Headlines

• 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

• 17-Story Apartment Tower Azalea Court Now Going Up Next to Highland Village Shopping Center [HBJ]
• 18-Story Solvay Chemical Office Building Under Construction at 3737 Buffalo Speedway Should Be 40% Preleased Sometime Soon; Hotel Coming Next [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Whole Foods Market To Call Its New, Lower-Priced Stores 365 by Whole Foods Market [HBJ]
• The Houston Apartment Association Calls These Properties the Top 13 Apartments in Houston [Prime Property]
• Identifying Houston’s Transit Gaps, Before and After Metro’s Reimagining [The Urban Edge]
• Water Shortages Still a Problem for Texas, Despite Last Month’s Downpour [Houston Chronicle]
• Reddit Users’ List of Must-See Houston Landmarks [Houston Chronicle]
• Developers Will Soon Be Able To Expedite City Permit Approvals by Paying an Extra Fee [Houston Chronicle]
• Your Astrodome Seats Are Now Ready for Pickup [Click2Houston]
• Takeaways from the 1950 Houston Post Stylebook [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of King St., Lake Pointe, Sugar Land: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Home Sales Fell About 4% Year-Over-Year in May While Prices Rose to All-Time Highs, According to HAR [HBJ]
• Census Ranks Conroe as 6th-Fastest-Growing U.S. City with Population over 50K [Houston Chronicle]
• Pho Binh Now Open in Former Sale-Sucre Space on White Oak Dr. in the Heights [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• Whataburger Starts Construction on Larger Location Behind Existing La Marque Whataburger Near Gulf Greyhound Park [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Opponents of Memorial Park Demonstration Project Say Targeted Stretch of Buffalo Bayou Weathered the Flood Just Fine [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]
• ExxonMobil Tells Texas Regulators Its Wells Didn’t Cause Earthquakes [Wall Street Journal]
• Metro Will Revise Ridership Projections for Post Oak Dedicated Bus Lane [HBJ]
• 77 Ways To Design a Letter ‘M’ Logo for Metro [CityLab]
• Was That You Running Down North Blvd. in the Rain, Barefoot, Back in April 1979? [Houston Chronicle]
• Americans Have Grown Apart from One Another Over the Past Several Decades by a Wide Range of Measures [City Observatory]

Photo of Market Square Tower: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• About 2,516 Homes, 73 Commercial Properties in Harris County Damaged by Flooding During Memorial Day Storms [Houston Chronicle]
• New General Plan for Woodlands East Shore Neighborhood Includes New Condo Project [HBJ]
• Atlanta’s Noble Investment Group Acquires SpringHill Suites Houston Northwest Near Former Compaq Campus [Realty News Report]
• What’s Next for Greenspoint as ExxonMobil Continues To Vacate [HBJ]
• Houston Retail Projects Should Increase as Elevated Urban Land Prices Adjust to the Market, Says Marcus and Millichap [Prime Property]
• Christian Louboutin Coming to the Galleria in Fall 2016 [Culturemap]
• Humble ISD Picks Up 45 Acres for Site of 2 Schools in The Groves [Prime Property]
• FuelMe Mobile Car-Fueling Service Inks Contract with University of Houston [Upstart Business Journal]
• Galveston Park Board Approves Concession Contract for Helicopter Rides at Stewart Beach [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• A Self-Guided Driving Tour of Houston’s Second Ward with Architecture Historian Stephen Fox [OffCite]
• Meet the Lower Brazos Region’s Brand New Watermaster, Monitoring Water Use of 1,000 Rights Holders [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Yale St. Market: Brie Kelman