Headlines

• Texas Medical Center Opens TMCx, a New Startup Accelerator Inside a Former Nabisco Cookie Factory Repurposed To Look Like a Silicon Valley Startup [Houston Chronicle]
• Commercial Property Investors Spent $13.1B on Houston Real Estate Over the Past Year, According to Cushman & Wakefield [Prime Property]
• CBRE Rearranges Its Map of Houston Office Submarkets, Adding One for Exxon Mobil Campus, Reconfiguring Kingwood and The Woodlands [Prime Property]
• After Temporary Closure Earlier This Week, the Coppa Ristorante on Washington Ave Is Shuttered for Good [Eater Houston]
• Owners Say Shutdown of MF Sushi on Westheimer Is Only Temporary, for ‘Reorganizing’ [Culturemap]
• 5 of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the U.S. Are in Houston [Forbes via Houston Business Journal]
• New Ramp from Eastbound U.S.-290 to I-10 Running Parallel to Loop 610 To Open by Monday Morning [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston City Council Wants Environmental Study Conducted Ahead of Nuclear Barge Sturgis’ Arrival [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Knight Foundation Will Award $5M Worth of Grants for Proposals to Improve Life in Cities [CityLab]

Photo of Sculpture from Jorge Marin’s “Wings of the City,” Discovery Green: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• September Single-Family Home Sales Jumped 7% Over Last Year’s Numbers, HAR Reports [Houston Chronicle; report]
• Katy ISD, Lamar ISD, Lone Star College System Will Have a Total $1.47B in Bonds Up For Vote in November [Houston Business Journal]
• Alliance Residential Buys 2 Parcels of Land in Woodmill Creek (Renamed from Woodland Creek) for Apartments and Townhomes [Houston Business Journal]
• Section of Riverside Terrace Receives City Council Approval for Lot Size Restrictions [Prime Property]
• Rising Cost of Building Materials, Strained Labor Market Biggest Challenges Facing Construction Industry [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston’s FM News Station News92 KROI Airs Last Broadcast; Becomes All-Beyonce Channel [mikemcguff.com]
• A Brief History of Houston’s Traffic Congestion Patterns [OffCite]
• Uber ‘Surge Pricing’ Hiked Fares up to 500% During Austin City Limits Last Weekend [KHOU]
• U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Expected To Rule in Coming Months on Proposed $6 Million Buffalo Bayou ‘Restoration’ Project [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Petroleum Club Auction November 13 Will Include Paneling, Chandeliers, Sculpture, David Adickes Tapestry [Prime Property]
• Retrofitting Houston’s Older Office Buildings To Improve Energy-Efficiency [Houston Chronicle]
• Judge Emmett Compares Astrodome Park Plan to Larger ‘Tropical Islands’ Park in Germany, Says ULI Panel Will Present Recommendations in December [Houston Public Media]
• Houston Home Prices Ranked 8th Most Overvalued in the Country, Judging from Historical Data, Incomes, Rents [Trulia Trends via HBJ]
• Tasting Room To Close West Alabama Location in Mid-November; Will Be Replaced By a Similar Wine Bar Concept [Food Chronicles]
• Proposed Fort Bend County Transportation Plan Would Run Freight Rail Line Parallel to Texas 36, Parts of Texas 36A [The Highwayman]
• Houston Has the Best Transit Accessibility in Texas, According to a University of Minnesota Study [The Highwayman]
• Space Center Houston Becomes Houston’s First Smithsonian Affiliate [Houston Business Journal]
• An Unofficial Guide to the Heights Sunday Streets on October 12 [OffCite]
• Top Houston Attractions That Houstonians Don’t Actually Visit [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of “Preservons la Creation,” 2800 San Jacinto St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Memorial Hermann Health System To Build Acute Care Hospital, Emergency Center in Cypress [Houston Business Journal]
• Triten Real Estate Partners Constructing Fourth and Final Building at Intrepid Business Park in Northwest Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• New $51M Multidisciplinary Research and Engineering Building at UH Set To Open in 2016 [Houston Chronicle]
• Hanover Co. Secures $67M Loan To Finance Highrise Under Construction at 3400 Montrose Blvd. [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot]
• No Leases Signed Yet for Hines Spec Office Tower Under Construction at 609 Main [Realty News Report]
• 23,000 Cubic Yards of Concrete, 5,500 Tons of Steel To Be Recycled After Demolition of Houston Club Building [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston’s 10 Most Affordable Neighborhoods To Rent an Apartment, According to Zumper [Houston Business Journal]
• Braes Heights Home Possibly the First in Houston to Earn ‘Fortified Rated’ Designation, LEED Platinum and Zero Energy Ready Home Certifications [Prime Property]
• More Than 40 Transtar Cameras on the North Freeway Near FM 1960 Repaired After Likely Attempted Copper Theft [Click2Houston]
• East End Residents Complain About Packs of Stray Dogs, Crime [MyFoxHouston]
• Map: Over Last 14 Months, Number of Abortion Clinics in Houston Has Dropped from 10 to 2; Only 8 Left Statewide [Texas Tribune]
• Why 12-Ft. Traffic Lanes Must Be Replaced with 10-Ft. Traffic Lanes [CityLab]
• Joel Kotkin Predicts Houston and SF Bay Area Will Become America’s Dominant Cities in Coming Decades [The Daily Beast]
• Can Houston, Known For Its Lack of Zoning and Car-Centric Ways, Embrace a More Pedestrian-Friendly Urbanism? [Architect Magazine]

Photo: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 673-Acre Moran Ranch on I-45 Near Willis Put Up for Sale [Prime Property]
• Amount of Office Space Under Construction in Houston Has Increased by More Than Half in Last 12 Months [Houston Business Journal]
• Land in Uptown, The Woodlands, the Medical Center and Downtown Has Seen Some of the Strongest Price Increases [Houston Chronicle]
• The Top 25 Most Expensive Neighborhoods To Buy a House in Houston, According to HAR [Houston Business Journal]
• El Pollo Loco Opens First of 5 Initial Houston Locations Today in Sugar Land at 4528 Texas 6 [Houston Chronicle]
• Frenchy’s Chicken Opening New Location, at Intersection of Atascocita Rd., Mesa Blvd,. and Old Humble Rd., This Month [HKA Texas]
• Randy Evans To Consult on H-E-B’s First In-House Restaurant in Houston, in New Store at San Felipe and Fountain View [Food Chronicles]
• Mexican Food Franchise Taqueria Arandas To Open First Non-Franchised Houston Restaurant [Houston Business Journal]
• Coppa Ristorante Italiano on Washington Ave Closed Until Further Notice After ‘Building Maintenance Issue’ [Food Chronicles]
• Facundo Café in the Dr Gleem Car Wash at 3103 Ella Blvd. Has Closed [The Leader]
• Briarmeadow Residents Fed Up with Fish & The Knife Restaurant Patrons Parking in Their Neighborhood [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Needs a Swimming Hole Team Looking for 10-Plus Acre Tract in Central Houston To Build a Natural Pool [Houston Chronicle]
• Long-Awaited Civil Trial Over Abandoned Waste Pits That Leaked into the San Jacinto River Begins This Week [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s New ‘Open Data Policy’ Mandates All Future City Technology Contracts Allow for Free Release of Records [Houston Chronicle]
• Havel Ruck Projects’ Honeycomb-Like Structure of Shiplap Wall Parts Extracted from Condemned Bungalows [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Three New Tenants Sign Leases at Energy Tower at 11700 Katy Fwy.; 200K SF of Former Technip Space Still Available for Lease [Prime Property]
• Houston Added More Construction Jobs Than Any Other Major Metro in the U.S. in the Past Year, Finds Survey [Houston Business Journal]
• ExxonMobil Leader Says New Suburban Campus ‘Exceeds Highest Standards of Environmental Compliance,’ Now Has 2,200 Workers Onsite [Houston Chronicle]
• Boheme Owner Plans To Open Brewhub Brewheme at 2505 Mason St. in Mid 2015 [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• First of New Metro Light Rail Cars Passes Initial Testing [The Highwayman]
• I-45 To Be Shut Down in Both Directions from Woodlands Pkwy. to Highway 242 This Weekend [Click2Houston]
• ‘Hidden History’ Website Overlays State Current Aerial View of Houston with Historic 1900 Map [Houston Chronicle]
• The 11 Houston Buildings That Have Earned the State Antiquities Landmark Designation [Houston Press]
• Communities Like Brownsville That Are Outside the Major Metropolitan Areas Help Keep Texas Booming [Site Selection]

Photo of I-10: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• City Designates 5 New Historical Landmarks, Including Downtown’s Hermann Estate Building [Prime Property]
• The Offices at Grandway West Under Construction in Katy Land Second Tenant; Now 52% Pre-Leased [Prime Property]
• New York’s EYP Buys Houston’s WHR Architects [Houston Business Journal]
• UH President Envisions Building ‘Community-Based’ Medical School [University of Houston]
• Houston Ranked No. 5 National Market for Luxury Home Sales Topping $1M So Far This Year [Houston Business Journal]
• 6 Home Remodels and Rebuilds That Defy Houston’s Teardown Craze [Culturemap]
• Boulevard Coffee, the Heights Coffee House Previously Known as Waldo’s Coffee, Has Closed [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Washington-Based Mod Pizza Moving into Houston with Vintage Marketplace Location in October, Tuscany Square on San Felipe December, Pearland and Energy Corridor To Follow [Houston Business Journal]
• Little Bigs Closing Little 2703 Montrose Location After October 26, Opening in Bigger Former Chelsea Grill Spot on Halloween [Food Chronicles]
• Number of ‘Incidents’ Reported on Area Freeways Jumped to Record High of 2,101 in September [The Highwayman]
• City Council Expands Smoking Ban To Houston’s 3 Public Pedestrian Plazas [Houston Politics]
• Fans Camped Out Overnight for Opening of Rebuilt Chick-fil-A at South Mason Near I-10 This Morning [Covering Katy]
• The 7 Most Popular Architectural Visualization Styles [Architizer]

Photo of 2759 Battleground Rd., Deer Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Brookfield Offering Investors Chance To Buy Stake in 4M SF of Downtown Office Properties [Realty News Report]
• Dornin Investment Group Buys Columbia Centre Office Building in Westchase [Prime Property]
• Replacement Retail Center at Memorial Dr. and Dairy Ashford Breaks Ground; Already 85% Leased [Houston Business Journal]
• A Breakdown of BLVD Place’s New Tenants and Their Opening Dates [Houston Business Journal]
• High- and Midrise Apartment Living Trend Spreading to Pearland, The Woodlands [Culturemap]
• Satterfield & Pontikes and PBK Architects To Build 650K-SF Klein High School at Cutten and Spring Cypress [Prime Property]
• Dallas Architectural Firm HKS Inc. Opening Houston Office at 712 Main [Houston Business Journal]
• Demolition of Former Wheatley High School Temporarily Halted Again by Judge Over Asbestos Health Concerns [Houston Chronicle]
• Vespa Plans To Operate Franchise Out of Heights Co-Working Space White Space Houston Starting Next Month [Houston Business Journal]
• City Council Considers Expanding Smoking Ban Again To Include Public Pedestrian Walkways [Houston Politics]
• More Than 100 Feral Hogs Have Been Caught Since July in Program That Donates the Meat to the Houston Food Bank [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of 2040 Westcreek Ln. and SkyHouse River Oaks: Mike Richardson

• Midway To Expand CityCentre with 2 New Office Towers, Highrise Apartment Building, Retail and Restaurants [Prime Property]
• Midtown Mixed-Used Development Mid Main To Hold Invitation-Only Groundbreaking Ceremony October 6 [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Howard Hughes Corp. To Replace 218 Rooms Being Torn Down at Woodlands Resort & Conference Center with New Multifamily Project [Houston Business Journal]
• Developers Rush To Register Projects with the EB-5 Visa Program Before 2015 Allotment of Visas Runs Out [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Southern Star Brewing Co. Breaks Ground on New $5M Brewery in Conroe [Houston Chronicle]
• Howard Hughes Corp. Opening Robard’s Steak House October 27 Across the Street from Its Woodlands Resort [Houston Business Journal]
• Niko Niko’s To Open Fourth Houston-Area Location Next Spring in Former Chili’s Near I-10 and Sam Houston Tollway [Prime Property]
• Ritter’s Frozen Custard Opening Second Houston-Area Location Friday in Porter, 3 More Openings To Follow [Prime Property]
• City Launches Initiative To Encourage ‘Green’ Practices in Commercial Real Estate [Prime Property]
• Spring Trails Family Thinks Concrete from Grand Pkwy. Construction Is Flying into Their Backyard, Home [Click2Houston]
• Investigation Finds Deplorable Conditions in Harris County Jail Cell [abc13]
• Houston Ship Channel, Santa Anna Inspires Choreographer Karen Stokes’ Latest Work [Houston Chronicle]
• How Downtown’s Transformations Mirror the Unique Nature of Houston as a Whole [Art Attack]

Photo of BG Group Place at 811 Main: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Crowe Holdings Industrial Will Turn Former Goya Foods Manufacturing Site at 5750 Brittmoore into an Office Park [Houston Business Journal]
• Big Brother Big Sisters Lone Star Will Build New 3-Story HQ at Washington Ave and Franklin Downtown [Houston Chronicle]
• River Oaks’ Briar Club To Begin Second Phase of $30M Renovation, Including New Pools, Clubhouse and Teen Cente Expansions [Houston Business Journal]
• Historic Helm-McDonough House in River Oaks, Designed by Louis Antonio Glover, on the Market for $1.9M [Culturemap]
• Food Trucks Now Allowed in Central Business District, Texas Medical Center After Mayor Propane Regulation Revised [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Churrascos Opening a New Location in the Champions Area on September 30 [Prime Property]
• Shepherd Dr. Restaurant Triniti Rumored To Be Rebranding Its Bar as ‘Sanctuari’ [Culturemap]
• B-Cycle Wants 100 Stations and 1,000 Bikes in Houston by the End of 2017 [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• The Woodlands To Request Design Services for New Town Center Transportation Terminal, Will Purchase 25 New Buses for Express Service [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston Looking To Make Adjustments To Its Bus System [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• The ‘Message’ Behind PARK(ing) Day in Houston [OffCite]
• Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Sugar Land Worried Wild Hogs Will Destroy Its Pumpkin Patch [Click2Houston]

Photo of Deer Park Refinery: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Fidelis Realty Partners Acquires 112 Acres of Former Camp Strake Property in Conroe for ‘Shopping, Dining, and Entertainment Destination’ [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Skanska Buys 14 Acres on Springwoods Village Pkwy. Across I-45 from ExxonMobil Campus for Office Development [Prime Property]
• Hines Planning New Residential Community Called Laurel Park North on 130 Acres Near New ExxonMobil Campus [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Construction Permits Increase 64.6% Over Same Time Last Year, Reaching a Record $696M in August [Houston Business Journal]
• Unincorporated Parts of Mission Bend, Sienna Plantation, The Woodlands Struggle To Fix Roads, Manage Growth [Houston Chronicle]
• More People Moved into New Homes in Houston Than in Any Other U.S. City in Second Quarter of 2014, Finds Metrostudy [Houston Business Journal]
• Museum District, Fourth Ward Top List of 10 Most Expensive Houston Neighborhoods for 1-Bedroom Apartments, According to SF Website Zumper [Houston Business Journal]
• Slideshow: A Progress Report on the $3M Renovation of the Historic 1001 McKinney Building [Prime Property]
• Southern Goods Opening This January in Former Table 19 Space at 632 W. 19th [Eater Houston]
• Metro Board Approves ‘Reimagined’ Bus Route Plan, but Will Allow Public Comment, Changes for 60 More Days [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Light Rail System Will Shut Down Friday Night, All Day Saturday for Rail Expansion Work [Click2Houston]
• 6 Iconic Houston Restaurants and Bars That Closed After 2 or More Decades [Culturemap]
• $43M ‘Chateau Carnarvon’ in Sherwood Forest is the Priciest Home Ever Listed in Houston, Says Martha Turner [Wall Street Journal]
• Bistro Menil, Set To Open October 1 in Reconstructed Bungalow, Won’t Have Any Art on Its Walls [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Gibbs Boats at 1110 West Gray St.: Andrew Steffler [license]

• Katy Will Be Larger Than the City of Pittsburgh in 2 Years, Says Economic Development Council President [Katy|Fort Bend]
• KB Home Planning To Build 44-Home Hollister Commons Behind Gates in Spring Branch [Houston Business Journal]
• Altitude Trampoline Park To Open in Former Albertson’s Grocery Store Spot in Spring Cypress Shopping Center in December [Prime Property]
• Satterfield & Pontikes Construction To Build New $128M Cypress Fairbanks High School No. 11, Designed by PBK Architects [Prime Property]
• New Walmart Supercenter at 20310 US 59 in New Caney To Begin Construction Early Next Year, Open in Spring 2016 [HKA Texas]
• Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort on the Seawall Being Converted into a DoubleTree by Hilton [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Moving Sidewalk Bar Now Open in Former Goro & Gun Spot on Main Street [Culturemap]
• North Shepherd Area Business Association Wants To Paint Railroad Bridge, Clean Underpass Near N. 34th St. [The Leader]
• Marble Arch Townhomes Residents in Galleria Area Lived with Water Main Break ‘Lake’ for Days [MyFoxHouston]
• Drone Photos Now ‘Almost the Standard’ for Real Estate Marketing in Houston [Houston Business Journal]

Photo of downtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Wheatley High School Demolition To Proceed This Week After Judge Dismisses Suit [Houston Chronicle]
• American Liberty Hospitality Breaks Ground on Combo Hampton Inn–Homewood Suites Downtown, Will Build Another Hotel on Adjacent Property [Prime Property]
• New 19K SF Warehouse Space Going Up at Hwy. 105 and Loop 330 in Conroe [Houston Business Journal]
• Torchy’s Tacos Opening Sixth Houston Location, in Sugar Land, Within 6 Months; More To Follow in Galleria, The Woodlands, Memorial City, Baybrook [Houston Business Journal]
• Paul’s Kitchen Opening September 29 in Former Haven Space at 2502 Algerian Way [Food Chronicles]
• Otilia’s Mexican Restaurant on Long Point Has Closed [Food Chronicles]
• Vietnamese Food Truck Les Ba’Get Signs Lease for Space at Former Interfaith Ministries Bldg. at Montrose and Westheimer [Culturemap]
• Swede Farm Dairy in Waller Raising Money Online To Avoid Shutdown [Eating Our Words]
• Houston-Area Hog Activity ’70 Times Worse’ Right Now, Says Animal and Pest Control Expert [Click2Houston]
• Slideshow: The Cranes of Houston [The Texican]
• A Family Compound of 6 Homes and a Rec Center on 18 Acres in Clear Lake [Houston Chronicle]
• City Data from Crime Stats to Hurricane Risk Areas To Become Public at New Houston Data Portal [Houston Chronicle]
• Scenes from the Nearly Vacant Northwest Mall [Houston Press]

Photo of North Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• After Loan Holdup, Grand Texas Theme Park Resumes Construction of RV Resort and Campground Portion [HKA Texas]
• Downtown Office Tower 1000 Main Up for Sale; Could Fetch Record $450M [Culturemap]
• Kirksey’s New $69M Campus for Milby High School Will Keep 100-Year-Old Original Building [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• JW Marriott Houston Downtown and Its Main Kitchen Restaurant Set for Soft Opening Tomorrow [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• McGuyer Homebuilders To Begin Building First Homes in The Meadows at Imperial Oaks [Houston Business Journal]
• Four HPD Officers Suspended for Traffic Ticket Scheme That Collected Nearly $1M in Overtime Pay [Houston Chronicle; more info]
• Some Discovery Green Visitors Upset Over Anatomically Correct Sculpture Near Children’s Splash Pad [Click2Houston]
• Elon Musk Breaks Ground on $85M SpaceX Spaceport Near Brownsville, Calls It Future Mars Launch Site [Click2Houston]
• Hanging Out with a Bunch of Unemployed Concrete Freeway Dividers Near 610 and Long Dr. [OffCite]

Photo of Southwest Fwy.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Galleria Office Tower Replacing the Courtyard on St. James Place Breaks Ground; Should Be Complete by March 2016 [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Rice University Takes Over Ownership of Village Arcade in Rice Village, Plans Changes [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• City of Rosenberg May Grant Developer of New Paragon Outlet Mall at I-69 and Spacek Rd. $4.8 Million for Public Infrastructure Improvements [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Arts and Media Hosts Brainstorming Session To Help Fine-Tune Judge Emmett’s Astrodome Park Proposal [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Texas Transportation Commission Wants TxDOT To Focus on Repairing State’s Oil Patch Highways [Houston Public Media]
• Why the Old Wheatley High School Building, Freedmen’s Town Bricks, and Henington-Alief Regional Library Matter [Houston Chronicle]
• During ‘Preservation Sunday’ Event, Freedmen’s Town Residents Pray To Save Neighborhood Street Bricks from City Renovation [Houston Chronicle]
• Identical Twins Purchase Identical Neighboring Homes in Galveston [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Next Sunday Streets Event Moved to Oct. 12 in the Heights, from 19th St. to Shepherd [Culturemap]
• A Brief History of Oak Forest and Its Recent Transformation [Art Attack]

Photo of 609 Main construction: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool