COMMENT OF THE DAY: BURY ME AT HOLE 18 “I’ll tell ya, country clubs and cemeteries [are the] biggest wasters of prime real estate. My partial solution: Combine the two! All you have to do is build a couple of extra holes (a 20 or 21 hole golf course) so you can close a hole or two when a hole is ‘needed’ to welcome a new permanent resident. Markers (flush to the ground, of course) can double as distance markers. (‘It used to be an 8 iron from ole Ted to the green for me, but now it seems to be a 7′). Perpetual maintenance? No problem! Additional revenue for the facility? No doubt! Just remember where you heard it first.” [Al, commenting on Homebuilders Playing Through Old Katy Golf Course]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: CAN’T FACEPALM “No palm trees please!! Why do people still think it’s a good idea to plant them in a non-tropical, urban location? They provide little to no shade, take forever to grow, and aren’t particularly pretty.” [John, commenting on A New South Downtown ‘Garden District’ of Really Wide Sidewalks]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: CAMERAS ON THE STREET, BEFORE AND AFTER BOSTON “Before Boston, my attitute on red light cameras was (1) there is no expectation of privacy on the roads, in your cars or otherwise in public, (2) no person is actually monitoring these cameras, you paranoid freaks and (3) only those who were breaking the law had anything to worry about. After Boston my attitude is the same plus (4) WE NEED MORE CAMERAS and for tapes to be saved at least thirty days to aid law enforcement!” [mel, commenting on Headlines: Challenging Keystone Pipeline Challenge; Watching ExxonMobil Campus Grow]
HOMEBUILDERS PLAYING THROUGH OLD KATY GOLF COURSE 
Just flip the sand traps to sandboxes and the water hazards to water features, and you’re most of the way there: A 440-home master-planned community, reports The Rancher’s Zach Haverkamp, is aimed for the site of the old Green Meadows Golf Course in Katy: Lennar Homes, Meritage Homes, and Village Builders have started construction on the first model homes of the Falls at Green Meadows on the 242-acre, 36-hole course groomed out of the prairie near Franz Rd. and Avenue D. The course was open from 1965 to 2008. Developer Tim Fitzpatrick tells Haverkamp: “We wanted to be in the heart of Katy, and if you look around, this is one of the few tracts . . . that remain.” [The Rancher] Photo: Zach Haverkamp
HOW TO KEEP PROPERTY TAXES LOW — AT THE TOP 
Using figures from a study put together by the Service Employees International Union last year in support of striking janitors, Steve Jansen’s cover story in this week’s Houston Press highlights some spectacular feats of Houston highrise taxcutting: “For the 2011 tax year, if the owners of a class A skyscraper or office complex protested HCAD’s appraised value in front of HCAD’s appraisal review board or district court, they were 77 percent likely to have the value cut (and Âalmost always by millions). By contrast, only 55 percent of owners of single-family homes won their appeals with HCAD.” Total resulting savings on those high-dollar tax bills: $58 million in 2011 alone. This year, HCAD is raising the market valuations on many of the city’s fanciest office buildings by more than 50 percent. But don’t expect those numbers to hold when the companies have lawyers at the ready. For 2012, 70 percent of large downtown commercial office property owners went ahead with property-tax lawsuits against HCAD. [Houston Press] Photo of Wells Fargo Plaza, which through lawsuits and negotiated settlements gained valuation reductions totaling $380 million between 2006 and 2011: Matthew Colvin de Valle [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: REAL ESTATE LISTING PHOTOS WITH THAT LITTLE EXTRA SOMETHING “I know exactly how this house must smell. And I love it.” [Miz Brooke Smith, commenting on A Woodsy, Bayou-Side Meadowbrook Home]
ART GUYS WORKING WITH SHIP CHANNEL IN NEXT ‘EVENT’ 
At the site shown here in Pasadena near the old Paper Mill and Washburn Tunnel, where General Antonio López de Santa Anna is said to have been captured during that historically succinct Battle of San Jacinto, the Art Guys are planning their next performance: They’ve announced they’ll crack out their batons and “conduct the sounds of the Houston Ship Channel.” (Not sure what that could look like? Go see it for yourself.) Jack Massing and Michael Galbreth, the helmsmen of “12 Events,” a yearlong series of monthly head-scratchers that commemorate their 30 years of Houston mischief, have so far in 2013 shrugged off their divorce from the Menil, signed their names for 8 hours at the Julia Ideson Library on National Handwriting Day, and walked all 29.6 miles of Little York Rd., the longest in Houston. Next up, once they’ve conducted the Ship Channel waters? The Art Guys unwind a spool of thread, and then — wait for it — wind it back up again. [The Art Guys; Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: JimmyEv via Waymarking
A REPRIEVE FOR THE ALMOST AFTON OAKS APARTMENTS? 
Here’s more from the reader who a week ago predicted the demise of the recently sold “very well-made” 1955 apartment building at 4724 Oakshire Dr., shown here under the glimmering purview of the Williams Tower: “Well, now the latest rumor is that the new owners are not going to demo it (at least not right away) and tenants will have the option to do month-to-month renting with them (haven’t seen anything in writing yet, but the month-to-month thing doesn’t sound like they intend to keep the current complex in the long-term . . . .” Calls to the agent for more information haven’t been returned. [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot] Photos: Gary Greene
COMMENT OF THE DAY: AND HOW WILL THEY SHIP IT TO THE WEST COAST? “Thought this nugget from the Biz Journal article was interesting: ‘The organization, which presides over Reliant Park, is scheduled to hold a board meeting on April 17. The agenda includes “(d)iscussion and possible action to approve a resolution regarding the future of the Reliant Astrodome†and “(d)iscussion of a nondisclosure agreement with the University of Southern California regarding a potential project related to the Reliant Astrodome.‒ Now what do those Trojans want with our Dome?????????” [DNAguy, commenting on Headlines: Voting on an Astrodome Plan; Making Art of Power Lines]
LUNCH-ONLY TELEPHONE ROAD SMOKEHOUSE NOW OPEN FOR DINNER 
A Facebook post on Sunday from Oak Leaf Smokehouse says that the Eastwood restaurant — which opened serving lunch only in late February in the old Pete’s BBQ location just southeast of Tlaquepaque Market at 1000 Telephone Rd. — is now serving dinner, too, expanding its hours from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. [Oak Leaf Smokehouse via Facebook; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
THE RERUGGLEFICATION OF 11TH ST. CAFE 
“[A]ll that was left at one point,” writes The Heights Life blogger Viula of the 11th St. Cafe, was “basically 3 brick walls.” She popped in to preview this most recent rugglefication of the twice-ruggled restaurant in advance of its April 25 reopening. Chief Ruggle Federico Marques tells Viula that the city thought the old Heights building at 11th and Studewood ought to be torn down. But a Ruggle, it seems, is made of sterner stuff: “When a lot of other companies would have cut their losses and walked away,” writes Viula, “[Ruggles Green] seized the opportunity. . . . Even the floor/foundation had to come out due to years of neglect and spotty patch work by previous owners. They salvaged the front and side walls and everything else is new.” [The Heights Life; previously on Swamplot] Photo: The Heights Life
COMMENT OF THE DAY: COMPETING VISIONS “Someone from the HOA for the townhomes across from this claims the construction is for a development similar to that on West Ave with high end condo/apts on top and retail on the first floor. I’m hoping it’s a Sonic though. My husband hopes it’ll be a high end strip club.” [Audrey, commenting on The Apartments Behind the Finger Apartments Behind the Montrose Whole Foods]
THIRD WARD’S RYAN MIDDLE SCHOOL TO BECOME MEDICINE MAGNET 
HISD voted on Thursday night to reopen the closing Ryan Middle School next year as a magnet for students interested in the medical field. Though community protests have tried to move HISD to keep the Third Ward school open, a vote a month ago decided that the 263 Ryan students — the fewest at any HISD middle school, reports the Houston Chronicle’s Ericka Mellon — would be consolidated at Cullen Middle School, about 4 miles away on Scott St. The 1926 Elgin St. building that was the original Yates Colored High School, reports abc13, will be reopened as the Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan to “allow more students to compete for admission into the highly selective DeBakey High School for the Health Professions.” Also approved in Thursday’s vote is a second magnet, the Energy Institute High School, though HISD has not yet chosen where that will be. [Houston Chronicle; abc13; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Wikimedia Commons
HOTEL GALVEZ BAR AND GRILL TO BE RENOVATED, RENAMED 
A new look, new menu, and new name are coming to Bernardo’s at Hotel Galvez on Seawall Blvd., says hotel owner Mitchell Historic Properties: To be adventurously rechristened Galvez Bar & Grill, the space will become twice as big after the renovations. The hotel’s lobby will also be redone: Though the wicker furniture isn’t going away, a new floor made out of a tile mosaic will be installed where sandy-footed guests enter. Though Bernardo’s will be shuttered for 2 months for the upgrades, hotel owners are hoping the space will be ready for Memorial Day, when the island’s tourist season begins. [Mitchell Historic Properties] Photo: Flickr user Equina27
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RIVER OAKS SHOPPING CENTER’S COMING DOUBLE MOCHA LATTE PROBLEM “Finger is adding 431 units next to Whole Foods, Regent Square is putting up 290 units down the street in their apartment tower, Hanover at W. Gray and Waugh will be 275 units, the Richdale development on W. Gray where the ballet used to be is supposed to be 160 units and this new one on Montrose and Dallas will probably be at least 250 judging from the size of the lot and the economics of apartment complexes. That makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300-1400 new units all within about a mile of each other. That will certainly impact traffic in the area. The bigger impact is going to be on retail in the area. A couple thousand more people are going to be living in the area, yet the retail layout is largely going to remain the same. Regent Square may finally get active and save the day with some needed retail and restaurants. But once all the apartments fill up, there will be long lines at Starbucks whether you are on the north side of W. Gray, southside or inside Barnes and Nobles.” [Old School, commenting on The Apartments Behind the Finger Apartments Behind the Montrose Whole Foods]