Whaddya say we knock back a couple Karbachs, then go out for a bit of the Fifth? You game?
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- More Than 25,000 New Apartment Units Will Become Available in the Houston Area Next Year [KHOU]
- 2 Years Into City Tax Incentive Program, 4,200 New Apartment Units Coming to Downtown Will More Than Double Its Residential Population [WSJ]
- Lit-Up ‘H’ Sign Visible in Future Bovine & Barley Space at 416 Main St. Downtown [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- Crime Calls from Galveston Walmart on Seawall Diverting Police from Higher Priority Incidents, Chief Complains; League City Police Deploying Movable Surveillance Towers to Walmart Parking Lots [Click2Houston]
- Proposed Neighborhood Greenways Would Connect Residents of Southeast Houston, Near Northside to Bayou Trails, Hike and Bike Trails [Houston Chronicle]
- A Review of the Major Real Estate Deals and Projects Announced for the Grand Parkway Last Year [HBJ]
- Hear Our Houston Program Now Has 80 Narrated Local Tours Available for Download [Houston Public Media]
- Lockwood Nature Garden Preserve Attracting Pollinators to Former Used Car Lot at Corner of Harrisburg and Lockwood [Houston Public Media]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT LIFE FORMS HOMES GOT RIGHT 
“I’m also a big Life Forms fan, I own and live in one in the Woodlands. So happens I’m an architect, too. Life Forms is the only company I know that has built suburban tract homes which are innovative, spatially unique, extremely livable, and which complement the landscape. Truly American, as I would like to say it. Many of Life Forms homes were also created for a price point that allowed normal folks like us to experience unique and honest architecture. I do that every day now. Scott Mitchell deserves unique credit as an exceptional architect, a brilliant home builder, and a true innovator.
Most American architecture amounts to mindlessly recompiled ‘tradition,’ endlessly mundane and pretentious. No where is this more evident than in American tract homes. Bad copies of architectural forms and inspiration: selectively applied pastiche . . . that is the norm. As the ‘home of the free and the brave,’ as social and technological pioneers, we Americans ought to pride ourselves on our residential buildings, too. Life Forms challenged the organization, layout, forms, spaces, use of light . . . just about everything that’s bad about the typical american home. Sure some of the details may look dated to us now, and not all the experiments they did were successful. But many of them were. . . .” [Paul Schuyler, commenting on A Look at George Mitchell’s Decked-Out Home in The Woodlands, All Cleaned Up and Cleared Out for Sale] Illustration: Lulu
And here it is — the grand finale of the seventh annual Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s competition.
This final unveiling caps an almost month-long process that began with calls for nominations in 7 separate award categories. Official ballots were assembled from reader nominations. Then voting was opened up — to everyone.
The award winners of the 2014 Swampies deserve to be recognized for their unique contributions to this city. It takes something special to stand out in Houston’s real estate landscape. Award winners: Houston real-estate fans have noticed you!
Also worthy of recognition: the many Swamplot readers who took time to nominate, evaluate, vote, and comment on competitors in each category. Your judgments, your descriptions, and your observations are featured below.
Does this honor roll of award winners — along with the list of runners up — provide an accurate snapshot of the year in Houston real estate? The lineup was determined by reader votes. It’s too late to vote, but do let everyone know how you think it all turned out!
The winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are . . .
The 2014 Swampies
- Whitestone REIT Buys Williams Trace Shopping Center near Sugar Land Town Square [Houston Business Journal]
- Bakery, Restaurant, and Coffee Bar Weights + Measures Now Open at 2808 Caroline St. in Midtown [Eater Houston]
- A Preview of Transit Projects Scheduled To Open Next Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Public and Private Funding Will Pay for Development $500K Citywide Bike Plan [Houston Chronicle]
- Metro Turning Over Development of Park-and-Ride Service Along Texas 288 To City of Pearland [Houston Chronicle]
- Grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Will Allow Galveston Environmental Group To Preserve 154 Acres for Coastal Heritage Preserve [Houston Chronicle]
- Jewelry Exchange Center Leaving Sharpstown’s Jewelry Building, Owners’ Children Planning New Store in Sugar Land [Prime Property]
- Indiana Development Firm Buys 21.5-Acre Site in Sienna Plantation for Apartment Complex [Prime Property]
- Houston Has the Second-Largest Median Home Size in the Country — After Provo, Utah [24/7 Wall St. via Houston Business Journal]
- Fire at L.A. Apartment Building Deliberately Set, Officials Conclude; Vulnerability to Fires Prompting Proposals for New Woodframe Construction Requirements [Economist]
Photo of Post Oak Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON REAL ESTATE PROBLEMS, WITH OR WITHOUT CHEAP OIL 
“The Houston market had a few easily identifiable problems even before the drop in oil prices.
1) Older homeowners with paid off or mostly paid off homes are asking unrealistically high prices for fixer uppers or tear downs. That’s slowing down new home purchases and new builds. That was a problem at $100 oil. Well priced homes moved and unrealistically high priced homes sat. People wanting $300K for a total fixer upper inside Beltway 8 or $400K for a lot near the 610 loop are just completely slowing down the revitalization process as those houses/lots sit for months on end while everyone thinks the sky is falling.
2) Near loop new construction is priced exclusively for people making $200K and up. A family of two earners making $50K (teachers, cops, firefighters, non O&G professionals) can only afford to live out west in the burbs, but many are choosing to rent rather than go west. There’s no attempt at affordable housing inside the beltway. When oil goes down, the engineers stop buying in Houston. The aforementioned buyers would be happy with smaller houses they could afford to get into but the developers are chasing the biggest gains possible on each new build.
The real estate market will ultimately be fine for people who didn’t overpay but it would be nice to see changes that reflect reality now that oil is not at $100.” [Houstonian, commenting on Tanking Oil Prices Place Houston Second on Fitch’s Overvalued Housing Market List] Illustration: Lulu
The votes have been counted. Now here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — well, almost. It’s time to reveal the second-place winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!
Before we do that, a hearty thank you is due to all of you who voted, commented, nominated, campaigned, and cajoled in support of your favorite candidates. You make the Swampies possible.
The actual award winners will be announced in a later post, but now’s the time to let the second-place finishers shine. Several categories had close races; under slightly different circumstances, the candidates listed below could have been the winners. So let’s have a big round of pixelated applause for the 2014 runners-up in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — the Swampies!
They are:
The 2014 Swampies
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
And now, a few special after-Christmas clearance events, at these locations:
- Photos Show HFD Rescue of Doggie Trapped in Mysterious Animal-Dug Tunnel Under Memorial Home [Robyn Arouty Photography; more info]
- Mathew Knowles Hawks Office Furniture, Beyoncé and Solange Memorabilia at Yard Sale [TMZ]
- Land Being Cleared Now for Texas City Lago Mar Development South of Tanger Outlets West of Gulf Fwy. [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Colonel Bubbie’s Strand Surplus Senter Closes Up Shop After 42 Years [Galveston County Daily News]
- Planned Restaurant Foreign Correspondents Redirected to N. Main St. Shopping Center Braun Enterprises Is Renovating [Eater Houston]
- Construction Begins on Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s Restaurants at N. Shepherd Dr. and W. 18th St. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
- The Roots of Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue on N. Shepherd Dr. [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Texas Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
A few well-deserved days off should be on their way to you — special delivery. And when they arrive, please accept our best wishes for the season. If you find yourself itching for some Houston real estate action on your Christmas vacation, remember: The voting deadline for the 2014 Swamplot Awards is this coming Saturday, December 27th, at 5 pm. So how about casting about a few ballots this way or that? Swamplot will return to its regular posting schedule the following Monday, December 29th.
Photo: Swamplot inbox
Back Next Week
UP IN THE AIR AND ROTATING AT THE CORNER OF MONTROSE AND HAWTHORNE 
Here’s your photo proof that the construction crane for Hanover’s new 30-story 3400 Montrose apartment building going up at 3400 Montrose Blvd., on the site of the 3400 Montrose office building torn down earlier this year, went up before Christmas 2014. A reader sends in this shot from the catty-corner corner at cross street Hawthorne. The crane was assembled on site last week. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
END OF YEAR MONTROSE HOME CLEARANCE 
Looking for that last-minute, low-cost, blockbuster Christmas gift for a certain someone who has . . . a place to put anything? Over on Craigslist, someone is offering this well-worn, 2-bedroom, 2-bath 1925 bungalow in Hyde Park for the gotta-grab-it-now price of free. What’s the catch? Just explain it to the gift recipient as a New Year’s resolution: The home must be removed from its lot at 1225 Welch St. by January 15th. (Which will certainly end up costing a fair bit more than free.) Meanwhile, the same home is still listed for sale on MLSÂ — with its 5,000-sq.-ft. lot — for a somewhat higher price: $525,000. [Craigslist; HAR]
