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If you go way back on Google Earth to the 1950s, there was a large building to the northwest of where the Acme Brick building currently is and a big yard of who knows what around where the driving range currently is. It had a rail spur. I would guess that it was probably a steel plant way back when.

Overheard someone saying that the property has been sold and the driving range will close in the next few months.

Read the article. NextSeed said that they had been holding back on sending default notices in 20 and 21 because of the pandemic. Companies are lawyering up. And when you make a move like this, everyone else you deal with will be wary of dealing with you on any sort of credit basis and will want cash up front for fear of bankruptcy. This is not how you start negotiations.

Worse news. Soul Taco is not going to be at Throughgood Coffee anymore. Not sure whether they are being replaced or just going out of business.

Capitalism can be very stupid. The food halls have been hit hard by COVID. Investors/lenders should be doing loan workouts and renegotiating terms and not going straight to defaulting these businesses and sending them into bankruptcy. In bankruptcy, they will more than likely just have to liquidate as no one is going to be willing to fund them through a Chap 11. That means the food halls close and then sit empty on the commercial property market for years and years and the investors get back pennies on the dollar in bankruptcy. Instead, they could acknowledge that these businesses have been operating in extraordinary circumstances and work with them to share some of the pain from the pandemic and find reasonable terms to continue operations in what will hopefully be a much more profitable post-pandemic world. But in the world of finance/capital such a move is heresy because of ingrained norms and business ethics that if you let one company up from a default, every single business in the US will then be emboldened to become deadbeats.

Fisher's lender took over the property back in 2019. The property was put on the market in February and is apparently under contract. Haven't seen anything recorded with the county yet showing transfer of the property.

Nearly four years in the making, Simply Coffie looks to be close to finishing construction and may open sometime soon. https://www.facebook.com/SimplyCoffie/ http://swamplot.com/new-heights-homeowner-wants-to-squeeze-simply-coffie-parking-and-driveway-fixings-onto-24th-st/2018-07-30/

Coffee shop with CBD in the morning, hot chicken sandwiches for lunch and dinner with a craft cocktail concept . . . and a carwash.

Harris County is now pretty much a "votes blue no matter who" county, even without having a straight ticket button at the polls. Hidalgo is very popular among Dems, with many hoping that she runs for congress or governor some day. The fact that the Texas Rangers conducted a raid as part of this investigation pretty much shows that this is being driven by Austin. Harris County DA has been willing to run with this because they know that it will more than likely be dismissed by a Harris County district court. If there was really something there, the Feds would have gone after it.

Don't limit yourself. Ground floor car wash in all apartment complexes that also serve hot chicken sandwiches.

If we had zoning, we could require the carwashes to also have hot chicken sandwich restaurants, saving a lot of space along Shep for additional development. Instead of always asking for ground floor retail in new apartment complexes, we should have been demanding hot chicken sandwiches at all our car washes.

Moon Rabbit is now open. Peony and Crane is doing a soft opening. Interesting menu. http://peonycrane.kwickmenu.com/

New Zealand is the birth place of the flat white. Don't let Bruce and Shelia sell you on some tale about Aussie's inventing the flat white. Baristas in the US generally do not work with milk foam the way they do in Europe. The difference between a flat white and latte/cappuccino end up being not much more than the proportions of milk to espresso. Catalina is definitely one of the best. I would also add Tenfold as having pretty good coffee chops. Little Dreamer (in a little shipping container at the Stomping Grounds in GOOF) is also one to try for coffee nerds.

Opening this week. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/restaurants-bars/article/New-Australian-inspired-coffee-cafe-opens-in-17040455.php#photo-21693002

The church and Lambert are designated as contributing structures in the East Historic District in the Heights and are protected by the historic preservation ordinance. No way anyone would be able to get a certificate of appropriateness to tear down Lambert. As much as the militancy over historic preservation and neighborhood qualify of life has been subdued in the Heights, I am sure the neighborhood would freak out in a big way if someone tried to tear down Lambert. I would hope that the Heights Association would be able to round up enough cash to buy the property and maintain it as a concert hall. The church could be converted into an event hall for weddings, etc. and make some good money on the side.

Bungalow Revival and Lucas Craftsmanship are still around and some of the best of those who do historic homes in the Heights. Since then, I would also add Contemporary Craftsman (https://www.facebook.com/TheContemporaryCraftsmen/) and Bishop Building Co. (https://www.bishopbuildingtx.com/) to the list of people you might want to check out. Contemporary Craftsman does work that is similar to Bungalow Revival. More design and preservation/authenticity oriented than most. Bishop is not as design oriented, but has a lot of experience with Heights homes. Both are owned by long time Heights residents. I would be wary of builders in the Heights who are primarily doing new construction and do not have much experience with renovations/additions and with builders who are relatively new to the neighborhood. The talent pool for working with historic homes and HAHC is surprisingly shallow in Houston. I can't name names, but over the years there have been a number of really bad builders in the Heights. Some have come and gone, some are still going strong (unfortunately). Definitely do your homework before choosing a builder in the Heights.

If you are craving a hot chicken sandwich and need a car wash, N. Shep and Durham have got you covered.

Steak house concept to replace La Grande Rue. https://www.theleadernews.com/food_drink/nibbles-sips-speakeasy-style-steakhouse-opening-in-heights/article_8bf68802-9ee3-11ec-ad56-fb960e7b5879.html

That is a different restaurant. Sign is already up for Henderson and Kane. Should be opening pretty soon.

I think the real need is for nights and weekends when lots of people come into the neighborhood to go to shops, restaurants, bars, etc. A bus route coordinated with parking lots could help take pressure off of residential parking and provide people with and easy way to get around without having to search for limited parking every time. You would just need a route that went along Shep, Heights/Yale, Studewood, 11th, 19th and White Oak. That way you could park at MKT and then take a quick shuttle trip to 19th to shop another quick shuttle to Studewood to go to a restaurant and then back to your car at MKT.

Is this one of those deals where the builder keeps the front facade to avoid having to get a variance for setbacks? Also, this kind of reminds me of the giant modern at 806 Alexander. That one seems like a safehouse for cartel informants who were allowed to walk away with millions.

The upside to the failure to get leases for more upscale local vendors is that a fair number of the original vendors have been able to stay. When Canino's closed, everyone thought that the new owners would kick out all of the vendors and turn it into a permanent version of Urban Harvest's market. So far, the market is still serving the same folks who frequented the market before the renovations with facilities that are way nicer for both the customers and vendors. I think there is still potential to have the original vendors and more upscale vendors to thrive in the same space. But, ironically, the question seems to be whether the latter can make it and not the former.

The new owners were planning on bringing in more high end foodie stuff, including vendors that you would see at the various weekend farmers markets around town. But that has not happened yet. I think it may be that these vendors aren't ready to have a retail space that is operating on a daily basis.

Wild Oats is opening. https://preview.houstonchronicle.com/dining/wild-oats-opens-today-with-menu-inspired-by-texas-16899085

2601 Baylor has already been renovated and the tea room will just have to build out the interior. Take a look at the address on google maps street view and compare to the finished product. Really nice work on this one. https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/2601-Baylor-St-Houston-TX/21970703/