Porchman

They have pics in the hard copy. Alas, they passed me over again. My boss is pictured in this issue, too (but not in this section ).

Metro Retro / Mid Century Modern http://www.metroretrofurniture.com/ could be a good resource for you going forward. They have a warehouse in Pasadena and a store on Washington near the Dark Horse Tavern.

Washington Avenue morphing into restaurant row Houston Business Journal - August 24, 2007 by Allison Wollam Houston Business Journal A series of high-end restaurants have begun clustering along Washington Avenue even as property values and retail rents continue to skyrocket above those in the more established Westheimer/Montrose area. Chef Monica Pope, owner of T'afia restaurant in Midtown, is the latest restaurateur to announce she's ready to cook on Washington Avenue. Pope and a group of investors are planning to open a new concept called Beaver's next month. The restaurant will be located at Sawyer and Washington Avenue, just south of the former Pig Stand restaurant. Benjy's, the trendy West University-area restaurant at 2424 Dunstan, is also expanding to the area. Benjy's is planning a two-story restaurant at 5922 Washington Ave. that will include a ground-level patio and second-floor lounge when it opens next June. And another Rice Village-area tenant, Azuma Sushi & Robata Bar, will open an eatery on Washington Avenue in the Washington Square shopping center later this year. Meanwhile, Catalan Food & Wine Bar, Cova Hand-Selected Wines, El Tiempo Cantina, Molina's Cantina, Max's Wine Dive and Cyclone Anaya's have all recently set up shop on the busy street. Pope, a 15-year veteran of the local restaurant industry who formerly operated the now-shuttered Boulevard Bistro on Montrose, says she has seen different areas of town emerge as restaurant hotspots over the years. Now, it's Washington Avenue that is striking a chord with restaurant owners and diners. "People are always looking for a new area with a buzz," she says. "It's starting to really look like a restaurant corridor." The popularity of the Washington Avenue area is reflected in the still-rising rental rates, which reached $2.03 per square foot in the second quarter, up from $2 in the first quarter, according to research firm O'Connor & Associates. Meanwhile, rental rates in more high-profile Westheimer/Montrose area lagged behind, staying flat at $1.78 per square foot in the first and second quarters of this year. Pope compares the new restaurant explosion along Washington Avenue to the Midtown area three years ago when she opened T'afia at 3701 Travis St. "Once I saw that the Continental Club was surviving and Julia's Bistro was opening, I got the perception that I wasn't in no-man's land and that there was a nice pocket of activity going on in the (Midtown) area," she says. Mark Hanna, owner of Houston-based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm Customer First, says early activity had restaurants flocking to the west end of Washington Avenue, but the trend is now spreading throughout the area. "While there has been a lot of major residential development going on in the area, a lot of the properties right on Washington Avenue have remained quite affordable," he says. Eager Beaver's Washington Avenue's newest resident, Beaver's, is described by Pope as an "ice house with good Texas-style barbecue where people can come and hang out." Jon Alford, who has previously manned the barbecue pits at Central Market and Demeris Barbecue, will serve as the pit master for what Pope calls "a grueling 24-hour-a-day process in the kitchen." "We have a group of real estate veterans, restaurant owners and people with expertise in barbecue, so this is a group effort," she says. Pope says she's been watching the area for about four years, and the concept came together when the location, a former bar, became available. Just down the street, the new Benjy's will span 7,500 square feet, which is 50 percent larger than the original location near Rice Village. Owner Benjy Levit says he chose the Washington Avenue location because of the large amount of land he was able to acquire in the area. The new restaurant, which went under construction about two weeks ago, will feature a party room that can accommodate up to 40 guests. Levit notes that the new eatery will be far enough away from the original Benjy's that it will serve an entirely different market. "The demographics of the Washington Avenue area fit our target market," Levit says. "It's a densely populated area with a lot of young people who like to go out." Washington Avenue Newcomers RESTAURANT NAME

HBJ article regarding the restaurantage on Washington: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories.../27/story5.html As pictured, Benjy's is underway. Well, the lot's cleared and batter boards are in place, at least.

Article from the Chron today with some neat pics. Glad to see it moving forward. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/hei...ws/5085023.html A newer rendering was included with the hard copy of the article. I'll see if I can get posted later.

Zippy: See Marty's posted link Chron above, then have a drink. Metro backed off when they got an earful of concern. We just continued to ponder about serving all communities in the area with viable, sensitive transportation solutions.

It seems that a CRT to LRT intermodal with two LRT (or BRT) routes

Metrarail (Chicago), MBTA Rail (Boston), CalTrain (SF), are all two-way, am and pm. So is the MARC (Baltimore-DC), and the TRE (DFW), but those are really hub-to-hub. It certainly will be interesting to see how Metro develops its logistics.

The 290 Passenger Rail Coalition definition: "Commuter Rail

Ding! Ding! Ding! Memory got a jump start... http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2006_4169698 and it's mentioned in the thread above,too. When remains the question.

Nice landscaping!

Exactly, Tiko

Based on Bball near Memorial Drive, I am assuming you inquiry is about the Masterson YWCA...discussed here. http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...444&hl=ywca

-1500 sf -1999 -$267 -Green Mountain Mrs. Porchman offices at home. Mrs. Porchman has explained to me, in no uncertain terms, that she does not do 78 degrees. And, in fact, Mrs. Porchman has conceded to 75 daytime, 72 bedtime. I installed a programmable thermostat to ensure this schedule is adhered to. Hmmm...wonder how that boycott is going since they haven't updated their site in over 7 years.

My favorite news verbiage from Rita is when Owen Conflenti said something like Rita coming to

Good show, Red. Do you collect any of his art?

There is potential for a buffer. But they will need to use a substantial part of the parking area to the west in order to fit almost 50 units per floor. Well, that's true, and they're doing that, as well. What I was inidcating is that homes which would not have fit the economic model of maxing the land have found new life on smaller, tighter lots, instead of simply being torn down to make way for newer and bigger or, as you point out, newer and more plentiful. Even with the ordinances (and pending clarifications), much can still (and will) be torn down. So an economically viable alternative can be generated for preservation by allowing lot adjustments.

I agree. However, the only problem here is striking the balance. This is a 5.5 story building backing up to single-family neighborhood with well-maintained homes. Porchman is reserving judgement. He would like to see renderings and a plat. This is one issue with which I struggle. I've seen how more dense use of land has offered opportunity for restoration of some of the older homes in the Heights (eg. the Bungalow Revival homes on W14). With the highly appreciated land value of the area, this is a way to counter the tear-it-down-and-build-something-giant craze. They purportedly do not have renderings. They did this project in Denver. http://www.bygroup.com/Gallery/allied.html. I would not be surprised if there was some resemblance in the Retreat project. Not sure which old building you mean. They've stripped the whole property - 21st to 22nd. There is no retail planned for the building. The lower level is parking structure.

I got their "Deuce" pie on Saturday night. I really liked it. As with any new launch, they're still smoothing some things out. It did take a while to get our food. It's really more of a pick-up/delivery place...a few seats at the counter and some other chairs, that's it. Here's their site: http://www.pinkspizza.com/

Heights @ 14th

Excellent! Just in time for White Linen Night, too. Thank you for the update.

Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale and his wife Linda have listed their 6,840-square-foot home, located at 3002 Pine Lake Trail in the swanky Northgate Forest subdivision in north Houston, for $1.49 million, and John Daugherty Realtors Inc. is marketing the home to potential buyers as a chance to own "The Home of Mattress Mack." If you buy it today, will you get it today? Full Article from the HBJ the listing: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y

Well, he's obtained a TRO against the bondholders now... http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

Welcome With your flexibility, I do not believe you're being unreasonable. However, if you could rank rank some of your your preferences or share a bit more about what you would like in a house, it may make it easier for the members to provide some advice.

I previously posted a query about this on the Kaplan's Ben Hur thread when I saw that the old building was being demo'd. A representative of Allied Realty Services has reported the following to the Houston Heights Association Land Use Chair: 195 apartments. (on two acres) 4 stories of apartments, 1-1/2 stories of parking underneath No renderings available at this time. They may make a presentation to the Land Use Committee in October. Allied is working with the association of homeowners who are on the north side of W 22nd