Neighborhood development

News from my neighborhood.

Allegro Builders will soon begin construction on the two-story structure at 1001 Studewood. The 9,650-square-foot building will house an upscale pizzeria on the ground floor and offices above, including a realty firm and mortgage company. Russo's New York Pizzeria will open in the new building in April.

This is the second commercial development for Allegro, which is known for million-dollar manses designed to look like they were built decades ago.

Built on 25,000 square feet of land, the brick-and-stucco building will have second-story porches and a Craftsman architectural style.

"We tried to give it a period look," said Lambert Arceneaux, Allegro's president. "We went big on porches."

The company also developed and designed 933 Studewood, where it operates its custom-home business above the Glass Wall restaurant.

Sounds good to me. I like what they did at 933 Studewood, and the building that was there before at 1001 was ugly and generic, so almost anything will be an improvement. The illustration of the design in the print edition of the paper was quite attractive. That stretch of Studewood has a few longstanding businesses - the 11th Street Cafe, Davis Hardware, the Wolf Dry Cleaners, for instance - and a lot of places that have cycled through one storefront after another. Here's hoping what goes into 1001 Studewood is there for the long haul.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 10, 2007 to Elsewhere in Houston