THE GAS STATION COFFEE PATIO COMING SOON TO MIDTOWN 
The Houston Chronicle reports a few more matter-of-fact details about Retrospect Coffee, the cafe that Tacos-A-Go-Go owners are planning to open in — but primarily around, it appears — that oft-painted former gas station at the corner of W. Alabama and La Branch near HCC and the Station Museum in Midtown: “It will serve beer and wine in addition to coffee. . . . The building will hold espresso machines and perhaps a counter for patrons. . . . Most of the seating will be outdoors. Furniture will be bright orange to represent the old Gulf logo that once hung on the gas station.” [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo: Allyn West
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Tag: Proposed Developments
Tema Development is planning to build a 42-story residential tower on that recently surveyed fenced-in lot right beside its Parklane condos on Hermann Dr., according to a couple of Swamplot readers who saw the Corgan-designed building presented at a Museum Park neighborhood association meeting this week. One reader describes the highrise:
The building has a unique design that will twist as [i]t goes up, changing the viewpoint of the higher levels (towards downtown, I believe). They’re planning a 5-story parking garage with one level below grade. On top of the garage will be an amenities level, including a pool and clubhouse among other things. It’ll be connected to the tower via a skybridge. The tower will be bordered by Jackson St. (west), Hermann Dr. (south), and Ewing St. (north). A private drive will be built on the east side as the grand entrance of the building, which will include valet parking. Entrances to the parking garage will be off this private street with a secondary entrance off Jackson St. . . . I believe they’re working with the same landscape architects who worked on the Asia Society building. . . . Lastly, the units will be for lease and not for sale. They expect it to hold 550 residents. I don’t remember the exacty breakdown of units, but it’s something like this: 20-30 studios, 140 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom, and 10 three-bedroom.”
- Previously on Swamplot: What’s Going On Beside the Hermann Dr. Highrise?
Photo: Allyn West
CHEVRON GETS A CHEVRON-SIZED TAX ZONE DOWNTOWN 
To further persuade Chevron to build that 50-story tower that it told everyone back in July that it was gonna go ahead and build, city council voted unanimously yesterday to create a tax abatement reinvestment zone for the 2 acres on which the tower would stand at 1600 Louisiana. The resulting cash should help Chevron replace a sewer line on the former Downtown YMCA property, the Houston Chronicle reports. And the Houston Business Journal’s Shaina Zucker adds up all the incentives that might be coming to help out the energy giant: “[The zone] could mean $2.7 million to $3 million for the company . . . . That money would be in addition to the $12 million it could receive from the Texas Enterprise Fund, which Gov. Rick Perry’s office announced in July.” [Houston Chronicle; Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: HOK
Introducing the Susanne, what appears to be that “Mediterrenean” and “really beautiful” apartment complex that developer Marvy Finger has been saying he was going to build on the site of the recently demolished Montrose Fiesta and the rest of that low-slung strip center at the corner of Dunlavy and W. Alabama. A reader sends a photo of the sign now posted on the construction fence advertising the new complex and its website, on which the rendering above appears; the website provides few details about floor plans and amenities, but it appears that there will be a swimming pool and that the parking garage will provide direct access to each of these 8 stories.
Thanks to $2 million from Silver Eagle Distributors, which is also putting up that new beer dispensary in Pasadena, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership might to be able to afford to turn Eleanor Tinsley Park into something as purty as what you see in the rendering above. That means the existing “event meadow” down below there along Allen Pkwy. will be scooped out and rid of the volleyball court, playground equipment, picnic shelters, and some of the pine trees, then re-landscaped and rechristened the Bud Light Amphitheater; more parking and stairs will be introduced; and a new “Skyline Overlook” pavilion will be built and named in honor of Silver Eagle prez and CEO John Nau.
The dirty work began earlier this month, says the BBP, part of the overall project to install new swag like pedestrian bridges and remove invasive species, transforming the 2.3-mile stretch, BBP prez Anne Olson explained a few months ago to Free Press Houston, into an “11 acre urban prairie.”
- Enhancements are Underway at Eleanor Tinsley Park (PDF) [Buffalo Bayou Park]
- Construction Starts To Turn Eleanor Tinsley Park Into Buffalo Bayou’s Signature Green Space [KUHF]
- Previously on Swamplot: How To Build a Buffalo Bayou Pedestrian Bridge: A Photo Tutorial, Buffalo Bayou Bridge Inserted Here, Fighting Buffalo Bayou Invaders, The Next New Bridge Going over the Bayou, The Pasadena Place Where Beer Will Come From, More Pedestrian Bridges and Other Twists and Turns in the Plans for Buffalo Bayou Park
Rendering: SWA Group
ALLSTON OR NOTHING: SIDE STREET NOW AT CENTER OF ALEXAN YALE APARTMENT DISPUTE 
About 290 ft. of Allston St. have become the latest point of contention between developer Trammell Crow and Heights opponents to the proposed 5-story Alexan Yale apartment complex. This complex, planned immediately south of the other one, would sit on the block bound by 5th, 6th, Yale, and Rutland, with Allston running through it. The Leader reports that Trammell Crow has requested that the city abandon Allston, which dead-ends just before 5th St., so the complex doesn’t have to be discontiguous; opponents, of course, want Allston to be opened up, to help with traffic and ensure connectivity to the nearby detention basin that’s been proposed as a recreation site. The abandonment request is going to be decided upon soon by a city committee of reps from public works, planning, and the fire department — though Trammell Crow appears to have some leverage, reports Cynthia Lescalleet: “The structure could go even higher, the developer says, if it doesn’t get what it’s seeking. . . . [Trammell Crow] has ‘alternate plans’ that would add two or three floors to the building. There’s also speculation about a possible sky bridge connecting sections on either side of the still-open street.” [The Leader; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Allston St.: Allyn West
Plans for what is to come to the master-planned, eco-minded Springwoods Village were revealed yesterday; this rendering shows the Town Center, to be located in this 1,800-acre development near the Grand Pkwy. and I-45, just a few miles south of the new ExxonMobil campus. What’s gonna be here? At first, anyway? 250 apartments — with ground-floor retail; 100,000 sq. ft. of other retail; a hotel; office space (including the brand-new Southwestern Energy HQ); stranded kayakers; and a bunch of hiking trails that encircle the Town Lake.
THE PARC BINZ GETTING SOME RESTAURANT BIZNESS 
Culturemap’s Eric Sandler is reporting that a coffee shop and wine bar and 2 new restaurants will be opening up this fall in Museum Park, all 3 of them going inside the 5-story, 50,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use Parc Binz building that’s currently under construction at the corner of Binz and Chenevert: “The first . . . will serve light bites and feature the same coffee beans from Greenway Coffee and Tea that are currently featured at Blacksmith . . . . The second will be a Korean fried chicken concept tentatively called Dak & Dop. The third will be a full service restaurant under the direction of executive chef Chris Leung, who’s already partnered with Balcor on ice cream shop Cloud 10 Creamery that’s set to open in Rice Village’s Hanover development this fall.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Energy Architecture
The Woodway store is closing, Whole Foods announced yesterday, and the grocer plans to build a new one on the site of the recently closed and approved-for-demolition Flagship Randall’s at 1407 S. Voss near San Felipe. That’s right across the street from the brand-new Trader Joe’s. A Whole Foods rep says that new store will be 40,000 sq. ft., double the size of the store at 6401 Woodway that’s been there since 1983.
- Whole Foods on Woodway is moving to a much bigger space on South Voss [Prime Property]
- Previously on Swamplot: Daily Demolition Report: Out of Groceries, What Houston’s Grocer Growth Might Mean for Randall’s, Yes, the Voss Rd. Randall’s Is Closing, Pix of Trader Joe’s Lonely Voss and San Felipe Landing Site, Sure Looks Like a Trader Joe’s is Headed for Voss and San Felipe
Photo of Flagship Randall’s: Allyn West
A HAIF user posted this rendering of what appears to be the 12-story apartment complex that Hanover is busy making room for near the Rice Village. The demolition of the creaky Village Apartments and Garden Gate that used to stand here on the eastern half of the block bound by Kelvin, Morningside, Dunstan, and Tangley is nearly done (save for a lone tree in the middle of the site under the shade of which sits a picnic table). Hanover has said that this second building, unlike the first 6-story one, won’t have any ground-floor retail.
- Hanover Rice Village Phase II [HAIF]
- Previously on Swamplot: Hanover Knocking Over Village Apartments To Build More Village Apartments, Hanover at Rice Village Feeding the Hungry, First Signs of Hanover’s First Village Tenant, Hanover Reaping More Rice Village Property, Garden Gate Shutting, Cloud 10 Hitting Sweet Spot in the Village, Hanover at Rice Village: What’s Going Up Over Bolsover
Rendering: The Hanover Company
It is no more: A few weeks after the rest of this old strip center on Dunlavy at W. Alabama started coming down, the Montrose Fiesta was finally reduced to rubble, this reader’s photo, taken just before 1 p.m. today, shows. And what’s next for the site? Developer Marvy Finger says he will replacing the grocery store with apartments, telling the Houston Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff in early 2012 that the ensuing complex will be both “Mediterranean” and “really beautiful.”
- Previously on Swamplot: Excavators Finishing Off Neighbors, Moving In on the Montrose Fiesta, Here Comes the Heavy Machinery, There Goes the Dunlavy Fiesta, Scenes from the Dunlavy Fiesta Farewell Shopping Experience, Montrose Fiesta on Dunlavy Will Close Forever in Less Than a Month, Apartments Planned for Montrose Fiesta Site Will Go Tall Mediterranean, Montrose Fiesta Building Owners: That Variance Is for Future Generations, The Montrose Fiesta Is Over: Here Comes Lancaster Square, West Ave-Style Apartments and Retail Planned for Dunlavy Fiesta Site?
Photo: Thomas Stazer
HINES DEVELOPS WEBSITE TO EXPLAIN 17-STORY SAN FELIPE DEVELOPMENT 
Much of the information you might want about that shiny office building Hines says it plans to start building this year on San Felipe has been organized — by Hines, of course — on a new website. Like the recently launched ‘Stop San Felipe Skyscraper’ site supported on the ground by that neighborhood campaign of knee-high yard signs, the Hines site presents its side of things in a handy Q-and-A format: “Are there other tall buildings in the area? Yes. . . . Will the building reduce the privacy of nearby properties? No. . . . Does Hines care about the potential impact on the neighborhood? Absolutely.” [2229 San Felipe; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Hines
A reader sends Swamplot what appears to be the first rendering of the Gensler-designed International Tower: What has been tentatively described as a 41-story, 750,000-sq.-ft. office building, developed by Stream Realty and Essex Commercial Properties, would go up on a Linbeck-owned block Downtown that now is a surface parking lot bound by Preston, Prairie, Milam, and Travis; it’s immediately south of Market Square Park and immediately west of where Hines has said it is considering building another residential highrise. The reader adds that the first 2 floors of the new tower would be devoted to retail and what appears to be a restaurant; construction could begin as early as next year.
- 50-story International Tower by Stream/Essex [HAIF]
- Houston’s downtown skyline to be reshaped [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Project aims at ultra-rich wanting to live smaller [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Previously on Swamplot: Hines Interested in Building Residential Tower on Downtown Block Near Market Square Park
Image: Gensler
Yeah, this old one is a goner: A rep from the city says that a variance application to reduce the building setback has been approved for this corner in Museum Park, making just enough room on the 8,100-sq.-ft. lot at Jackson and Blodgett so 4 townhomes can squeeze on in. The peach-trimmed, converted-into-apartments building at 1702 Blodgett St., catty-corner from the art gallery that opened in the strip center, was in the Daily Demolition Report this morning. County records show that the doomed 4,220-sq.-ft. building dates to 1935.
Here’s a photo of the little rubble pile forming outside the former Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk, a presage of the bigger rubble to come. Skanska, which bought the 18-story building standing on the block bound by Rusk, Capitol, Travis, and Milam, has said it plans to replace it with a 34-story, 700,000-sq.-ft. office tower that’s being designed by Gensler.
- Demolishing the Houston Club at 811 Rusk Street [HAIF]
- Previously on Swamplot: Skanska’s New Downtown Office Tower, Houston Club Tunnel Tenants Making Their Escape, Houston Club Building To Be Demolished, Say Auctioneers, ARCO Office Going Down; Downtown Houston Club Building Will Stay Put, Skanska Goes for a Houston Office Building Hat Trick, Skanska Helping Houston Club to Early Exit, Will Skanska Knock Down the Houston Club?, At Risk on Rusk
Photos: HAIF user Nate99
