Headlines

• Hotel Opening Next Year in Woodlands Waterway Square Will Be a Westin [Houston Business Journal]
• TxDOT Moving Ahead with Northeast Quadrant of Grand Parkway [Houston Public Media]
• $160M Bay Area Regional Medical Center Opening in Webster This Monday [Prime Property]
• Highpoint at Cypresswood Apartment Complex Now Open Near the Vintage Park Shopping Village [Prime Property]
• City Has Resold These 42 Tax-Delinquent, Dangerous Properties at Auction for $183,705 Since Launching ‘Strike-Off’ Program in April [Houston Politics]
• Hundreds of Birds Dropping from Skies Over IAH, Poisoned and Killed as Part of ‘Abatement Project’ [KHOU]
• High Levels of West Nile Virus Found in Woodlands Mosquitoes [Isiah Factor]
• Houston’s ‘One Bin for All’ Recycling Plan Would Put Materials Recovery Facilities in Primarily Black, Latino Neighborhoods [Grist; previously on Swamplot]
• Restaurant Owner Leading Effort To Repeal Tomball’s Liquor Ban within Old City Limits [Houston Public Media]
• Buc-ee’s Issues Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against New Texas Convenience Store Frio Beaver Over Similar Logo [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Greenway Plaza parking deck: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Apparel-Carrying Kroger Marketplace To Open in Cypress Aug. 1 at 9703 Barker Cypress [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Memorial Hermann Pearland Medical Center Campus Adding Second Medical Office Building [Prime Property]
• Aldi-Anchored Atascocita Shopping Plaza in Humble Sold to Private Investor [Prime Property]
• City Looking To Revamp Kermit Courville Stadium Area [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• The Woodlands To Oversee Bus Service, Federal Transit Money After Population Growth Now Makes It a ‘Large Urbanized Area’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Proposal To Rezone Former Westside Christian Church Property at 4301 Bellaire Blvd. Upsets Neighbors in Bellaire [abc13]
• Woodlands Officials Planning To Spend $40M Over Next 5 Years To Upgrade Sewer System [The Woodlands]
• Residents in Katy-Area Mason Lakes Subdivision on Edge After Rash of AC Unit Thefts [Houston Chronicle]
• The Fine Print on Going Topless at Texas Beaches [San Antonio Express-News]

Photo of Millennium Kirby Apartment Complex under construction at Kirby and South Main: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Groundbreaking for Elan Heights Midrise at 2222 White Oak Dr. Scheduled for Next Month [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• West Belt (North of I-10), with 5 New Buildings Under Construction, Declared New Office Submarket [Houston Business Journal]
• Dunkin’ Donuts Opening 17th Houston-Area Location July 19 in League City [Prime Property]
• Several Captain D’s Fast-Casual Eateries Planned To Open in Galveston County [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Mapping the 56 Homes in Disrepair in City’s Lawsuit Against Landlord Richard Pfirman [Houston Chronicle]
• New East End Walmart in the East End Could Have Been a Lot More Welcoming To Neighbors, Like Some of the Company’s More Urban Stores [OffCite]
• City of Houston Has Received 5 Bids for Its ‘One Bin for All’ Recycling Plan [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot]
• Texas Agencies Ignoring Climate Change in Planning for State’s Future, Scientists Say [Texas Tribune]
• World’s Largest Carbon Capture Facility Breaking Ground Today in Fort Bend County [Houston Public Media]
• The Artist Behind the 11-Ft. Tall, 1,200-Pound Bronze Sculpture on the Hill at Miller Outdoor Theatre [Houston Chronicle]

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

• Braun Enterprises Shows off Renovation Plans for North Main Shopping Center [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• JLL Planning 35-Acre Industrial Park at Texas 288 and CR 341 in Angleton [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Beacon Investment Properties Buys Westchase Office Building 10333 Richmond [Prime Property]
• What Would It Take To Lure People to a Park Inside Reliant’s Parking Lot? [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Neighborhood Associations Pushing Plan To Keep Highrise Development Off Seawall Beaches [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• First Houston-Area Pollo Tropical Opens in Pearland [Food Chronicles]
• Construction To Begin Soon on Cowboy Surfers Restaurant in Former That Pizza Place at Ella and 34th [Food Chronicles]
• West Ave Restaurant Trenza Closes Less Than 9 Months After Opening [Houston Business Journal]
• Speculative Luxury Homebuilding on the Rise in River Oaks [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• How Mayfield and Ragni Studio Creates Office Spaces To Express a Client’s Brand [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Water-Saving Features of the Ghirardi WaterSmart Park in League City [Houston Public Media]
• The Sign Behind Cream Burger, at 3481 Elgin in the Third Ward [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• A Peek Inside Theresa Roemer’s 3K SF 3-Story Closet in Her Woodlands Home [Neiman Marcus via Culturemap]
• Marfa Residents Hit Hard After Property Values Soar [San Antonio Express-News]
• Photographer Transforms Derelict Shacks of Southern California’s Desert into Lonely Monuments [Curbed]

Photo of David Adickes sculptures at Nance and West: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Map of Projected Area Population Growth Mirrors Office Development Patterns [Prime Property]
• Uptown Park Owner AmREIT Gets Unsolicited, ‘Inadequate’ Buyout Offer from Florida Company [Houston Business Journal]
• Caldwell Companies Working on Multi-Use Development on 15 Acres at FM 1960 and Highway 290 in Cypress [Houston Business Journal]
• Microsoft Store Planned for the Baybrook Mall [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Dr. Andrew Weil-Connected True Food Kitchen Opening July 29 at BLVD Place [Culturemap]
• La Madeleine’s Sawyer Heights Location Now Open, One in Pearland Opening Later This Month [Prime Property]
• TxDOT Now Planning To Replace Yale St. Bridge Beginning in 2016, for $3.6M [The Leader]
• Next Chance To Comment on Proposed Changes to City’s Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan: July 31 Public Hearing [Houston Public Media]
• Major U.S. 290 Closings Around Loop 610 Scheduled This Weekend [The Highwayman]
• Final Repairs Under Way to Fix Ike-Damaged Galveston Fishing Pier [Houston Chronicle]
• Newly Constructed Oak Forest Home Vandalized with ‘Class Warfare’ Graffiti on Garage Door [The Leader]
• Art League Houston Building on Montrose To Be Covered in 350K Acrylic Beads [Houstonia]
• Elevator Buttons More Likely To Be Colonized By Bacteria Than Toilet Surfaces, Finds Hospital Study [Infection Control Today]

Photo of 21 Eleven construction at 2111 Westheimer: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Housing Market on the Rise Again After Sales Increased 4.5% in June, Finds HAR [Prime Property]
• Construction Begins on Walmart Neighborhood Market in Atascocita, One-Fifth the Size of a Typical Walmart [HKA Texas]
• West Memorial Place Under Construction in the Energy Corridor Now 50% Leased [Prime Property]
• New Café in Former Teas Family Home Will Be Included in Evelyn’s Park Replacing Teas Nursery at 4400 Bellaire Blvd. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• 8th Wonder Brewery Adding 5,000 SF To Its EaDo Warehouse To Increase Production, Open a Taproom [Beer, TX; previously on Swamplot]
• Neighbors Including a Mosque, Farmers Market, Townhouse Owners Protesting Proposed Little Woodrow’s in Upper Kirby [Culturemap]
• Slideshow: Inside the University of Houston’s Newly Named Football Stadium [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Sugar Land Included on Nerd Wallet List of U.S. Cities with the Most Improved Economies Since the Recession Ended [Culturemap]
• Water Rates in Montgomery County Expected To Rise 20% By September as Aquifers Being Depleted Faster Than They Can Be Recharged [MyFoxHouston]
• Water Heater, Football Pads, Bowling Ball Among the Curiosities Found in Houston’s Sewer Lines [Houston Chronicle]
• The Story Behind That Mural Inside El Big Bad [Houstonia]
• Shouldn’t There Be a Name for the Voice of Houston’s Metro Rail? [Not of It]

Photo of Elan Heights construction in Woodland Heights: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Texas Dow Employees Credit Union Buys Naming Rights to UH’s New Football Stadium in $15M, 10-Year Deal [Houston Business Journal]
• Alley Theatre Stages Columnbreaking for its $46.5M Renovation Project [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• GE Leases Half of Westway Plaza Building Under Construction at Beltway 8 and Clay Rd. [Houston Business Journal]
• Riverstone, The Woodlands, Cinco Ranch Among Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities in the U.S. So Far This Year [Prime Property]
• Latest TABC Report Shows Top Golf and Strip Clubs Are Selling a Lot of Booze [Culturemap]
• Historic Riverside General Hospital May Close if Federal Funding Not Restored [The Isiah Factor]
• Low Appraisals Still a Problem for Buyers in Areas Where Prices Are Continually Rising [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Cataloging New Hybrid Forms of Suburban Retail Architecture [OffCite]
• Video: John Culberson, Other Officials Very Excited About Opening of New Grand Parkway Onramp from Katy Fwy. [YouTube]
• 200 Tons of Recycled Oyster Shell Dumped in Water Near the Kemah Boardwalk To Build Oyster Reef [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Sunset Heights Residents Say Homebuilder Is Blocking the Sidewalk with Trash, Equipment [Click2Houston]
• City Files Lawsuit Against Elderly Houston Couple’s Landlord To Shut Down Their Garage Sales [News 92 FM]
• The Rags-to-Rollerblades Story of Montrose’s Juan Carlos Restrepo, Streetcorner Teevee Star [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Do All Those Kitschy Historicist Buildings in Dallas Fit in a Forward-Looking City? [Dallas Morning News]
• University of Texas at Dallas’s Art Barn is Spared from Demolition for Now [Glasstire]

Photo of Southwest Fwy. from Greenway Plaza: Chris Barnes

• H-E-B To Demolish Store, Build New One in Its Place in Texas City’s Palmer Shopping Center [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Dunkin’ Donuts Opening 16th Houston-Area Store, a Baskin-Robbins Combo, in Conroe Today [Prime Property]
• Montrose Residents Petition City To Repair Chipped, Broken or Missing Sidewalks [Click2Houston]
• Mobility Study Seeks Fixes for Traffic Congestion in The Woodlands [The Woodlands]
• TxDOT Hearing Public Comments Through Next Monday on Proposal for Taller Billboards [Houston Public Media]
• This Year’s Bumper Crop of Seaweed ‘Within Normal Range‘ [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Houston Fire Department Starts Using Drone for Arson Division [Click2Houston]
• ‘No Limits’ Campaign Hosting Public Meetings This Week [Houston: The City With No Limits via Houston Strategies; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Leo Tanguma’s “The Rebirth of Our Nationality” on Canal St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Alley Theatre Beginning 15-Month, $46.5M Renovation Project July 16 [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• 12,000 Apartments Expected To Be Completed This Year in Houston, 40% More Than Last Year, Finds Report [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• What It’s Like To Be a Holdout Homeowner in Redeveloping Houston [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Remodeled 49th and 50th Floors of Williams Tower Earn LEED Platinum Certification [Culturemap]
• Braun Enterprises New Owner of Ella Plaza, Plans To Renovate and Add Tenants [The Leader]
• Seafood Restaurant Holley’s Opens Today in Former Sushi Raku Space in Midtown [Zagat]
• Wing Zone To Open First Houston-Area Location in Pearland Later This Year [Prime Property]
• Chef of Post Oak’s Osteria Mazzantini Now Says Restaurant Is Not Closing [Culturemap]
• Beck’s Prime Considering New Locations Around Houston in Baybrook, Pasadena, Katy, East Downtown [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Boheme Owners To Transform Shipping Container into Fully-Functional Kitchen by November [KHOU]
• Olivewood Cemetery Caretakers Request Summer Street Be Extended in Grocers Supply Land Deal [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• A Brief History of the John Staub-Designed Mansion at 7 Winston Woods on the Market for $11.5M [Culturemap]
• Nearly 33% of Houston Residents Pay More Than a Third of Income on Housing, Finds Harvard Report [Houston Business Journal]
• Wood from Torn-Down Houses, Destroyed Trees Turned into Furniture at Made at New Living on Kirby Dr. [Culturemap]
• Zipcar Adds Discovery Green Parking Garage Location Downtown [Houston Business Journal]
• The Strange Use of the Word ‘Sprawl’ in Metro’s Theater District Station Platform Art [Not of It]
• Funnel Tunnel To Remain on Montrose Blvd. Median Through January 2015 [Glasstire; previously on Swamplot]
• 8 Houston Businesses To Visit Now, in Case They Ever Close for Good [Hair Balls]
• 18 Reasons Why Houston is the Best City in America [Business Insider]
• Lifelong Galena Park Residents Have Cancer Risk 90 to 250 Times Greater Than ‘Acceptable’ Rates, Finds Air Study [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of Louise Bourgeois “Spider” in Hermann Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Former Skylane Central Apartments in Woodland Heights Demolished This Week To Make Way for Luxury Midrise [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• A List of Houston Civil and Structural Engineering Firms’ Most Expensive Upcoming Projects [Houston Business Journal]
• Restaurant Business Booms in Fort Bend County, Fueled by Growing Population, Changing Demographics [Community Impact Newspaper]
• The Preliminary Designs for the East End Overpass [Houston Public Media]
• Confusion, Lack of Marketing May Be Keeping Drivers from I-45 HOV Lanes South of Downtown on Weekends [The Highwayman]
• Inside Uber’s Political Campaign To Make Itself Kosher [The Daily Beast]
• Some Galveston Business Owners Blaming Seaweed Invasion for Drop in Business [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Secret $2M Pot Farm Found on Chambers County Land Being Leased from the Army Corps of Engineers [Houston Chronicle]
• Producers Apparently Shopping Around Reality Show Called ‘Latinas of The Woodlands’ [Hair Balls]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston-Area Condo Sales from January to May Up 6 % Over Same Period Last Year, Finds Report [Prime Property]
• New 44-Home ‘Township’ Neighborhood Announced for League City [Houston Business Journal]
• Academy Sports + Outdoors Expanding Katy HQ with New 200K-SF Building, Parking Garage [Houston Business Journal]
• OTC Midtown at 2708 Bagby To Relaunch as Bourbon and Branch on July 15 [Houston Business Journal]
• New Post Oak Restaurant Osteria Mazzantini To Close This Saturday, Ruggles Concept To Follow in Its Place [Culturemap]
• The Elaborate, Legendary Backyard Playhouses of River Oaks, Oak Forest, and Humble [Houstonia; previously on Swamplot]
• New Changeable Lanes at West Little York and Eldridge Meant To Ease Energy Corridor Congestion [Houston Public Media]
• A Tour of the Newest Section of the Brays Bayou Greenway [OffCite; previously on Swamplot]
• Tiki Bar Lei Low Asks Patrons To Stop Stealing Its Mugs, Glasses, Bowls, and Tikis [Eater Houston]
• Walnut Caterpillars Threatening Pecan Stock in Fort Bend County [Click2Houston]
• Hand Doctor Michael Brown’s Art Collection, Sold at Auction Last Weekend, Was As Bad As You’d Imagine [Houstonia]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou Bridges: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 198-Unit ‘Jefferson Heights’ Apartments Planned for 1520 N. Memorial Way, Just West of Downtown [Prime Property]
• Bradbury Development Eyeing 350-Acre Dickinson–Santa Fe Tract for Large Residential Project [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Meet Bob Schultz, the Developer Behind Midtown’s ‘Island’ and Mid Main [Houstonia]
• Construction To Begin This Month on High-End Furniture Store homeIDENTITY at 2016 W. Alabama [Culturemap]
• Pyburn’s Farm Fresh Foods To Open Store in South Union ‘Food Desert’ at Scott and Corder [Culturemap; press release]
• What $1,300 a Month in Rent Gets You in Downtown, the Museum District, and The Woodlands [Houstonia]
• East End Overpass Likely To Accommodate Only Light Rail Line, Not Motorists [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Residents Shaken After Thieves Hit 3 Houses in 1 Day at Timbergrove Manor [KHOU]
• The Haves and Have-Nots in Texas’s Eagle Ford Oil Boom [New York Times]

Photo of Campbell Rd. near Genard Rd.: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• SkyHouse Houston Set To Open Downtown Next Month Almost a Quarter Preleased [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Restaurant and Bar Weights + Measures, Slow Dough Bakery Planned for Former Parking Garage Building at 2808 Caroline St. in Midtown [Culturemap]
• Red Dessert Dive and Coffee Shop Now Open at Studewood and 11th St. [Eating Our Words]
• Bernie’s Burger Bus Restaurant with Actual Indoor Bus Opening Sometime This Week in Bellaire [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Downtown Coffee Shop, Bake Bar, and Cocktail Spot The Honeymoon Now Open on Main St. [Eater Houston]
• Niko Niko’s To Open Inside Pearland H-E-B Plus at Texas 288, FM 518 in 4–6 Weeks [Prime Property]
• Ricky Craig, Ronnie Killen’s Joint Heights Steakhouse Falls Through, Craig To Go Forward with New Concept [Culturemap]
• La Cevicheria Opens Down the Street from La Fisheria [Food Chronicles]
• Historic Gus Wortham Golf Course To Remain a Golf Course if Citizens Can Raise $15M for Renovations [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Thieves Steal Potted Plants from Porches ‘All the Time’ in Woodland Heights, Say Residents [Click2Houston]
• Alligator Caught at McDonald’s Drive-Thru at FM 1093 and FM 1463 in Fulshear [Covering Katy]
• Dioxin Superfund Site Partially Submerged in San Jacinto River Highly Vulnerable to Storm Surge, Says A&M Scientist [MyFoxHouston]
• Beer Can House, Cadillac Ranch, Big Tex Voted Among Best Quirky American Landmarks [USA Today via Culturemap]
• ‘Funnel Tunnel’ Selected Among the Top U.S. Public Arts Projects by the Public Art Network Year in Review [Glasstire; previously on Swamplot]
• Midtown Properties Tenant Says She Got Evicted After Complaining to Houston Press About Parking Policy [Hair Balls]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• A Map of the 14 Projects Currently Under Construction and 39 Planned in Downtown [Prime Property]
• Noteworthy Projects Houston’s Top Architecture Firms Will Work on in the Next Year [Houston Business Journal]
• A Tour of Al Ross Luxury Homes ‘Wow Factors’ in a 6,315-SF Spanish Revival on Inwood Dr. [Houston Business Journal]
• Lessees of Rockefeller Hall on Wash Ave Moving Their Event Business To a New, Undisclosed Location [Houston Business Journal]
• Jarro Cafe in Spring Branch Closed Due to ‘Poor Infrastructure of the Building’; Truck Still in Business [Houstonia]
• Texas Transportation Commission Adds $25M To Uptown Transit Plan To Build Dedicated Bus Lane Along Loop 610 [The Highwayman]
• In ‘Startling Turnaround’ from Demographic Trends, Harris County Added 25K White Residents in Past 3 Years [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• National Report Identifies Houston-Galveston-Area Beaches with Polluted Water Samples [Houston Chronicle]
• A Walking Tour of Rice University, Starting with the Cheapest Place To Park on Campus [OffCite]
• Percentage of 25-29 Year Olds Living at Home Increased from 15% to 20% in Past Decade, Finds Harvard Study [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of Highland Village: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Toll Brothers To Begin Construction in August of Unnamed Luxury Community near The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal]
• $1.3M Boardwalk, 55K-Sq.-Ft. Convention Center Planned for Land Across from the Katy Mills Mall [Community Impact Newspaper]
• The Challenges Behind Turning Houston’s First Commercial Highrise into a JW Marriott [Houston Business Journal]
• Mod Pizza Chain To Open First Houston-Area Location in September in Vintage Marketplace, Up To 10 To Follow by End of 2015 [Houston Business Journal]
• Chefs Adam Dorris, Plinio Sandalio To Open Pax Americana in Former Thai Sticks Space in Montrose [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
• Bistro Menil on Track To Open in Early September [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Metro Chooses Omega Engineers To Design East End Overpass [Houston Public Media]
• A Driving Tour of Kinney Morrow Architecture’s Renovation, Preservation Projects in Houston [OffCite]
• Upwards of a Million Bees Removed from Vacant Almeda Plaza Civic Club Clubhouse [Click2Houston]
• Phil Collins To Donate His Massive Collection of Artifacts from the Texas Revolution to the Alamo [San Antonio Express-News]

Photo of the Cockrell Butterfly Center: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool