Meredith Deliso

• Johnson Development To Build 2,500-Home Community Veranda on 590 Acres in Fort Bend County [Houston Chronicle]
• Midtown Development Awaits Approval To Sit Closer To Brazos, Smith and Elgin Than Normally Allowed [Houston Chronicle]
• The Port of Houston’s Low 3.4% Submarket Vacancy Rate a ‘Completely New Phenomenon’ [HBJ]
• Houston Home Sellers Slashing Prices, Offering Incentives as Oil Slump Hits Market [Wall Street Journal]
• Fresh Off Opening 500 Crawford Downtown, Developer Marvy Finger Prepares for a Slowdown [Houston Chronicle]
• ‘Filthiest Home in Houston’ in Champions Area Under Contract, Has 12 Back-Up Offers [abc13]
• Chapman & Kirby Gastropub Planned for EaDo Mixed-Use Project East Village [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• The Halal Guys Restaurant Chain Opening First Houston Location on January 30 at 3821 Farnham [Culturemap]
• What Ever Happened to Houston’s ‘One Bin For All’ Program? [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Unidentified Smell Has Been Bothering Richmond Residents for at Least a Month and a Half Now [abc13]
• Slideshow: Inside Houston’s Abandoned Places [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• University of Texas Closes on 100 Acres in Southwest Houston, Plans To Buy 200 More in Coming Months [Houston Chronicle]
• Up to 70 New Houston Apartment Projects Stalled or Canceled Amid Oil Slump [HBJ ($)]
• More Than 3,000 Apartment Units Are Under Construction Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
• Quintana Minerals Relocating to 1415 Louisiana, Leases 17,465 SF at Under-Renovation Office Tower [Realty News Report]
• Spring Branch North, Westbury, Woodlake-Briar Meadow To Have Highest Home Value Growth in 2016, According to Zillow [HBJ]
• Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd Opening 2 Restaurants at 500 Crawford Apartment Building Across from Minute Maid Park [Houston Chronicle]
• The New, Larger La Fisheria Debuts Downtown at 213 Milam This Wednesday [Houston Chronicle]
• Metro Testing Mobile Ticketing App for Purchasing Single Fare Tickets and Day Passes [Houston Public Media]
• The Sights and Sounds of the 27,000-Runner-Strong Chevron Houston Marathon [Houston Chronicle]

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

• SkyHouse Main Residential Tower Expected To Open This Summer Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
• Friendswood Development Growing Presence in Houston This Year with Kingwood, Tomball Communities [Houston Chronicle]
• New Data Center Skybox Houston One Now Open in the Energy Corridor [HBJ]
• City Says It Has Already Fixed 96% Of Relevant Reported Potholes [Houston Public Media]
• The Strongest Case Yet That Excessive Parking Causes More Driving [CityLab]
• Reagan High School Name Change Process Postponed [The Leader]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Home Sales Down 9.7% in December Over Previous Year, According to HAR [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston a Sellers’ Market at $400K and Below, a Buyers’ Market Above $500K [MarketWatch]
• Houston Absent from Zillow’s 2016 List of Hottest U.S. Housing Markets [HBJ]
• Construction To Start Next Month on Luxury Apartment Complex in Lago Mar [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Wulfe & Co. Developing Mixed-Use Development East Shore Place in The Woodlands [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Speedsportz Racing Track at Delayed Grand Texas Sports and Entertainment District To Open This Spring [HBJ]
• Residential Units, Retail Eyed for Former Colonel Bubbie’s Strand Surplus Senter [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• East End Family Opens Invasion Ice House in Former Ice House at Dumble and McKinney [abc13]
• The Full Cost of UH’s Football Stadium Probably Falls Between $126M and $128M [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Grand Pkwy. Segment Between U.S. 290 and I-45 Set To Open First Week of February [Houston Chronicle]
• Stalled Plan To Light Up U.S. 59 Bridges Finds Funding [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of the Downtown Aquarium: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 121-Acre Pine Crest Golf Course in Spring Branch on the Market [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s First ‘Agri-hood’ Community Harvest Green Will Feature Edible Landscaping [HBJ, previously on Swamplot]
• 12 Under-Construction Houston Office Projects To Watch in 2016 [HBJ]
• Slideshow: Inside the New Holiday Inn in Former Savoy Hotel Space Downtown [HBJ]
• River Oaks District Signs New Retailers Nars Cosmetics, Roberta Roller Rabbit, St. Bernard [HBJ]
• More Gourmet Donut Shops in Houston as Glazed, Pena’s Donut Heaven Adding Second Locations, Morningstar Opening Soon [HBJ]
• Scenic Houston Has Raised Nearly $5M To Revamp Landscaping, Lighting Along Broadway Street [Houston Chronicle, previously on Swamplot]
• Post-Overhaul Metro Had 4.85M Bus Boardings in November 2015, Up from 4.65M Year Before [The Urban Edge]
• Oil Falls Below $30 a Barrel for First Time Since 2003 [Realty News Report]
• Billionaire Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta To Star on New CNBC Reality Show ‘Billion Dollar Buyer’ [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• ‘Reimagined’ Houston Airport Marriott at IAH To Debut Today [Houston Chronicle]
• La Porte Leaders Vote To Include New Gilley’s Venue in $55M La Porte Town Center [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Foreign Nationals, Empty Nesters Helping Fuel Houston’s Apartment Market [Houston Chronicle]
• LGI Homes Reports Record 3,404 Houston Home Closings in 2015, Up 45% Over Previous Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Neighbors Concerned About Property Values as Conroe’s Wedgewood Golf Course Set To Close Jan. 31 [Houston Chronicle]
• Metro To Roll Out Additional Changes To Bus Service Starting Jan. 24 Based on Public Feedback [Houston Public Media]
• New Bus Terminal, Parking Garage Could Open in Downtown Galveston By End of the Month [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Tallest Residential Tower in Texas Breaks Ground in Austin [Realty News Report]

Photo: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Dunavant, Floor & Décor Outlets of America Sign Leases Totaling 1.2M SF in Bay Area Business Park [HBJ]
• Texas Medical Center Property Medical Towers To Be Redeveloped, Get 230-Room Embassy Suites [Houston Chronicle]
• Urban Planner Steven Spillette Predicts Uptick in New Development in Houston’s East Sector [Realty News Report]
• Affordable Housing Units Disproportionately Located in ‘Low Opportunity’ Areas, Finds CAP [The Urban Edge]
• Bradley Ogden Hospitality’s Closes Funky Chicken and Bradley’s Fine Diner, 2 Out of Its 3-Restaurant Stake in Houston [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Johnny Carrabba Buys Common Bond Bakery, Has Already Leased More Parking [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Trees, Squirrels, Woodpeckers To Blame for Sienna Plantation’s Power Outages, Says Centerpoint Energy [Houston Public Media]
• Relocated Heights Post Office Now Open at 1300 W. 19th St. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of South Loop 610: Jan Buchholtz via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Shopping Center Construction Pace To Reach Highest Level Since 2008 This Year with 4.53M SF of New Space, According to Wulfe [Realty News Report]
• Westgate Market Shopping Center Near Katy Sells for $25.1M to Argentina Investor [Houston Chronicle]
• Holiday Inn Houston-Downtown Now Open in Former Savoy Hotel Property [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• South Shore Harbour Resort in League City in Midst of $15M Renovation Driven by Petrochemical Boom [HBJ]
• Embassy Suites Hotel Now Open at Hughes Landing in The Woodlands [HBJ]
• Houston Was the Most Popular Moving Destination in Texas in 2015, According to United Van Lines [HBJ]
• Ship Channel Bridge Closed This Weekend To Replace Old Toll Booths with EZ TAG [Houston Public Media]
• Closings Along Parts of Highway 290, I-10 This Weekend Too [abc13]

Photo of BG Group Place at 811 Main: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Nearly 70% of Texas Contractors Plan To Hire More Workers in 2016, Finds Report [Houston Public Media]
• Kemah’s Star Fleet Marina Developing Mixed-Use Project for Dining, Office, Commercial Use [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Daily Pothole Reports To City Have Tripled Since Mayor Turner Announced Plan on Monday To Make Repairs Within 24 Hours [Houston Chronicle]
• Crude Pushes Closer to $30 a Barrel as West Texas Intermediate Slides to 12-Year Low [Fuel Fix]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Do Houston’s Oil Troubles Spell Danger for the Texas Economy? [CNBC]
• How U.S. Economic Expansion, Drilling Collapse, Petrochemical Construction Boom Are Shaping Houston’s Economy [Bauer College of Business]
• Houston Among Nation’s Most At-Risk Cities of Seeing Falling Housing Prices [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston-Area Master-Planned Communities Riverstone, Aliana, Wildwood at Northpointe Among the Best-Selling in the U.S. [HBJ]
• Community Optimistic Sunnyside TIRZ Will Spur Development [Houston Public Media]
• Rocky Stevens Planning Small Retail Center at Yale and 21st Street Behind the Heights Kroger [Houston Chronicle]
• Shake Shack Officially Opening in the Galleria Mall in Late 2016 [HBJ]
• When It Comes to the Astrodome, Houston Should Capitalize on the Growing Interest in ‘Ruin Porn’ [The Urban Edge]
• Ranking the Houston Neighborhoods with the Largest Homes [Houston Chronicle]
• Map: The Art of the New Light Rail Lines [Houston Public Media]

Photo of the Raven Tower, near the White Oak Music Hall complex in former Fitzgerald’s site at 2915 N. Main: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Plunging Crude Price Threatens To Drag Down Houston’s Residential Real Estate Market With It [Texas Monthly]
• Development Slowing as Fewer Than 1.6M SF of New Office Space Will Be Completed in 2017-18, According to JLL [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Could Lose as Many as 50K Jobs in Manufacturing, Oil and Gas Before the Industry Recovers [Houston Chronicle]
• Lincoln Property Secures $60.74M in Financing for Galleria Place Office Campus [Houston Chronicle]
• Vacant Waddell’s Housefurnishing Building in EaDo To Be Converted into Lofts [Houston Chronicle]
• Surge Homes Starts Residential Developments in Upper Kirby, the Museum District, Midtown [Realty News Report]
• Magnolia, Richmond, The Woodlands Among Highest Apartment Rents in Texas, Finds Apartment List [Houston Chronicle]
• Second Ward Taco Joint Villa Arcos Changing Location and Name [Culturemap]
• Baker St. Pub & Grill in Rice Village Has Closed [HBJ]

Photo of the Tarkett Site: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Commercial Real Estate Players Predict What 2016 Will Bring [HBJ]
• Some of 2015’s Biggest Stories in Houston Real Estate [Houston Chronicle]
• Transwestern’s Chip Clarke: There Is Still ‘Good Investor Demand’ in Houston [Realty News Report]
• Torchy’s Tacos Also Opts Out of Texas’ New Open Carry Gun Law, Now In Effect [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of the Wortham Theatre Grand Foyer: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Housing Market Gained $23.4B in Value This Year for an All-Time High of $381B, According to Zillow [Houston Chronicle]
• Clay To Develop 1.5M SF of Distribution Space on 80 Acres It Just Bought in Cedar Port Industrial Park [Realty News Report]
• 2 Hotels Totaling 325 Rooms Planned for 1.3-Acre Site Near the Texas Medical Center [HBJ]
• Six Ping Opens Fourth Houston Bakery Within a 1.5-Mile Radius of Previous Locations [Houston Press]
• The Best and Worst Urban Trends of 2015 [Next City]

Photo of Market Square Park: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Downtown Houston Expected To Have 3.8M SF of Direct and Sublease Submarket Space Available Next Year [HBJ]
• Clay Picks Up Nearly 80 Acres in Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown [GlobeSt.com]
• Demo of 3 Upper Kirby Buildings at Kirby Drive and Southwest Fwy. To Wrap Up Around April [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Can You Identify These Downtown Construction Sites? [Houston Streetwise]
• Median Rent for 2-Bedroom Apartment in Houston Grew Only 1.1% Over Last Year to $1,120, Finds Apartment List [HBJ]
• The 6 Most Critical Issues Facing Houston’s New Mayor in 2016 [The Urban Edge]

Photo of Pennzoil Place: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Homebuilders, Apartment Developers Increased Houston’s Housing Supply 9.7% from 2011 to 2014 [Houston Chronicle]
• Dailey Oil Tools Office Project in Conroe NewQuest Crosswell Business Park Sold [Realty News Report]
• More Concessions and Amenities Expected in 2016 To Attract Tenants [HBJ]
• How Mandolin Village Subdivision’s ‘Snake Pit’ Became Its Biggest Attraction [Houston Public Media]
• New Icehouse Eight Row Flint Now Open in Former Citgo Station at Yale and W. 11th [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Public Art Wanted for Smither Park in Southeast Houston [Houston Public Media]

Photo of Christmas Village at Bayou Bend: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool