03/10/09 9:32am

A reader sends in photos from the southwest corner of North Shepherd and 11th St., where the Kroger is getting ready to expand into the site of a few vanquished neighbors:

the gas station that was in front of the kroger was demolished earlier this year and within the past couple weeks part of the strip center next to the kroger has started to be demolished. I called the kroger last week and the lady on the phone informed me that they are expanding and the store is going to be very nice – will have a starbucks, sushi bar, salad bar, etc and a kroger gas station will be built where the gas station was demolished. heights area residents can’t wait!!

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03/02/09 12:13pm

HEY, HEY, STAY OUTTA OUR CHICK-FIL-A A brief excerpt from that satirical article in the Cinco Ranch High School newspaper that sparked protests from students of neighboring schools at the LaCenterra Shopping Center last Friday: “You can’t help but be a little bit angry when you’re stuck in the Whataburger drive-thru behind an unimaginably large caravan of Katy cars, each sporting at least 12 stickers reminding you of their accomplishments. If they’re so great why can’t they go to their own Whataburger? There’s this feeling in our little corner of the world that just says: This is Cinco. Some believe there is a sense of ownership to the neighboring businesses and restaurants… Cinco’s Mission Burrito. Cinco’s Target. Cinco’s Taco Bell, Whataburger, Sonic. Seeing anything but maroon clad students and parents roaming the aisles seems odd to some. Don’t they have their own places to go? ” [Fort Bend Now]

02/13/09 4:20pm

Last week Lucky Strike Lanes announced that the stalled buildout of the company’s new upscale bowling alley and lounge in Houston Pavilions would be “put on hold”indefinitely. This time the company isn’t complaining about delayed equipment deliveries, though. It’s delayed money deliveries:

“At the moment we are seeking financing to complete the project and are having meaningful conversations with potential Houston-based partners as well as investors from elsewhere in the country,” Lucky Strike President Dolf Berle said. “We are still dedicated and committed to opening in Houston.”

Meanwhile, this past Wednesday night HAIF poster houstonartstudent reported the quiet withdrawal of two minor — and seemingly out-of-place — retail tenants:

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01/28/09 10:51am

IS THAT THREE BROTHERS BAKERY ON THE LINE? A spokesperson for Weingarten Realty reports the company has “a number of good prospects” to lease the second-story space in the semi-curved replacement building that caused all that fuss over at the River Oaks Shopping Center. Earlier this week, Tony Vallone announced he’s backing out of plans to open a new Italian restaurant in the space: “. . . the recent flak between neighbors and developer Weingarten Realty on such points as the building’s setbacks and the use of the patio were not factors in pulling the plug, he said, adding the discourse was full of misinformation. Vallone said, for example, rumors were circulated that the patio would have been used, at times, as a band venue, which would not have been the case. ‘I would never do anything to jeopardize the relationship with the neighborhood,’ Vallone said.” [River Oaks Examiner; previously]

01/19/09 11:50am

Weingarten’s Planning Commission victory earlier this month doesn’t resolve everything for the westernmost of two replacement retail buildings now under construction at the River Oaks Shopping Center. First, reports Mary Ann Acevedo in the Houston Business Journal, that last-minute compromise left a few neighbors grumbling:

. . . some of the neighbors are not pleased that they didn’t have an opportunity to review the final agreement after Weingarten’s most recent changes prior to the Jan. 8 hearing with the Planning Commission.

According to [neighbor Janet] Moore, Weingarten had told the group it would deliver an advance copy for their review.

“They presented us a signed, unmarked copy at the hearing and had no one available authorized to negotiate changes to the agreement,” Moore says. “Some of the neighbors are disappointed with a few of the changes in the agreement.”

On, Jan. 13, Weingarten presented the neighbors with a revised agreement that Moore says does address some of those concerns, although the parties continue to work out the details.

Next, that Vallone restaurant planned for the building’s second floor and balcony — which at one point was referred to in Weingarten’s marketing materials as Il Tavolo (and is labeled Adagio Vino in the renderings) — may not be a done deal yet:

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01/09/09 9:59am

There was no showdown over the River Oaks Shopping Center variance request at yesterday’s Planning Commission hearing. In talks prior to the meeting, Weingarten Realty used its mad skillz to assuage the most vocal neighbors with a few minor changes to the patio-topped porte-cochere facing Shepherd Drive — already under construction — that violated the setback:

. . . reduce the size of the balcony seating and enclose the seating area. That will result in a 30-inch encroachment into the area of the 25-foot setback.

Lower the 10-inch signage on the west side of the building facing Shepherd Drive.

Will remove external LED lights on the west side of the building and turn off flashing security box lights inside the parking garage.

Variance . . . granted! The screencapture above shows the revised, enclosed balcony shown at the hearing, which will be a part of Tony and Jeff Vallone’s new Il Tavolo restaurant and wine bar.

Weingarten knows how to keep more than just a noisy upstairs wine-bar quiet, notes abc13’s Miya Shay:

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01/06/09 11:51am

Azzarelli’s Restaurant has fled the Tuscan-styled Villagio Town Center in Cinco Ranch, reports InsideKaty blogger Helen Eriksen — leaving behind a delinquent-rent notice on the front door . . . and some sort of lawsuit:

Inside the spacious eatery, napkins, bread plates and wine glasses are neatly arranged on the tables. Christmas decorations are also still in place but it’s unclear if the closing is permanent.

Efforts to reach [owner Frank] Triola were unsuccessful as of this blog posting. The person who answered the phone for the leasing agent, Villagio Partners, said she would have to check to see if someone could call me back because there is ongoing litigation in the matter.

Meanwhile, commenters have sighted a new Azzarelli’s just off the Katy Freeway:

However, driving down 1-10 heading west from Houston, the Barker Cypress exit has a new strip center and what do you know… Azzerelli’s is opening up a new restaurant! I think that the rent was very high at the Villagio Town Center and they are moving to a lower cost building. ??

Tuscan theming doesn’t come cheap. Another giveaway: the flashing “I-10 Location Coming soon!” notice on the Azzarelli’s website.

Photo: Azzarelli’s

12/29/08 12:02pm

Here’s something we can all feel tingly and nostalgic about: Developer Bobby Orr’s Heights-ish fantasy — of brand-new old-timey storefronts facing long streetside parking lots off Yale St. and Heights Blvd. just south of I-10 — is dead. The Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff drops news of the demise of the Heights Village dream as an aside to her update on the stalled-out High Street development.

The entire 4.9-acre property, across Heights Blvd. from the ArtCar Museum, is back on the market, at $75 a square foot.

Sadly, Cushman & Wakefield’s listing for the property doesn’t include any misty watercolors to memorialize what might have been. But Swamplot remembers! Here’s a brief trip down invented-memory lane . . . in 3 quick images:

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12/29/08 10:50am

Problems getting credit have stalled or dashed hopes for many Houston developments, leaving vacant sites, ratty construction fences, and more than a few misleading “coming soon” signs touting unachievable goals. Off Westheimer just west of Mid Lane, though, we’ll have a much bigger and longer-lasting reminder of changed fortunes to look at, for a good long while: The steel frame of the first building in Trademark Property’s High Street project.

Work has stopped.

What happened?

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12/15/08 10:45am

Just line that short central driveway through your new power-center parking lot with a small number of stores and head-in parking. Fortify the freeway frontage with an FM-1960-worthy strip of more than the usual number of pad sites, and build the whole thing next to a mall! Next problem?

Introducing the new Katy Main Street, a just-announced 86-acre shopping center named for the short strip of 4 retail buildings meant to line its gullet.

The mixed-use development is designed to include 485,000 square feet of retail space, 500,000 square feet of office space and a full-service hotel and convention center at the southwest corner of Interstate 10 and Pin Oak Road in Katy.

All this . . . just across the street from the Katy Mills Mall!

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12/10/08 2:48pm

Weingarten had no problem tearing down the first part of the River Oaks Shopping Center last year. But when it decided to replace the historic curved building at the northeast corner of West Gray and Shepherd with the semi-curved, semi-modern confection shown here, did the company go too far?

According to the GHPA, Weingarten is now seeking a variance to allow it to keep changes it made to the approved plans for the building — which have already been built. From a website referred to in a GHPA email:

The restaurant’s balcony facing Shepherd encroaches into the mandatory setback, violating Houston City Setback Requirements. Once the City was notified of the encroachment, construction of the encroaching porch was stopped—temporarily. . . . Weingarten Realty has requested that the Planning Commission grant a variance to permit this encroaching porch. Without objections from concerned citizens like you, the City will likely grant the variance request.

That restaurant is Jeff and Tony Vallone’s planned new Il Tavolo. After the jump, a portion of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance’s message:

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11/24/08 12:20pm

HOUSTON’S LONELY STRIP CENTERS

Has the nail-salon bubble finally burst? Retail space in so many area strip centers lies vacant: “In the Houston area, much of the problem lies in strip centers built during the recent commercial real estate boom when inexperienced developers were throwing up small centers in areas close to new residential growth. In the third quarter, Houston-area strip centers recorded the lowest occupancy of all retail property types at 80.4 percent, according to the Colliers report. Some of these buildings went up away from highly coveted traffic corners, and before any tenants were signed — a risky proposition should something go wrong.” [Houston Chronicle]

11/14/08 11:41am

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]

11/12/08 9:10am

Sign for Hunan River Restaurant and Back Door Sushi, River Oaks Shopping Center, 2015 W. Gray St. No. J, Houston

The back door of the Hunan River restaurant — which also serves as the front door of Back Door Sushi — now features a stern letter from landlord Weingarten Realty, reports a reader who sent Swamplot a photo. The two restaurants share the kitchen of a small building in the back of the River Oaks Shopping Center, facing Peden.

“Your rentals are in fact delinquent and we have therefore changed the lock to your door pursuant to the provisions of Section 93.002 of the Texas Property Code,” reads the letter. It’s dated November 3rd, which means whatever’s locked inside has had plenty of time to marinate.

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11/05/08 12:14pm

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]