Headlines

• Stream Realty Partners Breaks Ground on Remington Square Phase II 8-Story Spec Office Building [Prime Property]
• Lennar Homes Starts Construction of New Greens Pkwy. Office Building Across Street from Its Current Offices [Houston Business Journal]
• Stewart Title Signs Lease at the Legacy at Fallbrook Under Construction at 10720 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. N. [Prime Property]
• Rise Communities Breaks Ground on 1K-Acre, 2K-Home ‘Cane Island’ Near Grand Pkwy. in Katy [Houston Business Journal]
• Santa Fe Will Not Move Forward with Proposed Annexation of 2,569 Acres of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Economist Warns Recent Drop in Oil Prices Could Cool Employment Growth, Multifamily Real Estate Segment [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Astrodome Advisory Panel Arrives in Houston December 14 To Interview Stakeholders, Make Recommendations [Houston Public Media]
• Metro’s 4-Month Delay Opening 2 Rail Lines Gives It More Time to Acquire Cars, Prevent Overcrowding When Service Does Start [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• More than 100 Miles of the 240-Mile High-Speed Rail Corridor Would Be Built on Elevated Tracks To Reduce Impact [Texas Tribune]

Photo of mural at 1920 Houston Ave., First Ward: Christopher Andrews

• Texas Children’s Hospital To Build 19-Story Tower On Top of 6-Story Facility in the Texas Medical Center [Houston Business Journal]
• HISD, VLK Architects To Create New $37M Energy Institute High School at Southmore Blvd. and Tierwester St. [Houston Business Journal]
• Neighborhoods, Suburbs West of Houston Hit Hard by Property Tax Increases [Katy|Fort Bend]
• Montrose’s ‘Tug-of-War’ Between Maintaining Funky Character and Accommodating Retailers [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Yucatan Taco Stand & Tequila Bar Pulls Out of ‘Cursed’ Stella Sola Space at 1001 Studewood [Eater Houston]
• Montgomery County Commissioners Call for Bond Election Next Spring To Fund Up to $500M in Road Projects [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• City Inspectors Have Issued 118 Citations to Uber and Lyft Drivers Since New Licensing System Took Effect on Nov. 4 [The Highwayman]
• Sugar Land Police Cracking Down on Drivers Who Violate HOV Lane Rules [Click2Houston]
• Police Chief Says New Stingray Cellphone Surveillance Technology Isn’t Being Used To Track Private Citizens Who Aren’t Breaking the Law [Click2Houston]
• On a Bob White Quail Count in West Houston Prairies To See If $6M Native Grass Restoration Project is Increasing Their Population [Houston Public Media]

Photo of home near Mills St. and Mary St. in the Fifth Ward: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Stream Realty Partners and DRA Advisors Partnership Buy 20-Story 600 Jefferson Office Tower Downtown [Realty News Report]
• H-E-B Planning 57K-SF Texas City Store, Spurred by a $1.4M Enticement [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Section of LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch with Trader Joe’s Lands First Office Tenants [Prime Property]
• La Fisheria Planning To Open New Location in the Woodlands in April 2015 [Food Chronicles]
• Hubbell & Hudson Bistro in The Woodlands To Reopen December 1 With More Than Double the Space [Food Chronicles]
• Mystery Bar Opening in Former Bronx Bar Location at Washington Ave and Fowler [Eater Houston]
• Amid Criticism the East End Is Losing Its Latino Culture, Greater East End Management District Counts the Ways It Encourages Community Feedback [Houston Public Media]
• Sneak Peek at the Verizon Destination Store Opening November 24 at Blvd Place [Houston Business Journal]
• Petroleum Club Auction Raked in $262K Through Sale of Chandeliers, Chesterfield Sofas, Old Pool Table, More [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Woodlands Township Leaders Campaign To Have I-45 Corridor Reconsidered for High-Speed Rail [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Federal Tax Break for Employee Parking Puts 820K More Cars on the Country’s Most Congested Urban Freeways, Finds Study [Houston Public Media]
• Senate Narrowly Fails To Pass Legislation To Authorize the Keystone XL Pipeline with 59-41 Vote [Fuel Fix]
• Opinion: Charter Schools Creating Campuses for Far Less Money Than Local School Districts [Houston Chronicle]
• Fire Destroys Facility Meant To Serve Mentally Ill and Homeless Under Construction in Sunnyside [Houston Chronicle; more here]
• Modern Homes Burn 8 Times Faster Than Older Homes, Finds Underwriters Laboratories [Click2Houston]
• How Uber and Lyft Will Operate at Houston’s Airports [Houston Business Journal]

Photo of Radiant Fountains, JFK Blvd. at Rankin Rd.: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Fuller Realty Partners Buys 7-Story Building in Greenspoint Area Now Occupied by ExxonMobil [Prime Property]
• Ruth’s Hospitality To Sell 21 Mitchell’s, Cameron’s Restaurants To Landry’s for $10M After Spending $94M for Them in 2008 [Houston Business Journal]
• Fielding’s Local Kitchen+Bar, Jordan’s Sweet Shoppe, 3 Other Tenants Joining H-E-B at New Creekside Park Village Center near Kuykendahl Rd. and Creekside Forest Dr. [Prime Property]
• Official Opening of Doc’s Motorworks, in Converted Montrose Wendy’s, This Thursday [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Former Barringer Bar Co-Owners Have Lease, Raising Funds for Another Barringer with Same Look Close To Original Downtown [Eater Houston]
• Projected Completion of Residential ‘Build-Out’ Has Woodlands Leaders Concerned About Tax Impact [Houston Chronicle]
• To Some East End Residents, New Esplanade and Guadalupe Plaza Park Designs Put Too Much Emphasis on Ship Channel, Not Enough on Local Culture and Latino Traditions [Houston Public Media]
• A Short History of River Oaks [Art Attack]
• Bruce Monro’s Field of Light Installation, Comprising 4,500 Glass Spheres, Opens Saturday at Discovery Green [Houstonia]

Photo of the Fourth Ward: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Power Center with Unnamed Grocery Store Planned for Corner of Grand Parkway and Holzwarth Rd. in Springwoods Village [Prime Property]
• The Best Houston Markets for Commercial Projects in 2015, According to Transwestern [Houston Business Journal]
• Energy Corridor Christian’s Tailgate To Be Biggest Yet at 6,500-SF, 45 TVs; Will Feature Bar Made from Shipping Container [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• UH Launching Internal Audit into $5M in Funding Used on New Football Stadium That Was Reserved for Academics [Houston Chronicle]
• Why the Death of Toll Roads Has Been Greatly Exaggerated [The Highwayman]
• San Jacinto River Waste Pit Trial Ends with Waste Management Making Deal To Pay Nearly $30M in Damages, International Paper Cleared of Responsibility by Split Jury [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Senate To Vote on Keystone Pipeline Proposal Tuesday After U.S. House Passes Bill [Click2Houston]
• Renewed Investment and Activity in Philadelphia’s Railway Network Could Have City Rival Houston as an Energy Hub [CNBC]
• Tiger Woods Amazed To Find Actual Changes in Topography at Site of Bluejack National Golf Club in Montgomery [Prime Property]
• See the Galleria’s 55-Ft. Christmas Tree Get Decorated in 25 Seconds in Timelapse Video [Culturemap]

Photo of West Loop: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Transwestern’s 21-Story Uptown Headquarters on the Market, Expected To Fetch $107M [Realty News Report]
• What Bidders Picked Up at the Petroleum Club Auction as It Clears House Before Moving to 1201 Louisiana [Houston Chronicle]
• Transwestern’s Predictions for Houston’s Commercial Real Estate Market in 2015 [Houston Business Journal]
• The Other Residential Projects Surge Homes is Planning in Houston [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Construction in Greater Houston Area Will Generate Nearly 80K Middle-Skill Jobs Through 2017, According to JPMorgan Chase [Houston Public Media]
• Average Homestead in Harris County ‘Could See’ Property Tax Increase of $400 [The Leader]
• What Metro Needs To Do To Get More People Using Public Transit [Not of It]
• Old Spring Town Businesses Slowly Moving Over to Modern Sewer System [MyFoxHouston]
• Hive with 40K Bees Removed from Underneath Katy Bridge Near West Little York Rd. and Queenston Blvd. [Click2Houston]

Photo of the Arrabella, 1009 Brittmoore Dr.: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Wedge International Tower Rebranding as 1415 Louisiana; Construction of Adjacent Hilton Garden Inn To Begin by End of Year [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot]
• Area Near George R. Brown Convention Center Currently Undergoing More Than $1B in New Development [Houston Chronicle]
• Nau Center for Texas Cultural Heritage Breaks Ground, Will Open in Time for Super Bowl 2017 [Click2Houston]
• Construction of Homes in Magnolia Court Subdivision Resumes on Galveston’s West End [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• The Nightingale Room Bar Now Open at 308 Main St. Downtown [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Dak & Bop Less Than a Month Away from Opening in the Parc Binz Building in the Museum District [Culturemap]
• After 30 Years as Pico’s Mex-Mex, Restaurant Will Now Go by Arnaldo Richards’ Picos [Houston Business Journal]
• Dickinson Asks League City, Texas City To Cede Some of Their Extraterritorial Jurisdiction So It Can Expand Its Extraterritorial Jurisdiction [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Galveston County Ranked Eighth on Weather.com List of Worst Places To Buy a Home Based on Natural Factors [Galveston County Daily News]
• Houston Central Library Plaza Will Be Site of Urban Park-Improvement Project [Houston Chronicle]
• City Council Gives OK for App-Based Ride Service Companies Like Uber To Pick up Airport Passengers [Houston Chronicle]
• Prada Marfa Vandal Pleads Guilty, Agrees To Pay Fine Plus $10,700 for Cleanup [Glasstire]

Photo of Nieman Marcus: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Single Family Home Sales Up 12.3% from Last Year with 6,639 Sold in October, According to HAR [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• Officials Propose Including Downtown’s Warehouse District in Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone [Houston Chronicle]
• Woodlands’ Howard Hughes Corp. Completes Acquisition of Nearly 2,000 Acres for 4,600-Home Community in Willis Area [Prime Property]
• Shepard Ross, Studewood Hospitality Group Opening The Del in Former Taste of Lebanon Space on Del Monte Dr. [Eater Houston]
• League City Restaurant Sudie’s Seafood House, Known for Its Large Neon Catfish Sign, Has Closed; Property For Sale [Galveston County Daily News]
• City Council Members Question Wisdom of Spending $1.2M To Buy Land for Park at Westheimer and Whitney [Houston Chronicle]
• $4.8M Galveston Beach Restoration Project To Begin December 1 [Click2Houston]
• New Memorial Park Master Plan Includes 8.5 Miles of Mountain Bike Trails [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Kroger Moving Forward with Fuel Station at Kuykendahl and Bay Bridge in The Woodlands’ Alden Bridge Subdivision Despite Opposition [Isiah Factor]
• The Wheelchair Ramps to Nowhere Along the East Beltway [KHOU]
• Architecture Center of Houston Show ‘Women in Architecture’ Honors Local and International Design Pioneers [OffCite]

Photo of “A Jackson in Your House” by Jamal Cyrus and Walter Stanciell at Alabama and Almeda: David Hollas

• Pics of Last Weekend’s Foundation Pour for 40-Story Market Square Tower Downtown [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• DNA Partners Buys Mason Village Shopping Center Anchored by 99 Cents Only Store in Katy [Prime Property]
• Home Sales To Begin in 2016 for 1,996-Acre Howard Hughes Project Near Conroe [Realty News Report]
• Tarkett Site for Sale Should Have Incentives for Mixed-Use, Shared Parking, Public Plazas, Says Peter Brown [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• The ‘Time Capsule’ Midcentury Homes on the Market in Houston Right Now [Prime Property]
• Inside the Historic Old Galveston Customs House Recently Touched Up and Relisted for Sale at $999,500 [Houston Business Journal]
• Slideshow: What $200,000 Can Get You Around Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Residents at West U Meeting Oppose West Baptist University Church Expansion Plans, Land Swap with City [Click2Houston]
• Katy Fwy. Frontage Road To Go from 2-Way to 1-Way Later This Month [Katy | Fort Bend]
• Vonlane To Add Luxury Bus Service from Dallas to Houston in March with Stops in The Woodlands and Houston Proper [Houston Business Journal]
• Power Companies Squabble Over Proposed 150-Mile Houston Import Project Transmission Line [Houston Public Media]

Photo of Old Sixth Ward: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Newland Communities Planning 3,619-Acre Neighborhood Called Elyson Near Beckendorff and Grand Pwky. [Houston Business Journal]
• WaterWalk Will Start Construction on Hotel-Apartment Concept June 2015 Somewhere in Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• Costco To Open New Location in The Woodlands on Nov. 21 [Houston Business Journal]
• Galleria Will Stay Open After 6 pm on Thanksgiving This Year for the First Time [Prime Property]
• Developers Targeting Porter for Subdivisions as Houston Continues Its Northward Sprawl [Houston Chronicle]
• Uber Says It Has No Intention of Leaving Houston, but Still Plans to Fight New Background-Check Regulations [Houston Business Journal]
• Construction on 1-Mile Stretch of Woodlands Pkwy. Has Been Abandoned for Weeks, Now a Year Behind Schedule [Houston Chronicle]
• Will Prop 1 Money Help Ease Houston’s Freeway Congestion? [Houston Public Media]
• A Look at the Houston Ship Channel’s First 100 Years [Houston Chronicle]
• Touring the Houston Ship Channel Aboard the Sam Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• The Raw Power of Houston’s Economy, as Seen Through the Aerial Photographs of Alex Maclean [OffCite]
• 10 Possible Houston Rap Tourist Destinations [Rocks Off]

Photo of Downtown from Air Liquide building: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Marriott Residence Inn Planned for Hwy. 249 and Medical Complex Dr. in Tomball Should Open in March 2016 [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Construction To Start on Revised Design of $74.3M Sugar Land Performance Venue on December 9 [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Sugar Land Mansion of Former Houston Astro Carlos Lee Offered at $1.9M, Sells for $1.56M [Culturemap]
• Cycling and Yoga Studio Coming to West Ave, Joining Other Recent Additions Ann Sacks and Poliform [Houston Business Journal]
• Satellite Timelapse Shows Rapid Growth of Montgomery County from 1984 to 2012 [The Woodlands]
• Rents in High-End Office Space in Houston Up 12.5% to $45 Per Square Foot This Year, According to CBRE [Prime Property]
• 80% of New Foreign-Born Houston-Area Residents Move to Suburbs, Not Urban Areas, Finds Brookings Report [Houston Business Journal]
• One of 2 Likely Routes for Planned High-Speed Rail Line to Dallas Would Put Track Along Washington Ave [The Highwayman]
• Most Routes Proposed for New High-Voltage Electric Transmission Line Slice Through Katy Prairie Conservancy Lands [Houston Chronicle]
• Conservancy Hopes To Make Willow Waterhole Greenspace as Big a Destination as Memorial and Hermann Parks [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Houston Ship Channel: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Developers Think There’s Demand for Condos Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
• Historic 1929 Dickinson School on Hwy. 3 in Final Stages of Demolition [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Taking Advantage of Relaxed Downtown Food Truck Regulations, Operators of Houston Food Park Plan To Open Second Location, Near Toyota Center [Houston Chronicle]
• Gourmet Vinegar, Oil, and Spice Seller Vom Fass Now Open in Rice Village [Culturemap]
• Shipley Do-Nuts To Open Its 300th Store This Saturday in Katy Mills; Planning for 400th by 2020 [Houston Chronicle]
• TQLA on Washington Ave ‘Closed Until Further Notice’ [Culturemap]
• Greater East End, Montrose, and Midtown To See Road, Sidewalk Improvements Amid Population Boom [Prime Property]
• Prop. 1 Passage Will Get TxDOT $1.2B to $1.7B of the $5B It Wants To Spend on Highways [Houston Chronicle]
• Lyft Says It Will Halt Operations in Houston on November 20 Rather Than Comply with New Regulations [Houston Business Journal]
• The Neighbors and Fishermen Involved in the Fight To Remove the San Jacinto River Waste Pits [Houston Press]
• For Sale on eBay: A Detailed Diorama of the Graffiti-Filled Ladies Room at Lola’s Depot in Montrose [Rocks Off]

Photo of East End warehouse: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 4 AmREIT Uptown Park Redevelopment Projects Will Continue Under Company’s New Ownership [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Meritage Homes Buys 127 Acres in the Imperial Sugar Land Development To Build 335 Homes [Prime Property]
• Voters Approve $748M Katy ISD Bond That Would Pay for New Schools, Football Stadium; Fort Bend and Lamar Consolidated Bonds Also Approved [Houston Chronicle]
• Lone Star College System To Construct New Buildings, Renovate Existing Ones After $485M Bond Referendum Passes [Houston Chronicle]
• HAR Taking Houston Out of Its Website Name, Rebranding as ‘Homes and Realtors’ To Reflect New Statewide Listings [Prime Property]
• County Attorney Taking Downtown Bar Kryptonite To Court To Clamp Down on Drug Use [abc13]
• Slideshow: David Brown and Paul Davis’s Rooftop Photos of Downtown Buildings [Culturemap]

Photo of Hermann Park Centennial Gardens: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• New Hampshire Firm Buying Grocers Supply Warehouse and Distribution Operations, but Not Fiesta Mart [Houston Business Journal]
• Galleria H&M Opens This Thursday [KHOU]
• Midtown’s BlackFinn American Grille Closed for Good ‘Due To Unforeseen Circumstances’ [Culturemap]
• Former Barringer Bar Co-Owners Locked Out of Downtown Space Tease Possible New Bar [Eater Houston]
• Labor Shortages, Higher Home Prices, Tougher Lending Standards Will Keep Texas Housing Market Competitive, Says Report [Prime Property]
• Commercial Leasing Website RealMassive Launches in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio [Culturemap]
• Intersection at Buffalo Speedway and U.S. 59 Reopens Weeks Ahead of Schedule [The Highwayman]
• Texas Drops a Spot to No. 4 in Site Selection’s Latest Ranking of the Top State Business Climates [Houston Business Journal]

Photo of 2111 Washington Ave: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Phillips 66 Switches Contractors for Its Corporate Campus Already Under Construction in Westchase [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• South Carolina-Based Edens Investment Trust Will Pay $26.55 per Share for Uptown Park Owner AmREIT in Deal Valued at $763M [Houston Business Journal]
• Job Boom Helps Drive Up the Cost of Apartments Across the Region [Houston Chronicle]
• Fiesta Mart-Anchored Retail Center at FM 529 and Fry Road in Katy Set To Open in January [Prime Property]
• Chicago Deep-Dish Pizzeria Gino’s East Coming to The Woodlands, Willowbrook [Eater Houston]
• Liquid Gold Hospitality Group Proceeding with Plans for Webster El Tiempo Despite Lawsuit [Food Chronicles]
• Shuttered Polovina Restaurant Plans To Reopen Downtown [Eater Houston]
• The Story Behind the Family That Expanded Pappas Restaurants into One of the Largest Family-Owned Restaurant Chains [Houston Chronicle]
• Fourth Ward Residents Protest Plans To Dig Up Historic Freedmen’s Town Brick Streets; Leader Promotes Idea To Turn Area into Tourist Destination [Houston Chronicle]
• City May Spend More Than $1M from General Fund To Settle Red-Light Camera Lawsuit [Houston Chronicle]

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