Meredith Deliso

• U.S. Arm of Chinese Company Buys Alliance Residential’s Broadstone Post Oak for Undisclosed Price [HBJ]
• Slower New-Home Sales in Suburban Communities Blamed on Heavy Rains [Prime Property]
• Sneak Peek at NRG Model ‘Smart Home’ in Spring Community MainStreet America [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Harris County Preparing Online Version of Its ‘Archaic’ Family Law Center Property Auctions [abc13
• Miami-Based Company Negotiating with 2 Area Developers To Build Self-Cleaning ‘Crystal Lagoons’ in Houston [HBJ]
• Randy Rucker’s New Bramble Restaurant Now Open at 2231 S. Voss with Old Mancuso’s Sign Still Intact [Food Chronicles]
• Your Pie Will Start Construction on First Houston Location, on Ground Floor of SkyHouse Houston, in August [HBJ]
• Krispy Kreme To Make Long-Awaited Return to Houston July 21 with Opening of Hwy. 6 Location [Isiah Factor]
• $12M Makeover To Turn Upper Kirby District’s Levy Park into a ‘World-Class Urban Space’ [Your Houston News]
• Discarded TVs, Toilets, Broken Vacuums Found During Buildout of Spring Creek Greenway [Houston Chronicle]
• Smelly Drainage Ditch in Melrose Park Finally Fixed Following News Report [abc13; more here]
• Kingwood Residents Provide Input on Houston Bike Plan; Deadline for Feedback Extended to July 20 [Your Houston News]
• Russian-Language Newspaper Our Texas, Begun as a Hobby, Celebrates 15 Years of Publication [Houston Public Media]

Photo of James Surls’s “Walking Molecular Flower” at Rice U. BRC: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Lovett Commercial Under Contract To Buy Downtown Post Office, Turn Property into 16-Acre Multi-Use Complex [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• 450K-SF Katy Power Center Shoppes at Parkwest Going in on 40-Acre Site Catty-Corner from Katy Mills Mall at I-10 and Katy Fort Bend Rd. [Realty News Report]
• Plan for The Timbers, a 2,749-Acre Residential Development Northeast of Lake Houston Near Grand Pkwy. Extension, Goes Before Planning Commission This Thursday [HBJ]
• Alamo-Craftsman-Style Seagrass Beach Going Up on 33-Acre Bolivar Peninsula Site [Prime Property]
• Recently Completed Westchase Park II Building Now 50% Leased [Prime Property]
• Proprietor of Shuttered Spring Water Cafe Now Running Deli at B&B Butchers, Looking for Spot Near Washington Ave for Wholesale Bagel Shop [Culturemap]
• Raising Cane’s To Open in League City in August [Prime Property]
• Houston Design Manual Revisions Reduce Standard Street Lane Width from 12 Ft. to 11 Ft. [The Highwayman]
• How One Houston Man Actually Gets Around Houston Without Owning a Car [abc13]
• HPD Will Watch Your House for Free While You’re Away Through Its Alert Slip Service [abc13]
• White Population Doubled, African American Population Shrunk 10% Over Last Decade in Third Ward [Houston Public Media]
• HISD Considering Renaming Reagan High School [The Leader]
• Rapper Says He Spent 4 Months Secretly Recording an Album in a Manhattan Apple Store [The Daily Beast]

Photo of burned house on Taylor Ct., Fifth Ward: o texano via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Electro Tech Industries Acquires 115K-SF Industrial Building at 303 W. Little York [Realty News Report]
• LGI Homes Sells Record 331 New Homes in June, Up 36% from June 2014 [Realty News Report]
• Officials Plan To Tear Down Old City Incinerator on 71st St. That’s Been Closed Since 1955 [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Ronnie Killen Moving Steakhouse to Malibu Steak & Seafood Spot, Converting Current Spot into Burger Joint Previously Planned for Former Gas Station [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• The Chicken Ranch Closes on North Main St. Following Lease Dispute, Looking for a New Home [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Songkran Thai Kitchen Opens Second Houston-Area Location, in Sugar Land Town Square Plaza [Prime Property]
• Surveillance Video Shows Thieves Using Backhoe To Smash Way into Warthog Firearms on Main St. in Old Town Spring [abc13]
• Should Lee, Reagan, Davis High School and Dowling, Jackson, and Johnston Middle Schools Be Renamed? [Houston Chronicle]
• Old Timers Stop by To Reminisce About Westbury Square [KHOU; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Memorial Hermann Memorial City: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction Begins on ‘Modest’ 60-Unit Apartment Complex at 6520 Jamail Dr. Across from Wayside Dr. Fiesta Mart [Prime Property]
• General Growth Properties To Renovate Willowbrook Mall Entrance, Food Court [HBJ]
• Houston Ranked Fifth ‘Greenest’ Office Market in U.S. [Prime Property]
• Texas Organizing Project Protests Financial Incentives for Residential Developers Through the Downtown Living Initiative for ‘Furthering Economic Segregation’ [Prime Property]
• TxDOT Approves $370M Worth of Roadway Projects for the State Funded Under Proposition 1, Including Hwy. 290 Widening [Houston Chronicle]
• City To Revamp 1.5 Miles of T.C. Jester with New Pavement, Bike Lanes, Storm Drains Through Rebuild Houston Initiative [The Leader]
• Survey of Uptown BHP Employees Says 43.7% Would Ride Post Oak Buses on Dedicated Lane [HBJ]
• Surveys Completed 40 Years Apart Show Houston’s Long-Running Love-Hate Relationship with Transit [The Urban Edge]
• 20-Ft.-Deep, 30-Ft.-Wide Sinkhole Discovered in Back Yard Next to Sims Bayou Just East of MLK Blvd. [abc13]
• Bees That Took Over Abandoned Briar Villa House Move To Neighbors [abc13]
• Forest West Residents Want Pinemont Billboard Near Bingle Rd. Advertising a Strip Club Taken Down [The Leader]
• So What About All Those Confederate Symbols in Houston? [Houston Public Media]
• Food Shortages, Riots Predicted by 2040 If We Don’t Change Course, According to Anglia Ruskin University’s Global Resource Modeling [Medium]
• The Story of Countrywide Financial Whistleblower Kyle Lagow [Texas Monthly]

Photo of Pride Festival, City Hall: Brandi Lynn via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Greater Houston Partnership Doesn’t Have To Open Its Books, Texas Supreme Court Rules [Houston Chronicle]
• Tema’s 7-Story Apartment Complex Under Construction on Hermann Dr. Renamed Capella Museum District [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s Housing Market Considered ‘Unhealthy’ According to Nationwide Insurance’s Health of Housing Markets Report [HBJ]
• Abandoned Garden Oaks Home at 738 W. 43rd St. To Be Demolished ‘For Safety Reasons’ [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• Some Flooded Homeowners Face Steep Costs To Rebuild To Meet Floodplain Regulations [Houston Chronicle]
• Grupo Posadas To Open Live Aqua Hotels in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and D.C. [HBJ]
• Sneak Peek at Chris Kinjo’s New MF Sushi Going Up in the Museum District [Culturemap]
• Delayed Openings Until August or September of Heights Restaurants Bernadine’s, Hunky Dory, Foreign Correspondents Blamed on Heavy Rains [HBJ]
• Artist Michael Savoie Unveils Massive Public Mural at Smith and Elgin [Culturemap]
• A Preview of James Glassman’s ‘Houstorian Dictionary’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston the Third Sweatiest City in the Country, Behind Miami and Tampa, According to Honeywell List [Houston Chronicle]
• Touring Armand Bayou Nature Center, The Closest Thing To What Houston Looked Like Before Concrete Sprawl [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Rice Hotel: Curt Littlejohn via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Energy Center 3 Tower Expected To Fetch $270M, the Highest Per-SF Price Paid for a Houston Building Not in Downtown [Realty News Report]
• Greystar Says Rice Hotel Lobby Just for Tenants, No Longer Open to the Public [Houston Chronicle]
• Affordable Care Act Has Helped Lead to a ‘Retailization’ of Healthcare as Providers Expand in Shopping Centers [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• What Will Houston Be Like in 30 Years? [Houston Matters]
• Supreme Court Rules Texas Reinforced Segregated Housing Through Its Federally-Backed Low-Income Tax Credit Program [Texas Tribune]
• What the ‘Disparate Impact’ Decision Means for the Future of Fair Housing [CityLab]
• It’s Mostly White People Who Prefer to Live in Segregated Neighborhoods [CityLab]
• Bar and Restaurant Named EaDo’s Opening Next Month in Former Mojeaux’s Louisiana Drinkery Spot in East Downtown [Eater Houston]
• CorkScrew BBQ Moving from Spring to Former Hyde’s Cafe Building in Old Town Spring [Food Chronicles]
• Council Awards Galveston Tree Conservancy $2M To Restore Live Oaks, Palm Trees to 44 Blocks of Broadway [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Montrose Residents Say Potholes Have Reappeared a Year After Completion of $200K Road Project [Click2Houston]
• Where America’s Worst Roads Are — and How Much They’re Costing Us [Washington Post]
• Metro Wins APTA Outstanding Public Transit Agency Award for the First Time Since 1984 [The Highwayman]
• Pride Houston Festival and Parade This Saturday Will Be Downtown, Not in Montrose [Houston Press]
• Harris County District Clerk’s Office To Restore Leo Tanguma’s ‘The Rebirth of our Nationality’ Mural on Canal St. Cannery It’s Renovating [Houston Public Media]
• Patrick Renner’s Montrose Funnel Tunnel Lives On in New Orleans [Houstonia; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Dolce Living Midtown on West Gray: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• ‘Rash of New Retail’ Planned Near Cabela’s in League City [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• 11 Homebuilders Selected To Build in Johnson Development’s Fort Bend County ‘Agrihood’ Harvest Green [HBJ]
• What Houston’s TIRZs Actually Do [HBJ]
• The Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate Today, According to Counselors of Real Estate [Prime Property]
• Nixed Proposed Street Designation Changes Including Dunlavy Narrowing To Get Second Chance as Part of Major Thoroughfare Plan Amendment Process [The Highwayman; previously on Swamplot]
• Why Houston Parks Are Designed To Flood [Houston Chronicle]
• More Houston Homeowners Expected To Install Fake Grass in Their Backyards [Click2Houston]
• Part II of Stephen Fox’s Driving Tour of the Third Ward [OffCite]
• Zillow’s List of the 25 Houston Neighborhoods Where Home Values Are Increasing the Most [HBJ]
• Help Us ID the Art in This Spires Condo [The Great God Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou Park: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Medistar Buys 177 Acres in Webster from ExxonMobil for Hotel, Conference Center, Retail, Office, Medical Facilities, Each with Its Own Parking Lot [HBJ]
• The Woodlands Township Plans To Buy 11.6-Acre Property from Division of GE for Future Governmental Buildings [HBJ]
• Houston Homes Cheaper To Buy Than National Average, but Owners Pay More To Keep Them Over Time, According to U.S. Census Report [HBJ]
• How Houston Manages Urban Growth Without Zoning [Here & Now]
• Mattress Firm’s New Headquarters To Add ‘Sleep Center,’ Fitness Center, Wellness Clinic, Walking Trails [HBJ]
• Stella McCartney, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vilebrequin, Davidoff of Geneva, Steak 44 Among Group of 8 Retailers and 1 Restaurant Announced for River Oaks District Opening Later This Year [Prime Property]
• Club Pilates Opening First Texas Location July 11 at 14129 Memorial Dr. [Prime Property]
• Harris County Considering Adding Major Bond Referendum for Roads, Bridges, Flood Control, Parks, Libraries to November Ballot [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Sales Tax Revenues Dip for First Time in 53 Months [Houston Chronicle]
• Opinion: Houston Should Drop Speed Limits to 25 MPH or Lower To Reduce Fatalities [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Has 10 of the Top 20 Most Congested Roads in the State, According to Texas Transportation Institute Study [abc13]
• Metro Bus and Train Trips Will Be Free Aug. 16—22 for Rollout of New Bus Network [The Highwayman]
• Galveston County Beaches Test High for Fecal Bacteria [KHOU]
• Arsonists Have Torched More Than a Dozen Galveston Palm Trees Since January [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Remembering When ‘Robocop 2’ Was Filmed in Houston [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of demolition at 1124 Colquitt, next to University of St. Thomas: Alex Steffler via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• IHI E&C First Tenant Going in West Memorial Place II Under Construction in the Energy Corridor [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Sublease Market Office Space Hits 7.7M SF, Up 61% Over Last Year, Finds NAI Partners Report [Realty News Report]
• Mattress Firm Added 40 Stores to Houston Market from 2009 to 2013, While Average Sales per Store Increased 27% [HBJ]
• Buffalo Bayou Brewing Looking for 6-Acre Site for New Facility [HBJ]
• Tomball Considering Expansion of Design Standards Beyond Main St. District [Houston Chronicle]
• Montgomery City Council Considers Annexing 9.45-Acre Site of Pizza Shack [Your Houston News]
• City Funds To Remove 130 Cars from Bayous Waiting for Harris County Match [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston County Added to List of Texas Counties in a State of Disaster [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• More Than 200 Gallons of Oil Seeping from Mysterious Source on Bolivar Peninsula [Houston Public Media]
• What Shifting Demographics and Growth Mean for Houston [Here & Now]
• Meeting Tonight Seeks Public Input on Update to Houston Bike Plan [Houston Public Media]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction To Start Next Month on 17-Story Wilshire at River Oaks District [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Grocery Stores, Entertainment Venues, Luxury Fashion Outposts Dominate Largest Shopping Center Projects Scheduled To Open in Houston This Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Population Growth Fueling Development of Grocery Stores, Hospitals, Medical Clinics, Restaurants, Even Mattress Stores [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston-Area Apartment Rent Growth Dropped from 4.1% in April to 3.6% in May, According to Axiometrics [Prime Property]
• How Houston Homes Compare in Size, Age to Rest of the Nation, According to Census Bureau [HBJ]
• Medistar Corp. Sells New Webster Rehabilitation Hospital to Kansas City REIT for Undisclosed Amount [HBJ]
• ActiveRx Senior Fitness Chain Launches Sugar Land Location [Houston Chronicle]
• Culturemap Leases ‘Neat Trendy’ Office Space in Decorative Center [HBJ]
• First Baptist Church of Texas City Closing To Make Way for New Texas City ISD Campus [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Thirteen Pies Pizza Chain Opening in the River Oaks District in Late Fall [Food Chronicles]
• Tacos a Go Go Coming to Former Roznovsky’s Hamburgers Building Near Garden Oaks; Union Kitchen Opening in Ella Plaza Center in Oak Forest [The Leader]
• Work on U.S. 290 Widening Project Stopped After State Declares Contractor in Default [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Health Officials To Further Study Cancer Clusters in East Harris County [Houston Chronicle]
• ‘Stick ’Em Up’ Director Alex Luster Developing Documentary on Houston Sculptor David Adickes [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Knitting Group Yarn-Bombs Buffalo Bayou Park [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Is the Single Best Place To Build a Real-Life Jurassic Park [CityLab]
• Would Houston Exist Without Air Conditioning? [Houston Matters]

Photo of Ragin Cajun: momentspause via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Moody Rambin Planning 30,000-SF Shopping Center on 3.5 Acres Next to New Pearland Costco [HBJ]
• Sales To Begin Next Week on River Oaks Luxury Apartments Condo Conversion [HBJ]
• Average Appraisal Value of Galveston County Houses Rose 13% This Year, More Than Double State Increase [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Robert White and Victor Litwinenko Open Ginger Mule Tonics & Meals, Their Fourth Sugar Land Town Square Project [HBJ]
• Bryan Museum Focusing on History of the American West Opens Today in Former Galveston Orphans Home [Houston Chronicle]
• Tropical Storm Bill, May Floods Top Off Many Texas Reservoirs, Which Increased 5% Statewide in Past Month [Houston Chronicle]
• 3 Cyclists Have Been Killed in the Houston Area in 3 Weeks [Houston Press]
• U.S. Companies Making the Move Downtown To Recruit Young, Talented, Suburbs-Averse Employees, Finds Smart Growth America Report [The Urban Edge]
• Part 1 of Stephen Fox’s Driving Tour of the Third Ward [OffCite]

Photo of Avenida de las Americas: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Mattress Firm Will Consolidate HQ into Former Stage Stores Office Building on S. Main at W. Bellfort [HBJ]
• Rockspring Capital Flips 4-Acre Property at North Loop and Yale to Fidelis Realty Partners [Prime Property]
• Slideshow: Developer Jon Deal’s Silos on Sawyer, So Far [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• City Council Signs Off on $770K Tax Break for Expansion of Kroger Distribution Center in Northeast Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Dallas-Based Velvet Taco Opening First Houston Location June 22 at 4819 Washington Ave. [HBJ]
• Brooklyn Meatball Co. Opening Second Downtown Location with New Store at the Shops at Houston Center [Food Chronicles]
• ReBuild Opponents File Class Action Lawsuit Against the City Seeking Reimbursement for Drainage Fee [Houston Chronicle]
• 2015 on Pace To Have Most Reported Truck Accidents in Houston, According to TranStar [The Highwayman]
• More Than 100 Homes in Liberty County Are Without Power, Most Since the Memorial Day Floods [KHOU]
• Houston Could Surpass Chicago as Third Most Populous U.S. City by 2030 [The Urban Edge]
• Gated Parking Garage at the Marquis Lofts at Hermann Park Was Scene to More Than 2 Dozen Car Break-Ins in 1 Week [abc13]

Photo of 8502 S. Main St.: Swamplot inbox

• Downtown Redevelopment Authority Receives Proposals from 6 Groups Interested in Redeveloping Site of Former Sakowitz Department Store on Main St. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• San Diego-Based REIT Buys 4-Story Saks Garage at 611 Fannin Downtown for $8.375M [Prime Property]
• Vacant Deer Park Industrial Building Quickly Leased Up After DCT Industrial Trust Purchase [HBJ]
• Bridgeland’s First Commercial Development Will Be a 20-Acre CVS-Anchored Shopping Center [HBJ]
• 600-Home Lakes at Creekside Planned Near The Woodlands’ Creekside Park [Prime Property]
• Snooze Restaurant Chain Hitting 3217 Montrose Blvd. for First-Ever Houston Location [Houston Chronicle]
• Johnny Rockets Puts Houston on Short List of Markets It Wants To Enter [Prime Property]
• The Woodlands, Sugar Land, Pearland, League City, Missouri City Named Among Top 10 Best Places To Live in Texas By NerdWallet [HBJ]
• For the Most Part, Houston ‘Lucky’ During Tropical Storm Bill, but Watch Out for the Tail [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Downtown from Yale St. Market: Rubin Serrano via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Harris County Prepares for ‘Normal, Heavy Thunderstorm Event,’ Flooding as Tropical Storm Bill Hits Area [Houston Chronicle]
• Residents Continue Ritual of Parking Cars on State Highway 6 Bridge Near Bayou Vista To Keep from Flooding [Galveston County Daily News]
• Streets To Avoid When it Floods [Houston Chronicle]
• Rents Don’t Fall Off in Houston Suburbs as Much As They Do in Other Major Cities [Prime Property]
• Houston Has the Second Most Overvalued Housing Market in the U.S. This Year, Behind Austin, According to Forbes [Culturemap]
• Oil Rout Can’t Stop Houston’s Economic Boom, If Lack of Interest in Cinq’s Lunch Special Is Any Indication [Bloomberg Business]
• Houston Cash Sales Down 5.6% Year-Over-Year in March, Finds CoreLogic [Prime Property]
• Effective Rents for Houston Office Tenants Are Down 15% From Last Year, Declares New York Firm [HBJ]
• Inside the Grenader Family’s Renovation of Heights Clocktower Building [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• City Breaks Ground on Post Oak Blvd. Dedicated Bus Lane Project in Uptown [Houstonia]
• Cosmopolitan Condo HOA Files Lawsuit Against Metro Over Post Oak Bus Lanes Plan [Houston Chronicle]
• How the City Commandeered Glenbrook Golf Course for a Botanic Garden Without Any Public Meetings, Civic Club Presentations, or Community Input [Super Houston; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Memorial Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Canadian Investor Buys GEICO Building at Mason Creek [Realty News Report]
• City Approves Plans for Academy Development’s Marcello, a 3-Part Residential Development on 546 Acres of Farmland Near the Grand Parkway and I-10 [HBJ]
• Light Hill Partners To Demolish 3 Montrose Properties on Mt. Vernon St. Along the Southwest Fwy., Build Midrise Apartments in Their Place [HBJ]
• Pearland Issued 571 Single-Family Homebuilding Permits from January to May, Up 43% Over Same Time Last Year [HBJ]
• Kingwood Location of Two Men and a Truck Grew 133% Between 2014 and 2015 Thanks in Part to Grand Parkway Expansion [HBJ]
• More Details on That Greek Restaurant Taking Over the Kahn’s Deli Space at 2429 Rice Blvd. Next Month [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Immobilized Rice Box Now Open in Greenway Plaza’s Underground Food Court [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Home and Add-on Owner’s Center in the Bunker Hill Area Relisted at Lower Price, Just Under $3 Million [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Veteran Chain-Store Developer Don Mullins Recalls Life During the 1980s Real-Estate Funk [Houston Chronicle]
• FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at Leonel Castillo Community Center, 2101 South St., Opens Today [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Supreme Court Finds City Did Not Adequately Describe Rebuild Houston Drainage Fee, Sends Lawsuit Back to Trial Court [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• What Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Could Look Like in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Reverse Commute to The Woodlands Is ‘Nasty’ Now Too [Houston Chronicle]
• Tales from Commuting on the 53 Briar Forest Limited Bus for 4 Hours a Day [OffCite Blog]
• EPA Mapping Tool Shows Houston’s Toxic Risk Hot Spots [Houston Public Media]

Photo of demolition at 315 Goldenrod St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool