heights_yankee Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 this is like the house closest behind 11th street cafe. they started a small addition 2 or 3 years ago and then just stopped. the house is open, exposed to the elements, and all the framing from the addition is dried and brittle looking. i wonder why the house is just sitting there like that? i was so excited when i saw someone was going to reno that bungalow, but now it's a total loss... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott08 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I've been bringing this up for a while now in other real estate related threads. There are literally hundreds of unfinished townhouse projects right now in the Inner Loop in various stages. Waterhill Homes went bankrupt and left projects in the Heights (8th Street), Midtown, East End X two, etc. There are smaller projects left as frames on 8th and 18th streets for example. My builder type friends say that yes the framework may last a little while in the elements but coming back a year or more later to finish will be a recipe for disaster down the road. I think the root cause is builders working on a shoestring budget and easy credit got caught with their pants down when sales slowed. A year from now, neighborhoods will probably be calling on the city to demo them.PS, I know a little bit about the condo across from CVS with the boarded up garage area. Apparently the first "owner" had a pack of dogs so he boarded up the garage to give them a room and then parked in the driveway. He was foreclosed on and the bank hasn't bothered to take down his additions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 (edited) On today's demolitions list over at Swamplot: 301 E. 16th St. HAR listing. Edited December 23, 2008 by tmariar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanith27 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I noticed this this morning as well. What a shame. I suspect the large lot size was enticing to builders. The minimum lot size is.....5000? So could this be replaced with 2 homes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 On today's demolitions list over at Swamplot: 301 E. 16th St. HAR listing. I wonder if the lot will be divided, or it will be a single 5,000 sq foot house with 3 car garage? A shame; it's got great lines. Reminds me of my own house, a large 2/1 that hasn't been cut up with another bedroom and bath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 (edited) One of the comments on the Swamplost post says:"This house was moved several weeks ago. There has been a bulldozer on the lot for the last couple of days. Since the house is already gone, it's likely the demo permit is for the remaining garage. The owner is planning construction of one huge lot-filling custom home." Also on Swamplot, I've been watching the "best teardown" of 2008 thread. Haven't added up the votes, but it looks like the Carousel House and the house at 647 Arlington are the leaders. Edited December 27, 2008 by tmariar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 One of the comments on the Swamplost post says:"This house was moved several weeks ago. There has been a bulldozer on the lot for the last couple of days. Since the house is already gone, it's likely the demo permit is for the remaining garage. The owner is planning construction of one huge lot-filling custom home." Also on Swamplot, I've been watching the "best teardown" of 2008 thread. Haven't added up the votes, but it looks like the Carousel House and the house at 647 Arlington are the leaders.good news on the house on 16th being moved. i was watching that lot and really thought someone like Bungalow Revivial would super-explode that house out the side/back. alas, developers win out again... i hope it will at least be 1 house with a nice yard... but i'm not betting the bungalow in that...as far as the 647 arlington, another sad aspect of that demo is that this (original) house has a little sister house next door. they were the same size and almost the same style. the demoed house was on the back of its lot, while the house that still stands is at the front of its lot. it was just a cute pairing of homes and one of those interesting blocks you notice when you go through the neighborhood. i really miss the pair of them- they always made me think of a couple of little old ladies... weird i know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krol Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 As 2008 draws to a close, I am wondering if anyone has heard anything about Heights area builders laying off staff or switching back to renovation and remodeling. Although work in the Washington Avenue area appears to still be going strong, there's been a noticeable decline in permitting activity for the Heights. The most noticeable change is a decline in demolition permits within the Heights historic districts. However, it appears as if the total number of demolitions in the districts for 2008 will be about the same as 2007. Perhaps the good news is that there might have been more demolitions had the economic slump not had an impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Here is another according to Swamp Lot. http://swamplot.com/daily-demolition-repor...1-07/#more-5357 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Here is another according to Swamp Lot. http://swamplot.com/daily-demolition-repor...1-07/#more-5357 I think the "demo" is a little misleading.. it looks via HAR that they are keeping most of the house, and just adding on to the rear.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 i don't know how or when it happend, but this weekend i noticed 3 new houses where 4 bungalows used to be on 8 1/2. that literally happened within 3 mos since that is how long it's been since i've walked to Antidote... at least they are not zero lot line, but wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 A few weeks ago, I made public a Heights-themed blog that I'd been keeping privately for a while for myself and a few friends in the area. It started out mostly as a list of Heights-area bars and restaurants (because I can never remember the places I want to try when it comes time to choose), and then I started adding on to it for friends who were new to the Heights and wanted to know about things to see/do close to them. I didn't really do any write-ups for the places listed, which would be too time-consuming for me - I just linked to others' write-ups, yelp, b4-u-eat, etc. In fact, on an ongoing basis, about all I've been doing is updating posts with new links I see (the most recently updated posts are on the front page). When I have more time, I've been adding new posts or photos. That's all I really have time to do. Anyhow, it's become an ongoing project and I figured it might be useful to others. The posts are categorized in three different ways: (1) by generic categories such as "restaurants" or "bars" or "shops" or whatever; (2) by some random tags like "BYOB", "art", "delivery", "patios", "trees", "steak night", "1880's", or whatever; and (3) "walk/ride" categories like "Norhill" or "Houston Heights SE" or "Studewood" or "Shady Acres" or "Durham" - geographic areas where you might take a walk or ride a bike. It's by no means comprehensive - it gets especially spotty in certain parts of what I've deemed to be the "Heights area" (which I defined pretty broadly) with which I'm not very familiar - like the Ella and T.C. Jester areas. That said, if you have time to check out the blog sometime and let me know if I've missed anything really great on your street or in your neck of the woods, if one of my tag lists is incomplete, or if I missed something good to use as a link (I try to link to HAIF threads when I can - but it's often hard to do because most HAIF topics cover a lot of places) - anything like that would be helpful. Constructive criticism is great, too, though I can already think of a dozen things that would make the blog better that I don't know when I'll have time to do... like add map links to all the addresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teertsnotelgnis Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I had actually been viewing your blog for a while.Good idea and well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 It looks good. Great pics. I'm adding it to my favorites, so you now have joined Editor and Gus in providing me with surfing distraction. More feedback anon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Thanks to both of y'all.Some of the photos are ok, some not so great. I've been following the any-picture-is-better-than-no-picture philosophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teertsnotelgnis Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 You bet.I agree that any picture is better than no. It helps to at least have an idea of what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamrock Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I have been following this blog for a bit as well. I like your approach of aggregating links to reviews (sort of a www.metacritic.com approach to Heights area restaurants). Very useful and very well done - thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I agree that any picture is better than no. It helps to at least have an idea of what you are looking for. My thinking precisely. I like your approach of aggregating links to reviews (sort of a www.metacritic.com approach to Heights area restaurants). Oh good! I noticed the other day that, of the three article links that had the all-time highest numbers of clicks, two were to articles written by HAIF members. (And if Alison Cook is a HAIF member, then all three.) Well, if anyone does think of anything I should add, just let me know. Doesn't have to be a restaurant, bar, historic house, park, or whatever. Could be a big chicken, a Lombard Lamp (a gift from the city of Hamburg, as it turns out), a community vegetable garden, or something like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samiamj Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Hi Everyone, It was great to visit with all of you on Saturday, and wow, what an effort with the trees! Great job to all!!! As promised, here is the letter I put together on behalf of the two provisions we're opposing in the new Tree and Shrub Ordinance. I checked all of my facts through Barry Ward, executive director of Trees for Houston, to make sure this letter is accurate. Barry requested that we each email or mail this letter to arrive to City Council by end of day Tuesday -- that's tomorrow!! There is not a lot of time, but if you could please forward this to anyone you know who may be interested, it will make a difference. And this is the ordinance for all of Houston, not just the Heights area. Thank you, ChristinaForm letter of the ordinance:http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item77TO: Members of Houston City CouncilRE: Revisions to the Tree and Shrub OrdinanceFROM: [iNSERT YOUR NAME HERE]Recent changes made to the Houston Tree and Shrub Ordinance have been brought to my attention, and I am writing to you to request additional protections for street trees. As someone who deeply cares about improving our neighborhoods with trees, I do wish to expedite the approval of the Tree and Shrub Ordinance, but with certain provisions: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heightsite Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 The property on the corner of Oxford and 5th Street has a Variance request sign in front. How do you find out what the request is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 The property on the corner of Oxford and 5th Street has a Variance request sign in front. How do you find out what the request is?Call Suzy Hartgrove at the Planning Department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 just wondering what the plan is for all that space. the Yale construction post reminded me of this b/c traffic on studewood is a nightmare and all i can think is they are going to put some huge, mixed use facility there. i think that's great, but for goodness sake, put in a dedicated turning lane (i can't believe they didn't do this for the new complex on Kirby @ westheimer- people turning in to that place are going to jack traffic even worse than it already is. they should have made at least the northern building 25 feet shorter and put a dedicated turning lane in...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 This lot? Or another one? Or are there multiple lots now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 This lot? Or another one? Or are there multiple lots now?yes, same lot. there are actually 2 lots. the one here, still fenced off with no progress. there is one behind it, closer to Arne's that has a broker sign on the fence. so, we can just assume for now that these projects are still in the works. i thought possibly this fell through. proposed development seems to always be changing on these north/south routes in to the heights... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heightsfan Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Good Afternoon All, Any word what is being built on Shoe Stand building on Studewood and 13th ? Also what other streets are getting curbs or new pavement besides Oxford & Columbia ? Does anyone know completion date for North Main ? Just wondering if there are more major plans for the Heights ? Some have mentioned the Heights Theatre , corner building 20th & Studewood, also those town homes behind Block Buster ???? Thank You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Who says Oxford and Columbia are getting new streets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiko Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I plan on cleaning out my garage...trust me, that's major Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Does anyone know what's happening to the place on the corner of Houston Avenue and White Oak Drive (used to be Farmers wine / coffee shop)? It looks like they're doing some serious renovation to the building, it would certainly be nice to have another place to drink / dine in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhorn Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Who says Oxford and Columbia are getting new streets?I would also like to know any information regarding new streets and curbs for Oxford and Columbia. If anyone knows the details, or rumors, please post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverJK Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 There are signs up saying road work ahead when you turn south on Oxford from White Oak... I just assumed it had something to do with the Bike Trail Crossing??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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