Meredith Deliso

• Class A Apartment Occupancy Rate Drops To 86% While Class B at Near-Record High of 96%, Finds CBRE [Realty News Report]
• Downtown’s First Church of Christ Scientist at 1720 Main Sold For Above $2.25M Asking Price [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• 2-Building Uptown Complex Park Towers in the Midst of Multimillion-Dollar Renovation [HBJ]
• Burlington Stores To Anchor Mixed-Use Project University Commons Opening Next Year in Sugar Land [HBJ]
• Members-Only CityCentre Club Marque Houston Has Closed [HBJ]
• Rice Village La Madeleine Hoping To Relocate to Rice Village As Shake Shack Takes Its Place Next Year [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston County Chooses Law Firm To Navigate Use of Eminent Domain on Rollover Pass [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Open Houses Rarely Lead To a Higher Price or Quicker Sale in Houston, Finds Redfin Corp. [HBJ]

Photo: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Lowe’s To Anchor Thor Equities’ The Shoppes at Cinco Ranch Breaking Ground Next Month [HBJ]
• Georges Bistro That Took Back Former Feast Space at 219 Westheimer 2 Years Ago Closing For Real This Time [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Slideshow: The 17 Worst Commutes in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Clearview Font on Texas Highway Signs To Be Phased Out [Houston Public Media]
• The Role of Highways in American Poverty [The Atlantic]
• Volunteers Work To Replace Trees Lost to Drought and Trail Construction in 100 Acre Wood Preserve [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Mid Main: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Moody’s Downgrades Houston’s Bond Rating Again over Low Oil Prices, Increasing Property Taxes and Pension Costs [HBJ]
• SmartAsset Names Houston Among the Top Cities in the Country for First-Time Home Buyers [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Ranked Among the Slowest Job Markets in the U.S. by Headlight Data [HBJ]
• Energy Corridor Apartment Complex Going Up Near Beltway 8 and I-10 Offering Rent Incentives [Realty News Report]
• East Aldine, Neighborhood Centers, and Houston’s Modern Settlement House Movement [Places Journal via The Urban Edge]
• Video: The Construction Progress of Katy’s New Waterpark Typhoon Texas, Opening in May [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Resident of Royal Lakes Estates Subdivision in Fort Bend County Finds Alligator on Her Porch [abc13]

Photo of the Post at Afton Oaks apartments, 3131 West Loop South: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Phase I of Gateway Southwest Industrial Park in Missouri City Now Complete [Realty News Report]
• Bella Rinova Salon To Move from Uptown Park to Glassy River Oaks District Space [HBJ]
• Houston’s Health Care Boom Driving Search for More Medical Real Estate [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Maritime Museum To Leave Museum District Home for New $50M Museum Near Port of Houston [HBJ]
• Video: Inside Houston’s First Micro-Unit Development The Ivy Lofts [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• A Discussion on Houston’s Public Space Transformation with Architects Andrew Albers and Ernesto Alfaro, Part III [OffCite Blog]
• Dozens Camped Out as of Last Night for Today’s Opening of Houston’s First Cabela’s in League City [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Discovery Green: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• CommunityBank of Texas Relocating from Downtown’s 1415 Louisiana Building to Greenway Plaza [Realty News Report]
• City Council OKs New Buc-ee’s at Corner of I-10 and Cane Island Parkway in Katy [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Glitzy Midtown Steakhouse Mr. Peeples Closing March 28, New Concept To Open in Its Place [Culturemap]
• Houston Had the Fourth Worst Traffic in the Country Last Year, According to the Inrix 2015 TrafficScorecard [HBJ]
• Houston’s No Longer the Joke at the Beginning of Every Urban Planning Presentation [The Urban Edge]
• Cycling Advocates Make Case for Increased Use of Electric Bikes in Houston [Houston Public Media]
• Woman Leaves Southmore Street Apartment of 26 Years After It Became Infested with Fleas [KHOU]

Photo of “Personnage et Oiseaux” in front of the Chase Tower: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Lineup of Builders at Grand Central Park Community on Former Camp Strake Property Announced [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Colvill Office Properties Closes on 30,921 SF in 2 Leases at 712 Main Street Downtown [Realty News Report]
• The Crowne Plaza Houston Downtown To Once Again Go By The Whitehall When It Reopens Next Month [HBJ]
• Restaurants Start Offering ‘Oil Barrel Bargain’ Menus and Reduced-Price Meals Amid Oil Slump [Houston Chronicle]
• Tapas and Wine Bar Broken Barrel Planned for Hughes Landing in The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• Why Bus Shelters Matter More Than You Think [OffCite Blog]

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Briar Lake Village Retail Center in Westchase District Sold [Realty News Report]
• Florida-Based Ecclestone Organization Has Acquired Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental Airport [Realty News Report]
• Luxury Residential Brokerage Carnan Properties Moves into New Galleria-Area Office Building [HBJ]
• Worship Facilities and Educational Market are Underserved in Houston, According to Architect Scott Ziegler [Realty News Report]
• Harvest Green in Fort Bend County Among Some 200 ‘Agrihoods’ Sprouting Up Across the Country [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Harvest Moon Solar Farm Almost Dressed and Ready for Harvest [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• New Hermann Park Master Plan Expected by Year’s End as Old Master Plan Wraps Up [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Renter Population Increased 37% in Last 10 Years, Finds National Study [Houston Chronicle]
• What Greater Houston Partnership’s New Space at Partnership Tower in Downtown’s Convention District Will Look Like [Houston Chronicle]
• Cultural Landscape Foundation Conference This Weekend To Examine the More Than $700M in Park Investments in Houston Since 2004 [AP]
• A Discussion on Houston’s Public Space Transformation with Architects Andrew Albers and Ernesto Alfaro, Part II [OffCite Blog]
• The Safest Streets for Biking in Houston, According to Avid Cyclists [Houston Press]
• Reagan HS Joins Houston Schools Named After Confederate Figures That Will Be Renamed [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Rodeo Houston: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Single Family Home Sales Rose 2% Year-Over-Year in February, Finds HAR [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• The High-Rise Apartment Boom in Downtown Houston, Dallas and Austin [Realty News Report]
• How Dwindling Oil Prices Hurt Houston’s Commercial Real Estate Market [Forbes]
• First Emission-Free Gas Power Plant Breaks Ground in La Porte [Fuel Fix]
• League City Moves Forward in Process to Annex More Land [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• DanMar Manor Found an Anonymous New Jersey Buyer 1 Day Before the Woodlands Estate Went Up for Auction [HBJ]
• Surge Homes Opens Upper Kirby District Gated Community Upper Richton To Sales [Realty News Report]
• Homes To Go Up Soon at New Gated, Master-Planned Community The Preserve at Grand Beach [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Flotation Therapy Spa Healing Waters Opening in Montrose at 504 W. Gray St. by May [HBJ]
• Three Square and Architects Plus to Merge, Move to Houston’s East Village [HBJ, previously on Swamplot]
• Uber Now Leaving Corpus Christi over Regulation Already Implemented in Houston [Texas Tribune; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s Official City Song, As Performed by the Houston Saengerbund [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of the Chase Tower sky lobby: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Quasar Galleria Ltd. Buys 11-Story Galleria-Area Office Building 5433 Westheimer [Realty News Report]
• Downtown KBR Towers To Be Rebranded as Jefferson Towers at Cullen Center [HBJ]
• Construction To Start This Month on Kroger-Anchored Market at Springwoods Village [HBJ]
• Labor Shortage Amid Petrochemical Plant Boom in East Houston, Says Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership [Realty News Report]
• Graphs of Residential Permits from 2005-2015 Show Variable Nature of Houston’s Building Patterns [Houston Chronicle]
• Video: Inside a Model Home at Tiger Wood’s Bluejack National Luxury Golf Resort [HBJ]
• First Houston Location of Austin’s Hopdoddy Burger Bar To Open in April in the River Oaks District [Click2Houston]
• Hospitality USA Opening Restless Palate Restaurant with Eatsie Boy Menu in Katy’s LaCenterra Shopping District in Mid-April [Culturemap]
• Opening of Niko Niko’s West Houston Location Nears as Sign Goes Up on Building [HBJ]
• Houston Targeting Illegal Dump Sites To Reduce Mosquito Breeding Grounds in Fight Against Viruses Like Zika [Houston Public Media]
• A Discussion on Houston’s Public Space Transformation with Architects Andrew Albers and Ernesto Alfaro [OffCite Blog]

Photo of the Gus Wortham Fountain: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Transwestern To Lease 40-Story KBR Tower and 20-Story 500 Jefferson Building in Downtown’s Cullen Center [Realty News Report]
• Seattle-Based Residential Brokerage and Technology Company Redfin Corp. To Move Houston Office into Spring Street Studios [HBJ]
• Whitestone REIT Sheds Brookhill Office Building in Southeast Houston for $3.1M [Houston Chronicle]
• Longtime Rice Village Restaurant Kubo’s Sushi Bar and Grill Has Closed [Culturemap]
• Number of Poisonous Snakes on Galveston Beaches Totally Normal This Time of Year, Officials Assure [Houston Public Media]
• Naked Dancing Woman on Top of Big Rig Shut Down Highway 290 For More Than 2 Hours Yesterday [KHOU]
• Plus: A Poem for the Naked Dancing Woman, in the Style of William Carlos Williams  [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Pasadena Refining Systems Plant Explosion Injures One, Sends Huge Plumes of Black Smoke into the Air on Saturday [abc13]
• Fairway Says Time Is Right to Convert Salt Dome Caverns More than 2k Feet Under Southwest Houston into Crude Oil Storage Space [Fuel Fix; previously on Swamplot]
• $3.9M Bunker Hill Village Estate for Sale Also Comes with a $90K Tesla [Houston Chronicle]
• You Need To Make $52K To Be Able To Buy a Median-Priced Home in Houston [Business Insider]
• Real Estate Company Allegiance Title Co. Moving into Uptown’s Redstone Building on Post Oak Lane [HBJ]
• Midtown Barbecue Set To Take Over Former Bourbon on Bagby Space in Mid-April [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Video: Inside Cabela’s First Houston-Area Store Opening March 17 in League City [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• $150M Project Will Extend Westpark Tollway 2.5 Miles West of the Grand Parkway [Houston Public Media]
• Thrillist Names Houston One of the Worst-Designed Cities in America [Houston Chronicle]
• How Oil and Gas-Dependent Areas Avoid Becoming ‘Ghost Towns’ [Oilpro]
• Local Nonprofits Feeling the Squeeze from Oil Collapse as Donations Drop [Houston Chronicle]
• City Council Members Dumbfounded by Public Art Costs [Glasstire; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of smoke from Saturday’s Pasadena Refining Systems plant explosion: Swamplot inbox

• Land Sales Slipped 44% in The Woodlands and Bridgeland Year-Over-Year in 2015, Reports Howard Hughes Corp. [Realty News Report]
• Houston Baptist University Announces Tenants for $3.9M Retail Development The Pillars at HBU [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• River Oaks District Opening First of 8 New Restaurants on March 15, Starting with Toulouse Cafe and Bar [Houston Chronicle]
• Cabo San Lucas Apartments Near Hobby Airport Offering Tenants Free Health Screenings Amid Oil Bust [Houston Chronicle]
• TxDOT Wants To Know How You Would Fix the US 59-610 Loop Interchange [Houston Public Media]
• ‘Art Blocks’ Temporary Installations Counter ‘Cold Business-like Space’ in Main Street Square Downtown [Houstonia; previously on Swamplot]
• Evelyn’s Park Conservancy Holding Contest To Name Restaurant in the Bellaire Park [Culturemap]

Photo of McKee Street Bridge: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• How East Houston is Booming Amid Oil Slump [Realty News Report]
• Madison/Foley Developing Master-Planned Community Sundance Cove Near Lake Houston [HBJ]
• Elan Heights Apartment Complex Going Up in Woodland Heights Begins Preleasing Units [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Tiger Woods Unveils BlueJack National Golf Club in Montgomery County [abc13]
• Mattress Firm Opening in Former Oak Forest Verizon Wireless at 1347 West 43rd St. [The Leader]
• City Council Delays Vote on New Contract for Curbside Recycling Program [Houston Public Media]
• Levees Would Be Less Expensive and More Cost Effective Than 55-Mile ‘Ike Dike’ Galveston Coastal Barrier, Finds New Report [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]

Photo: telwink via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Unemployment On Track To Outpace the National Rate for the First Time in a Decade [Quartz]
• Houston Apartment Market Showing ‘Significant Signs of Weakening’ Amid the Oil Slump, Finds MPF Research [HBJ]
• New Del Webb Community for Residents Ages 55 and Up Going Up in The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• Johnson & Johnson Debuts Lab Space JLabs @ TMC in the Texas Medical Center [HBJ]
• Target To Anchor Grand Parkway Marketplace Near Grand Pwky. in Spring Coming in March 2017 [HBJ]
• Costco Opening Latest Houston-Area Store on March 18 with Humble Location [HBJ]
• Dallas-Based Pizzeria Cane Rosso Opening Heights Location in Mid-April with Gold-Clad Oven, Montrose Spot To Follow This Summer [Culturemap]
• Behind the 20-Year Renovation of a 1935-Built River Oaks House [Houstonia]

Photo of 1885 Saint James Place construction: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool