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Inside Today: How deed restrictions are impacting our neighborhoods • Page 3A

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Good luck driving; more Yale apartments

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by Cynthia Lescalleet For The Leader

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For residents near Yale and 6th street, Independence Day fireworks were nothing compared to the sparks flying when news of another proposed apartment complex came to light July 5. A heads-up notification from District C Council Member Ellen Cohen’s office to various residents, land use groups and neighborhood organizations told of Trammell Crow Residential’s proposed plan to

build a second upscale apartment complex in the area. Reportedly dubbed “Alexan Yale,” the development would be located on Yale between 5th and 6th streets. The 4.9-acre site is currently home to Fixtures International and is a block south of TCR’s further-along luxury apartment project, Alexan Heights, which fronts Yale St. at 6th and 7th streets. TCR did not respond to requests for information on the proposed Alexan Yale. As described in Cohen’s letter, however, the new project is “expected to include four

stories of units over two levels of parking, with one level of parking below grade. TCR has the site under contract and is currently performing preliminary due diligence, and they expect to close the purchase of the property by the end of the year. Once TCR establishes a site plan and unit count, they will perform a new trafﬁc study that will include roadways and intersections included in their previous TIA, while also including new intersections on Yale St., Heights Boulevard, and I-10, as well as pedestrian counts.”

Slight Linen Night Are you Ready for the Storm? Plenty of media around Houston offer guides to get you ready for a hurricane. But have you ever thought that a hurricane isn’t the only thing that could impact your life? Maybe it’s just a nasty storm that rolls through the area. In today’s Leader, we get you “Ready for the Storm,” a section that offers you check-lists, insurance advice, evacuation suggestions, and what to do when it ﬂoods. Along with those tips are local businesses who can help you in a time of crisis.

see WLN • Page 10A

see School • Page 10A

Grilled Chicken Salad & Fresh Iced Tea

If those in charge of White Linen Nights have their way, the event will become less about drinking, eating and partying, and more about appreciating the arts and stores in the Heights. (File Photo by Jonathan McElvy)

AARON’S PLUMBING: Total plumbing service. Seven days a week. 713-695-2222. S.C. CUSTOM HOUSE CLEANING: Free quotes. 281-923-6782. CHARLIE’S ROOFING: Free estimates. Quality work. 713-688-6463. EARN BIG MONEY PART-TIME FROM HOME mailing our full color sales postcards. ID #4501. Jim R., 1-800-313-0961.

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Organizers change emphasis of sometimes rowdy event by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com

Can U O YFind Inside

2A 9A 4A 8B 6A 4A 6B 4B

Investor closes in on bid for HISD school

asked to host a local artist. There will also be two highly visible mural projects done in connection with the event that will help the arts emphasis. Even though Jackson describes White Oak as “the Heights’ party zone,” she said it won’t be so on Aug. 3. “It will have its usual life, but the emphasis will be on art there, too.” Jackson says there will be pedi-cabs but no shuttles (although that might change if someone comes forward to sponsor them). There will be entertainment, but no fashion shows this year. And there won’t be rows of tents along

OFF

What

see Yale • Page 10A

St. Thomas High School put in the highest property bid Tuesday on Houston ISD’s Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice High School, but other factors may make it the underdog in gaining the 11-acre piece of land to expand its campus. The school board is expected to make a decision July 18 on the sale. It doesn’t have to accept either bid, but HISD spokesman Jason Spencer said there didn’t appear to be any impediment to the sale. St. Thomas bid $42 million for the campus, but as part of the bid packages opened Tuesday afternoon at the district headquarters, said it would charge HISD $225,000 a month to lease it back for ﬁve years until the school dis- The old HISD campus that’s trict could acquire been housing the Law and build a new Enforcement and Criminal law enforcement Justice High School and school. Washington Middle School Investor A.V. Dickson St., LLC before that has now become came in with a a hot real estate commodity, $41,121,411.11 of- attracting bids of more than fer – but its lease $40 million Tuesday. offer was $100,000 a month over the ﬁveyear span. That means – while St. Thomas offered about $880,000 more in its sales price, the district would be paying about $7.5 million more to St. Thomas in leasing costs overall if it took that bid. “We have to weigh what’s the best deal for HISD with the administration in the next few days and then take our recommendation to the board,” said Gary Hansel, real estate manager for HISD. “There are a lot of factors to consider.” While the sales price and lease are spelled out as part of the process, an unwritten – and so far unspoken –– consideration is that selling the

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“Horror, shock and disbelief ” are among the reactions of neighborhood residents, said Roxanne Davis, a founding member of the neighborhood advocacy group West Heights Coalition. “We are disappointed to hear of yet another extremely large project in an area without sufﬁcient infrastructure for the initial one,” she said, particularly since WHC

by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com

See Ready for the Storm Pages 9-10B

M-F 11am-9pm Sat 11am-5pm

Residents recoil

Less booze, more art, more shopping at local businesses. That sums up the strategy for this year’s White Linen Night in the Heights, scheduled just three weeks from now, on Aug. 3. “We’re trying to underpromise and overdeliver,” says PR woman Sara Jackson, who’s taken over the reins from local art promoter (and Leader arts columnist) Mitch Cohen. And if you haven’t heard anything about it so far, that’s carefully calculated, too. “I don’t know that the size of the event has to be scaled down,” says Jackson, “but if we make this into more of a neighbor-

Houston City Councilmember Ellen Cohen speaks to members of the Oak Forest Homeowners Association on Monday night. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

“

No more insurance agents and dog walkers.” • Sara Jackson

hood art crawl instead of a ‘let’s-go-tothe-Heights-and-get-drunk’ party, I think we’re going to get people coming who will enjoy themselves the right way and spend money with our businesses.” The focus will be arts markets along 19th Street (Cohen’s popular First Saturday Arts Market) and White Oak Drive (operated by Pop Shop Houston), and participating businesses are each being

Oak Forest approves Super measure by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com Oak Forest residents approved a measure for the Oak Forest Homeowners Association to join the revitalized Super Neighborhood 12, which also includes Garden Oaks, Shepherd Park Plaza and several local neighborhoods. Alicia Nuzzie requested that she be Oak Forest HOA’s representative at the meetings, which was also approved during a meeting in front of 70 people on Monday night. The ﬁrst quarterly meeting for SN 12 will take place in August or September at the Houston Solid Waste Management Depart-

ment, 1245 Judiway Street. “Anytime you have a larger group of people coming to the table, the area will benefit,” Nuzzie said. Oak Forest hasn’t been part of a Super Neighborhood in the past, but SN 12 was started three years ago by its president, Mark Klein, who’s also president of the Garden Oaks Civic Club. Klein said the civic clubs in the area are “pretty strong,” so people didn’t see the need for a Super Neighborhood council. But other areas have benefited from it. Klein said two of the issues that he’d like to see addressed are beautification of major thoroughfares and the quiet

zone on 34th Street. The SN is made up of 16 neighborhoods, including Candlelight Plaza, Candlelight Estates Section 1, Shepherd Forest, Mangum Manor, Oak Forest, Garden Oaks Forest Pines, Forest West, Candlelight Oaks, Candlelight Woods, Candlelight Place, Candlelight Oaks Village, Ella Lee Forest, Pinemont Park Square, and the North Shepherd Business Association. The goal for Klein, Nuzzie and longtime SN leader Chuck Blesener of Shepherd Park Plaza will be to get involvement from the aforementioned neighborhoods.

see Super • Page 10A