Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

Hanover at Rice Village

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot: In 2007, Houston’s city council sold a block of Bolsover St. in the Rice Village to the developers of Randall Davis’s Sonomaproject so that it could be used as a private drive and restaurant plaza linking two phases of the development. Davis and … Continue reading →

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St. Joseph’s Hospital on the auction block

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another ownership change is coming for the venerable hospital. St. Joseph Medical Center, Houston’s oldest hospital, will be put up for auction next month, five years after its then-Catholic owners sold majority shares to a North Carolina-based for-profit company. Hospital … Continue reading →

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Center Street recycling center for sale?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Looks to be that way. Back in 2009, the city contemplated selling the site to Admiral Linen next door, and opening a new recycling center on Spring Street in the First Ward. See here, here, and here for background. The … Continue reading →

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Meet the new historical districts

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Not so different from the old historical districts. After months of petition drives and acrimonious public testimony over the protection of old Houston neighborhoods, the only change to the six historic district maps headed to the City Council on Wednesday … Continue reading →

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Historic Houston closing its salvage warehouse

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What a shame. LOCAL NONPROFIT Historic Houston is no longer accepting donations of building materials, and is closing its salvage warehouse and ending its salvage program, reports the organization’s founder and executive director, Lynn Edmundson. The organization stored and sold … Continue reading →

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The EaDo decade

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Things are looking good for a wave of development in East Downtown, a/k/a EaDo. Discussions are under way for a six-block-long linear park in EaDo, and there is talk, still in the early stages, of a 1,000-room convention hotel. The … Continue reading →

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Population growth in the Houston suburbs

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Newswatch blog had a post the other day showing population changes in different ethnic groups for a number of Houston suburbs between 2000 and 2010. It was done as a chart, and while it was a very nice … Continue reading →

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Infill growth

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone who’s been watching Washington Avenue has seen this. From downtown through midtown and along Washington Avenue, a population growth spurt has taken off since 2000. One buzz word to describe what’s going on is “infill,” said Jerry Wood, previously … Continue reading →

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Does this make an inner Loop location more likely?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One of the two Alamo Drafthouse theaters way out west will be closing down soon. The arrival of an Edwards multiplex at West Oaks Mall will mean the closure of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the regional shopping center, leaving … Continue reading →

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Is it finally time to do something with the Dome?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A few days ago, a woman named Cynthia Neely took to CultureMap to demand that we Do Something about the Astrodome. Regardless of whether you love or hate the Astrodome, the building is owned by the county and in effect … Continue reading →

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Washington Avenue lite

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what someone thinks White Oak Drive is becoming. Is White Oak Drive becoming a cozier, more walkable version of nearby Washington Avenue as a restaurant-entertainment hub? One local real estate agent thinks so. White Oak is more concentrated with … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land seeks someone to develop prison land

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I hope they get their wish. Sugar Land city officials hope to convert a 330-acre state prison property into a light industrial business park and are looking for private partners for the development. The tract, which sits adjacent to the … Continue reading →

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Beautifying the bayous

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. A local nonprofit hopes its $55 million plan to overhaul 158 acres of parkland along Buffalo Bayou west of downtown will transform the area into an iconic green space for Houston. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s plan calls for … Continue reading →

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The Studemont Kroger

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot: Kroger has bought 8.5 acres of former industrial land on Studemont, just south of I-10, the Chronicle‘s Purva Patel reports. The land, which was once part of Houston’s Sixth Ward, sits just north of Arne’s Warehouse and Party Store … Continue reading →

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The Wayside Wal-Mart

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

For what it’s worth, I don’t have an opinion about the new Wal-Mart at I-45 and Wayside, whether it’s a Super Center or not. Other than a few comments at Swamplot and on the Stop Heights Wal-Mart Facebook page, I … Continue reading →

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How Houston commutes

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Great post from Greg that looks at how people in some Census tracts get to work. One point to highlight: The Solo Drivers … This is an obviously large portion of the population. But there are some very interesting variations … Continue reading →

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Coming soon to an empty lot near me

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Some neighborhood news from Swamplot. Details on the 6-story mixed-use building being planned for the corner of Studewood and 11th 1/2 St. in the Heights will be announced “very soon,” a representative of the new property owner promises Swamplot. […] … Continue reading →

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The Ainbinder traffic impact analysis for the Height Wal-Mart

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

When last we discussed the Heights Wal-Mart development, we were awaiting a traffic impact analysis (TIA) on the roads around the site, which was to be done on behalf of Ainbinder, the developer of the project. For your perusal, here … Continue reading →

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Some day, we will do something about the Astrodome

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. “We on the Commissioners’ Court are going to have to make a decision, and I think it needs to be made this year, as to what we are going to propose to the … Continue reading →

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Yes, we do heart Houston

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be ready to take a photo of this after it’s been deployed. SCULPTOR DAVID Adickes is almost ready to plant this giant concrete-on-steel sign on property he owns along Chester St. on the south side of I-10, just east … Continue reading →

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Houston: A nice, cheap place to visit

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

According to CultureMap, our fair city is among the Top 10 Budget Travel Destinations for 2011. What do the folks at Budget Travel have to say about us? Why in 2011: Houston is home to Texas’s biggest shopping mall at … Continue reading →

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Historic preservation has been preserved

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot: THE RESULTS ARE in, and it looks like the great campaign todissolve Houston’s historic districts has been a bit of a bust. Houston planning director Marlene Gafrick reports that the “survey period” for Heights East, Heights West, Heights South, … Continue reading →

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Where hippie bohemian attorney dreams go to die

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Via Swamplot, I see that the site of the never-was Sonoma development in the Rice Village has been sold to someone that plans to actually build something. Hanover’s project, called Plaza View, is scheduled to include 385 “high-end” apartments, 14,000 … Continue reading →

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Recycle that tree!

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If you live in the city of Houston and have a natural Christmas tree, you can simply put it out for curbside recycling. If you need to deal with it before then, here are your options: Those who don’t want to … Continue reading →

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Whatever happened to renaming UH-Downtown?

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been more than two years since regents at UH-Downtown first proposed changing the school’s name to something that didn’t include “UH” in it. An attempt to get a bill through the Lege in 2009 failed, in part to there … Continue reading →

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Tar sands and Houston’s air quality

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

PDiddie attended the Houston Frontlines tour that I blogged about before, and wrote a really nice, detailed report about it. Some background: Tar sands oil contains — among other heavy metals, neurotoxins, and carcinogens — an average of 11 times … Continue reading →

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More single stream recycling

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I love seeing this program get expanded. The city is expanding by 30,000 the number of households that can participate in its single-stream recycling program, which soon is expected to reach more than one out of every four Houston homes. … Continue reading →

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KTRU supporters go to the FCC

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck, but I would not hold out much hope. Supporters of Rice University’s student-run radio station have formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the station’s sale to the University of Houston, contending it would weaken … Continue reading →

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More on Houston’s sustainability efforts

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This Trib story about Houston Sustainability Director Laura Spanjian and her efforts to make our fair city a greener place, which also appeared in the Sunday New York Times, can be considered a companion piece to the earlier CultureMap story … Continue reading →

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We’re #1 in misleading rankings on annoying lists

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So what else is new? Mayor Annise Parker lashed out at an controversial annual study released Monday that placed Houston among the most dangerous cities in the United States with a population of 500,000 or higher. “Crime Rankings 2010-2011,” published … Continue reading →

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Preservation reconsideration

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

One of the pieces to the new historic preservation ordinance was the designation of a period in which already-existing historic districts could submit a petition to have the city reconsider their status. The deadline for that has passed, and 8 … Continue reading →

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What the Planning Department says about the new preservation ordinance

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via The Heights Life, here are a series of YouTube videos produced by Planning & Development Director Marlene Gafrick to explain what the new preservation ordinance is all about: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRJrDd6cb7A Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae5DyFiwuk4 Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp81p1Yq2HQ Part 4: … Continue reading →

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Mobile billboards

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, City Council passed a more restrictive billboard ordinance in 2008, and just recently got a favorable resolution in a lawsuit about billboards in the extra-territorial jurisdiction. But that doesn’t mean the billboard battle is over. Nonsequiteuse wants … Continue reading →

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Why HEB is not like Wal-Mart

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I read this story about how residents near the old Wilshire Village Apartments site, where HEB plans to build a new store, will be voting on possible designs for that new store, and I wondered what might have been. Residents … Continue reading →

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