From the "How to tell you spend too much time thinking about politics" files

When you see the headline Ballet will grow by leaps, bounds with $53 million move and your first reaction is "Good Lord, what has Commissioners Court done now?!?" because you read the first word as "Ballot", it's time to take a deep breath and think about baseball or "The Closer" or Paris Hilton or something. Well, okay, maybe not Paris HIlton, but you get the idea.

As for the story itself, while I'm glad to see the Houston Ballet doing well, I can't say I follow them much, though I have made a promise to take Olivia to see "The Nutcracker" this Christmas. One thing in the story did grab my attention:

The West Gray location, which the ballet has owned since 1982, also houses the ballet's wardrobe shop and offices for its music staff, while two townhouses on nearby Dunlavy are home to out-of-town academy students. They also would move to the downtown facility, while the ballet would vacate two studios plus office space it currently leases in the Wortham. The West Gray site would be sold.

They will make a buttload of money on that sale. It's right between a luxury midrise and a high-end Kroger, walking distance from the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Regent Square development. My guess is that it'll wind up as some kind of expensive multi-unit residential property, perhaps a highrise. If they don't already have a buyer lined up, I can imagine several developers licking their chops at the prospect. Keep an eye on this one.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 07, 2008 to Elsewhere in Houston