Headlines

• Former Astro Jeff Bagwell’s Former Hunter’s Creek Estate Sells for $11.98M, Sets 2014 Houston Price Record [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Del Webb Planning Second Houston-Area Retirement Community, in The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• Slideshow: Inside Hanover’s Post Oak Apartment Tower in BLVD Place [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• HISD To Start Construction on New $41M Sterling Aviation High School [Houston Business Journal]
• Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Park, Monarch School, Braeswood Village Apartments Are Finalists in ULI Awards [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• California Pizza Kitchen, Del Frisco’s Grille Set To Open at Hughes Landing This Year [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Sugar Land Aiming To Become Regional Destination for the Arts [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Planning and Development Department Finalizes Heights-Northside Mobility Study [Houston Public Media]
• City Council Estimates League City Population Above 96,000; Could Reach 100,000 by 2017 [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Houston Food Writers, Editor Discuss Who Received Phone Call from Restaurant Owner First [Eater Houston]
• Car Plows Through Front of Torchy’s Tacos in the Heights [Click2Houston]

Photo of Chevron skywalk downtown: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Unilev Capital Corp. Buys Westchase Office Building 1500 CityWest from Metro National [Houston Business Journal]
• The Least and Most Expensive Homes Sold in Houston in 2014, Based on HAR Listings [Houston Business Journal]
• Shady Acres Pizza Restaurant Crisp Opening Second Location in Former Black Walnut Café on Research Forest Blvd. in The Woodlands [Culturemap]
• Group Takes To Kickstarter To Raise Money for $6M, 50K-SF Magic, Comedy, and Music Venue Grand Illusion Near Downtown [Prime Property]
• Greater East End Management District’s Graffiti Abatement Program Cleaned 25K Sites Across Houston Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Rice U. Crew Coaches To Row Across Atlantic Ocean To Raise Money for a Buffalo Bayou Boathouse [Houston Press]
• U.S. 290 at Loop 610 To Close in Both Directions This Weekend for Rebuilding Work [Houston Chronicle]
• A Few Recommendations, If Houston Starts Renaming Highways for Individuals [Not of It]
• Slideshow: Houston Streets Then and a Few Years Ago [Houston Chronicle]
• Baby Dolls Strip Club Former Owner Files Suit Against Her Own Lawyers for Threatening To Out Former Mob Boss in Witness Protection [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]

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

• 7 of the Nation’s 20 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities in 2014 Are in the Houston Area [HBJ]
• Atlanta Company Buys Country Place Apartments at 1015 Country Place Dr., Saddle Ridge Apartments at 12800 Woodforest Blvd. [Prime Property]
• Construction Begins on Best Western Plus on Seawall, Replacing Reef Resort Apartments Damaged By Ike [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Houston Real Estate Market Likely To Cool But Not Crash This Year, but Watch for the ‘Psychological’ Threat, Says Texas A&M Economist [Houston Chronicle]
• Oporto Fooding House & Wine Now Open on the Ground Floor of Post Midtown Square Apartments at 125 W. Gray [Food Chronicles]
• Harris County OKs $20M Loan To Help Finance Construction of Tomball Tollway [Houston Chronicle]
• 4 Construction Workers Robbed, 1 Shot at Atascocita Rd. Site [Click2Houston]
• Promoters of Plan To Turn Astrodome into Park Need To Make the Practical Business Case for Proposal [Next City; previously on Swamplot]
• Mala Sichuan Taking Over Just-Closed Dua, former Mo Mong Space in Lower Westheimer Shopping Center; Will Open by End of February [Culturemap]

Photo of Memorial Dr. at Waugh: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Ranks Second Behind New York City as Top U.S. City for Multifamily Construction, Says CBRE [Prime Property]
• Mischer Investments Developing 29K-SF Medical and Office Facility for Cypress Creek Lakes [Realty News Report]
• Pearland’s First Full-Service Hospital To Host Grand Opening on Friday [Houston Business Journal]
• Kiran’s Not Relocating to Kirby Grove; Will Stay at 4100 Westheimer [Food Chronicles]
• Cincinnati-Based Grilled Cheese Restaurant Tom+Chee To Open 5 Locations in Texas, Including Sugar Land and Katy [HBJ]
• After Long Delay, 6 of 39 New Light Rail Cars To Start Rolling on Red Line Today [The Highwayman]
• 20-Month-Old Bike Safety Ordinance Has Yielded Fewer Than a Dozen Citations [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Tootsie’s, West Ave: Lisa Garvin

• December Houston Home Sales Will Likely Finish More Than 2% Ahead of 2013’s [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• Luxury Home Sales Up 13% in Houston Last Year, More Than Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio [Prime Property]
• The Most Expensive Homes on the Market in Houston Right Now [Culturemap]
• East End Brewery 8th Wonder Opens Astrodome-Inspired Taproom [Eater Houston]
• Snap Kitchen Opens Heights Location, Its Eighth; Cinco Ranch and Museum District Spots To Follow This Month [Houstonia]
• Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill in the West Oaks Mall Has Closed for Good [Click2Houston]
• Houston Needs a Swimming Hole Kickstarter Reaches Its $30K Goal with Time To Spare [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• League City Commuter Bus Service Connect Transit To Add More Buses, Expand Schedule in Coming Weeks [Houston Public Media]

Photo of San Jacinto River: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Stages Repertory Theatre Buys Its Longtime Home at 3201 Allen Pkwy. from City [Prime Property]
• Open Since 1976, Los Dos Amigos To Close at 5720 Washington in February To Make Way for Condo Development [Eating Our Words]
• Trendmaker Homes Starts Construction of Homes in Benders Landing Estates in Montgomery County [Houston Chronicle]
• Big Spikes in Apartment Rents Expected To Become a Thing of the Past in 2015 as Oil Prices Drop [Houston Chronicle]
• Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill Locked Out of West Oaks Mall [KHOU]
• Early Sunday Morning 3-Alarm Fire Destroys Part of Historic St. John Missionary Baptist Church on Dowling St. [Click2Houston]
• Conroe Bus Service Connecting Northern and Southern Portions of Loop 336 To Start This Month [Houston Public Media]
• Grand Parkway Tolls Now Cost 1 to 4 Cents More Than They Did Last Year [Houston Business Journal]
• The Case for Lowering Houston’s Speed Limit to 25 MPH [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Parks Board Sending Workers Sporting Panoramic Cameras To Capture Bayou Trails for Google’s Street View [The Leader]

Photo of 290 at 610: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• More Than 25,000 New Apartment Units Will Become Available in the Houston Area Next Year [KHOU]
• 2 Years Into City Tax Incentive Program, 4,200 New Apartment Units Coming to Downtown Will More Than Double Its Residential Population [WSJ]
• Lit-Up ‘H’ Sign Visible in Future Bovine & Barley Space at 416 Main St. Downtown [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Crime Calls from Galveston Walmart on Seawall Diverting Police from Higher Priority Incidents, Chief Complains; League City Police Deploying Movable Surveillance Towers to Walmart Parking Lots [Click2Houston]
• Proposed Neighborhood Greenways Would Connect Residents of Southeast Houston, Near Northside to Bayou Trails, Hike and Bike Trails [Houston Chronicle]
• A Review of the Major Real Estate Deals and Projects Announced for the Grand Parkway Last Year [HBJ]
• Hear Our Houston Program Now Has 80 Narrated Local Tours Available for Download [Houston Public Media]
• Lockwood Nature Garden Preserve Attracting Pollinators to Former Used Car Lot at Corner of Harrisburg and Lockwood [Houston Public Media]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Whitestone REIT Buys Williams Trace Shopping Center near Sugar Land Town Square [Houston Business Journal]
• Bakery, Restaurant, and Coffee Bar Weights + Measures Now Open at 2808 Caroline St. in Midtown [Eater Houston]
• A Preview of Transit Projects Scheduled To Open Next Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Public and Private Funding Will Pay for Development $500K Citywide Bike Plan [Houston Chronicle]
• Metro Turning Over Development of Park-and-Ride Service Along Texas 288 To City of Pearland [Houston Chronicle]
• Grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Will Allow Galveston Environmental Group To Preserve 154 Acres for Coastal Heritage Preserve [Houston Chronicle]
• Jewelry Exchange Center Leaving Sharpstown’s Jewelry Building, Owners’ Children Planning New Store in Sugar Land [Prime Property]
• Indiana Development Firm Buys 21.5-Acre Site in Sienna Plantation for Apartment Complex [Prime Property]
• Houston Has the Second-Largest Median Home Size in the Country — After Provo, Utah [24/7 Wall St. via Houston Business Journal]
• Fire at L.A. Apartment Building Deliberately Set, Officials Conclude; Vulnerability to Fires Prompting Proposals for New Woodframe Construction Requirements [Economist]

Photo of Post Oak Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Photos Show HFD Rescue of Doggie Trapped in Mysterious Animal-Dug Tunnel Under Memorial Home [Robyn Arouty Photography; more info]
• Mathew Knowles Hawks Office Furniture, Beyoncé and Solange Memorabilia at Yard Sale [TMZ]
• Land Being Cleared Now for Texas City Lago Mar Development South of Tanger Outlets West of Gulf Fwy. [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Colonel Bubbie’s Strand Surplus Senter Closes Up Shop After 42 Years [Galveston County Daily News]
• Planned Restaurant Foreign Correspondents Redirected to N. Main St. Shopping Center Braun Enterprises Is Renovating [Eater Houston]
• Construction Begins on Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s Restaurants at N. Shepherd Dr. and W. 18th St. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• The Roots of Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue on N. Shepherd Dr. [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Texas Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Webster Master-Planned Community Edgewater Has Sold 34 Out of 40 Available Townhomes [Prime Property]
• Texas Building Owners and Managers Association Campaigning To Reform Property Appraisal Process [Houston Business Journal]
• Washington Ave-Area Restaurant Katch 22 Has Closed [Culturemap]
• Sugar Land Wants Convention Center, But Only as Part of a Hotel-Based Complex [Your Houston News]
• How Independence Heights-Based Company Houze Builds Zero-Energy Homes [The Leader]
• ExxonMobil Considering Additional Transit Services To Ease Commutes To Its Corporate Campus [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Phillips 66 HQ, Beltway 8: Swamplot inbox

• An Interactive Map of Where Texas Home Values are Rising and Falling [Houston Business Journal]
• Construction Begins on Shenandoah’s First Full-Service Hotel [Prime Property]
• Liberty Kitchen To Open a Memorial City Location Late Next Year [Houston Business Journal]
• West Houstonians Discuss Future Transit Options in Burgeoning Burbs [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston-Galveston Area Council Hopes To Decrease Percentage of Region’s Solo Commuters By 12-15% in 2015 [Houston Public Media]
• Doctors Beat Architects in AIA Gingerbread Build-Off [Culturemap]
• Holiday Lights, Decorations Making a Comeback on Oak Forest and Shepherd Park Plaza Houses [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of River Oaks Blvd.: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Conor Commercial Real Estate, USAA Real Estate Acquire 36 Acres at Beltway 8, U.S. 90 for Industrial Park [Prime Property]
• Sunset Coffee Restoration Delayed, Now Set To Be Completed By May [Houston Chronicle]
• $367M Worth of Renovations and Upgrades Including New Sports Stadium Underway at Clear Creek ISD [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Land Owners Petition To Annex 6 Scattered Woodlands Properties That Remain Part of Extra­territorial Jurisdiction [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Home Values Grew the Most Nationally with $36.4B Increase, According to Zillow [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Named Top City for Modest Flips by Real Estate Site Redfin [Culturemap]
• 9 Ways To Make Houston Affordable Again [OffCite Blog]
• After It Closes Montrose Blvd. Location in April, El Tiempo 1308 Cantina To Take Over La Casa Del Caballo Space at 322 Westheimer [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Continues Losing Streak for Citizen Lawsuits Over Pollution [Houston Public Media]
• Half the Oyster Beds in Galveston Bay Leased to a Seafood Company in Controversial, 23,000-Acre Deal [MyFoxHouston]

Photo of the Texas Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• South Korean Investors Buy 19-Story Galleria Office Building 3000 Post Oak in Deal Pegged at $175M [Prime Property]
• Dallas-Based Presidium Group Acquires Southwest Houston Apartment Complexes 3737 Hillcroft Apartments and Colonial Woods [Prime Property]
• Cheaper Gas Prices Could Drive Sprawl to Conroe, East of Lake Houston, Magnolia Area [Houston Chronicle]
• Chipotle Coming to New Locations in Memorial City Mall, Cypress and Spring [Prime Property]
• The Importance of Stacking in the Design of the New High School for the Performing and Visual Arts [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Eight of the 39 Long-Delayed Railcars from CAF USA To Start Service the First Week of 2015 [Houston Chronicle]
• High-Speed Rail Opponents Say Central Business District is Too Congested, Neighborhoods Near Memorial Park Will Be Divided [Click2Houston]
• City Council Votes to De-Annex Valero Refinery, Houston Ship Channel Site To Become an Industrial District [Houston Public Media]
• Jury Finds That Waller County Commissioners Violated Texas Open Meetings Act By Holding Closed Meetings with Developer of Controversial Landfill [Houston Public Media]
• Contractors Say They’re Owed Nearly $150K for Work on Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill in the West Oaks Mall [KHOU]

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Fuller Realty Partners and Independencia Buy Sam Houston Crossing I in Northwest Houston for $26.2M [Realty News Report]
• Rice Village Bar Simone on Sunset Closes After Owner Locked Out By Landlord [Culturemap]
• Buc-ee’s Opens New Store in Baytown at 4080 East Freeway [Click2Houston]
• Tiger Den Owner Opening Mein Restaurant in Yun-Lu Center at 9630 Clarewood Dr. Next Year [Eater Houston]
• Mission Burrito Changes Its Name to Ãœberrito Mexican Grill After Trademark Infringement Lawsuit [Houston Chronicle]
• Astrodome Begins $63,800 Cleaning of Its Exterior Walls [Click2Houston]
• Manchester Residents Protest Valero’s Request To Be in an ‘Industrial District’ and Get a Tax Break [Houston Public Media]
• Houston Public Library To Put Its ‘Astrodome Memories’ Collection of Oral Histories, Photos, Videos, Blueprints Online [Houston Public Media]
• Photos of Life in Houston During the 1920s and ’30s on Display at Sloane Gallery [Click2Houston]

Photo of the Sunset Coffee Building: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Grocery-Anchored Shopping Centers Dominate New Retail Construction Across Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• Trammell Crow Co., Clarion Partners Break Ground on Business Park Near Beltway 8 and Highway 249 [Houston Business Journal]
• MIG Real Estate Acquired 4-Story Alta Heights apartments at 145 Heights Blvd. [Prime Property]
• Sneak Peek Inside Sugar Land Master-Planned Community Riverstone’s First Luxury Apartments [Houston Business Journal]
• Surge Homes Designed Single-Family Homes Planned for Frasier Lot Based on Feedback from its Website [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s Office Market Facing a Potential Slowdown as Oil Prices Fall, According to CBRE Report [Houston Chronicle]
• Bakery, Restaurant and Lounge Weights + Measures Set To Open December 28 at 2808 Caroline St. [Eater Houston]
• Cash-Paying Transit Riders Will Once Again Be Able to Transfer from Light Rail to Bus Without Paying a Fare Starting with February Test [Houston Chronicle]
• Control of Managed Lanes Along I-10 Will Not Shift from Harris County to TxDOT Until Dec. 31, 2015 [The Highwayman]
• Inside 7,200-SF Aquaponic Greenhouse Sustainable Harvesters Along the Back Roads of Hockley [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Highland Village: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool