January 4, 2012 – 5:45 pm
“People are always peeing on my street, so I bought a Q-Beam.” With that informative epigram, blogger Jay Rascoe takes his focus off his usual guns and tacos beat for a wee bit in his new Tumblelog, OneBlockOffWashington. There he catalogs his growing collection of caught-peeing, caught-puking, and caught-in-a-ditch videos shot from his home perch, which is, apparently, a block off Washington Ave. Rascoe’s frequent late-night interactions with would-be sidewalk urinators wandering back from club visits are frequently aided by the million candles’ worth of halogen in a pistol grip he points at perpetrators. But some of his most entertaining street-scene captures use only available light:
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Read more about: 77007, Nightlife, Photos, Streetlife, Washington Corridor
November 1, 2011 – 5:30 pm
A reader wants to know what’s behind last week’s demo work (pictured) at the former used car lot operated by Sarco Enterprises at the northeast corner of Shepherd and Nett St., 2 blocks north of Washington Ave. Across Nett St. from the site: nightspots Nox, Diem Lounge, and Fox Hollow. “Maybe a new retail development or a new restaurant or a new club?” asks the reader. “The property is a great extension of the happenings along the Washington corridor.”
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Read more about: 77007, Demolitions, Nightlife, Washington Corridor, West End
October 7, 2011 – 11:17 am
Guatemalan fast-food chain Pollo Campero‘s new-prototype restaurant (pictured above) will soon become the fourth standalone drive-thru in a row along a section of the south side of Washington Ave. Driving east from the corner of Durham, you’ll find the W Grill (at left, featuring 2 drive-thru windows), then a Jack in the Box on the corner of Shepherd. After El Rey Taqueria comes the future Pollo Campero site at 4701 Washington Ave., slated to be the company’s next-in-line location — a new one is about to open at 702 W. Bay Area Blvd. in Webster, and another is planned for Missouri City. Any room for this burgeoning Washington Ave drive-thru scene to grow? That small building wedged between the W Grill and the Jack-in-the-Box could start to look hungry.
Images: Pollo Campero and W Grill
Read more about: 77007, Drive-Thrus, Fast Food, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor
April 26, 2011 – 12:41 pm
Vespas welcome. And sure, the Italian spirit goes for a little valet now and then too:
Following a brief construction period beginning early summer, the space occupied by Catalan will reopen as Coppa Ristorante Italiano, a long-awaited concept for owners Charles Clark and Grant Cooper. Coppa will bring you a simple, flavorful American translation of classic Italian cuisine in a welcoming and lighthearted atmosphere that characterizes the Italian spirit.
Rendering: Coppa Ristorante Italiano. Photo: Zagat Buzz (license)
Read more about: 77007, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Restaurants, Theming, Washington Corridor
October 27, 2010 – 12:26 pm
A vote by city council today caps the long, strange regulatory journey of Erik Ibarra’s Rev Eco-Shuttle service. Rules passed by the council in August restricted Jitney licenses to vehicles with 9 or more seats, effectively barring Ibarra from licensing any more of his Downtown, Midtown, and Washington Ave electric vehicles. Today’s vote allows the licensing of pedicabs and low-speed vehicles, including any new Rev 6-seaters. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Rev Eco-Shuttle
Read more about: 77002, 77006, 77007, City Council, Downtown, Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor
October 14, 2010 – 1:37 pm
The president of a local real estate organization is hoping Swamplot readers can help her put together a slide show illustrating changes that have taken place over the years to the Washington Ave streetscape. How many of you have access to really old photos of Washington Ave? Well, you probably don’t have to go back too far to find images of a street that looked rather different than it does today. Send your old images — and please include captions and credit info — to the Swamplot tipline, and we’ll forward them to CCIM Houston/Gulf Coast‘s Ann-Marie Daleo, for inclusion in that organizations’ Washington Corridor Overview and Networking Event on November 4th. Daleo promises she’ll post the presentation online after the event, for anyone to download. And if any good before-and-after views come out of it we’ll post them here as well.
Photos: Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library (top) and GHPA (bottom)
Read more about: 77007, Houston History, Streetscapes, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor
September 29, 2010 – 1:20 pm
“this was a terrible gym location, and parking was going to be a battle from day one. hate to be johnny-come-suburb, but it was a better call to work a deal to redevelop the site with CVS and give them their free-standing deal with drive thru. Soma would be down the street somewhere, hopefully with easier access/parking, crew would not be under, and this property would be better served than the future it has. now the owner spent time/effort with this problem, has a built-out gym that is not usable for another gym (nightclub, here we come…for 9 months), has 3500 sf that doesn’t lease (my guess is from lack of parking/ability to pay the rent) and has a basement (???) that will never lease. all of this, and he could be on a beach right now, getting his checks in the mail from year 4 of 20 with CVS as the return addressee.” [jg, commenting on Fitness-Club Scavengers at the Washington Ave Crew] Photo of West End Shopping Center, Washington Ave at Shepherd: Aaron Carpenter
Read more about: 77007, Chain-Stores, Comments, Leasing, Retail, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor
September 28, 2010 – 1:16 pm
A photo snapped at the storefront of Crew Health and Fitness at 4826 Washington Ave., in the restored shopping center between Shepherd and Durham, taken around 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Yes, the workout shop is now officially out of business. But what are all those yellow tags attached to the window? Free passes — to LA Fitness on Richmond! A tipster tells Swamplot the LA Fitness sales team heard news of Crew’s demise around 10 a.m. on Sunday: “They had representatives at the doors trying to sign people up when we went by.”
Photos: Swamplot inbox (Crew Fitness storefront) and Aaron Carpenter (West End Shopping Center)
Read more about: 77007, Health Clubs, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers, Washington Ave., Washington Corridor
September 13, 2010 – 1:41 pm
This 1960-vintage warehouse on the corner of Nett and Parker, a couple blocks north of Washington Ave, is the latest project of Augustine Bui and Jornell Aveledo, 2 of the original creators and operators of Midtown’s Bond Lounge. Still under construction, it’s scheduled to open October 6th as Fox Hollow, a gastro lounge featuring cocktails in vintage stemware, “locally-sourced, organic dishes” on antique plates, second-hand outfits for the waitstaff and bartenders, plus a buildout that makes use of sheet metal and other materials the owners found in the space during construction. What second-hand goods they couldn’t find on-site they imported: door frames from Paris, stained-glass windows. That “used” theme sounds appropriate for a place directly across the street from Nox Bar.
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Read more about: 77007, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Corridor, West End
August 20, 2010 – 4:17 pm
Ainbinder Company president Bart Duckworth says he’s hoping to unveil plans to “community leaders” next week for the firm’s 23-acre development at Yale and Koehler in the West End — which the company is calling Washington Heights. But it sounds like they’ll look at least something like what we’ve already seen. Some details: The exterior of the Walmart the company wants to plant on 15 acres of that development will “feature more browns and show an effort to break up the stark ‘big box’ look with architectural detailing,” writes real estate promoter Ralph Bivins, who the company invited to look at the plans. Duckworth tells Bivins the Walmart’s large parking lot and store front will have tree plantings that “exceed the norm.”
The project’s leasing broker tells Bivins he wants “chef-driven restaurants, local boutiques and non-chain outlets” to occupy the new retail spaces on Yale and Heights Blvd., which he views as an extension to recent developments along Washington Ave.
Duckworth also describes portions of the “380″ agreement his company has been trying to negotiate with the city:
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Read more about: 77007, Big Box Stores, Development Strategies, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Corridor, West End, West End Walmart
Amid promises that a new “Green Vehicle” ordinance scheduled to come to a vote in September will eventually cover smaller no-emissions vehicles, Houston’s city council today approved revisions to the jitney ordinance. The new jitney rules require all new fixed-route shuttle services to have a carrying capacity of 9 to 15 passengers. Smaller vehicles already licensed under the existing ordinance can continue to operate, but Erik Ibarra — whose Rev Eco-Shuttle business operates two 5-passenger electric vehicles Downtown, in Midtown, and on Washington Ave — won’t be able to expand his service with additional vehicles of the same type. Unlike the jitney ordinance, the proposed rules for green vehicles will likely not restrict pedicabs and electric carts like Ibarra’s to a fixed route. [HTV; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Rev Eco-Shuttle
Read more about: 77002, 77007, City Council, Downtown, Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor
August 4, 2010 – 10:20 am
Update, 9/15/11: Our error. 5820 Washington is now the home of The Blue Fish, a restaurant chain based in Dallas — not to be confused (as we did) with Blue Fish House, a Houston-based restaurant with locations at 2241 Richmond Ave. and in Sugar Land at 2735-C Town Center Blvd. The Dallas chain also has a location in Bayou Place. We’ve updated the story.
This new parking lot across Knox St. from Benjy’s on Washington recently replaced the Thomas Collection fabric store that used to sit directly on the corner of Washington Ave. Dallas’s Blue Fish chain will be opening a new location in the building behind it, at 5820 Washington Ave. Yes, this is the same building that, a few weeks ago, a Swamplot reader identified from a state license application as the future home of Washington Wine Storage. That facility’s address will be 1120 Knox St.:
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Read more about: 77007, Demolitions, Openings and Closings, Parking-Lots, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Corridor
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:
We’ve got some answers to your questions:
And what about that monument to eternal redevelopment at the corner of Washington and Jackson Hill?
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Read more about: 77002, 77007, 77401, Bellaire, Downtown, Homes for Sale, Houston Pavilions, New Construction: Residential, Signage, Signs, Townhomes, Washington Corridor
“Ford 9N. 1939 model I believe.” [
Comment of the Day: The Way Things Are Going
“So much hand-wringing over a store! Washington Avenue’s already peaking, and will be full of boarded up resturants and bars in a couple of years. The Heights will one day be covered in badly built townhomes, just like here in Rice Military. All that will remain is Wal-Mart. It’s just the way it is. Nobody or nothing can stop it.” [ricemilitaryboy, commenting on Washington Heights Walmart Companion Strip Stand-Ins: No-Names, Off-Brands, and Imports]