Headlines

• Midway Buys Vacant 14 Acres Along Memorial Dr. To Develop Memorial Green Mixed-Use Project [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Toll Brothers Adds Taylor Morrison as a Home Builder at Its Woodson’s Reserve Master-Planned Community in North Houston [Prime Property]
• Ramos Utility Works Developing 36-Unit Townhome Community at 3675 West T.C. Jester [The Leader]
• Canopy and Shade Owner Opening Woodbar Next to the Restaurant at at 3939 Montrose Today [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• Restaurant Group Culinary Vanguard Opening Commonwealth in Former TQLA Space at 4601 Washington Ave. By Year’s End [Eater Houston]
• Protestors Stand in Street To Stop Work on Freedmen’s Town Brick Roads [KHOU]
• What Garrison King’s Vision for a Subway in Houston Back in 1949 Looked Like [Houston Chronicle]
• United Way of Greater Houston Opens ‘Tiny Library’ in Spring, About 50 Planned Across City [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Southwest Freeway: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction of New, $80M High School for Performing and Visual Arts To Start on Tuesday [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s 77010 is the Second-Wealthiest ZIP Code in the Country, According to Movoto Blog [Houston Business Journal]
• Spanky’s Pizza & Bar Reopens on Telephone Rd. Next Door to Old Location Damaged in Fire [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Online Glasses Retailer Warby Parker Opening Brick and Mortar Location in River Oaks District Next Year [Culturemap]
• How Oliver McMillan Pitches the River Oaks District To High-End Potential Tenants [Houston Chronicle]
• At What Point Does Neighborhood Improvement Become Gentrification? [Not of it]
• League City Park and Ride Getting 3 New Buses, Added Routes To Help Alleviate Crowding [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• The Woodlands Feeling Left Out of High-Speed Rail Discussions [Houston Business Journal]
• Spring Creek Greenway To Start Lay Out 11-Mile Stretch of Trail, Fill Gaps in the 33-Mile-Long Corridor [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Pasadena: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• HISD Demolishes Old Wheatley High School Less Than 24 Hours After Court Ruling Gives OK [Houston Chronicle; video here]
• Rockspring Capital Buys 157-Acre Site Off Katy Hockley Rd. North of FM 529 in Katy Area [Prime Property]
• Construction of Walmart Neighborhood Market at 12312 Will Clayton Pkwy. Nears Completion for Early 2015 Opening [HKA Texas]
• Urban Land Institute Bringing Together Land Use, Urban Planning Experts To Make Recommendations on Astrodome Next Week [Prime Property]
• MF Sushi Chef Opening New Restaurant at 1401 Binz St. in the Museum District [Eating Our Words; more here; previously on Swamplot]
• Wooster’s Garden Bar Quietly Opens on Milam in Midtown [Culturemap]
• Grenader Family To Renovate Historic Heights Clock Tower Building at 611 W. 22nd St.; Offices and Apartment Spaces on the Way [Houston Chronicle]
• Arch Aerial Holding an Introductory Class to Drone Photography This Weekend [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of 5311 Maple: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Home Sales Will Drop 10-12% in 2015 Because of Falling Oil Prices [Realty News Report]
• Rosemont Realty Acquires 15-Story Kirkwood Tower in the Energy Corridor [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Food Truck Park Opens Second Location Downtown at 1311 Leeland, Third in the Works for West Houston [Eater Houston]
• Krispy Kreme Hopes To Eventually Open Up to 20 Doughnut Shops Across Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• Project To Widen Woodlands Pkwy. Gets New Contractor, Work To Resume Soon [Houston Chronicle]
• First Bitcoin ATM in Houston Installed at George R. Brown Convention Center [Click2Houston]
• Buc-ee’s Suit Against Frio River Grocery Over Beaver Signage Dismissed After Frio Beaver Removed [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Grand Opera Premieres Song Cycle Celebrating the Centennial of the Houston Ship Channel [Houston Public Media]

Photo of Stude Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Tower Draws Record Price [Realty News Report]
• $84M Sugar Land Entertainment Venue Breaks Ground, Construction To Finish in Fall 2016 [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Trial Ends Over Demolition of Old Wheatley High School Building; Judge To Rule as Quickly as Possible [Houston Chronicle]
• TopGolf Tees Off on Its Third Houston-Area Location This Month in Webster, Expected To Open Next Fall [Houston Business Journal]
• Hinze’s BBQ in Wharton Opens in Temporary Digs After August Fire  [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston a Top 10 Market in the U.S. for Luxury Retailers, According to JLL [Prime Property]
• Pie Five Pizza Opening First Houston Location on December 12 in Spring [Houston Business Journal]
• Game Wardens Patrol To Protect Declining Oyster Population in Galveston Bay [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Major Closures Scheduled Throughout the Weekend on US-290 for Demolition, Pavement Repairs [The Leader]

Photo of the Astrodome: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• DGM Buys 21.5-Acre Industrial Plant Site Near Intercontinental Airport [Houston Business Journal]
• Luxury Apartment Complex Dubbed The Mark at CityPlace Springwoods Village Proposed Near ExxonMobil Campus [Houston Business Journal]
• The Residences at CityWest Start Going Up This Month Near Phillips 66 Campus in Westchase [Prime Property]
• Houston’s Construction Industry Expected To Grow Almost 2.5% in the Next 5 Years [Houston Business Journal]
• More Than 2 Dozen New Luxury Tenants Secured for Under-Construction River Oaks District [Houston Chronicle]
• Gatlin’s BBQ To Move in May to Larger Restaurant at 3510 Ella [Food Chronicles]
• Upper Kirby Sushi Standby Cafe Japon Closes, Rumored To Resurface in EaDo as Japon Sushi [Culturemap]
• The Case for Streetcars and Bus Rapid Transit in Houston [OffCite Blog]
• 30 Pelicans Found Dead or Injured; All Tangled in Stray Fishing Gear at Galveston’s Pier 19 [Galveston County Daily News ($)]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston-Woodlands Area To Expect a 5% Increase in Home Sales Next Year, According to Realtor.com Study [Culturemap]
• 24-Acre Industrial Park Called the Apex Distribution Center Being Developed on Tanner Rd. Near Beltway 8 [Prime Property]
• Academy Sports & Outdoors’ Second Office Building on Its Katy Campus More Than Halfway Complete [Houston Chronicle]
• Top 5 Houston Submarkets Where Industrial Construction is Booming [Houston Business Journal]
• Toll Brothers Gated Homesite Ironwood Estates in Cinco Ranch Now Open For Sale [Prime Property]
• Houston Buyers Closed on 282 Homes Costing $1M or More During the Third Quarter, Up 42% from a Year Earlier, According to Redfin [Prime Property]
• Houston Has the 19th Most Expensive Rent in the U.S. with a 1-Bedroom Median Rent Price of $910, According to Apartment List [Culturemap]
• Shrimp ‘N Stuff Now Open in Downtown Galveston’s Historic Washington Hotel Building at 2228 Mechanic [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• A Sneak Peek at the Bill Hicks Bronze Statue Planned To Debut By Mid-2015 [The Texican]
• The Christmas Bird Count Helps Tally the Population of Declining Birds Like Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Bobwhites [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Mt. Rush Hour, I-45: Jamie Farquhar-Rizzo via Swamplot inbox

• Demolition To Start on Spring Branch Medical Center This Week To Make Way for Residential/Retail Project [Houston Chronicle]
• Aldi Opening Another Houston Store on Dec. 11 at 3601 Texas 6 South [Prime Property]
• Rental Rates on Combined Class A and B Space in Houston Averaged $27.28 Per Square Foot in the Third Quarter, Up 3.6% from Year-End 2013 [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston’s Population Grew 9.27% Between 2000 and 2013, But Trails Other Texas Cities [Houston Business Journal]
• The Top 10 Neighborhoods with the Most Office Construction in Houston, According to Transwestern [Houston Business Journal]
• SpaceX Could Be Looking To Rezone Property Around Its Launch Site To Earn Tax Exemptions Through a Loophole in Texas Agricultural Law [Pasadena Star-News]
• I-10 Eastbound Between U.S. 59 and Gregg St. Closed This Weekend for Updates to Meadow Street Bridge [Houston Public Media]
• A Bottom-Up, Unofficial Guide to This Sunday’s East End and Fifth Ward Sunday Streets [OffCite Blog]

Photo of Greenway Plaza: via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 10,897-Acre Industrial Park Cedar Crossing Sold for Undisclosed Price in One of the Largest Land Sales in Houston History [Houston Business Journal]
• Rice University To Transform Village Arcade from Suburban-Style Shopping Center to Something More ‘Hip’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Liberty Kitchen’s Fried Birds to Get Dedicated Home by March: The Former Church’s Chicken at Heights Blvd. and 6th St. [Culturemap]
• Local Pour To Open Early Next Year at Hughes Landing’s Restaurant Row on Lake Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• Sugar Land Community Riverstone Debuts 2-Acre Recreation Complex Dubbed ‘Big Adventure Park’ [Culturemap]
• British International School of Houston Secures Land for New 274K-SF Campus at Westgreen Blvd. and Franz Rd. [Prime Property]
• How Moving Texaco from Beaumont to Houston Forever Changed the Course of the Bayou City [Bayou City History]
• Galveston Police Animal Services Remove Illegal Pet Caiman Alligator from Galveston Backyard [Click2Houston]

Photo: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction Begins on New HCC Campuses at Northline and the West Loop [Prime Property]
• ITEX Group Planning $41M Mixed-Use Development in Former Flea Market Site at Griggs and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. [Houston Chronicle]
• Largest Christian’s Tailgate Bar & Grill Now Open in the Energy Corridor at 1010 Hwy. 6 N. [Houstonia]
• Indeed, Krispy Kreme Is Opening Next to Bear Creek’s Centre at Yorktown Crossing February 17; Pasadena Outpost To Follow [Eater Houston]
• New Urban Eats Bar, Restaurant and Marketplace in Soft Opening Phase at 3414 Washington [Food Chronicles]
• First LEED-Certified Starbucks in Houston Planned for 3017 N. Durham [The Leader]
• Avery Johnson Sells His Woodlands Mansion for $6.1M, Down from Initial Listing of Nearly $9M [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• LEED Certification Increasingly Important for Class B Buildings [Houston Business Journal]
• How Lovett Hall’s Pink Texas Granite, Ozark Marble, and Byzantine Flourishes “Materialized” Houston’s Cultural Identity in 1912 [Gray Matters]
• Yearly Salary of $51,200 Required To Afford a Median-Priced Houston Home, According to HSH.com [Prime Property]
• Ranking the Livability of Houston Neighborhoods [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s Telecommuting Workforce Increased More Than 100% from 2012 to 2013, According to Census Data [Houston Business Journal]
• Remembering the Houston Chronicle’s Downtown Legacy As the Newspaper Prepares To Leave [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Uptown: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Strong Demand to Add 3 Stories, 7 Units to Midrise Condo Riva at the Park [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Plans Advancing for Natural Gas Plant Near North Lake Houston Pkwy. and Lockwood Rd. [Houston Business Journal]
• Sugar Land Regional Airport To Receive $2.8M in Funding for Proposed Airport Improvements [Houston Business Journal]
• Krispy Kreme Returning to Houston, Possibly Next to Bear Creek’s Centre at Yorktown Crossing Early Next Year [Eater Houston]
• Astrodome’s $63,800 Cleaning Delayed About a Week [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston County Museum Moving Its 15K Artifacts To New Home at Galveston County Courthouse [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• A Play-By-Play Leading Up to the Houston Arts Alliance’s Flubbed GRB Sculpture Commission and Director Resignation [Glasstire]
• Trial Begins Over Fate Of Proposed Waller County Landfill [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• State, Locals So Far Have Replanted 40K Acres of Prairie With Native Grasses To Create a Bobwhite Quail-Friendly Habitat [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Meetings Planned To Gather Public Input for Storm Surge Suppression Study [Houston Public Media]

Photo of Discovery Green: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Here Comes ‘Park Place at Buffalo Bayou,’ Pinto Realty Partners’ 18-Story Office Building Near Memorial and Waugh [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Heritage Society Launches $1.7M Bottom-to-Top Renovation of the 167-Year-Old Kellum-Noble House [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• H-E-B Building 100K-SF Store in Fulshear at FM 1463 and Cinco Ranch Blvd. [Covering Katy]
• Treadsack Group Rumored To Be Leasing the Former Boom Boom Room Space for Unknown Project [Eating Our Words; previously on Swamplot]
• BB’s Cafe Moving Montrose Location to 24 Hours, Opening New Katy Spot Next Year [Culturemap]
• Spring Branch’s Monarch Institute Named a Finalist in the Houston Land Institute’s 2015 Development of Distinction Awards [Memorial Examiner]
• More Fraud Allegations Lodged Against Helping a Hero, Charity That Builds Custom Homes for Wounded Veterans [Houston Press]
• Midtown Gardeners Displaced By Developer Relocate to 6,250-SF Parcel at 2503 Chenevert [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• $120K Bronze Martin Luther King Jr. Statue in MacGregor Park Vandalized [Houston Chronicle]
• Alleged Drunk Driver Plunges 20 Feet into Market Square Tower Construction Site off Louisiana and Preston Streets [Houston Chronicle]
• Majestic Old-Growth Trees Have Become Invaluable Commodities in Luxury Real Estate [Wall Street Journal]

Photo of Kirby Drive and Southwest Freeway Service Road: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Old Richmond Rd. Slaughterhouse Sent 500 Gallons of Chicken and Goat Blood into Roadside Ditch, Claims State and County Lawsuit [Houston Chronicle]
• Gated Enclave at Riverstone Neighborhood in Sugar Land Will Feature New Homes with Prayer Rooms, Casitas [Houston Business Journal]
• Half-Ton Manatee in Critical Condition Sent to San Antonio After Rescue from Trinity Bay Foray [KHOU]
• Randy Rucker’s New Bramble Restaurant To Open in Former Mancuso’s Spot at 2231 S. Voss Rd. in January [Food Chronicles]
• Highland Park Estate of Developer Trammell Crow Goes on the Market in Dallas for Just Shy of $60 Million [Culturemap]
• Pizza Restaurant Named Fire Station #11 Taking Over Former Bronx Bar Spot at 4520 Washington Ave [Eater Houston]
• Why Whitney Bank Has Been Selling Off Its Houston Branches [Houston Business Journal]
• Woodlands Mall, Katy Mills, and Galleria Top List of Malls with Most Crime Calls to Police [Click2Houston]
• Houston Arts Alliance Hires Interim Replacement for Director Who Resigned After Agency’s Flubbed GRB Sculpture Commission [Glasstire]
• From Auto Showroom to Crack House to Weekly Boarding House: A Brief History of Downtown’s Londale Hotel [Houston Chronicle]
• A View of Pregame Ceremonies at NRG Stadium from a Video Camera Mounted on a Bald Eagle [Ultimate Texans]
• #BlackFridayParking Hashtag Aims To Boost Fight Against Minimum Parking Standards [Not of It]

Photo of I-45: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr pool

• New York Company Converting 17-Story 1960s-Era River Oaks Luxury Apartments Building at 3435 Westheimer into Condos [Houston Chronicle]
• Toll Brothers’ 3,700-Acre Addition to Sienna Plantation To Feature 500 Homes with Models Opening in March 2015 [Prime Property]
• Katy Cane Island Development To Feature Dog Ambassador, Bellagio-Like Conservatory [Houston Business Journal]
• Influx of International Buyers Is Changing Work of Houston Real Estate Professionals [Houston Business Journal]
• Ka Sushi To Join Fat Cat Creamery, Smoothie King, Forthcoming Hugs & Donuts in 19th St. Retail Center Next March [Eater Houston]
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service To Rescue Manatee Stranded in Canal Near NRG Cedar Bayou Power Plant Today [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston-Area Residents in 77032 Live in the Eighth Most Stressed-Out Zip Code in the Nation, According to Movoto [Culturemap]
• Why Galveston and Houston Still Have No Major Projects Under Way To Protect from Surging Seas 6 Years After Ike [Reuters]
• Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk Joins Dallas-Houston High-Speed Rail Team at Texas Central Railway [Dallas Morning News]

Photo of TDECU Stadium: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Perry Homes Building 73 Townhomes in Second Ward Industrial Area South of Buffalo Bayou on Kennedy St. [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Houston Community College To Break Ground on Northline and West Loop Campus Expansions Next Month [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston’s Land Values Have Shot Up 271% from 2011 to 2014 [Prime Property]
• Bryan Caswell, Bill Floyd, Greg Gatlin Opening Jackson Street BBQ in Former Houston Live Sports Lounge Near Minute Maid Park [Food Chronicles]
• Bernadine’s Taking Place Reserved for Foreign Correspondents at Shepherd and 18th St. [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Signage Goes Up for Gino’s East Set To Open in The Woodlands December 11 [Eater Houston]
• Out-of-County Visitors to Galveston Island State Park Spent Nearly $4M in Galveston County Last Year [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• GRB Artist Commission ‘Inexplicably’ Withdrawn by Houston Arts Alliance Amid Contract Negotiations [Glasstire]
• Grand Pkwy. from I-10 to U.S. 290 Averaged About 30K Vehicles per Day by End of October [The Highwayman]
• Q Cards, Cracked or No Sidewalks, Lack of Bus Shelters May Be Hurdles for Senior Metro Riders [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Residents of Timbergrove Manor, HPD Officers Pursue Coyote Over the Weekend [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• Shady Acres Residents Want City’s Help in Clearing Little Thicket Park of Litter and Invasive Plant Species, Keeping Up Walking Trail [The Leader]

Photo of Discovery Green: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool