HoustonRealtor

7700 S. Main St. is the recent office building next door at the corner of Braeswood.

The pool at the Residence Inn is at the front center of the complex. I haven't driven by recently, so I'm not sure what was torn down. I'm shocked that they are tearing down 12 buildings. They have 36 or 37 if I remember correctly. (I worked there while in college.) I thought it might be possible that they could be building a new, more modern building on the property - a multi-story building with interior corridors and elevators. The largest rooms in this complex are 2-story units on the second floor. Not really accessible to everyone, particular medical center patients. However, I think that they would need to take down more than just those buildings in order to have room to build. I guess they could build it in phases so as to not eliminate too many rooms from inventory at one time. The occupancy there used to be pretty high because of location and amenities offered.

Over the past couple of years, I noticed a building next to the residential tower at 5000 (maybe 5100 across from the Jung Center)) Montrose that was being rehabbed. It appeared that it was going to be some sort of medical professional building, but I haven't noticed any other activity in several months. It appears to me that it is ready to be occupied, and even has an ATM out front, but nada.

Anyone know what's up with this?

I assume you are referring to 5020 Montrose

If so, Tradition Bank (http://www.traditionbank.com/community-medical-district.asp) is in there and there is space currently on the market (http://www.greenbergcompany.com/Office/Off...20/Default.aspx)

And........back on the market.

My understanding is that the house is owned, not surprisingly, by the Dean of the Hines School of Architecture at UH.

This property, designed by Stayton Nunn, has been listed at $2,995,000. There are no photos uploaded yet. http://www.har.com/2448842

EDIT: Some photos were uploaded.

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-1.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-2.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-3.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-4.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-7.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/31/hr2088231-8.jpg

I believe that the first one is actually Tilman Fertitta's house.

When did that happen? Why? Is there a news site that documents this?

I must be missing the point of your question. The Brazoria side of SCR has been in AISD for years, but I imagine that you knew that. Am I missing something?

I have heard the same rumor, but I don't give it much credibility. I have always assumed it was the builder's way of trying to make more home sales where they know there is a concern that may cause buyers to walk away. Oddly enough, Ryland's website for the Concerto Series (Arbor Lakes) talks about the great Alvin schools and makes no mention of the fact that the section is in Fort Bend County. (http://www.ryland.com/find-your-new-home/1...tion.html?t=qmi) Quite misleading.

I'm not saying a change can't be made, just like the one that put SCR into Alvin schools rather than Pearland schools. However, if the FBISD schools are a sticking point for you, I would suggest not buying based on a hope or a promise from a salesperson that is on the builders payroll. FYI...a trusted source told me that Ryland salespeople, on average, made roughly half the income in 2007 that they made in 2006. It was still a good living, but not if he or she was accustomed to making significantly more. There are likely some hungry salespeople out there.

331 Electra went on the market today. No interior pics on HAR though. It's on a very large ravine lot.

www.har.com/8226540

From MLS -

Lot Value: Yes

That might be an explanation for the lack of interior pics.

Reduced to $339,999 today (from $345,000).

We made our first trip to this store yesterday. Impressive.

How come nobody told me there was an Auntie Anne's Pretzel shop there? Those are so addicting!

It just opened within the last week or so, but the sign has been up inside since the grand opening.

It did sell in August for full asking price according to MLS. That was $1.1M. The house was listed for 185 days and started at $1.5M. It was advertised as being sold in "as-is condition".

Wow. You should send these photos to the realtor to replace some of the ones on HAR.

With the photos the realtor posted, it's almost as if she WANTS it to be torn down.

I don't do foreclosures, but if I did, I would have to sign up for the Crappy Photos 101 class. Foreclosure listing agents (or their $6/hour guy that runs errands for them) get the WORST pics I have ever seen.

I think with some good pics some of the foreclosures could sell much faster as buyers may actually want to LOOK at the houses after seeing them online.

This foreclosure was listed in MLS this morning. www.har.com/1014039

It sold for $323,000 in 1999.

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-1.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-2.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-3.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-5.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-6.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-7.jpg

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/16/hr2046116-8.jpg

This home has also been discussed in other threads here.

As long as the home has been in MLS (496 days as of today), it has always been listed at $4.7 million. The agent remarks state that the home is about 70% complete and that it will be finished at that price. I imagine that he would be willing to sell it in its current condition as well, just to get rid of it.

This interesting tidbit just appeared among the Chron's on-line comments. I assume it refers to what Granit told a neighbor: That he bought the house because his girlfriend lives across the street, and that he planned to live there himself.

"Granit bought the house next to ours and said exactly the same thing to the old man who lived there. He must have a lot of girlfriends..."

I have family around the corner from the house. Word on the street, long before this article surfaced, was that his girlfriend lives across the street from the house and that he stays at her place quite a bit. Not much has ever been said about the plans for the property though.

CONTRARY to what the big freaking sign on the store says (OPENING NOV. 7), the store has apparently opened tonight.

I just drove by, and there's an absolutely massive crowd.

I'm not sure if it opened, but I doubt it. The lot has been packed all day long. They have been prepping the store and seemed to be filming or taking photos this afternoon. My guess is that it's a pre-opening celebration by invitation only.

The story I heard was O'Quinn bought this house for the use of one of his employees, the caretaker of his car collection.

There used to be nice cars parked out front frequently.

The guy lived in the house until it was discovered that he was embezzling money from O'Quinn's coffers. There was a messy trial, etc. Sometime after the guy went to jail and while the house sat empty, the roof failed.

Apparently the failure was in many areas and went un-noticed for months. By then, the damage was done.

It will be really sad to see this one go. It's truly a phenomenal house.

I don't recall ever hearing the story before, but a quick search produced THIS STORY from KPRC in 2005.

The listing agent certainly didn't go overboard on the photos! MLS allows 16...she only has 6. Perhaps it's just a teaser to lure wealthy potential buyers in for an accompanied tour of the home.

(Useless Trivia: The owner has the same name as the former owner of Yellow Cab here in Houston, although I can't be certain that it's the same person.)

Actually that's what I had requested when I originally posted about it being bought for the construction of a new home. Seeing that the house was intact and that the original architectural plans were readily available I wanted to see if someone could document the home before it's demise. But I really don't see the new owner being so quick to let in the very folks who tried to prevent him from purchasing the home. However it's worth a shot if anyone is interested.

You can check out what the future holds here:

http://www.granitbuilders.com/

Well, missjanel beat me to the punch on their website, but here are a few links to their active listings in MLS...

http://www.har.com/3998498 (Meyerland)

http://www.har.com/9942241 (Ayrshire)

http://www.har.com/3525863 (Bellaire)

230 Blalock was reduced yesterday by $101,000. At the new price of $1,549,000, the City of Piney Point Village will be taking a loss. Tax dollars hard at work!!!

Here is the email flyer that went out:

15 days on the market. Reduced to $399,900.

Brand new listing in Willow Meadows at $172.38 per square foot. Highest sold price per square foot in MLS is $169.51 in August 2007. A few others have sold around $167.00 per square foot. HAR Link

EDIT: By the way...it's not my listing, just thought I would share.

It looks better than it did in MLS. It's good to see that the owner didn't tear it down...it's hard to tell what will happen after a property that sits on the market for about 2 years. They didn't get anywhere near their initial $795,000 asking price.

gwilson, Riverside Terrace is over off of MacGregor, east of 288. This house is at 3602 Parkwood if you want to pull up a map of the area. There are some great homes in there.

I noticed the Flatow, Moore... house on South Macgregor in Riverside Terrace is for sale. Hopefully they won't tear that one down. It's in the Architecture guide.

No interior pics =(

This is the first non-foreclosure, non-auction listing I have seen where there has been a sealed bid process. Experts out there, does it really bring a higher price or is it a gimmick to bring interest to a property? Are they required to take the highest bid?