Headlines

• Dornin Investment Group Buys Energy Corridor Office Building, Wants To Buy 4 or 5 More [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• 2-Year Construction Nears an End for 1111 Studewood Place Lofts in the Heights [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• The Electric Company Behind Some of the City’s Biggest Buildings and Ballparks [Houston Chronicle]
• Metro’s Free Labor Day Weekend Rides Helped Draw New Riders [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• 328 Tickets Issued in Galveston Since Paid Seawall Parking Enforced [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Revisiting the Roadside Kitsch of the Eclectic Menagerie off 288 [The Great God Pan Is Dead]

Photo of Uptown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Much of Hughes Landing Could Be Completed in Two Years [Community Impact Newspaper; previously on Swamplot]
• PAC Formed To Encourage Voters To Support Astrodome Plan [KUHF]
• Neighborhood Group Concerned Hines’ ‘San Felipe Skyscraper’ Would Create Nightmarish Traffic [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Doing Better Today Than Before Ike, Say Island Officials [KUHF]
• No More Free Light Rail Rides to Texans Games [Houston Chronicle]
• How Toll Roads Can Help Pay for Modernizing the Interstate Highway System [Reason Foundation via The Highwayman]
• New Federal Guidelines Could Mean Drastic Hikes for Flood Insurance [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Hurricane Ike: Then and Now in Photos [Hair Balls]

Photo of 59 at 610: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• $71M Pearland Medical Center To Begin Going Up on Sept. 17 [Houston Business Journal]
• Missouri City Model Homes To Be Marketed with Themed Fragrances During Home Tour [Prime Property]
• Landscape Architect Thomas Woltz Chosen To Create Master Plan for Memorial Park [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• What Houston Learned from Ike To Speed Up Electricity Recovery [StateImpact Texas]
• Post-Ike, Some Galveston Residents Still Not Back Living on Island [Click2Houston]
• Show Your Houston Pride, the Foul-Mouthed Way [Houstonia Magazine]

Photo of the Houston Ballet and Wortham Center: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Generation Park Recruiting More Office Tenants with Walkable Mixed-Used Development [Houston Business Journal]
• Ziegler Cooper’s Plan for Renovating 1301 Fannin [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Museum of Telephone History Finds New Home in AT&T’s Bellaire Headquarters [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Torchy’s Tacos To Open in Extensively Renovated Former Harold’s in the Heights Space This Month [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• 62-Ft. Articulated Buses Making Room for More Passengers and Coming Back to Houston Streets Later This Month [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• New Downtown Parking Signs Aim To Demystify [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Looking at Hurricane Evacuation Plans, Five Years After Ike [KUHF]

Photo of Spotts Park: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Cousins Properties Closes on Greenway Plaza for $950M [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston on List of Nation’s Improving Housing Markets [Prime Property]
• Hotel, IAH Officials Want $40M Renovation of City-Owned Marriott [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• The Bolivar Peninsula, Five Years After Ike [KUHF]
• Rainy-Day Money Helped Seabrook Recuperate After Ike [The Bay Area Citizen]
• Harris and Fort Bend Counties Being Invaded by Aggressive Salt Marsh Mosquitoes [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of Pasadena refineries: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• As Many As 4,000 Properties That Severely Damaged by Ike Yet To Be Repaired [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Galveston’s Infrastructure Projects Coming Along Slowly Post-Ike [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Eight of the Country’s 20 Largest Master-Planned Communities in Houston Area, Finds Metrostudy [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Garden Oaks, Braeswood Place, Timbergrove/Lazybrook Hottest Residential Markets in Houston [abc13]
• Some Form of Drought Plagues 87 percent of Texas [Click2Houston]
• TxDOT Destroys Detention Pond, Animal Habitat in West Houston [KHOU]
• Art Installations Planned for Hermann Park Next Year To Mark Centennial [Houston Chronicle]
• Arts Scene Helping Houston Get Past ‘Inferiority Complex’ [KUHF]
• Playwright Focuses on Hurricane Ike in New Series of Plays [Houston Chronicle]
• Poll Results Show Where Houston’s Artists Live [The Great God Pan Is Dead]

Photo of Galveston: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Catalina Coffee Owner Has Been Real Quiet About Mercantile, His New Grocery Store and Coffee Bar in Rice Village [Culturemap]
• Pasadena Church Completes $23M Makeover [Prime Property]
• Forbes: Houston Will Be America’s Next Great Global City by 2023 [Forbes via Houston Business Journal]
• Houston, Dallas Among Top Moving Destinations, Finds United Van Lines [Dallas News]
• Katy Contemporary Arts Museum Opening This Sunday, With Sculpture Garden and Gun and Taxidermy Museum To Follow [Glasstire]
• American Statesmanship Park, The Most Seen and Least Visited Park in Texas [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Walking the Menil Campus with Toby Kamps [Pedestrian Pete]
• Key Maps Keeps on Mappin’ in the Age of Google and GPS [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• A Few ‘Ideas’ from Austin for the Astrodome [Austin Chronicle]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Heights’ Hunky Dory To Share Space with Thai Restaurant [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Ellington Spaceport To Include Passenger Terminal Building, Aviation Museum [Houston Chronicle]
• City, County To Share Hardy Toll Road Revenue [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Why Tolls Are Going Up on Harris County Roads [KUHF]
• Downtown’s Top 10 Public Lobbies [Art Attack]
• Houston Among Nation’s Most ‘Big Lebowski’-Friendly Cities, Says Estately [The Texican]

Photo of light rail at the University of Houston Downtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Westin Hotels in the Galleria Sell for $220M [Prime Property]
• Houston Finally Becoming a ‘Real City’ with Increased Highrise Living [Houstonia Magazine; previously on Swamplot]
• $84M Sugar Land Concert and Theater Venue To Have 6,500 Seats [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Pesca, Alberto Alfonzo’s Second Restaurant in River Oaks Shopping Center, Closes [Culturemap]
• Austin Hipster Nightclub Barbarella Moves Into Midtown in Former Status Lounge [Rant & Rave]
• Galveston Yacht Basin Ready To Open [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Voodoo Queen Now Open in the East End [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Plans for Ellington Airport Spaceport To Be Unveiled Today [CBS Houston]
• US-59 from I-10 to 288 Among Most Congested Freeways in Texas, Finds State Report [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Texas Historical Landmark Smartphone App Worth the Four Bucks [Hair Balls]

Photo of the interior of Houston Public Library’s Julia Ideson building: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Greenspoint Business Center To Add Two Buildings, Expand By 350K SF [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• As The Woodlands Becomes a Big City, It Faces Big-City Issues [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Morton’s Steakhouse Spinoff Morton’s Grille Opening in The Woodlands on September 10 [Food Chronicles]
• Metro To ‘Re-Imagine’ Bus Routes in Advance of Three New Rail Lines Opening [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Jersey Village Residents Want Sound Barriers Installed During Highway 290 Expansion [abc13]
• Heights Association Pushes for Better Signage, Safety Along Neighborhood Bike Trails [The Leader]
• Houston-Galveston Area Council Swapping Diesel Delivery Trucks for Fleet of 30 Electric Vehicles [Fuel Fix]
• An Interview with Juan Carlos, the Montrose Rollerblade Dancer Guy [Houstonia Magazine]

Photo of St. Arnold Brewery: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Housing Supply Meeting Half the Expected Demand, Says Metrostudy Data [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Construction Consulting, Testing Firms Prepare Galveston for the Next Ike [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Worker Falls To Death During Construction of New 35-Story Tower at Weslayan and West Alabama [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Police To Start Issuing Parking Tickets Along Seawall [Click2Houston]
• Chef Monica Pope, John Daugherty Realtors Team Up To Offer Meals at High-End Properties on the Market [Culturemap]
• ‘Spanglish’ Bike Rack Erected as Part of Navigation Art Offends for Its Bad Grammar [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]

Photo of the George R. Brown Convention Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• How Houston Highrises Find Their Tenants [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Receives $6.6M in Federal Grants To Help Fund Hike and Bike Trail Projects [Click2Houston]
• Woodlands Township Recommends Park and Ride Fare Increases [The Woodlands Villager]
• City Surveying Drainage Ditches To Better Fix Flooding Problems [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• League City Hires Arborists To Assess Relocated Ghirardi Oak’s Health [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Some Galveston Beaches Under Advisories for Bacteria Levels [Houston Chronicle]
• Austin’s Central Texas Bee Rescue Finds New Home in Japhet Community Near Downtown [Prime Property]
• GreenStreet Bamboo Stalks To Get Warm and Fuzzy, Thanks to Urban Yarnage [Glasstire; previously on Swamplot]
• Finding Out Where Houston Artists Live [The Great God Pan Is Dead]
• Houston-Based Interior Design Magazine Milieu Launches [New York Times]

Photo of Post Oak Boulevard: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Florida Real Estate Firm Buys Two Northwest Houston Business Parks [Houston Business Journal]
• It’ll Be Years Before the Bottleneck at US-59 and Loop 610 is Eased [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• City Council Grants Lifeguards Free Parking, But No Designated Spots, on Seawall [abc13]
• George Bush Intercontinental Named Best U.S. Airport in Executive Travel Magazine Poll [Houston Chronicle]
• Five Forgotten Houston Spots That Could Use Historic Markers [Houstonia Magazine]
• Guy Seeks ‘Arch-Nemesis Roommate’ for Williamsburg Apartment [Craigslist]

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

• Chicago’s Jones Lang LaSalle Acquires Houston’s Means Knaus Partners [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Costco Rumored for Clear Lake Area [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Charting the Nation’s Top New Residential Construction Markets [Houston Agent Magazine]
• The Challenges in Making Houston a More Sustainable, Walkable, Bikeable City [CNN]
• As Kids Go Back to School, Drivers Asked to Share the Road [KUHF]
• Montrose’s Roost Often Confused With Shuttered Roots Bistro [Houstonia Magazine]
• A Google Maps View of the Houston Zoo [Houston Chronicle]
• The Roadside Playboy Bunny Lives On — For Now — in Marfa [Houstonia Magazine]

Photo of Discovery Green: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• In Houston, It’s a Case of ‘Build, Baby, Build!’ [Reuters]
• University of Houston-Downtown Begins Construction of $16.5M Welcome Center [Culturemap]
• After Three-Year Delay, Fish & the Knife To Open on Westheimer in October [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Protesters Say Battered Surfside Beach Houses a Danger to the Public [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Getting to the Bottom of the Houston Valet Conundrum [Eating Our Words]
• Cops Warn About Scam Artist Who Used Craigslist To Lease Vacant Houston Homes [Houston Chronicle]
• NASA Conducting Flights over Houston Next Month To Test Ground-Level Pollution [Galveston County Daily News]
• Persistent Drought Leaves Texas Vulnerable to Wildfires [KUHF]
• Hundreds of Fish Wash Up on Galveston’s Beaches [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Slideshow: Preview the Homes Being Featured in AIA Houston’s October Home Tour [Houston Business Journal]
• Marfa Design Tour To Highlight Architecturally Significant Homes This November [Culturemap]

Photo of “Funnel Tunnel” on Montrose Blvd.: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool