Tag: Renovations

Interiors, Maplewood, Renovations

12 Comments

Before and after photos of a renovated 1965 home in Maplewood South (above) show how the transformation flipped not only the property but also its finishes, which deepened in tones and accents from light (top) to dark (above) as part of the overhaul. The property sold in November 2012 for $182,500. After its 3-month makeover, though, the home’s initial asking price is $334,000.

77096, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Maplewood South, Renovations

Midtown

02/07/13 1:00pm

DeModifying a Modified Travis St. Mod

Office Buildings, Renovations

9 Comments

A Swamplot reader sends in photos of this Travis St. office building’s — well, stuccover. Gone are the striped awnings and gas light (pictured at the top) likely added during the building’s New Orleans Revival phase. Also gone is a trick-of-the-eye mural continuing those awnings (and window-fronting balcony railings, too) painted on the brick load-bearing wall that faces south toward Francis St. Built in 1959, the 4,741-sq.-ft. Midtown office space was purchased last June.

Want to see more of the stuccover?

77006, Midtown, Mod, Office Buildings, Renovations

Interiors

02/07/13 9:30am

Great New Indoors Replacing The Old Great Indoors

Proposed Developments

1 Comment

If you like intensely cinematic video renderings of former housewares stores set to a really rocking soundtrack, you’re going to love this one: It’s Block 10 West Office Park! This screenshot from the video shows how developer Hicks Ventures plans to maintain fidelity to the original I-10 site near Beltway 8, retaining the parking lot that used to front the former Great Indoors, which Sears sold along with 9 other stores about a year ago.

I-10, Interiors, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Renovations

Downtown

02/06/13 1:30pm

Where Will the Ramen Be?

Interiors, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants

6 Comments

WHERE WILL THE RAMEN BE? You can order ramen at dozens of places in Houston, but The Modular food truck’s Joshua Martinez’s Goro & Gun, declaresÂ Houston Press‘s Katharine Shilcutt, is going to be the firstÂ dedicated to the squiggly noodle: Doubling as a bar, Goro & Gun is set to open in about a month somewhere Downtown; CultureMap’s Tyler Rudick hazards a guess that 306 Main St. will be the new spot, butÂ Martinez calls that story’s reporting “very inaccurate.” So where, then? Martinez andÂ his fellow gaijin Brad Moore and Ryan RouseÂ aren’t ready to say, but Shilcutt doesÂ slip in a few clues: “The downtown restaurant which will house Goro & Gun hasn’t been home to anything successful in years. Its last resident was a sandwich shop, which closed almost as quickly as it opened.” And it’ll be in a “shotgun-style space.”Â [CultureMap; Eating Our Words] Photo: First We Feast

77002, Downtown, Interiors, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants

Homes for Sale

02/06/13 11:15am

Watching the Garden from an Updated Oak Forest Abode

Interiors, Oak Forest, Renovations

14 Comments

Austin-style eco-landscaping finishes out the front of this renovated 1940 Oak Forest home new listing, which comes with an initial asking price of $319,000. The property’s far greener outback includes a fenced-off veggie-herb-fruit garden. Next to it, an air-conditioned treehouse stands guard; a balcony allows visitors to the raised clubhouse to keep a watchful eye on errant vegetation. Inside the main house, meanwhile, a super-sized master suite occupies a goodly portion of the total living space.

77018, Gardens, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Oak-Forest, Renovations, Treehouses

Buying and Selling

02/06/13 9:30am

Taking A Few More Shots at Houston’s LBJ House

Historic Districts, Home Repairs, Homes for Sale, Houston History, Interiors, Price Trends, Renovations, Westmoreland Historic District

19 Comments

LBJ wuz here: Built in 1904, this 3,161-sq.-ft. home on the corner of Hawthorne and Garrott in the Westmoreland Historic District gave the future president a place to crash in 1931 when he was teaching public speaking and coaching the debate team at Sam Houston High School.

In March 2011, the house was put on the market for the first time in 90 years; the price climbed to almost $619,000 that June. It sat for a year, going for just under $285,000.Â Renovations began that summer. And the houseÂ returned 9 days ago with a new MLS number, new photos, and a newÂ historically low — for this place, anyway —Â price: $569,900.

77006, Homes for Sale, Houston History, Interiors, Listings, Montrose, Renovations, Westmoreland Historic District

Drainage

01/31/13 4:15pm

Waiting for the Grass To Grow at Miller Outdoor Theatre

Hermann Park, Parks, Renovations

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All winter this Hermann Park high point has been fenced off while crews have worked on Miller Outdoor Theatre’s heavily used seating (and rolling-down) area to update drainage andÂ irrigation systems, among other hill-improvement-type activities. The project, funded by the city, has a budget of almost $261,000. This photo shows a little patch of progress; though performances start back up in April, the theater warns you not to get your hopes up: the hill could remain closed through May.

Improvements at Miller [Miller Outdoor Theatre]

Photo: Miller Outdoor Theatre

77030, Drainage, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Parks, Public Space, Renovations

Interiors

01/31/13 10:30am

Texas Children’s Preparing To Open in Kirby and West Alabama Shopping Center

Medical Buildings, Mixed Use, Renovations, Shopping Centers, Signage, Upper Kirby

4 Comments

One-stop shopping: you can see the signage and new (and presumably sterile) cabinetry through the second-floor windows ofÂ The Centre at River Oaks (in Upper Kirby, in fact), where a 25,000-sq.-ft. branch of Texas Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Associates is expected to open in March; the makeover of the shopping center at West Alabama and Kirby began last summer; Ainbinder announced that Ulta Beauty would be operating out of the first floor of the bankrupt Borders; Texas Children’s will sit atop both Ulta Beauty and Brio Tuscan Grille.

Previously on Swamplot: Doctors Without Borders: Kelsey Seybold Clinic Taking Over Pole Position at Meyerland Plaza, Borders Activity Report

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77098, Hospitals, Interiors, Medical Buildings, Mixed Use, Renovations, Shopping Centers, Signage

Houston Heights

01/30/13 4:45pm

Heights Blvd. House of Houstonia

Office Space, Openings and Closings, Renovations

8 Comments

The headquarters of Houston natives and siblings Scott and Nicole Vogel’s Houstonia magazine will be here, the new monthly glossy tweets, at this repainted Victorian at 477 Heights Blvd. The 4,200-sq.-ft. house was purchased in October, city records show. Unveiled earlier this week,Â Houstonia is expected to debut this March; the masthead will include writers like Robb Walsh and inveterateÂ streetwalker John Nova Lomax, formerly of the Houston Press.

Houstonia Magazine launches for Houston [mikemcguff.com]
A prelaunch oops? New Houston city magazine changes its name after a major hotel complains [CultureMap]
Previously on Swamplot: The Meanest Strip Mall in Houston

Photo: Houstonia

77007, Houston Heights, Office Space, Renovations

Garden Oaks

01/30/13 4:07pm

Lining Up the Living in an Updated Garden Oaks Cottage

Homes for Sale, Interiors, Renovations

5 Comments

Shadow-hued through and through, an updated Garden Oaks home has a floor plan that’s a bit like a slice of Neapolitan ice cream. Room functions — sleeping quarters, living areas, and food-related spaces — stripe the home in thirds. Compact but fully loaded, the property listed earlier this week at an even $249,000. It last sold in 2009, for $198,500.

77018, Garden Oaks, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Renovations

Montrose

01/30/13 10:00am

Counting Down to 11:11

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants

4 Comments

COUNTING DOWN TO 11:11 Chef Kevin Bryant is renovating the former Bibas Diner at 607 West Gray for a new “casual fine dining restaurant” called 11:11 that’s expected to open in March; Greg Morago reports that the building (shown at left) is being updated to include a 100-seat patio and an 80-90 seat private dining section upstairs with a private terrace. The former Capitol at St. Germain and L’Olivier chef, reports Morago, is devising a menu “he describes as ‘Southern coastal.’ There will be an oyster bar, a raw bar program (sourcing East Coast bivalves), sashimi, lobsters, and a ceviche of the day. The restaurant will use Gulf seafood where appropriate, but source from all over.”Â [29-95] Photo: Allyn West

Quicklink, Renovations, Restaurants

Ayrshire

01/25/13 2:30pm

Back from the Brink: An Ayrshire Redo

Braeswood Place, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Renovations

13 Comments

It was supposed to be a teardown, this almost-defiant home in Ayrshire. That’s what had happened to the original homes on either side of this still-single-story one, located on a cul-de-sac one house away from the railroad and utility easement that separates the neighborhood from Bellaire. Demolition is what a view-screening label dictated on just about every interior photo in the before-the-redo listing. The buyer and design team had other ideas, though,Â and renovated the 1957 ranch-style house into something more 2013-ish, outside and in.

77025, Ayrshire, Braeswood Place, Flipping, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Renovations

Homes for Sale

01/25/13 1:45pm

Leaving the Lights On in a $2 Million Montrose Manor

Interiors, Montrose, Renovations

27 Comments

Dating to 1913, this very white Colonial has been given extensive renovations both inside and out that have lent the place a certain glow. Listed earlier this week atÂ $1.95 million, the 5,700-sq.-ft. home stands in Montrose at the corner of Sul Ross and Brandt, providing highwayside views of U.S. 59.

77006, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Listings, Montrose, Renovations

Commercial Real Estate

01/24/13 1:30pm

Will Central Square Plaza Look Like . . . This?

Midtown, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Renovations

11 Comments

Squatters and street artists might have to find another bygone building to pick on — but that’s only assuming there’s something really behind the renderings of renovations to Midtown’s Central Square Plaza that Claremont Property has been floating around. Could that demure stone mosaic on the wall facing Webster finally get its comeuppance after years of playing hard to get?