Headlines

• Residents Begin Moving Into SkyHouse River Oaks at Former Site of Westcreek at River Oaks [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Oden Hughes Sells Parkside Grand Parkway in Katy to EGI International Corp. [Prime Property]
• Some $3B in Medical Development Under Way in Houston, According to Colliers International [Realty News Report]
• Spring Branch Has Highest Home Value Increases in Area, Up 38% Over Last Year [Prime Property]
• CBRE To Market Newly Completed Woodlands Office Building Wildwood Corporate Centre I at 460 Wildwood Forest Dr. [GlobeSt.com]
• Former Texas Cafeteria Site at 2400 N. Shepherd Dr. Could Have Up to 3,250 SF of Restaurant Space [The Leader]
• Maria’s Café Opens Inside Dr Gleem’s Car Wash on Ella Blvd. [The Leader]
• 4 Ways To Improve the Rice Village Experience for Pedestrians and Cyclists [The Urban Edge]

Photo: telwink via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• River Oaks District to Expand Onto Adjacent Land with Hotel, Office Building, More Residential Units and Shops [Houston Chronicle]
• Energy Corridor Building Energy Tower at 11700 Katy Fwy. Now 60% Leased [Prime Property]
• Avenue Community Development Corp. To Build 48 Mixed-Income Apartment Complex The Avenue Terraces Near Northside [HBJ]
• Real Estate Downturn Should Not Be a Repeat of the 1980s in Texas, Says Fannie Mae Report [Prime Property]
• $6B Plan To Ease Congestion Along I-45, Create Green Space and Trails Could Impact Hundreds of Properties [Houston Chronicle]
• State Approves $3.6M Project To Replace ‘Confusing’ Entrance Ramp from Allen Pkwy. to Southbound I-45 [The Highwayman]

Photo of partially defunct Humble-area subdivision: telwink via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Signorelli Signs Academy Sports + Outdoors at Valley Ranch Town Center in Porter [HBJ]
• Affordable Living Community Avenue Terraces in the Near Northside Lines Up Its Construction and Tax Credit Financing [Prime Property]
• Conroe, Sugar Land, League City, and Pearland Are Among the Fastest-Growing Suburbs in Texas, According to LawnStarter [Culturemap]
• Riders Sound Off On Metro’s New Bus Network [Houston Public Media]
• Proposition 7 Going on Ballots in November Would Dedicate $2.5B of Sales-Tax Revenue a Year Toward Improving Texas Roads [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Hurricane Katrina Evacuees Still in Houston Reflect on the Last 10 Years Here [Wall Street Journal]

Photo of the Rose Garden at Centennial Park: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Songy Highroads Sells Galleria Place Office Campus It Acquired 2 Years Ago to Lincoln Property Co. Affiliate [HBJ]
• Preserving the View from JPMorgan Chase Tower 60th Floor Observation Deck Before Capitol Tower, Houston First Change It [Prime Property]
• There are 17 Breweries in Planning in Houston, According to the Brewers Association [HBJ]
• Dual-Concept Restaurant Black & White Opens in ‘Cursed’ Stella Sola Space at 1001 Studewood [Culturemap]
• Galleria-Area Sports Bar Big Woodrows Now Closed ‘For an Unknown Length of Time’ After Closing for Repairs in June [HBJ]
• H&M Sister Store Collection of Style Opening Seventh and Largest U.S. Location in Houston’s River Oaks District [HBJ]
• Ridership Increased 24% on the New Bus Network and Light Rail After Metro Offered Free Service [Culturemap]
• Congestion Costs Houston-Area Commuters $1,490 a Year, Finds Texas A&M University Transportation Institute [Houston Chronicle]
• Remembering UH Professor Tom Colbert, Who Fought to Protect Texas’ Coastline [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Earthworks Threatens To Sue the EPA for More Regulation at Fracking Sites in States Like Texas [Houston Public Media]
• Nearly 2 Dozen Teens Caught on Surveillance Video Arriving at Parkway Lakes Subdivision To Trash the Pool, Say Cops [Houston Chronicle]
• How Houston Leaders Prepared the Astrodome For 60,000 Katrina Evacuees [The Urban Edge]
• Reexamining 4 Myths About Katrina’s Impact on Houston Using the 2006 Kinder Houston Area Survey [The Urban Edge]
• Despite What Headlines and Public Officials Said, Katrina Evacuees Didn’t Cause a Houston Crime Wave [The Urban Edge]

Photo of NRG Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Former Humble Oil Building Reopens as 167-Room SpringHill Suites by Marriott [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• How the Oil Slump is Affecting Residential Real Estate in Houston [HBJ]
• Houston Home Values Gained 0.8% from June to July to $161K, Finds Zillow [Prime Property]
• Museum Park Neighborhood Association Concerned About Pedestrian, Children Safety Near Proposed Mondrian at the Museums Condo [HBJ]
• Grazia Italian Kitchen Owner Constructing an Underground ‘Speakeasy’ Next Door to Pearland Restaurant [Houston Chronicle]
• Seabrook Changes Second St. to Main St. in Plan To Boost Economic Development Through Main Street Redevelopment Programs [Prime Property]
• Houston-Dallas Bullet Train Route Will Follow Major Electrical Transmission Lines Through Rural Areas [HBJ]
• Montgomery County Proposes $280M Road Bond To Support Growing Population [Houston Public Media]
• HCC Art Exhibit Challenges Houston’s Disregard for Its History in Favor of Demolition [Houston Public Media]
• Harris and Montgomery Counties Lift Burn Bans [Houston Public Media]

Photo of the Med Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Arizona-Based Taylor Morrison Building Another Active-Adult Community in the Houston-Area with Gated Neighborhood in Fulshear [HBJ]
• Undisclosed Buyer Picks Up 79-Unit Spring Gardens, 38-Unit Johanna Square Multifamily Properties in Spring Branch [Realty News Report]
• Inside Loop 610 Still Slightly a Seller’s Market for Homes Priced Under $2M [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• Fifth Ward Residents Receive Eviction Letters in the Mail as BGH Holdings Prepares to Redevelop Brewster St. [Click2Houston; more here]
• Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza Has Opened 2 Houston-Area Locations So Far with Deals Under Negotiation for 10 More [Prime Property]
• The Salary To Afford a Median-Priced Home in Houston Up 5% Over the End of Last Year to $53,684, Finds HSH.com [Prime Property]
• Heritage Society To Open Doors to 3 Historic Houston Homes, Including the Mayor’s 1904 Colonial Revival in Westmoreland [Culturemap]

Photo of Capitol Tower mat pour: Craig Hartley

• Inside 21eleven, Hines’ Luxury Apartments Under Construction at Site of Former Cafe Adobe at 2111 Westheimer [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Mat Foundation Scheduled To Be Poured over the Weekend for Capitol Tower Office Building at 800 Capitol St. [Prime Property]
• Houston Community College Demolished 2-Story, Multi-Colored Midtown House at Alabama St. and Almeda Rd. [Houston Chronicle]
• Memorial Day Flooding To ‘Change the Nature’ of Meyerland as Homeowners Rebuild, Renovate or Move Out [Houston Chronicle]
• Sale of Homes Priced Under $250K Declined 4.3% in July Over Same Time Last Year as Inventory Dwindles [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• Planning Commission Approves City’s First General Plan, Moves to the City Council [Houston Public Media]
• UH Students Create Wooden E-Reading Room for Former Fifth Ward Plumbing Supply Store [OffCite Blog]

Photo of America Tower: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Oxberry Group Plans To Build 8-Story Luxury Condo The Mondrian on Site of the Former Weather Museum in the Museum District [HBJ]
• Construction to Start on ‘Yale Marketplace’ Hosting 365 by Whole Foods Market When Neff Rental’s Lease Expires in 2018 [The Leader]
• Tomball Tollway, Grand Pkwy. Drive Building Boom, Population Growth in Northwest Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• How Surge Homes Went About Creating Crowdsourced-Designed Residential Projects [HBJ]
• Southern States Lead Country in Housing Market Gains, Finds National Association of Realtors [Prime Property]
• ‘Exciting’ New Water Park Typhoon Texas Breaks Ground Near the Katy Mills Mall [Covering Katy]
• Ogden Hospitality’s Gastropub Pour Society Opening Sept. 1 in Gateway Memorial City [Eater Houston]
• Portion of U.S.-59 within Loop 610 Officially Designated as Part of I-69 [The Highwayman]
• First Impressions of the Reimagined Metro Bus Route [OffCite Blog]
• New Daily Rainfall Record Set in Galveston Yesterday [Galveston County Daily News ($)]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 16-Acre Downtown Post Office Property Officially Sold to Lovett Commercial for Undisclosed Price [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• 10.2M SF of Warehouse Space Currently Under Construction in Houston [Realty News Report]
• Mazzarino Construction and Development Planning Luxury Home Development in River Oaks at 2423 Brazoria St. [HBJ]
• Braun Enterprises To Redevelop Property on Yale St. Between 22nd and 23rd streets into Retail and Restaurant Center [The Leader]
• Jerome Karam Offering ‘1980s-Level’ Rents To Keep Mall of the Mainland Competitive, Expects To Be Fully Leased in the Next Year [Prime Property]
• 158 Large Industrial Buildings Were Under Construction in Texas During the Second Quarter of 2015, Finds CBRE Research [Realty News Report]
• Houston’s Sublease Office Glut at Record 7.4M SF Halfway Through Third Quarter, Up 78.5% for the Year, Finds CBRE [Prime Property]
• Barbell Grill Crowdfunding To Raise Capital To Open First Location in Midtown [HBJ]
• How Homeowners Have Tried to ‘Harden’ the Buffalo Bayou Shoreline Using Steel, Concrete, Cement, and Boulders [Houston Public Media]
• A Conversation on ‘Bike Battles’ and Debating Who Owns the Road [The Urban Edge]

Photo of the Galleria area: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Retail Centers Hot in Houston as Prices Jump, Occupancy Hits 10-Year High [Realty News Report]
• Town Centre I Office Building Near Beltway 8 and Katy Fwy. Now 48% Leased After Adding Mercantil Commercebank [Prime Property]
• Grand Central Park Can’t Happen Without New $55M Wastewater Treatment Plant, Says Firm Designing the Plant [HBJ]
• Aldi Opening New Houston-Area Store This Thursday in Alvin at 2373 Texas 35 Bypass South [Prime Property]
• Heights Tex-Mex Spot El Cantina Superior Has Closed, Will Reopen as a Brewpub [Houston Chronicle]
• Pappas Bros. Steakhouse Opening in Former Strip House at 1200 McKinney in Late October [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• The Post Oak School To Break Ground on New Gensler-Designed High School Today Next Door to Current High School [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• What Changes May Be in Store for Houston’s Historic Preservation Ordinance? [Houston Matters]
• Demo Work To Begin on Glassell School of Art in Next Few Weeks as Part of MFAH Expansion [Montrose District]
• Testing Out Metro’s Bus Overhaul with a 1-Year-Old in Tow [The Urban Edge]

Photo of the Royalton: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Sims Luxury Builders Breaks Ground on Condo Project Riva at the Park at 3331 D’Amico St. [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Community College Has Spent $35M on More Than 35 Acres It’s No Longer Planning To Use [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston, Dallas No. 1 and 2 in the Nation in New Home Sales, According to Metrostudy [Realty News Report]
• Gerald Hines To Host Architecture Forum on Development and Design at the Wortham Theater Center on Sept. 18 [Houston Chronicle]
• A Family of 4 Can Live Comfortably on the Lowest Salary in Houston Out of 15 Major U.S. Cities [Business Insider via HBJ]
• Biskit Junkie Opening a Second Houston Location in the Former Home of Mango’s on Lower Westheimer [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Metro’s Massive Bus Route Overhaul Debuts with Free Bus and Rail Rides Through Aug. 22 [Houston Chronicle]
• NRG Stadium Completes $12M Wireless Upgrade [Click2Houston]
• Statue of Mahatma Gandhi Unveiled at Entrance to Houston’s Little India Area off Hillcroft Avenue Near US-59 [Houston Chronicle]
• Sheltering Evacuees During Hurricane Katrina was the Astrodome’s ‘Finest Moment,’ Says Then-Harris County Judge [Houston Public Media]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Sugar Land Home Builder Chris Sims Planning 40-Unit Luxury Residential Tower Aurora in the Galleria Area [Houston Chronicle]
• Hartman Buys Ashford Crossing II Building Near the Energy Corridor [Realty News Report]
• City Seeks Public Comment on First ‘General Plan,’ Will Hold Public Hearing on Aug. 20 [Houston Chronicle]
• Atlanta Pizza Chain Mellow Mushroom Signs Lease for 1919 N. Shepherd, Across 19th St. from Future Site of Dallas Pizza Chain Cane Rosso [HBJ]
• Public Meetings on U.S. 290 Widening Deal To Be Held Sept. 1 in Cypress, Sept. 3 in Houston [The Highwayman]
• A Tour of Houston’s Soon-To-Be-Extinct 26/27 Bus Route Along the Loop [Houston Chronicle]
• Confused Metro Riders Can Refer to a Trip Planner at Ridemetro.org, Text Messaging System, Help Line When Route Changes Go into Effect [Houston Press]
• Houston’s I-45 ‘Be Someone’ Graffiti Altered for Third Time in a Week [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Lawmakers Demand Fix for Utility-Related Road Delays [Houston Chronicle]
• What It’s Like To Be Carless in Houston [Texas Monthly]

Photo of The Treehouse at Memorial City: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• July Had the Highest Houston Home Sales Ever with 8,147, Up 6.7% from July 2014, Reports HAR [HBJ]
• Medistar’s 177-Acre, Space-Themed Development in Webster Dubbed SpaceWalk, To Cost More Than $500M [HBJ]
• Grand Pkwy. Spurs Development of Both Signorelli Company’s The Timbers Community in Huffman, Valley Ranch Town Center in Porter [Houston Chronicle]
• Retail Lined Up for New Retail Center Planned Near Fulshear’s Cross Creek Ranch [Prime Property]
• Dickinson Bar-B-Que Owners Plan To Demolish Garcia’s Grill Building, Replace It With a New Concept [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Space Center Houston To Open $12M Independence Plaza Complex and Exhibit on Jan. 23 [HBJ]
• To Understand Houston’s New Bus Network, Just Look at the 27 Route [The Urban Edge]
• Will Metro’s New Bus Plan Actually Get More People To Ride? [Houston Public Media]
• Project To Restore Galveston’s Beaches Kicks Off Today [Houston Public Media]
• Urbanization, Pollution Putting Health of Galveston Bay at Risk, Finds New Report [Galveston County Daily News ($)]

Photo: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Bayou Music Center To Now Be Called Revention Music Center As Part of a 5-Year Naming Rights Deal [Houston Chronicle]
• Lennar Multifamily Communities Bought 9.2 Acres from Medistar Inside ParkWest Business Park Near Grand Pkwy. in Katy [HBJ]
• Brock Group Leases 38,260 SF in the Deerwood Glen Business Park in Deer Park [Prime Property]
• Redevelopment of Long-Vacant Falstaff Brewery Moves Forward After Port Parking Agreement Reached [Galveston County Daily News ($) via Prime Property]
• Keller Williams Realty Inc. Pearland Adds 4K-SF of Office Space in the Sunrise Lake Village Professional Building [HBJ]
• Living Near a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods Will Likely Boost Your Property Values, Finds RealtyTrac [Prime Property]
• The Bird & The Bear Restaurant at 2810 Westheimer Has Closed, Been Sold to Relish Fine Foods [Houston Chronicle]
• Table on Post Oak Blvd. Might Be Transforming into Texas Outpost of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon [Houstonia]
• City Makes Plan To Add Dedicated Bike Lanes in Both Directions on West Alabama St. [Montrose District]
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Suggests Removing Industrial Waste from 14-Acre Superfund Site on the San Jacinto River [Houston Chronicle]
• Southwaste, Timbergrove Manor Still at Odds Over Hurst St. Disposal Facility [The Leader]
• Outdoor Ban Burn In Effect Now in Harris County [Houston Public Media]

Photo of the West Loop: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool