Headlines

• Houston Has the Biggest Houses in the Country, According to LendingTree [Houston Chronicle]
• Sam Houston State University To Begin Construction on Medical School Building in Conroe Before the End of the Year [HBJ]
• Clay Development & Construction Inc. Planning Spec Distribution Center in Northeast Houston [HBJ]
• Transwestern, Virtus Real Estate Acquire West Houston Property for Medical Office [Houston Chronicle]
• SoCal Chain Gen Korean BBQ Opening First Houston Location in Midtown [Eater Houston]
• Metro Cracking Down on Drivers Who Use HOV Lanes Without Toll Tags [Houston Public Media]
• City Council Revises 1999 Ordinance Regulating Sex-Related Businesses to Now Apply to ‘Anthropomorphic Devices’ Too [Houston Public Media]
• Army Corps Set To Announce Its Hurricane Protection Plan for Houston on Oct. 26 [The Texas Tribune]
• Last Day To Comment on How Houston Should Spend $2.3B in Harvey Recovery Housing Plans Is Saturday [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Downtown and Montrose Are the Most Expensive Areas in Which To Rent an Apartment in Houston [HBJ ($)]
• Katy ISD Picks Up 157-Acre Tract from Rockspring Capital [HBJ]
• Streak of Rising Vacancies Comes to an End for Houston Office Market [Houston Chronicle]
• Third Hotel Opens in Springwoods Village, Near the Grand Parkway’s Junction with I-45 [Houston Chronicle]
• Chain Cafe Express Closes Briargrove Location [Culturemap]
• Houston-Based Mattress Firm Preparing To File for Bankruptcy Protection Soon [Reuters]
• City of Galveston Seeking $30M from FEMA To Pay for New Pumping System [Houston Public Media]
• City Council Scheduled To Vote Today on Ordinance Banning Sex Robot Business Planned on Richmond Ave Near Chimney Rock [abc13]

Photo of apartment construction in Midtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• WalletHub Ranks Pearland One of the Fastest-Growing Economies in the U.S. [HBJ]
• Houston Mortgage Rates Highest They’ve Been Since April 2011 [Houston Chronicle]
• Trademark Property Co.: New ‘Relevant’ Retail, Restaurant and Service Tenants on Tap for Rice Village [HBJ]
• Owners of Gorgeous Gael Close Rice Village Pub, Planning New Concept in Spring Branch [Eater Houston]
• League City Officials Eyeing Sports Tourism [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• East End Neighborhood Idylwood Hosting Home Tour Saturday in Honor of 90th Anniversary [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Laser Artist Group JD3 Lasers Temporarily Transforms ‘We Love Houston’ Sign [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of “moonGARDEN” at Discovery Green: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Office Investment Sales Activity Down in Houston from This Time Last Year [HBJ ($)]
• Galveston Housing Authority Plans To Build 50 Public Housing Units in Texas City to Replace Those Lost in Ike [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Can Downtown Houston Handle All the New Food Halls Planned Nearby Each Other? [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Cajun-Creole Restaurant Called Eunice Opens Today in Greenway Plaza [Eater Houston]
• Tenfold Coffee Coming to Braun Enterprises’ Retail Redo Next to Johnny’s Gold Brick [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• GRB’s Rusk St. Balcony Now Home to 4 Honey Bee Colonies [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Lyric Market, 411 Smith St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Site of Former Heights Tortilla Factory To Be Turned into Apartments [HBJ ($)]
• Downtown Americana Building Wraps Up Renovations That Removed 10 Levels of Office Space [HBJ]
• Astrodome Makeover Should Start After Next Year’s RodeoHouston [Houston Chronicle]
• Ronald McDonald House Houston Completes $25M Expansion, Renovation Project [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• City Council Approves Plan To Create ‘Quiet Zones’ for East End Rail Crossings [Houston Chronicle]
• 100-Year Rain Events in Houston Now More Like 25-Year Events, Finds NOAA Study [AP]
• Heights House Touts Gluten-Free Status on For-Sale Sign [Houston Chronicle]
• Gulfton a Case Study on the Challenges in Improving Street Safety [The Urban Edge]

  Photo of Memorial City Tower: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• $1B Natural Gas Power Plant Near Houston Gets Go-Ahead To Move Forward [HBJ]
• Closed Since Harvey, The Wortham Theater Center Has Reopened After $100M in Repairs [HBJ]
• Chelsea Market Tenants Must Vacate Their Spaces Before Building Is Town Down at the End of the Year [HBJ]
• Department Store Chain Gordmans Opening Nov. 1 in Both Humble and Spring Town Center [Houston Chronicle]
• Second Jonathan’s the Rub To Open in the Memorial Green Development Next Month [Culturemap]
• Commissioners Court Accepts $6.5M in FEMA Funds To Put Toward Creating New Floodmaps [Houston Chronicle]
• Pest Control Companies Seeing Big Increase in Rodents in Attics After Hurricane Harvey [abc13]

Photo of Cloud Column: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Hines Unloads WaterWall Place Apartment Complex After More Than 2 Years on the Market [HBJ ($)]
• Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Breaks Ground on $250M Plant in Pinto Business Park [HBJ]
• Sienna Plantation Adding 3-Story Multifamily Rental Development [Realty News Report]
• California Chain Qwench Juice Bar Planning Heights, West Houston Locations [Eater Houston]
• Houston’s Fourth Hopdoddy Opening at CityCentre Next Month [Culturemap]
• Plans To Turn 1-Acre Lot at 1500 Fannin into Park Space Move Forward [abc13]
• Mayor Turner on Houston’s Post-Harvey Progress [Realty News Report]
• Harris County Property Tax Revenues Slow Post-Harvey [Houston Public Media]
• Mayor’s Office Looking for Ways to Keep ‘Robot Brothel’ Out of Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Channelview Chemical Plant LyondellBasell Denies It’s the Source of Neighborhood Odor [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of path between Buffalo Bayou and Sawyer St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Texas Added the Most Construction Jobs of Any State Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Austin’s Jack & Ginger’s Irish Pub Set To Open Oct. 25 in Midtown [HBJ]
• Olive Oil and Vinegar Boutique Olive & Vine Opens on 19th St. [Culturemap]
• Where Houston Has the Most Vacant Lots for New Home Construction [HBJ ($)]

Photo of Amherst St., Rice Village: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Buffalo Heights District Mixed-Use Development Has Topped Out [Realty News Report]
• Equinox Moving Forward on Plans for Hotel in the River Oaks District [HBJ ($)]
• New Hope Housing Opens First Residential Complex for Homeless and At-Risk Families [The Urban Edge]
• Asian Population Growth Spurs Suburban Chinatown in Katy [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Cafe The Roastery Coming to Bellaire’s New 2-Story H-E-B [Culturemap]
• Japanese Chain Go Go Curry To Debut in Houston Next Month [Eater Houston]
• Feds, State Sue City of Houston Over Years of Illegal Sewage Spills [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of the Heights Theater, 339 W. 19th St.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• MARS Properties Breaks Ground on High Point West Industrial Distribution Center in Katy [Realty News Report]
• West University Home with Full-Size Gymnasium Hits the Market [Houston Chronicle]
• Danton’s Seafood Trading Longtime Montrose Home for Former Mockingbird Bistro Space [Eater Houston]
• Adair Concepts To Take Over Cafe Space in Evelyn’s Park, Debut New Concept [HBJ]
• DFW-Based Pizzeria Chain i Fratelli Coming to Houston [Eater Houston]
• Why Downtown Houston Has So Many Food Halls [Bisnow]
• Bayou Greenways Unveils Mason Park Bike and Pedestrian Bridge in the East End [Houston Public Media]
• Study Finds 30% of Parking Spots Go Unused During Peak Workday Times [Houston Chronicle]
• PARK(ing) Day To Take Over McKinney Street Downtown Today [Culturemap]
• New Harvey Documentary ‘Changed’ Follows West Houston Families in the Aftermath of the Flooding [Houstonia]

Photo: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Stonelake Capital Partners To Break Ground on 15-Story Park Place Tower Near River Oaks District in January [HBJ ($)]
• Weingarten To Pour Foundation at The Driscoll in River Oaks High-Rise [HBJ ($)]
• Caldwell Cos. To Develop Multifamily Project in Towne Lake [Realty News Report]
• About 70% of Downtown’s Lyric Market Vendors Will Be Out-of-Towners [Bisnow]
• Houston City Council Agrees To Subsidize Fifth Ward Grocery Near Fiesta Mart [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s Economy About the Same As a Year Ago at $436.4B [HBJ]
• Sneak Peek at Kinder Institute’s Study on Houston’s Walkability [Houston Public Media]
• Harvey Cleanup Workers Reporting Wage Theft [The Guardian]
• Rice Design Alliance Launching Road Trip to San Antonio [The Rice Design Alliance]
• Goodrich Great-Grandma Hunts 12-Foot Alligator Believed To Have Killed Her Miniature Pony [Houston Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Hines Building in Greens Port Industrial Park Near Ship Channel Sold [HBJ ($)]
• Arbor Oaks Neighborhood Slowly Disappearing One Buyout at a Time [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Mayor Turner Proposes Increase of Less Than 1% in Houston’s Property Tax Rate [Houston Chronicle]
• What International Homebuyers Are Looking for in Texas [HBJ ($)]
• The Menil Collection Reopens Saturday After 6-Month Renovation [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Tres Leches Bakery Treacherous Leches Opens in Downtown’s Conservatory Food Hall [abc13]

Photo of construction at Heights Waterworks: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• West Ave Shopping Center Sold, To Be Rebranded as Shops at Arrive [HBJ]
• The Royalton at Kingwood, Towne Lake Apartment Projects Underway [HBJ]
• 17-Story Senior Living Project Village of Southampton Starts Vertical Construction Near West University [HBJ ($)]
• East End Kroger Getting $500,000 Renovation [Houston Chronicle]
• Preview of Kinder HSPVA’s New Downtown Campus Opening in January [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Maba Pan-Asian Diner Closes in Midtown After Nearly 2 Years [Culturemap]
• Jersey Village Considering Bringing Back Red Light Cameras When U.S. 290 Widening Project Wraps Up [Houston Public Media]
• Mayor’s Office Asks for Bigger Chunk of Volkswagen Emissions Settlement for Houston [Houston Public Media]
• Residents of Sugar Land Community Riverstone Complain About Feral Hog Nuisance [abc13]
• UH Students Behind Unauthorized Ad at Pearland McDonald’s Make ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• PropertyShark Survey Finds 4 Out of 5 Gen Z Respondents Plan To Buy a Home Within the Next 5 Years [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of the Graustark St. Bridge over 59: Mark Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Trulia: Houston-Area Home Values Have Appreciated 48% Over the Past 6 Years [Houston Chronicle]
• SLS Properties Shares More Details on Plans for Former Chevron Campus in Bellaire [HBJ ($)]
• Houston-Based Residential Firm Franklin Team Joins Cloud-Based Brokerage [HBJ ($)]
• Crowdsource Rescue Website Created During Harvey Now Being Used for Florence [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• The State of Galveston 10 Years After Ike [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Sneak Peek Inside Tanglewood Renovation Featured on Saturday’s MA+DS Home Tour [Houston Chronicle]
• Study of Voucher Holders Finds Black Renters Pay More for Rent Than White Renters [The Urban Edge]

Photo of new construction in Southside Place: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Montrose Mixed-Used Development Fairview District Put on Hold [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Inside Stone Acorn Builders’ Flood-Resistant Home Rebuilt on Harvey-Flooded Braes Heights Property [HBJ]
• EggHaus Gourmet To Debut Next Door to King’s BierHaus in a Week [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Sweets Shop Sweet Bribery Opens Today on 19th Street [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Capital Improvement Plan To Focus on Fixing Deteriorating Streets and Drainage Systems [Houston Public Media]
• Houston Developing Climate Action Plan To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions [Houston Public Media]
• Watersheds and Walkability are the Keywords for Building a Resilient Houston [Watershed Texas]
• So Far This Year at Least 5 Big Rigs Have Struck the Houston Avenue Bridge Over the Katy Freeway [Houston Chronicle]

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