This is what’s going up on some prime spurfront property at the University of Houston. Next to a Chinese restaurant and that prideful parking garage on Spur 5 that inspired the Houston Chronicle’s Lisa Gray and some student rappers back in 2010, the 2-story building at the end of Calhoun Rd. on campus is being billed as Cougar Den Plaza.
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This building, it would seem, is designed to lure the mature Cougars living across the street at Calhoun Lofts: The rendering directly above suggests a second-story patio bar called Cougar Den. And a Jimmy John’s and The Nook are named in the drawings below:
Retail advisor UCR says it can’t reveal more details about the project; calls to the property owner to confirm tenants weren’t returned.
- Previously on Swamplot: That East Garage Spirit: Pride of Parking at the University of Houston
Images: Allyn West (building); UCR Realty (others)
Please do not make any jokes about “luring cougars.” My wife is a cougar.
Looks like a nice add to campus life.
That land’s highest and best use was as a really shitty parking lot.
Awesome to see UH transforming what once was a sea of shitty surface parking into actual student life. I like what they’re doing there.
Terrible school
The Cougar Den (bar) already exist on the UH campus, so it must be moving to the larger location. It is always packed and is on a main entrance, so a little more out of the way would be nice.
Flunked out, huh, Rob?
Rob, cool story bro.
My guess is that rob was probably rejected from UH and is still bitter about it.
Haha I went to UH for 2 years and transferred to UT. Obviously didn’t flunk out since I’m at UT now. UH is an awful school full of terrible teachers and terrible students. The environment is not conducive for any student who is serious about school. The only redeeming quality is the honors college, but some of those kids are so full of themselves because they’re top shit in a sea of mediocrity.
I wouldn’t complain if we just ended up with 2 bars on Calhoun. There aren’t a lot of nightlife options near campus right now.
Swamplot censors.
I can think of a number of redeeming programs at UH, Rob. Engineering, Law, MBA, creative writing, and dentistry, to name a few. You’ll have to qualify for them first, though.
No offense. I’m a former student so I can give UH an honest evaluation. UH sucks, I met students in that school who couldn’t even write a coherent paragraph. For a well rounded education, the only schools in Texas that really matter are Rice and UT — you’re earning power will be higher with a degree from theses schools in general. Aside from engineering and maybe Bauer, UH ranges from decent to mediocre.
I very sincerely hope that two bars on Calhoun, if that even happens, will provide a very much needed healthy competition.
There are some really nice bars that have been opening up around town. Since the Den was opened the bar so to speak is so much higher. In a lot of ways this will be about as important as the Welcome Center so an appropriate amount of effort should go into it IMHO.
#14, rob:
you’re—your
’nuff said
Rob, you’ll fit in with the snobby students at UT it seems who feel like they are superior just because they go to UT. I had to endure that for 5 years (thankfully there was refuge in non-UT students/austinites)and go to UH now.
I passed this building the other day and was very curious what was being built. I’m very excited about this!
UH is a great school. I am sorry Rob did not make the most of his time there. Too bad for Rob. That said, the highest and best use of that land was as a really shitty parking lot.
Oh, but to whoever is responsible for the fact that any and all developments can apparently be called “plaza” whether or not they actually involve a plaza:
I hate you.
heyzeus: there is no dentistry program at UH (there is a UT dental school near TMC). UH does have very fine allied health programs though, like pharmacy and optometry.
@Pye
Damn you got me. I’m a huge grammar Nazi and even I messed up. Guess my UT education is failing me. Also to everyone else, I’m mainly talking about UH from an undergraduate perspective though it’s hard to deny that UT is the best postgraduate institution in Texas — even better than Rice.
Truths
UH is mediocre but slowly rising albeit via excessive debt financing.
UH students from outside Houston tend to be trashy, except for some of the suburbs to the west – but surprisingly also holds true of people from out of state and a lot of the international students too.
UT Austin is a Ph.D factory with an overrated football team.
The Den is an abomination that all girls would do well to completely avoid. Any new bars on campus should be run by students just like Cougar Grounds.
Threatened much Rob?