Headlines

• New Multifamily Project from Unnamed Developer Planned for 3.86-Acre Lakes at Post Oak Site [Houston Business Journal]
• D’Agostino Cos. Breaks Ground on Office Building in Sam Houston Crossing Business Park; 60% of Tenants Secured [Prime Property]
• 3 Lakes at Post Oak Office Buildings Being Sold in Transactions Totaling $400M [Houston Business Journal]
• Atlanta-Based Noble Investment Group Acquires the Hyatt Place Near Sugar Land Town Square [Prime Property]
• Ranch Land Within 3 Hours of Houston in High Demand, Says Realtor [Click2Houston]
• Humble Signature Kroger Now Open at 9475 FM 1960, Replacing Older Store at U.S.-59 and FM 1960 [HKA Texas]
• Mexico Group Opening First U.S. La Bikina Restaurant in The Woodlands Friday [Houston Chronicle]
• Reuse of Water, Less Mowing, ‘Dry Detention’ Becoming More Common in Master-Planned Communities [Houston Chronicle]
• $5.2M Waterway Square Project Would Add Stage, Pedestrian Bridge to The Woodlands’ Town Center [Houston Chronicle]
• Building Owners and Managers Association Members Worried How Dedicated Bike Lane Would Affect Traffic, Cars Exiting Parking Garages on Lamar [Houston Politics]
• Visitors to Houston Metro Area Spent $16.2B in 2013, Up from $15.5B in 2012 [Houston Business Journal]
• Majority of Heritage Grand Residents in Favor of AT&T Cell Tower Disguised as a Pine Tree, Finds Poll [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Man Caught on Video Driving His Bugatti Veyron into La Marque Lagoon Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Other Charges [Hair Balls]

Photo of LAZ Parking on Congress near Austin: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• UH To Open New TDECU Stadium This Friday in Game Against UTSA [CBS Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Newmark Homes To Build in New 22-Acre Shadow Ridge Neighborhood Along FM 518 in Pearland [Prime Property]
• New UH Private Dorm The Vue at MacGregor Delayed; 350 Students Living in Temporary Quarters [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• A Buyer Would Need an Annual Salary of $51,782 To Afford a Median-Priced Home in Houston, Finds McAlister [Prime Property]
• Russo’s New York Pizzeria Plans To Open 12 to 13 New Restaurants in Houston Suburbs [Houston Business Journal]
• Up to 16 Derelict Properties Being Demolished This Week Across La Marque [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• City To Convert Lane of Lamar St. Downtown to 2-Way Cycling Route Connected to Buffalo Bayou Trails by October [Houston Chronicle]
• Energy Corridor Carshare Pilot Program Allows Workers To Check Out Vehicles for Short-Term Rentals [Houston Public Media]
• Don Greene, the Houston Environmental Activist Who Fought To Save Buffalo Bayou, Has Died [Houston Chronicle]
• Grant Gordon, Former Tony’s Chef and a Partner at the Forthcoming Edmont, Found Dead [Eating Our Words; previously on Swamplot]
• J Sussan Interiors at Kirby and Alabama Holding Going-Out-of-Business Sale Starting Tomorrow [Prime Property]
• Immigrants Reshape Houston, America’s Most Diverse Metropolis [Al Jazeera America]
• TxDOT Shelving Proposal To Allow Taller Billboards in Suburban and Rural Areas as a Result of Public Criticism [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of 1625 Alabama St.: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• MetLife Real Estate Investors Picks Up 22-Story Office Building at 3040 Post Oak Blvd. in Sale Valued at $125M [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Ranks No. 4 in Country for New Residential Construction Activity in First Half of 2014, Finds Trulia [Houston Business Journal]
• The 609 Main Concrete Pour By the Numbers [Prime Property]
• 5 Houston Areas That Could Become Real Estate ‘Hotspots’ in the Near Future [Culturemap]
• Median Home Values in Supposed 25 Wealthiest ZIP Codes in Houston Area Increased 22.22% on Average Over Past Year [Houston Business Journal]
• Frankel Building Group To Build 44-Home Gated ‘The Lakes of Shadow Creek’ 3 Miles from ExxonMobil Campus [Houston Business Journal]
• Downtown’s Barringer Bar Locked Up After Contract Dispute with Downstairs Bar Clutch City Squire [Eater Houston]
• Lake Conroe To Be Converted into Drinking Water Source by June 2015 To Help Meet Demands of Growing Population [Houston Chronicle]
• EPA To Remove Hazardous Chemicals from the CES Environmental Services Site on Griggs Rd. in South Houston [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Father of Fallen ‘Naked Unicyclist’ Finds Ghost Bike Honoring Son at Site of Fatal Accident on Sens Rd. in La Porte [Houston Chronicle; more info]
• Identifying the Art in Bert Long’s Fifth Ward House [The Great God Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Jefferson Heights Apartments construction at 1520 N. Memorial Way: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Top Features of UH’s New 40K-Seat TDECU Stadium [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Third Houston Dave & Buster’s To Open in New Expansion Wing of the Baybrook Mall Next Year [Prime Property]
• Labor Shortage During Houston Building Boom Raising Costs, Spurring ‘Catfights’ for Subcontractors, ‘Poaching’ Protections at Construction Sites [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Has Highest Apartment Demand Among the 50 Largest U.S. Markets, Finds CBRE Report [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Ranks 10th in Spec and Build-to-Suit Industrial Buildings, with 5.2M SF Currently Under Construction [Houston Business Journal]
• Third Ward: The Epicenter of Houston’s Fight for Racial Equality [Houston Chronicle]
• Buffalo Bayou Bridge To Be Named After Cinco Ranch Teen Killed in a Traffic Accident on Katy Flewellen Rd. in 2006 [Covering Katy]
• City Unveils 1.2-Acre Mandell Park in Montrose After $1.2M Renovation [Houston Public Media; more here]
• Buried Human Remains Found During Construction at Brazos Mall in Brazoria County [abc13]
• Galveston County Daily News Launching Free, Monthly Newspaper for League City and Kemah [Galveston County Daily News]

Photo of Sunday’s concrete pour at 609 Main: Memebag

• $300M, 48.5-acre Pearland Development Dubbed the ‘Ivy District’ To Include Hotel, Office, Retail, Residential and Park Space [Houston Business Journal]
• Colorado-Based Homebuilder Century Communities Acquires Houston-Based Grand View Builders for $14M [Houston Business Journal]
• Texas Homebuyers Pay Highest Closing Costs in the Nation, According to Bankrate Study [Culturemap]
• Average Profit from House Flipping in Houston Down to $13,907 per House, from $27,279 Last Year, According to RealtyTrac [Prime Property]
• Spanish Restaurant BCN Set To Open in Montrose Next Month in 1920s Home at 4210 Roseland [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• Sandy Witch, the Sandwich Shop Inside Grand Prize Bar, Is Closing [Culturemap]
• Conservation Groups Donate $37.7M, 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, Will Become a State Park [Houston Chronicle]
• Rice University Shows Off Its Anderson-Clarke Center for Continuing Studies, the Building That Replaced the Art Barn [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Sacred Heart Church, Galveston: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Team from San Francisco Designed ExxonMobil Landscape To Look Like a College Campus [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Mapping the Most Expensive Places To Rent Office Space in the Houston Area [Prime Property]
• David Weekley Homes Now Selling 4-Story Townhomes in the Heights, Woodland Heights [Prime Property]
• State Transportation Officials Trying To Get Metro To Give Up on Ever Converting Post Oak Bus Lanes To Light Rail, Despite 2003 Harris County Vote [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Transportation Officials in The Woodlands Want To Expand Trolley Service To Reduce Town Center Traffic [Houston Chronicle]
• Cupcake Cowgirls’ Downtown Galveston Location To Open By Labor Day [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Woman Dies After Fire in Royal Oaks Country Club Home [KHOU]
• Residents Complain of Bedbug Infestation at the Coral Hill Apartments on Beverly Hill near Richmond and Hillcroft [Click2Houston]
• A Photo History of the Fifth Ward Double-Barreled Shotgun House Brett Zamore Transformed, and Bert Long Lived In [The Great God Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]
• Inside the Triangle-Shaped Home and Studio Artist Joseph Cohen Built for Himself at Oxford St. and the Heights Hike-and-Bike Trail [The Great God Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]
• The Houston Sites You’ll See on Those Big Red Tour Buses [Houston Chronicle]
• Public Works Dept. Tagged 19th St. Parklet with Violation Notice for Having Furniture, Flowers in Right-of-Way, a Week After Its Inauguration by Mayor [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of 1515 Woodhead St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Neighbors, Developers Both File Motions To Appeal Judge’s Ruling in Ashby Highrise Case [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Dalfen America Corp. Acquires 5-Acre Parcel, Adjacent Building in Sugar Land Business Park, Plans To Build Industrial Facility [Prime Property]
• Construction Underway on First of 5 Planned Buildings at Grandway West Office Development Opposite Former Site of Forbidden Gardens in Katy [Prime Property]
• McGuyer Homebuilders Breaks Ground on Gated 6-Home Development Near Campbell Rd. and Westview [Houston Business Journal]
• Fifth Houston-Area Sprouts Opens Today at 20708 Kuykendahl in Spring [Prime Property]
• Company Behind Down House, D&T Drive Inn Launching Kipper Club Test Kitchen for Pop-Up and Guest Chef Dinners at 4400 N. Yale Late Next Month [Food Chronicles]
• Jonathan’s the Rub To Move into Ground Floor of MetroNational’s Recently Opened ‘Treehouse’ Building at 963 Bunker Hill in November [Food Chronicles]
• Text Messages Show UH President Agreed To Drop Plan To Require Freshmen To Live on Campus After Exchange with ‘Angry’ State Senator [Houston Chronicle]
• Novel Friendswood, Inspired by Efforts To Clean Up Nearby Brio Superfund Site, Optioned for Film [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Maximus Coffee at 3900 Harrisburg Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Future of Capitan Theater Still Unclear After Pasadena City Council Approves Sale of Complex to New Jersey Company for $4.6M [Pasadena Citizen; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Ranked Among Least Affordable Cities in the Country for First-Time Homebuyers by Wallet Hub [Prime Property]
• What It Will Cost You To Rent a House in 8 Popular Houston Neighborhoods [Hair Balls]
• Gray’s Public House Replacing The Good Life in Midtown [Eater Houston]
• Should Water Taxis in The Woodlands Receive Federal Funding Aimed at Reducing Gridlock? [Houston Chronicle]
• Why Texas Is the Ideal Place for Central Japan Railway To Debut Bullet Trains in the U.S. [The Texas Tribune]
• Metro Studying How To Spur Business Development Along Light Rail Lines [Houston Public Media]
• Some Neighbors in Cypresswood Lakes Annoyed by Reality TV Star’s Broken Food Truck, Parked on the Street for Weeks [Click2Houston]
• Finally Getting Around To Tour the Whole ‘True North’ Public Art Show Along the Heights Blvd. Esplanade [Glasstire]
• Owner of Burglarized 3-Story Woodlands Closet Confirms Some of the Loot Sent to the Houston Press Is Hers [Hair Balls]
• Plan To Require UH Freshmen To Live on Campus Stalled After Receiving ‘Mixed Feedback’ from Community, Thumbs Down from State Senator [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of the Port of Galveston: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Toll Brothers Buys 600 Acres Along FM 2978 for New Master-Planned Community West of The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal]
• New Developer Takes Vacant Falstaff Brewery Building Under Contract After Dallas Firm Backs Out [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Developers of Skyscrapers, Homes, Master-Planned Communities Turn to Camera-Mounted Drones To Take Panoramic Photos [Houston Chronicle]
• Gracepoint Homes Building 44 New Orleans-with-a-Garage-Style Homes in Shenandoah Gated Enclave [Prime Property]
• Meet Marie Hoke, the Lead Architect Behind the George R. Brown Convention Center Plaza Redo [Houston Chronicle]
• Mapping Possible Paths for Proposed Commuter Rail from U.S. 290 Corridor to Downtown [The Highwayman]
• Houston-Galveston Area Council Holding Events This Month To Help Solo Commuters Find New Ways To Get To Work [Houston Public Media]
• Historic Commuter School UH May Require Most Freshmen To Live on Campus Starting in 2015 [Houston Chronicle]
• Self-Proclaimed Burglar of 3-Story Woodlands Closet Sends Houston Press Some of the Loot, Including Jewelry, Lock of Hair [Hair Balls]
• A Snapshot of Some of the Renters, Hosts Using Airbnb in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• A Brief History of Patrick Swayze’s Ties to Oak Forest [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of lightning at Greenway Plaza: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Howard Hughes Corp. Paid $50,111 per Acre for 1,343-Acre Woodlands Add-on Northwest of Conroe [Houston Business Journal]
• ComedySportz Looking for New Home After Building Put Up for Sale, Holding Last Performances at 901 Town and Country Aug. 30 [Houston Chronicle]
• New Concept Pappas Meat Co. Coming to 12010 East Fwy. This Fall [Food Chronicles]
• Palais Royal Moving from Longtime Spot at the Mall of the Mainland to Former Macy’s Building at the Mall [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• How the Ashby Highrise Case Could Challenge Houston’s Hands-Off Approach to Zoning [Governing; previously on Swamplot]
• New LEED Certification To Take Into Account a Building’s Walkability to Amenities, Proximity to Public Transportation [Houston Business Journal]
• Space Shuttle Replica Makes Final Landing Atop Boeing 747 at Space Center Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• 6 Garbage Recycling Trucks Transformed into Works of Art Hit the Road; More To Come [Culturemap]
• Houston Engineer Mitch LaBiche Raising Funds Through Kickstarter for a Flying Car [The Highwayman]
• Separating Fact from Fiction in James Lee Burke’s Houston-Set Novel ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ [Houston Chronicle]
• 14 Year Old Secretly Lived Inside a Corsicana Walmart for Two-and-a-Half Days [CBS Dallas / Fort Worth]

Photo of the Sam Houston Statue at Hermann Park: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Dallas-Based ClubCorp Taking Over 6 Houston-Area Golf Courses as Part of $265M Acquisition [Houston Business Journal]
• After Failed Campaign for New Facility, Houston Fire Museum Gains City Council Approval To Buy Longtime Home at 2403 Milam St. from City [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Los Angeles-Based Omninet Capital Buys Office Complex Forged from Converted Westwood Mall [Prime Property]
• Phillips 66 Breaks Ground on $1B Liquefied Petroleum Gas Export Terminal in Freeport [Houston Business Journal]
• Construction Begins on Texas A&M at Galveston’s $45M Maritime Cadet Residence Hall on Pelican Island [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• New H&M Opens at the Katy Mills Mall Today [Covering Katy]
• Luby’s-Fuddruckers Combo Opens Today at Baybrook Shopping Center in Webster [Galveston County Daily News]
• Cinnabon To Test Out Lower-Calorie Bon Bake Shop Brand in Willowbrook Mall Starting in September [Businessweek via Culturemap]
• Texas Has Highest Average Freeway Speed in the Country at 78 MPH, According to Cars.com; Also Tops in Traffic Fatalities [The Highwayman]
• UFO Found on Video Captured During Monday Night’s Storm from Gulf Freeway Near Edgebrook [Click2Houston]
• Underground Artefacts, Unexploded WWII Bombs, Narrow Streets, Landmark View Corridors Make Building in Central London Difficult, Slow, and Expensive [The Economist]

Photo of San Felipe St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston-Area Retail Market On Track To Add 1.6M SF of Space in 2014, Compared to 679K SF Last Year, Finds Weitzman Group [Houston Business Journal]
• Construction Begins on New 21K-SF Queensbury Theatre To Replace Demolished Country Playhouse [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Dallas Developer Skybox Starts Construction on 20-Acre Katy Data Center at Franz and Mason [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Houston Single Family Home Sales Reach All-Time High with 7,769 Sold in July, Totaling $2.15B, According to HAR [Tom Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog]
• As Home Sales Go Up, Rental Scams Also on the Rise in Houston [MyFoxHouston]
• Fielding’s Local Kitchen & Bar Set To Open in First Quarter of 2015 in the Creekside Park Village Center on Kuykendahl [Culturemap]
• A Month After Opening, El Cantina Superior in the Heights Temporarily Closed [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• More Astrodome Seats May Go Up for Sale; Harris County Raked in $1.5M Last Year During Auctions, ‘Yard Sale’ [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• $1.725M Worth of Marijuana Seized from 50-Acre Grow Operation in Brenham [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Bicycle Museum To Open in 3 Months, Stay in Temporary Location for Year and a Half [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Four Story Spec Office Building Planned for 2.5-Acre Site at Hardy Toll Rd. and Northgate Crossing [Houston Business Journal]
• New Kroger Marketplace Going Up at Spring Green Boulevard and FM 1463 in Cinco Ranch [Houston Business Journal]
• West Memorial, Tomball, Greenspoint Lead List of Houston Neighborhoods with Biggest Rent Increases [Prime Property]
• New Metro-HCC 50-Spot Parking Lot Opens Near Northline Transit Center [Write on Metro]
• Owners of Lowbrow, Moon Tower Inn Planning Yet-To-Be-Named Bar at 408 Westheimer [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• British Italian Chain Il Mascalzone Opening Westchase Location at 12126 Westheimer in Addition to Cottage Grove Spot [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• David Peck Moves Flagship Boutique, Manufacturing Facility, Event Space into Former Emporium Architectural Antiques Building at 2515 Morse St. off Westheimer [Culturemap]
• The Walls Are Always Changing at 4739 Canal St., the Home of Graffiti Shop 713 Inc. Art and Apparel [Houston Chronicle]
• This 600,000 Gallon Pool in the Back Yard of an El Campo Home Is a Converted Pond [abc13]
• New Residents of Riverstone Ranch at Clear Creek Surprised by Houston Mailing Address of What They Thought Was Their Pearland Home [MyFox Houston]

Photo of lightning over Montrose: Jackson Myers, via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Developer Upset City Didn’t Select His High Bid for 10.5-Acre Lot Next to Allen Parkway Village [Culturemap]
• Police Department Working on ‘Creative Ways’ To Get Motorists To Stop at Flewellen Oaks Ln. and South Fry Rd. Stop Sign in Fulshear [Houston Chronicle]
• Brokerage Firm Headlined by Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith Expands to Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Age-Restricted Bonterra Neighborhood in Woodforest Has 9 of 700 Homes Already Built [Houston Chronicle]
• A Hawthorne St. Bungalow with a Small Addition by Logan and Johnson Architecture [Culturemap]
• Neighbors Want Shuttered CES Environmental Facility on Griggs Rd. Cleaned Up [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• A Tour of Copenhagen’s new Bike Skyway, the ‘Cycle Snake‘ [Wired]

Photo of BBVA Compass Stadium: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Fort Crockett Buildings Along Galveston Seawall Are Being Demolished Now [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Judge Throws Out Lawsuit, Clears Way for Rebuilding of Galveston Public Housing Destroyed by Hurricane Ike [Houston Chronicle]
• Woodlands Developers Buying 2,000 Acres 13 Miles North of The Woodlands for Additional Development [Realty News Report]
• New Pot Farm Found Spread Over 21 Acres in Polk County [Houston Chronicle]
• 610 Southbound at 290 Closed This Weekend for Construction [The Highwayman]
• Butler Brothers Building 28 Gated Patio Homes Off Long Point West of Wirt Rd. [Houston Business Journal]
• Call Center in Humble Has Been Infested with Bed Bugs Since May [Click2Houston]
• Flesh-Eating Bacteria from Crystal Beach in Galveston Invades Judge’s Leg After Mosquito Bite, 10-Minute Dip [KHOU; more here]
• Your Year-Long Wait for Julep Bar To Open in Former Corkscrew Space on Washington Ave Is Over [Eater; previously on Swamplot]
• Petition Encourages Renovation of Mod Basketball Pavilion at Meadowcreek Village Park [Change.org]
• Timelapse GIFs from Google Earth Satellite Views Compress 70 Years of Houston Development into a Few Seconds  [Hair Balls]

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