Headlines

• Houston’s Housing Inventory Dropped 13% Last Year, More Than Any Other Major Metro Area, Says ZipRealty [Houston Business Journal]
• Home Sales and Prices on Galveston Island Rose 16% in First 6 Months of 2014 [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• ExxonMobil Putting Dallas Office Campus on the Market, but Not Las Colinas HQ [Houston Business Journal]
• Opening of Pizaro’s Pizza on West Gray Delayed Until Next Year [Eater]
• Abstract Steel Sculpture at Gallery Furniture Meant as Tribute to Local Firefighters [The Great God Pan Is Dead]
• Residents of Glenshannon Townhouses on Wilcrest Left Without Water After HOA Fails To Pay Bill [KHOU]
• Judge Upholds County’s New Game Room Regulations in Owner Lawsuit [Cypress Creek Mirror]
• New 4-Story Parking Garage Going in Across from Southwest Airlines’ New 5-Gate International Terminal at Hobby Airport [Houston Public Media]
• The Wild Peafowl of West Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• New Homewood Suites Announced for Site Near Katy Mills Mall [Houston Business Journal] 
• Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands Dealership Going Up on I-45 North of Hwy. 242 [Houston Business Journal]
• The Houston Architecture Firm That’s Designed 4 Local Breweries [Houston Business Journal]
• Design Proposals for Rice Village Include Tower of Parking, Kelvin St. Promenade, Developing Rice U. Lots, Preserving “Hodgepodge” [OffCite]
• Montrose Rollerblader Juan Carlos Restrepo Doesn’t Make Semi-Finals of America’s Got Talent [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of house in Fifth Ward: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction Starts on Pearl-Brand Apartment Complex at Washington and T.C. Jester [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• JLB Partners Still Picking Up the Pieces From Axis Apartments Fire, Hoping To Rebuild [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Inside Springwoods Village’s Unfinished Apartment Complex The Belvedere, Now Housing 15 Residents [Houston Business Journal]
• Nearly 30 Years After Closing Last Store, El Pollo Loco Opening 5 Houston-Area Locations Over Next Few Months, Planning 15 More [Food Chronicles]
• Pax Americana Officially Open in Former Thai Sticks Space in Montrose [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Shawn Bermudez’s Stone’s Throw Set To Open on Lower Westheimer Today [Eater Houston]
• Home Brew Shop Farmboy Planned for Garden Oaks Shopping Plaza [The Leader]
• Texas City’s Fork & Spoon Bought by ShyKatZ Deli & Bakery Owners, To Reopen as ShyKatZ Fork & Spoon Later This Month [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• How the Convention Center Sparked East Downtown’s Transformation [Prime Property]
• Once Again, City Council Set To Vote on Vehicles-for-Hire Ordinances Surrounding Uber, Lyft Today [Houston Chronicle]
• Stewart Beach Master Plan Proposal Features Raised Boardwalk, Restaurants, Retail, Pavilion [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Galena Park Residents Call For New EPA Pollution Controls on Refineries [Houston Chronicle]
• Years-Long Drought Contributing to Texas Oyster Shortage in the Gulf Coast [Houston Chronicle]
• AT&T Bringing Ultra-Fast, All-Fiber Network To 100 Unnamed Houston Locations [Houston Business Journal]
• Find Out Tonight If Montrose Rollerblader Juan Carlos Restrepo Moved On to Semi-Finals of ‘America’s Got Talent’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Baron Enrico di Portanova’s Former River Oaks Mansion with an Indoor Pool on the Market for $19M [Curbed National]
• Video from Burglary of 3-Story Closet in The Woodlands Shows Unidentified Man Shopping for Handbags in the Dark [abc13]
• ‘Art Everywhere’ Project Brings Artwork to the Billboards of Houston and the U.S. [The Great God Pan Is Dead]

Photo of University of St. Thomas’s Link-Lee Mansion at 3800 Montrose Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Camp Strake Property at I-45 North, Loop 336 To Feature Mix of Residential, Office, Retail, Hotel and Conference Center Space [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Builders Open Model Patio Homes in Imperial Sugar Land [Prime Property]
• Houston May Move to a ‘Baltimore Model’ and Hand Operations of Its Municipal Golf Courses to a Nonprofit [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot]
• Texas Will Spend $15.3 Million To Bring SpaceX Spaceport to Waterfront Site Near Brownsville [SciGuy]
• Tired of Feud, Legislators Tell Backers of Very Different ‘Ike Dike,’ Centennial Gate Proposals To Create Compromise Plan [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Three Arrested in Botched, Mannequin-Shooting Robbery of Adult Novelty Store at 9820 North Fwy. [Houston Chronicle]
• The Richmond Restaurant with the Same Sign as Closed Montrose Institution Felix Mexican Restaurant [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Getting To Know Houston Muralist Anat Ronen [Houstonia]

Photo of Outlaw Dave’s Worldwide Headquarters at 6502 Washington Ave.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Hyatt Planned for Galleria Place, Where Another Hyatt Has Already Broken Ground [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Trammell Crow Co. Starts Constructing the Fifth and Final Building in Its Energy Center Development [Houston Chronicle]
• 6 Houston Center To Break Ground Downtown in Next 30 to 60 Days [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Transwestern’s HQ Buildout at 1900 W. Loop South Awarded LEED Silver Designation for Commercial Interiors [Prime Property]
• Four Firms Will Lease 57% of Houston’s Office Space Under Construction, Finds Commercial Gateway [Houston Business Journal]
• Texas Housing Inventory Grew 5.88% From First To Second Quarter of This Year, Led By Construction on Vacant Lots [Prime Property]
• What’s Next for the Haven Space and Randy Evans, Philippe Gaston After Restaurant’s Sudden Closure [Food Chronicles]
• Calais Parking Garage on Louisiana Flooded with 4 Ft. of Water After Thursday Night’s Rains [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Officials Wrestle With How To Best Redevelop Stewart Beach [Houston Chronicle]
• Why There Are So Many Ducks in Forest West Near Hwy. 290 [Houstonia]
• Thief Makes Off with $1 Million in Handbags, Jewelry from Theresa Roemer’s $500K 3-Story Closet in The Woodlands [abc13; more here and here]
• A Brief History of Houston’s Relationship with Mosquitoes [Houstonia]

Photo of Iglesia de la Luz del Mundo at 8312 Eastex : elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Haven on Algerian Way Closes; Building To Be Sold to Owner of Union Kitchen [Food Chronicles, more here; previously on Swamplot]
• 7,000-SF Retail Space and Restaurant Heights General Store Adding a Pizzeria [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• 10 Recently Completed Office Buildings Across 6 Submarkets in Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• Slideshow: Air Conditioned Garages with Car Lifts, Master Bedroom Coffee Bars, and Other Occasional Excesses of Houston’s Luxury Home Market [Houston Business Journal]
• Katy, Fulshear Eye Town Square on Model of Sugar Land’s To Draw Visitors, Preserve ‘Sense of Identity’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Debate Brews Over Which Was the First Distillery To Open in Houston [Eating Our Words]
• Defense Files Motion To Appeal Damages in Ashby Highrise Ruling [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Ramp Connecting Grand Pkwy. to I-10 West To Open Saturday [Covering Katy]
• Architects, Planners To Reimagine Rice Village This Weekend as Part of Annual Design Competition [Houstonia]

Photo of home near Mary and Brooks streets in the Fifth Ward: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• ExxonMobil Selling Buffalo Spdwy. and Brookhollow Facilities, Its Last 2 Commercial Properties in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• More Than 900 Architects and Engineers Weighed In on the ExxonMobil Campus Design [Houston Business Journal]
• Sneak Peek at the ‘Hill Country’ Towne Lake Kroger Opening Friday at 9703 Barker Cypress Rd. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Cordúa Opening Churrascos Restaurants in Cypress, Dallas; Planning for Pearland, Clear Lake, Kingwood, Katy and Galleria Area in 2015 [Houston Business Journal]
• Open House for Bonterra, Neighborhood for ‘Active Seniors’ in Woodforest, This Weekend [Houston Business Journal]
• Galveston Historical Foundation Races To Salvage Material from 9 Buildings in the Fort Crockett Military Housing Complex Before They’re Demolished [Galveston County Daily News]
• Decision To Table Astrodome Landmark Status Vote Means County Must Get Permission from State Commission for Any Demolition [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• City OKs Funds To Build Car, Pedestrian Lanes on East End Overpass Along Metro Light Rail Route [abc13]
• City Council Delays Vote on Vehicles-for-Hire Ordinances Surrounding Uber, Lyft For at Least Another Week [Houston Business Journal]
• Financial Pressures, Texas 35 Construction Put 37-Year-Old Pearland Furniture Out of Business [Prime Property]
• Men Convicted of Holding More Than 100 Illegal Immigrants Hostage in Almeda School Rd. Stash House Sentenced [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• The FAA’s Controversial Proposal To Reduce Height Limits on Buildings Near 388 Airports Nationwide [USA Today]
• How Much Hotter Houston and 1,000 Other U.S. Cities Will Be in 2100 [CityLab]
• The Stories Behind Filming in Houston, Bastrop, San Marcos, and Austin in Richard Linklater’s ‘Boyhood’ [New York Times]
• From ‘The Stack’ to ‘Spaghetti Junction,’ Complex Traffic Interchanges from Around the World [Medium re:Form]

Photo of downtown from the JPMorgan Chase sky lobby: Jason D.

• City Council Voting Today on Creating an Authority To Help Oversee Beautification Projects Near NRG Park for 2017 Super Bowl [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Historical Commission Poised To Vote on Granting Astrodome Antiquities Landmark Status [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• New Ella Plaza Owners Will Keep the Center’s Retro Sign if City Code Allows It [The Leader]
• Developers of ‘Porch Street on Adele’ in East Sunset Heights Like Porches [Culturemap]
• Darling Homes Bringing Collection of Patio Homes to Sugar Land’s Imperial Development [Prime Property]
• City Council Voting Today on Funds for East End Overpass Along Metro Light Rail Route [Houston Chronicle]
• Why Houston Should Say Yes To Uber and Lyft (Editorial) [TribTalk]
• And Why Houston Should Say No to Uber and Lyft (Editorial) [TribTalk]
• How Plant It Forward Plans on Putting a Farm in Every Houston Neighborhood [OffCite]
• $60M Dallas High School Football Stadium To Get $2M Repair To Fix Structural Problems [Culturemap]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou Park construction on Allen Pkwy.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Has Fourth Fastest-Moving Housing Market in Nation with Homes on the Market for a Median of 17 Days, Finds ZipRealty [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Will Be Switching To Electronic Building Permit System in About a Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Trio of Investors Buys 621 Acres Near Katy, Plans To Sell To Housing Developer in About a Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Inside the First Standalone Rolex Store in Texas, Now Open in the Galleria [Culturemap]
• Clark Cooper Concepts, Buffalo Bayou Partnership Teaming Up for Private Event Space The Dunlavy on Allen Pkwy. [Culturemap]
• Newk’s Eatery Opening Second Houston-Area Location Today on Katy Fwy. in Katy; 2 More Stores To Follow By End of 2015 [Prime Property]
• California Chain Jinya Ramen Bar Branching into Houston with Midtown, Webster Locations Opening Later This Year [Eater Houston]
• The Melting Pot Seeking Franchisees To Expand in Houston Area [Prime Property]
• The Man Who’s on a Mission To Find Texas’s Old Dance Halls and Keep Them Alive [Houston Chronicle]
• $24M John W. Johnson Ferry Boat Has Operated Between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula for Only 15 Days During First 5 Months of the Year [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Slideshow: Houston-Area Bridges Labeled Structurally Deficient or Functionally Obsolete by TxDOT [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Disability Advocates Sue Uber, Lyft for Denials of Services to Disabled Texans [Houston Chronicle]
• Montgomery County Steps Up Mosquito Spraying After First Human Case of West Nile Virus Confirmed [The Woodlands]
• Beehive Builds Up on Walker St. Crosswalk Downtown [The Isiah Factor]

Photo of East Houston industrial complex: David Elizondo, via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Harris County Commissioners Court Postpones Demolition of Fire-Damaged Gulf Fwy. Apartment Complex That Would Make Way for Homeless Housing Project [Houston Chronicle]
• First Crane for Generation Park FMC Technologies Campus Construction Pops Up [HKA Texas; previously on Swamplot]
• Amenities at Texas Instruments’ New Sugar Land Office Include a Courtyard, Basketball and Volleyball Courts, Fitness Center [Houston Business Journal]
• Texas Led New Home Sales Over Past Year with 33,177 Transactions, Finds Metrostudy [Prime Property]
• Destination Hotels & Resorts Opening Revolve Kitchen + Bar, the Hotel Derek’s Fifth Restaurant Concept in 12 Years [Culturemap]
• Yellow Rose Distilling Starts Kickstarter Campaign To Fund 10K-SF Distillery Off N. Post Oak Near I-10 [Houston Chronicle]
• M/I Homes Residential Development Planned for Lilac Rd. Lot Illustrates Increasing Lack of Affordable Options in Katy [Community Impact Newspaper]
• Fleet of High-Speed Bullet Trains Could Be Making 68 Trips a Day from Dallas to Houston By 2021 [Houston Business Journal]
• String of Light Rail Collisions With Cars This Week Renews Concerns about Rail Safety [Houston Chronicle]
• Edible Earth Resources Will Sell 10% of Food It Grows on Abandoned Urban Lots to Local Convenience Stores [Eating Our Words]
• Largest Skate Park in North America Opening Aug. 14 in North Houston, Dedicated to Child’s Memory [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• 1,005-Ft. Lazy River Opens at Forest Oasis Waterscape at The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center
• Houston Ranked 6th Happiest Metro Area in the U.S. [Houston Tomorrow]
• Some of Our Favorite Tweets from the #ImSoHouston Hashtag [Hair Balls]
• Austin Condo Listing Includes Nude Selfie [Gawker; NSFW]
• Remembering the Post, Houston’s Other Daily Paper [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Biscuit Paint Wall on Biscuit Home at 1435 Westheimer: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Harris County Drops Challenge of HCAD Commercial Property Valuations After Reaching Agreement To Share Sales Data [Houston Chronicle]
• Lakes on Post Oak Office Complex Sold Off by the Building, for $400M, to 3 Separate Buyers [Real Estate Alert]
• Dallas-Based Skybox Datacenters Developing 86,960-SF Facility in the Energy Corridor [Houston Business Journal]
• Legendary Texas City Eatery Fork & Spoon Will Serve Last Meal This Saturday [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Revelry on Richmond Now Open Next Door To Recently Shuttered Lucky Burger on Richmond [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• 24-Hour Gourmet Donut Shop Glazed Set To Open Saturday in the Medical Center [Culturemap]
• New South African Restaurant Springbok Now Open Downtown in Capitol Lofts [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Sales at Harmony Community in Spring Near ExxonMobil Campus More Than Doubled in First Half of Year [Prime Property]
• Co-Owner of Real Estate Firm Carnan Properties Now Suing Other Co-Owner for Breach of Contract After Surprise Split [Houston Business Journal]
• City To Move Forward With Plan To Replace Freedmen’s Town Bricks When It Puts Down New Water, Sewer Lines Next Month [Houston Public Media]
• All Public Parks, Golf Courses and Pools in Houston Will Be Smoke-Free Starting Sept. 2 [Houston Chronicle]
• The ‘Unnecessary’ 82-Ft. Uber Ride in Midtown That Cost $4.28 [Valleywag]
• Photo Essay: The Vibrant Flea Markets of Airline Drive [OffCite]
• Venezuelan Government Begins Evicting Thousands of Squatters from Unfinished, 45-Story ‘Torre David’ Tower [Quartz]

Photo of Millennium High Street: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• First-Time Buyers Priced Out of New-Home Market in Houston, Finds Metrostudy Report [Culturemap]
• Spurred by ExxonMobil Move, 5 Corporations Looking Into Office Space in The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• Average Citywide Retail Vacancy Rate Falls to 6.3% from 6.8% a Year Ago, Finds Colliers [Prime Property]
• Energy Corridor, The Woodlands and Northwest Houston Submarkets Will Favor Landlords Until At Least 2017 [Houston Business Journal]
• Belle Vintage Park Apartments for 55 and Older Opening This Week Already 80% Leased [Prime Property]
• Katy ISD Considering $750M Bond That Includes Scaled-Back Version of Controversial Football Stadium Proposal [Houston Chronicle]
• Webster El Tiempo Opening Delayed Until Likely Later This Fall [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• How Rebranding Airline Dr. and Adding a Fleet of Community-Service Trucks Would Strengthen the Neighborhood [OffCite]
• How Houston Can Do Better Than The One-Bin-For-All Program [CityLab; previously on Swamplot]
• Homebuilders Waiting Months for Timber Pilings Amid Severe Shortage [Galveston County Daily News]
• Pothole Problems Cost Houston Drivers $1,900 a Year, Finds Report [Click2Houston]
• Hundreds of Residents Attend Hearing To Show Opposition to Waller County Landfill [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Book Excerpt: When Flies Were Dropping Like Flies in the Astrodome [Houston Chronicle]
• TV Episode Ends on Cliffhanger for Montrose Rollerblader Dancer Juan Carlos Restrepo [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Minute Maid Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Union Crossing Development Buys 104 Acres To Expand Industrial Park at Telge Road and Northwest Lake Drive [Prime Property]
• Motorsportz Racetrack Attraction Now Part of Plans for Grand Texas Theme Park in New Caney [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Tiger Woods-Designed Golf Course at Bluejack National in Montgomery County Begins Construction [Houston Business Journal]
• Townhome Developments Start Popping Up Outside the Loop in Spring Branch, Willowbend, Garden Oaks Following Phased-In Changes to City’s Development Ordinance [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Mapping Noteworthy Master-Planned Communities Across Houston [Houston Business Journal]
• Ocean Grill & Beach Bar To Open on the Seawall by Fall [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• $6.5M Woodlands Parkway Bridge Widening Project Delayed Indefinitely [The Woodlands]
• The Story Behind the Swamplot Story About the Video About the Swamplot Comments About the 19th St. Parklet [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of 1500 Westheimer Rd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 21-Acre Tarkett Vinyl Tile Plant Sandwiched Between Sawyer Heights Target and Studemont Kroger Now Officially on the Market [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• MetroNational Branching Out with Green Features in Memorial City ‘Treehouse’ Building at Bunker Hill and Gaylord [Glasstire]
• Cost To Build a Highrise Office in Houston Now $105 to $142 per SF, Finds Kirksey [Houston Business Journal]
• Westchase, Greenway, The Woodlands Saw Highest Office Rent Increases Over Last Year, Finds JLL [Houston Business Journal]
• Peska, Opening in Phase 2 of BLVD Place, Will Be an Upscale Restaurant with a Fish Market [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Churrascos To Open Fifth Houston-Area Location, in Cypress This Fall [Houston Business Journal]
• Heights Restaurant City Oven Closes Suddenly, 10 Months After Opening [Food Chronicles]
• Frustrated by Historic Commission, Homebuilder Says He’s Ready To Bail on Redevelopment Plans for Former Lone Star Poultry Plant in the Heights [The Leader]
• Friendswood, Webster, and West University Place Awarded ‘Scenic City’ Certification By Scenic Texas [Prime Property]
• Slideshow: UH Architecture Students Propose Changes To Houston Neighborhoods [Prime Property]
• Residents Blame Opening of Grand Parkway for Increase in Crime in Fort Bend County [Click2Houston]
• Slideshow: What a Lightning Strike Did to a Woodlands Home [Houston Chronicle]
• Meet the 2 Women Behind the Voices of Houston’s Metro Rail and Buses [Not of It]
• Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum Recruits Daniel Anguilu To Cover the Building’s 3K-SF Portico with a Mural [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston Has a New Pink Dolphin Monument Nicknamed Sandy [Glasstire]
• Montrose Roller Blader Juan Carlos Restrepo Returns to ‘America’s Got Talent’ Tuesday [Houston Chronicle]
• What Happens When You Try To Take Photos Of The 7 Ugliest Buildings in D.C. [BuzzFeed]

Photo of I-10 at US-59: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• East Part of Downtown, Vast Acreage Near NRG Park Joined in Houston’s Largest TIRZ, Due for $300M of Improvements by 2042 [Houston Chronicle]
• CenterPoint Properties Buys 4 Buildings in Baytown’s Cedar Crossing Industrial Park [Prime Property]
• Energy Inspection Company DNV GL Adding 47,500 SF of Office Space in Katy Expansion [Houston Business Journal]
• Sam’s Club Opening Cinco Ranch Store at 22402 Bellaire Blvd. on November 6 [Prime Property]
• Houston Historical Commission Approves Fisher Homes’ Project for Deteriorating 104-Year-Old Germantown Home [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Shouldn’t Build More Than the 16M SF of Office Space Currently Under Construction, Says CBRE Exec [Houston Business Journal]
• Real Estate Firm Carnan Properties Splits Up, to Co-Owner’s Surprise [Houston Business Journal]
• Lots of New Jobs and a Low Cost of Living Make Houston a Middle-Class Magnet [City Journal]
• By 2050, The Rest of the U.S. Will Match the Demographic Mix Houston Has Today [Houston Chronicle]
• 3D Printers Now Being Marketed at Some Home Depot Stores [Architect Magazine]

Photo of Saint Arnold Brewing Company at 2000 Lyons Ave.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool