Headlines

• Metro’s Fifth and Final HOT Lane Opens on 59 Monday [KUHF]
• City May Change Designation of University Light Rail Line Streets to Reflect Transit Corridor [Houston Tomorrow]
• Galveston Condo Owner Puts Up Sign Denying Public Access to Private Beach [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• New Website Aims To Cut Costs of Using a Realtor When Buying a Home in Houston [abc13]

Photo of construction of Alexan West University Apartments at Bissonnet and Law: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Dallas Developer Takes Galveston’s Abandoned Falstaff Brewery Under Contract [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Former Kmart Center at Homestead and Carter To Be Demolished Through Advertising Deal [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Residents of Winslow Manor at Caroline, Oakdale Protest Hines 22-Story Resident Tower Planned for Their Block [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Missouri City Residents Speak Out Against Block of Proposed High-Density Apartments [Sugar Land Sun]
• More Senior Living Facilities Popping Up in Houston as Autumn Leaves Opens Eighth Location, Continues Construction of Ninth [Houston Business Journal]
• Aldi’s 12th Houston-Area Location To Have Sneak Peek on July 23 in Missouri City [Houston Business Journal]
• Nordstrom Rack To Open at Willowbrook Mall by Fall 2014 [Houston Business Journal]
• Hempstead Rd. near Mangum To Be Resurfaced Next Week To Prepare for Detoured 290 Traffic [KUHF]
• League City Imposes Mandatory Water Restriction Following Water Line Break [Houston Chronicle]
• Downtown’s Jamail Skatepark Provides Strange, Evocative Locale for Musicians [Houston Press]

Photo of Jamail Skatepark on Sabine St.: telwink [license]

• Bulldozers Already Humming at Grand Texas Theme Park Site in New Caney [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Harris County Exploring Ways To Fund Astrodome Redevelopment Plan [KUHF; previously on Swamplot]
• Montgomery County Home Sales Could Slow as Inventory, Interest Rates Rise [The Woodlands Villager]
• Galveston Historical Foundation $200K Short of $3M Bishop’s Palace — But Plans To Close Soon Anyway [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Tierra del Fuego Restaurant Opening This Fall in Sugar Land Town Square [Houston Business Journal]
• Water Usage Has Increased in Galveston Area Despite Serious Drought Alerts [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of ISKCON Temple on W. 34th St. near Ella Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• City Council To Consider Granting $1M in Tax Rebates to Costco Being Built Outside City Limits Near 1-10 and Grand Pkwy. [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Famed Cedar Lawn Maceo House Off the Market [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Fresh Market Announces Opening Dates for 4 Houston Stores [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Slideshow: Sprouts Copperfield Location Opening July 17 Will Be Houston’s Largest One Yet [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Makes List of Metro Regions With Improving Residential Real Estate Markets [Prime Property]
• Why It’s Your Fault Your Trash Isn’t Collected Sometimes [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• New Rice Design Alliance Charrette Challenge is To Integrate the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s Campus [Glasstire]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Galveston Property Values Rising to Pre-Ike Levels [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• The Palm Reopens Today After $5M Buildout, Featuring More Seating, New Bar, Mural of Houston [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• $334M, Year-Long Plan To Add, Widen Toll Lanes in Harris County [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• League City To Add 4 Miles of Biking, Hiking Trails [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Rising Mortgage Rates Not Expected To Affect Houston Real Estate Market [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Seawall Parking Signs Going Up, Program May or May Not Start Later This Month [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Some Houston Streets Suffer from a Multiple Personality Disorder [The Highwayman]
• Condo Owners Near Hershey Beach Tired of Large Crowds That Litter, Trespass, Trample Dune Grass [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• South Voss Texas Art Supply Updates West Texas-Themed Mural [The Great God Pan Is Dead]

Photo of Texas Art Supply on Voss near Westheimer: Robert Boyd via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• ‘Flip This House’ Reality TV Star Buys Cypress Creek Office Building [Houston Business Journal]
• Construction, Business on the Rise at Hitchcock Luxury Marina Harborwalk [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Texas Avenue Name Persists Despite Technically Being Texas Street [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Garbage Bins at 9,000 Houston Houses Went Uncollected Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Experts Warn It Could Be Another Bad Season for West Nile in Texas [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• One of Houston’s Most Influential Architects Loved to Hate the City [Houstonia; previously on Swamplot]
• State Says Playboy Has 45 Days To Remove Illegal Marfa Sign [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• What Makes Houston the Next Great American City [Smithsonian Magazine]
• Where Houston’s Spent Some of Its Capital Funding on Public Art [Smithsonian Magazine]

Photo of Alva Graphics at Shepherd and Center: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Magic Johnson’s Marq*E Entertainment Center at Silber and I-10 Up for Sale [Prime Property]
• Commercial Building Owners Find This Year’s Property Tax Hikes ‘Absurd,’ ‘Disturbing’ [Prime Property]
• D’Amico’s Closing White Oak Location, Opening in More Family-Friendly Cinco Ranch [Culturemap]
• Texas Just Outside the Top 10 in Survey Ranking State Highways for Quality, Cost Effectiveness [KUHF]
• HISD To Spend Upwards of $10M Renovating ‘Grim’ North Forest ISD Schools [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Swimming Prohibited at San Luis Pass in Galveston After Series of Drownings [abc13]
• League City Implements Stage 1 of Drought Plan [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• David Adickes’ Hollywood-Inspired ‘We Heart Houston’ Sign Erected Near I-10 and Patterson [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• A Look Back at Galveston’s Sea-Arama Marineworld [The Texican]

Photo: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• In Houston, America’s Diverse Future Has Already Arrived [NPR]
• North Forest ISD Officially Closes, Will Merge with HISD [Click2Houston]
• Condo Owners Wary of Efforts to Expand Galveston Go Cart Center on Seawall Blvd. [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Yucatan Taco Stand Opening This Fall in ‘Cursed’ Stella Sola Space on Studewood [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Good Dog Food Truck Taking Over Former Big Mamou Space on Studewood [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Spray-Painted Message on Oak Forest Fence Says McMansions ‘Ruining’ Neighborhood [Prime Property]
• A Look Inside the Oldest Home in River Oaks [Houstonia Magazine]
• Oak Forest Neighborhood Library Receives National Architecture Award for ‘Respectful’ Additions, Renovation [AIA; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Oak Forest Neighborhood Library: Natalye Appel + Associates Architects

• Waterway Plaza I and II in the Woodlands Sold for Highest Price Per Square Foot Ever for Houston Suburban Commercial Property [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• UH Stadium Starts To Take Shape, Steel Framework for Upper Seating Bowl to Rise in Mid-July [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Dallas Beer Distributor Favorite Brands Triples in Size, Signs Lease in Cole Creek Business Park [Houston Business Journal]
• Tom Ford, Hermès To Open Stores in New River Oaks District [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Texas City Outlines $6.3 Million in Upgrades to Transit Infrastructure and Services [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Residents Say 288 Flyovers Would Benefit Med Center and Pearland Commuters, Not Residents [KUHF]
• EZTAG Rate for Mainline Plazas Increasing a Nickel to $1.45 in September [MyFoxHouston]
• The Man Behind Half of Downtown’s Transformational Projects [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Just South of Reliant Stadium Lies One of Houston’s Most Historic Ranches [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Who Comes to Houston: Visitors or Tourists? [Houstonia Magazine; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston in 2013 a Fast-Growing Mash-Up of Color, Culture, Ethnicity [NPR]

Photo of Critical Mass at Market Square Park: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Clarion Partners To Build 6-Story Westchase Park II Next to 6-Story Westchase Park I [Prime Property]
• Marriott Opening New Spring Hotel Dubbed The Woodlands South on July 8 [Houston Business Journal]
• Alliance Residential’s 5-Story Apartment Complex To Join Downtown Living Incentive Plan [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• New Homes, Businesses ‘Popping Up on Just About Every Street Corner’ in the Museum District [abc13]
• Closed Since Ike, Sante Fe’s Pless Feed Store Torn Down [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• North Forest ISD Loses One of Last Court Battles To Fend Off HISD Merger [Houston Chronicle]
• Landry’s New Italian Restaurant Grotto Now Open Inside Galveston Resort [Houston Business Journal]
• Galveston Park Board Votes To Create ‘Seaweed-Enhanced’ Sand Dunes [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Metro Rail Service Shut Down This Weekend [abc13]
• Artists To Replace Vandalized Heights Yarn-Bombing Installation This Saturday [Home in the Heights]
• Help Name The Fake Space Shuttle Houston Got Instead of The Real Thing [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of power plant at Howe and Pease: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Former Gulf Building Downtown on the Market, Could Fetch $110M [Culturemap]
• Shell’s Vacated Bellaire Technology Center Eligible as National Historic Place [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston To Have a Tiki Bar Once Again When Lei Low Opens in Sunset Heights in Next Four Months [Houstonia Magazine]
• James Coney Island Planning Upscale Fast-Food Makeover for Some Restaurants, Wants To Go into Higher-End Real Estate Projects [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• City Council Finalizes Funding Agreement for $205M Bayou Greenways Project [KUHF; previously on Swamplot]
• In Wake of DOMA Decision, Pride Houston Organizers Expecting Bigger Crowd This Weekend [Houston Chronicle]
• Fish Consumption Advisories Revised for Galveston, Houston-Area Waters [Click2Houston]
• TripAdvisor Tips Send You To Closed Bars, Nonexistent ‘Houston Underground’ [Houstonia Magazine]

Photo of the future site of Lei Low at North Main and 25th: Eater Houston

• Harris County Housing Authority Misspent $27.5M in Funds, Finds Audit [Star-Telegram]
• J.A. Billipp Co. Finalizes Deal to Develop 36.8-Acre Ellington Air Commerce Center [Houston Business Journal]
• Obama: Keystone XL Should Not Be Approved If It Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions [Huffington Post]
• Partial Settlement Reached in Lawsuit About Accuracy of County Real Property Records [Your Houston News]
• Real Estate Reporter: You Might Start To See Office Buildings Torn Down [Culturemap]
• Slideshow: Cinco Ranch, The Woodlands Top List of Houston’s Most Active Residential Communities [Houston Business Journal]
• Residential Growth Draws More Restaurants, Shops to Pearland, Bay Area [Houston Chronicle]
• Extension of Toll Lanes Along Texas 249 Through Tomball To Start This Year [The Highwayman]
• How To Protect the Texas Gulf Coast from a Hurricane’s Storm Surge [StateImpact Texas]
• Texas City To Expand Park & Ride, Improve Sidewalks and Biking Trails [Houston Chronicle]
• Montgomery County Outgrowing its Water Supply [The Woodlands Villager]
• Galveston Enacts Stage Two of its Drought Contingency Plan [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s Low-Key, Offbeat, Eccentric Attractions [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Photo of I-10 and Grand Pwky: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Moody Rambin To Start Construction in September on Town Centre I Office Complex [Houston Business Journal]
• Texas General Land Office Soliciting Proposals for Public Housing in Galveston [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Houston a Top City for New Construction Activity, Says Forbes [Houston Business Journal]
• East Downtown Food Truck Park Closed by Regulators After One Day Because It Needs More Shade, Seats [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Pappasito’s Cantina Opening in Former Spencer’s at Hilton Americas Downtown [Eater Houston]
• Search Begins for Pelican Island Bridge Developer [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Neighbors’ Complaints Force Oak Forest Man To Move Big Rig from Driveway, Pay $5K in Fines [Click2Houston]

Photo of Uptown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Woodlands Development Co.’s Next Spec Office Building at Hughes Landing Will Break Ground in June, Open in 2014 [Houston Business Journal]
• Anadarko Names New and Old Woodlands Towers After Former CEOs [Houston Business Journal]
• A Full Year After It Was Announced, Toby Keith’s Huge New Bar & Grill at West Oaks Mall Is Still Under Construction; Opening Date ‘Uncertain’ [29-95]
• A&M Officials Don’t Know Cause of Saturday’s Barn Collapse at Equine Center Construction Site [The Eagle]
• High-End Outdoor Furniture Available Again at Former Smith & Hawken Space on San Felipe as Janus et Cie Opens [Houston Chronicle]
• Congressman Culberson Blocking Federal Funding Again for University and Post Oak Rail Lines, Even Though Metro Hasn’t Asked for Any [The Highwayman]
• Georges Guy’s Bistro Des Arts Opens in Former Mumbai Spice Space on Westheimer [Eater Houston]
• Houston Food Park in Former Meridian Parking Lot Draws 11 Trucks on Opening Day [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Artist Behind Playboy Marfa Installation Will Work on Dodge Charger Next [New York Times]

Photo of Hwy. 59 at West Loop: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr pool

• Houston Agrees To Buy Half Its Power from Renewable Sources [Fuel Fix]
• Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites Planned for Convention Center District [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s Master-Planned Community Lot Supply at 13-Year Low [Houston Business Journal]
• Owner of Former ‘Urban Cowboy’ Pasadena Honky-Tonk Gilley’s Planning New Concept [Houston Chronicle]
• Whataburger Opening a Restaurant in Kemah [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Stop Using These Words and Phrases To Describe Houston [The Texican]

Photo of graffiti art at Houston Food Park at St. Emanuel and Bell by The One Lee and Cease: Ruben S. via Swamplot Flickr Pool