CDC’s sister organization. At least 6 units are still available, reports Robin Foster in the Chronicle:

The units range from 700 to 900 square feet; 10 are family-sized with three bedrooms and 1½ baths and six have two bedrooms and one bath.

[Row House CDC executive director Alain] Lee said funds for the project were stretched to allow the builder to frame-in back porches. If additional money can be found, the porches will be finished as part of a courtyard envisioned for both the new and original housing complexes, he said.

All 16 duplexes were based on designs by students in the Rice Building Workshop at Rice University.

Photo of Francis St. duplexes under construction: Flickr user b2tse; photo of original duplexes along Division St.: Row House CDC

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