Tag: West University

Proposed Developments
06/20/08 7:30am

New HEB at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet: Not as Bad as It Looks

by
Real Estate Marketing, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, West University
2 Comments

Buffalo Pharmacy at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet, Houston

Those drawings some of you have seen of the new HEB shopping center coming to the corner of Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet? Pay no attention to them, says the West University Examiner:

Rare sightings of renderings depicting the H-E-B grocery store development at Buffalo Speedway and Bissonnet Street are not an indication that construction is pending, a company spokeswoman said.

“Nothing is final,” said Cyndy Garza Roberts. “The real estate division is working with architects.” . . .

There is no start date and no project particulars to share, she added. . . . most tenants vacated the property in May.

Buffalo Grille and Buffalo Pharmacy, however, will remain in business at the site during construction.

Hey, if you’ve got a copy of these renderings, why not share them with Swamplot, so we can all ignore them together?

After the jump: An aerial view of the site!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , ,
Home Design
06/13/08 11:17am

Touring the West University French Quarter

by
West University
2 Comments

Home in West University, Texas

Houston design blogger (and Swamplot Neighborhood Guessing Game veteran) Joni Webb takes her readers on a tour of the many recent hôtels particuliers that line her daily café run. She explains West U’s new pseudo-Euro look:

When the rebuilding started, most people opted for red brick Georgian styled, two storied homes. Now, the trend is to build with stucco instead of red brick and French instead of Georgian.

Today, while driving to Starbucks and snapping photos of my favorite homes along my route, I noticed that I am very partial to the new, trendy kind of home: stucco, French inspired, with a straight facade.

After the jump: more wisteria and arched French doors, from Joni Webb’s West U Starbucks galerie!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , ,
Demolitions
04/28/08 11:46am

Cherry Demolition: West U Made Us Do It

by
Houston History, West University
No Comments

Cherry Demolition Sign on Montague Hotel Before Demolition, Houston

Reluctant rubble maker Cherry Demolition was once exclusively a house-moving company, shuffling quaint little homes in West University. But that was before the late 1980s, when the neighborhood started changing, reports the Houston Business Journal:

Older bungalow-style houses were being torn down and replaced with new multiple-story brick homes.

Instead of watching potential moving business disappear along with the bungalow homes, the Cherry brothers drew up a plan to buy the bungalow-style houses, remove them from the property, find a buyer with a vacant lot, sell the house and then deliver it.

But although this strategy kept the house-moving business going, it was not without problems.

Houses that were too wide, roofs that were too tall or termite damage increased the cost of moving a structure. Three strikes against a house usually meant passing it over. Usually only one in about 20 houses was a suitable candidate for moving and reselling.

Hmmm . . . what to do???

Then inspiration struck. If only one out of 20 homes could be moved, the rest were candidates for demolition, the brothers realized.

Photo of Montagu Hotel by Flickr user ss.yesterday

, ,
Furniture
04/25/08 1:04pm

West U Home Stalker Reveals All

by
Home Design, Interiors, West University
2 Comments

Wheat Residence, West University, Texas

Cote de Texas author Joni Webb comes clean about her obsession with a recently constructed home in West U.

. . . whenever I drove by the house, I would slow my car to a crawl, craning my neck to try to see inside the white stuccoed home that had so captured my imagination. Through their windows, I could make out some of their furnishings – first, there was a screen in the living room, and then I could see an oversized mirror. Next – I noticed the dining room’s antique light fixture which furthered my suspicions that this was a house I would love – inside and out. By the time the sheer, linen curtains were hung – the deal was sealed – I was an official stalker and somehow, I had to finagle my way into the home to see it first hand.

This must have been tough for Houston’s highest profile design blogger, because Webb is usually obsessed with French design, and the design in this particular home was clearly more . . . Belgian.

After the jump: The stalker gets in!!!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , ,
Homes for Sale
04/03/08 3:51pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: We Have a Winner!

by
Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, West University
4 Comments

Neighborhood Guessing Game 1: Stairs

Our first stab at the Neighborhood Guessing Game attracted a good number of smart observations from sleuthing readers . . . and a winner!

Thanks to all those who hazarded a guess! Five commenters thought the house we featured on Tuesday was in West U. There were single votes each for Sugar Lakes, the Eldridge & Memorial area, Montrose, the Heights, “near Meyerland,” and Southgate.

Ah, the wisdom of the crowds baker’s dozen! West U it was! The West University Place 1 subdivision, to be exact.

The winner of this first competition is the appropriately named Buildergeek, who named West U first. But enlightening — or entertainingly obfuscating — commentary wins points too! Honorable mentions go to Houstonist‘s Jim Parsons, who guessed the house was a rehab from the 1980s or before:

The staircase is a giveaway in my mind — no self-respecting faux-neo-Georgian would have a staircase that Rhoda might have walked down.

. . . and to commenter Drew, who sounds a little like what we might expect if Sherlock Holmes had his own show on HGTV:

One of the early West U replacements. Built in the early 80s, given the finishes and selections. Larger than the standard West U lot, despite the red brick boxes and colonial style windows being so close to the neighbors. (Evidenced by the trees and added green space for the typical 5,000 sq ft WU lot. Must be west of Buffalo Speedway.

After the jump: Actual details on the featured West U home, which is actually for sale — “Rhoda”-style staircase, colonial-style windows, west-of-Buffalo-Speedway location, and all!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , ,
Buying and Selling
01/14/08 11:41am

Big House on Buffalo Speedway: Not Selling for Too Many Quoins

by
Home Design, Homes for Sale, Interiors, West University
No Comments

6118 Buffalo Speedway, West University Place, Texas

Just what is it about this West U house that’s scaring off the buyers? Is it the location on busy Buffalo Speedway? The outbreak of quoins on the front facade? The curious “custom paint” job in one of the home’s seven bathrooms that demonstrates to pooping gameroom guests how the house’s stucco surface might flake off?

Whatever it is, it sure looks like there’s a reverse auction going on: The five-bedroom, 5,119-square-foot house went on the market early last May and listed for $1,614,050. After three price cuts, it ended the year at $1,339,000. And now it’s only $1,239,000!

After the jump: a detailed look inside.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , , , ,
Freeways and Toll Roads
04/30/07 10:13am

Toll Roads Headed Inside the Loop

by
No Comments

Westpark Tollway

A teensy item appears in the middle of a long list of projects on the revised agenda of an obscure public agency. The list is voted on, and presto! Nine months years later The Westpark Tollway gets extended all the way to Kirby Drive!

Christof Spieler spots this exciting news—sure to make a lot of West U-area residents take notice—and complains:

Once a project is on a list that gets approved by the TPC, it’s a lot closer to happening. Months or years from now, a neighborhood might object. And they’ll be shown the list and told, “it’s in the plan. It got approved. There’s nothing you can do.” Pieces of paper can have a lot of power.

And this piece of paper came out of nowhere. There was no public announcement, let alone hearings. It was a last minute addition to the agenda. David Crossley of the Gulf Coast institute spotted it only because he was looking through the TPC web site. [emphasis added]

Photo: Flickr user Danburg Murmur

, , , , , , , ,
Development Restrictions
04/16/07 10:01am

Another Problem with West U: Oversized Porches

by
West University
No Comments

Big Porches in West University Place

Don’t let this happen to U: City Council voted last week to limit the size of porches in West University. You see, that’s the problem with those giant new megamansions in Houston’s priciest Zip: It’s those damn arched entrances!

The new ordinance limits the height of front porches that encroach onto front sebacks to a mere 20 feet on 100-foot-deep lots. Peristyle patrons need not panic prematurely, however. The ordinance will have to pass a second time, over the objections of angry, front-balcony-loving newcomers, before it can be enforced.

[Photo: 6332 Auden, listed at HAR]

, , , , ,
« Previous Page