Tag: Renovations

Changes to the exterior of the Alabama Theater proposed by Weingarten Realty to accommodate grocery store Trader Joe’s debut appearance in Houston were approved today by the city’s Archeological and Historical Commission. Because it’s a designated city landmark, the commission’s approval is required for changes to the building’s facades (though an alternate wait-90-days-and-you-can-do-whatever-you-want option is also available). Trader Joe’s or Weingarten’s plans to restore, alter, or strip the innards of the Art Deco building at 2922 S. Shepherd Dr., though, won’t require any commission approvals — only construction or demo permits.

77098, Adaptive Reuse, Alabama Theater, Commercial Real Estate, Grocery Stores, Historic Preservation, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

Adaptive Reuse

09/22/11 12:00pm

New Montessori High School Taking Over Museum District Linen Warehouse

Museum District, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Schools

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Note: Story updated and corrected.

The Post Oak School’s brand-new Montessori high school will open next year in the former Party Cloths building at 1102 Autrey St., just west of Montrose Blvd. at the edge of the Southwest Freeway. The single-story building, which dates from 1975 and sits on a third-of-an-acre lot, was purchased recently after a year-long search for a Museum District location; Post Oak High School officials announced the deal and the campus address this morning. The private school plans to spend $700,000 renovating the 6,000-sq.-ft. linen-service company building, and begin the 2012-2013 school year with a 9th grade class and maybe a 10th grade class of about 20 students each.

77006, Adaptive Reuse, Museum District, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Schools

Houston History

09/22/11 10:20am

Freeing Up Funds for Emancipation Park

Parks, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Third Ward

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FREEING UP FUNDS FOR EMANCIPATION PARK The Third Ward’s 10-acre Emancipation Park — on Elgin 2 blocks east of Hwy. 59 — is scheduled receive at least $7 million in improvements, though the historic park’s supporters are hoping to raise funds to boost that figure to $18 million. Either would mark a significant step up from the $800 the Rev. Jack Yates and a group of freed slaves pooled to purchase the property in 1872, as a location for Juneteenth celebrations. (It was later donated to the city.) Recent commitments include $4 million from the OST/Almeda Corridors Redevelopment Authority, $2 million from the city, and a just-announced $1 million grant from Texas’s Parks and Wildlife Dept. According to an HBJ report, local landscape architecture firm M2L Associates is currently at work planning an entry plaza, outdoor exhibit area, trails, lighting, historical markers, and a new building with additional parking for the park. Later phases of improvements would renovate or add a community center, pool house, playground, picnic areas, benches, and sports fields and courts. [Houston Chronicle, Houston Business Journal] Photo: City of Houston

77004, Houston History, Parks, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Third Ward

Commercial Real Estate

09/19/11 12:49pm

Trader Joe’s at the Alabama Theater: New Sign in Front, Cheese in Back

Historic Preservation, Leasing, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby

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Yes, Trader Joe’s wants to open what would likely be its first-ever Houston store at the long-vacant Alabama Theater at 2922 S. Shepherd Dr. — the vacant retail space last used as the home of the Alabama Bookstop. Nancy Sarnoff digs up the proposal for exterior alterations to the designated city landmark sent to the archeological and historical commission by shopping-center owner Weingarten Realty; the changes have already been approved by city staff. Included in the plans: Two big store signs on top of the marquee facing Shepherd . . . and a brand-new turret at the back entrance.

77098, Alabama Theater, Commercial Real Estate, Grocery Stores, Historic Preservation, Leasing, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby, Weingarten Realty

Montrose

09/06/11 7:29pm

Montrose Hostel Opening Soon

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Renovations

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MONTROSE HOSTEL OPENING SOON The former Lovett Inn at 501 Lovett St. in the heart of Montrose will officially reopen as Hostelling International USA’s Morty Rich Hostel on September 25. The 50-bed facility, which will have both shared and private rooms for travelers, is named after the late son of Houston entrepreneurs, developers, and Rice U benefactors Hershel and Hilda Rich. [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Bart Vis [license]

77006, Hostels, Montrose, Renovations

Montrose

09/01/11 11:32pm

New Disco Kroger Now Ready To Handle Montrose Hustle

Renovations, Retail

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The only thing remotely “disco” about the newly completed renovation of the Kroger at 3300 Montrose Blvd., aka Disco Kroger: The tiny lights inside the new letters on the newly stone-clad entrance. And they’re now covered in plastic. No disco ball in sight. But inside the 41,000-sq.-ft. store, it’s all hustle: Most of the checkout lanes are now express lanes, designed to get shoppers with less than 20 items out the door as quickly as possible. A new QueVision system monitors the number of customers and open lanes, helping cashiers predict how many will need to be open in the next half-hour:

77006, Grocery Stores, Montrose, Renovations, Retail

Downtown

08/24/11 6:03pm

Inside Downtown’s Brand-New 1910 Courthouse

Public Buildings, Renovations

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Judges and their staff from the 1st and 14th state courts of appeals won’t move in until next month, but a restored and rejiggered version of the 1910 Harris County Courthouse at 301 Fannin St. downtown was opened yesterday for a rededication ceremony after 5 years of construction. PGAL and Vaughn Construction directed a $65 million renovation that undid all sorts of alterations to the building begun in 1953. The original building was designed by an architect from Dallas, Charles Erwin Barglebaugh, on the site of 4 previous county courthouses. Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia brings back this photo tour:

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Courthouses, Downtown, Public Buildings, Renovations

Highland Village

08/19/11 11:35pm

Looscan Library Leakage

Public Buildings, Quicklink, Renovations, River Oaks

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LOOSCAN LIBRARY LEAKAGE Why is the Looscan Neighborhood Library at 2510 Willowick near Highland Village closing for 4 months of renovations — only 4 years after it was built? Problems with water infiltration. “When it rains pretty good, water gets into those walls and into that doorway,” a library spokesperson tells Charlotte Aguilar. Both entrances will get new exterior canopies, and the lobby will get a new walk-off mat system to catch tracked-in water and prevent slipping. Plus: new moisture-resistant wall finishes and stone baseboards. Work begins a week from Saturday. [River Oaks Examiner] Photo: River Oaks Examiner

77027, Highland Village, Libraries, Public Buildings, Renovations, River Oaks, Water Infiltration

Churches

08/19/11 5:33pm

Another Church on Aurora St., Ready for Your Homey Touches

Homes for Sale, Interiors, Sunset Heights

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Inspired, perhaps, by Andrea Grover’s transformation of a former church just down the street into the Aurora Picture Show microcinema (it’s now called 14 Pews), the sellers of the 1960 vintage Community Gospel Church at 608 Aurora St. have now taken to the residential real estate market to unload their 8,190-sq.-ft. building on a 17,880-sq.-ft. Sunset Heights corner lot. Yes, says the listing, this unique property could be converted to a “1-of-a-kind magnificent show home,” or several single-story condos, or — and we quote — “just use land if you have no imagination.” (Bravo!) Among the itemized suggestions for the 80-ft.-by-42-ft. sanctuary, which seats 275 devout worshippers: “fabulous” media or game room; quarters or (very large) mother-in-law apartment; “party room,” or — yes — personal bowling alley. Here it is:

77009, Churches, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Renovations, Sunset Heights

East Downtown

07/28/11 6:28pm

East Downtown’s 8th Wonder of the Craft Brewing World

Industrial Properties, Renovations

This single-story warehouse building at 2202 Dallas St. will be the home of a new craft brewery founded by Houston food-truck veterans the Eatsie Boys. The 5,000-sq.-ft. building at the corner of Hutchins is near the site of Dynamo Stadium and a short walk to Minute Maid Park, but the brewery will be named after the empty and forlorn former home of the Astros further south: 8th Wonder Brewery. When the lease was signed in April, there was a different name behind it. But “Heady Brewing Company” ran into a few trademark issues, so they’re going with the Dome. The buildout should be complete at the end of this year, with the first 8th Wonder beers appearing around town in 2012.

77003, Breweries, East Downtown, Industrial Properties, Renovations

Harbordale

07/25/11 12:30pm

At the Sign of the Apple: Largest Food Bank Ever

Industrial Properties, Institutional Buildings, Openings and Closings, Renovations

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The silver apple went up late last week on the enormous new Houston Food Bank location carved out of the former Sysco Foods warehouse at 535 Portwall St., just northwest of the I-10 East-610 Loop intersection. The 310,000-sq.-ft. facility will include a cafe, a community room and training center that’s open to the public, and a volunteer program called Serving for Success that’s open to inmates and probationers. The organization hopes to use its new space to double the amount of food it distributes (to 120 million lbs. a year) by 2018. Official opening date: September 23rd.

77029, Distribution Centers, Harbordale, Houston Architects, Industrial Properties, Institutional Buildings, Nonprofit-Development, Openings and Closings, Renovations

Mangum Manor

07/25/11 9:58am

Former Steak and Ale on Mangum Rd. To Begin New Life as Strip Club

Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Renovations

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Whatever steak and ale was left in this building at 2425 Mangum Rd. has been taken off . . . very slowly. Only to be brought back in a new form: A reader who’s noted some heavy construction — including the covering-up of windows — at this former restaurant on the southwest side of 290 over the last month and a half says the new occupants appeared to have applied for a liquor license under the name “Mangum Steakhouse.” Actual name of the new joint: Sunset Strip, a “totally latex free” club where you’ll find “the hottest entertainers in H-Town” — once they’re hired, of course. Scheduled opening date: August 3rd. Any resemblance between Highway 290 and the actual Sunset Strip, of course, is courtesy of the ghost of Anna Nicole Smith, and the Pleasures she left behind on the other side of the freeway at 34th St.

Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip – Houston [Backpage]

Photo: LoopNet

77092, Bars and Clubs, Mangum Manor, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Renovations

Crime

07/19/11 1:58pm

That New Black Hole Next to Pak’s

Interiors, Leasing, Montrose, Renovations, Retail

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Montrose all-star convenience store Pak’s has been hit by the same pair of robbers 5 times in the last 8 months. And now it’s been remodeled, with an eye on security. The cashier area is now surrounded by glass, and a new wall adjacent to it now extends from the front to the back, closing off one side of the store, Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia reports. Behind that wall is a mysterious black box, measuring maybe 500 sq. ft. that’s visible to the street. What’s going in there? An owner confirms to Garcia it’s a new lease space, though no tenant has been identified yet.

77006, Convenience Stores, Crime, Interiors, Leasing, Montrose, Renovations, Retail

Openings and Closings

07/05/11 2:20pm

New Quick Stop for Slow Foods in River Oaks

Renovations, Retail, River Oaks

This building at 3951 San Felipe, just west of Willowick, may have started out as a gas station, but it’s also spent time as a cleaners and most recently was a bank. Since its soft opening last week, it’s been Relish Fine Foods, a small new market for the River Oaks crowd, specializing in natural and seasonal gourmet food, with shout-outs to local vendors. There’s still plenty of room to fill the wide-open 2,300-sq.-ft. interior with more merchandise, reports photographer Candace Garcia. (More than the current deli and olive bars may show up before the official opening next week.) But where better to start a little Houston grocery that supports the slow food movement than in this drive-up-friendly grab-and-go location? Parking-lot-facing sandwich munchers, there’s even a marble bar set up along the west front of the building set up just for you:

77019, Grocery Stores, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Retail, River Oaks

Nightlife

07/05/11 11:40am

The Corkscrew Pops Open in Shady Acres

Openings and Closings, Renovations, Shady Acres