Tag: Upper Kirby

Openings and Closings
06/14/11 5:32pm

Internum Takes Over Where Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Took Off

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Retail, Upper Kirby
4 Comments

This photo, sent straight from the street by a Kirby-cruising reader, shows the brief sign-free interregnum between the rule of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and its replacement, Internum, at 3303 Kirby. There’s been no change of ownership at the home furnishings store, and Internum will continue to sell MG+BW lines — at least for a little while. But luxury-goods company European Designs, operator of MG+BW stores in Houston, Miami, and Mexico City, is renaming and revamping its locations, adding in additional furniture brands like Poltrona Frau, Kenzo Maison, Baxter, Cappelini, and Flexform. European Designs also operates the Roche-Bobois stores in Houston and several other U.S. and Mexican cities.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Openings and Closings
05/24/11 2:51pm

Westheimer Strip-Center Hotspot: Rickshaw to Fins to Tony Mandola’s — to Something Ouisie’s

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Restaurants, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby
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The endcap restaurant space on the River Oaks Village strip center just west of Kirby that’s currently home to Tony Mandola’s but before that was Fins and before that Rickshaw and Bambu — but that’s still probably familiar to more people as that “No Parking Here for Chuy’s” place — will have a new name over the door soon. Ouisie’s Table owner Elouise Adams Jones plans to open a yet-to-be-named “new American-style bistro” at 2810 Westheimer in September. Tony Mandola’s will escape to its new Waugh Dr. building as soon as it’s ready this summer, after spending only a few months in what the restaurant officially calls its “miracle location.” (Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen closed its longtime location in the River Oaks Shopping Center at the end of its lease in January. A high-foreheaded Brasserie 19 is open in that space now.)

Photo: LoopNet

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Apartments
05/11/11 12:15pm

West Ave Ready To Push West

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Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Upper Kirby
32 Comments

WEST AVE READY TO PUSH WEST Catie Brubaker reports that West Ave is set to begin construction on an expansion in January, consisting of 270 new apartments and 150 new retail parking spaces. The new development will go in the fenced area west of the existing garage, north of Kipling St. and just south of the Regency House condos. Isn’t this area marked “Phase III” on circulated site plans? Yes. The much larger development originally labeled Phase II — stretching all the way south to West Alabama and west to Virginia St. — has now apparently been switched to a later, third phase. Planned for  that much bigger extension: “350 multifamily units, a 175-key hotel, 100k SF of office, and an additional 275k SF of retail. Nick [Hernandez of Page Partners] says Page is ‘way down the road’ on preleasing, especially for restaurants.” [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: West Ave River Oaks

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Condos
03/21/11 5:29pm

The Glass-Popping Lawsuit at 2727 Kirby

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Hazards, Highrises, Lawsuits, Upper Kirby
23 Comments

A “massive” sheet of glass from a wall surrounding an outdoor recreational area of the 2727 Kirby condo tower fell from the 7th floor to the street and damaged a car sometime after June 21st of last year, according to a lawsuit filed against the developer by the building’s owners. No one was injured, but the incident sparked a round of investigations into the building and the discovery, according to the lawsuit, of additional construction problems: with the glass railings on the balconies of individual units, portions of the metal wall-panel system and the exterior tile cladding, the fire sprinkler system, and the building’s waterproofing, among other things. The lawsuit follows an earlier confidential settlement agreement for other claims against the developer that was worked out last year. Oh, and for those of you keeping score at home, a spokesperson for the building owner says 38 of the building’s 77 units have been sold so far.

Photo: Michael Bludworth

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New Construction
02/28/11 6:19pm

Starting to Dig on the Carrabba’s Garage

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Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Upper Kirby
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Here’s the big hole being dug at the corner of Branard and Argonne, just off Kirby Dr., where it looks like Carrabba’s Italian Grill is moving forward on its plan to build a 275-car multi-story parking garage. After Mission Constructors completes the garage, the next step in the multi-stage expansion plan — which includes 2 additional restaurants and some office space — will be to build a new Carrabba’s right next to the existing one along Kirby. That Carrabba’s is one of only 2 still owned by the family of restaurant cofounder Johnny Carrabba. The more than 200 locations in the Carrabba’s Italian Grill chain are owned by Outback Steakhouse’s corporate parent, OSI Restaurant Partners.

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Comments
02/25/11 2:13pm

Comment of the Day: Where Was All That Booze When We Needed It?

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Nightlife, Quicklink, Upper Kirby
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE WAS ALL THAT BOOZE WHEN WE NEEDED IT? “Yep, I won’t be doing any drinking in that building. Attended too many funerals there; which would have been helped by an open bar.” [miss_msry, commenting on Heavy Drinking in the Old Funeral Home: Kirby’s Settegast Kopf Going Multi-Bar]

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Openings and Closings
02/25/11 12:52pm

A Not-So-Moveable Feast: Sorrel Urban Bistro Wants Local Foods Only at Ziggy’s Old West Alabama Pad

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Restaurants, Upper Kirby
3 Comments

The owner of the Pepperoni’s Pizza chain — which has locations in First Colony, New Territory, Pecan Grove, Riverstone, Rosenberg, Greatwood, Woodbridge, Sienna Plantation, and Fulshear — plans to open a bistro focused on local ingredients in the former Ziggy’s Healthy Grill space at the corner of West Alabama and Greenbriar. (Before Ziggy’s, the down-in-front space in the 2-story office building at 2202 West Alabama housed natural-foods store A Moveable Feast.) A sign advertising Sorrel Urban Bistro now hangs out front. Ray Salti tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam he expects his new farm-to-table restaurant — which will feature a new menu each week — will open up by early May, and that he’ll count both Mark’s and Haven as his closest competition. Salti also owns Ray’s Grill in Fulshear.

Photos: Aaron Carpenter

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Nightlife
02/25/11 11:56am

Heavy Drinking in the Old Funeral Home: Kirby’s Settegast Kopf Going Multi-Bar

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Renovations, Restaurants, Upper Kirby
15 Comments

The vacant Settegast Kopf funeral home on Kirby and Colquitt, long the butt of jokes from the proprietors of Radio Music Theater across the street, will soon be home to as many as 4 separate bars, according to plans now working their way through the city permit office. Club Rush, a Railhouse Restaurant and Bar, and Twist Bar are the names attached to the permit applications, though a comment from the fire marshal notes that the plans themselves label the establishments Twist, Fountain Bar, Club R Oak, and Hendricks Pub. It looks like the Hendricks Pub would be carved out of the former Chase Bank drive-thru next door at 3312 Kirby; a TABC application for that building is tied to an attorney by that name.

The entire block of Kirby between Colquitt and West Main, including the 2-story retail building on the north end that includes a Cafe Express, is owned by an entity controlled by New York investment firm Thor Equities, though New Regional Planning broker (and planning commission member) Blake Tartt III, who sold it to them 3 years ago, still has a sign out front. Thor’s plan to build a complex called the Kirby Collection on the site apparently stalled not long after it was announced, though the project still has a placeholder page on the company’s website.

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Highland Village
01/12/11 11:49am

The Sweet Deal Waiting for Tootsies at West Ave

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Leasing, Retail, Upper Kirby
2 Comments

Highland Village owner Haidar Barbouti “probably didn’t get hung up on the legal nuances” of how to shake Tootsies free of its Westheimer store when its lease ended, a source explains to Swamplot. But both he and Tootsies owner Mickey Rosemarin are ready to move on. Now that the court skirmish over the eviction and the store’s subsequent request for a restraining order have been formally resolved in Tootsies’ favor, Rosmarin’s clothing boutique will be able to stay at its Highland Village location through the end of the month. At which point, according to a store spokesperson, “The store will close one night and open the next business day” at West Ave. The new mixed-use complex at Kirby and Westheimer reportedly lured the retailer into a lease with generous terms: forgoing base rent in exchange for a percentage of Tootsies’ sales.

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Franchises and Chain Stores
12/22/10 5:15pm

And a Corner Bakery on Every Corner

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Quicklink, Restaurants
15 Comments

AND A CORNER BAKERY ON EVERY CORNER A new franchisee of Dallas’s Corner Bakery Cafe chain has bought the company’s 2 Houston restaurants — one in the Reliant Energy Plaza building Downtown and the other downstairs from Dowling Music in that double-decker strip mall facing the 59 feeder near Kirby. Next step for Fairview Capital Management Group: Open 19 new Corner Bakery locations in Houston over the next 8 years. Watch your endcaps: Franchisees in other cities are planning to add an additional 31 corner locations in Texas over the same period. [Business Wire; previously on Swamplot]

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Fires
10/05/10 3:45pm

Hot Hot! Pumpkin Alert: Jack O’ Lanterns Burn the Kirby Whole Foods Market

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Retail, Upper Kirby
42 Comments

The scene outside the Whole Foods Market on the corner of Kirby and West Alabama this afternoon, where a ginormous outdoor pumpkin display turned into fire and smoke. Five fire trucks later, the flames were out, and the store was closed. Store managers report there were no injuries and no damage to the store’s interior.

Photo: Justin

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Proposed Developments
09/13/10 11:49pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: What We Could Do by the Freeway

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Retail, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby
4 Comments

Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:

What’s to dig up from last week’s question:

  • Upper Kirby: Whatever traffic study was being conducted on the Southwest Freeway feeder road nearby, it has nothing to do with the strip-center, bank, and maybe drive-thru development Lovett Commercial is hoping to get going on that patch of grass along the feeder to Lexington St. at Greenbriar, leasing agent Elizabeth Jacob tells Swamplot. Lovett has a sign up, is waiting for phone calls, and has a site plan to show (see below) as “an example of what we could do,” she says. Any involvement with the site by H-E-B (as was claimed by one commenter) would be news to her, she tells us.

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Commercial Real Estate
09/07/10 7:40pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: The Crying of Lot 59

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Upper Kirby
13 Comments

Got an answer to this reader question? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.

  • Upper Kirby: “Someone is conducting a traffic study along the Southwest Freeway at Greenbriar,” a reader reports. “Is that someone finally going to build on the vacant block between 59 and Lexington?” Someone? Anyone?

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Commercial Real Estate
08/02/10 7:24pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Potholes and Pads

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Demolitions, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Upper Kirby, Woodlake Plaza
5 Comments

Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:

Scuttlebutt on that decrepit parking lot on Richmond, plus what’s ready to pop up on the site of the Hooters on Gessner:

  • Upper Kirby: “How many professionals in kenneth cole loafers or nine west heels want to navigate lake Ponchartrain just to get to our restaurant for a meal?” asks a commenter from Yelapa Playa Mexicana, one of three restaurants sharing the potholed (and occasionally flooded) parking lot between Richmond and Portsmouth west of Greenbriar. But . . . nothing’s doing:

    We would love to force our landlord to get this mess fixed as soon as possible…any advice from anyone? We’ve been on him for the last 10 months or more (since we took the space in mid-September 09).

    Commenter marmer notes a repair job may involve significant drainage work. “Simply patching the holes won’t last long enough to be worth the trouble.” Plus, where are Yelapa, Blue Fish House, and Hobbit Café customers gonna park while the work gets done? Also left unanswered: Is the existing parking lot required to meet any drivability standards?

Next: What comes after Hooters?

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Commercial Real Estate
07/27/10 5:22pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Too Many Bumps

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Demolitions, Shopping Centers, Upper Kirby, Woodlake Plaza
27 Comments

Got an answer to any of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.

  • Upper Kirby: “I can assure you that there are some bone crunching potholes underneath the lovely puddles,” writes the reader who sent in these rain-drenched photos of the ancient, multi-layered, and pockmarked parking lot shared by 3 restaurants at 2241 Richmond, just west of Greenbriar. When it rains, the lot gets even worse, claims the reader, who wants to know why it’s so “pitiful”:

    While I can kind of understand Blue Fish and Hobbit [Café] not wanting to spend too much money on improving the parking lot since they are not high dollar places, Yelapa [Playa Mexicana] is trying to position itself as this new chic Mexican/Seafood eatery and thus I would have thought they’d care more about a customer’s initial impression.

    A related question from the same reader: “Are there any City ordinances that require a parking lot used by the public to have a certain amount of drivability?”

Next: What about the Hooters?

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