YEAH, THAT’S THE ONE 
“Watching the speculation machine has been fun so far,” the source of yesterday’s enormously vague tip about the impending demolition of a “major Houston property” whispers to Swamplot: “I can tell you . . . that one of the commenters already named the property/properties in question.” And no, it isn’t Macy’s. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Seth Bienek
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ENOUGH SQUARE FOOTAGE TO QUIBBLE OVER “We bought a fairly new house this year. We were all surprised when the appraiser’s square footage was 7 percent (200 square feet) smaller than what they had listed on HAR. Turns out the builder built the original owners a smaller house than they paid for. Some of their original closing documents showed the smaller square footage, but others had the larger number, so we understood why they were confused. We adjusted our offer price based on the revised square footage and called it good. . . . BUT as it turns out [the original owners] had been paying property taxes on the larger square footage. Now it’s our turn to pay the property taxes and I’d like to get the square footage corrected. Our estimate is that we’ll be overpaying by $600 this year if the error isn’t fixed. Unfortunately, I’m reading this information [PDF] from the HCAD website. I’m not sure whether this is a ‘clerical error’ or a ‘substantial error.’ For a substantial error, you apparently can’t protest unless the error causes the property to be over-appraised by more than one third (!). And for clerical errors, they say that inaccuracies in estimation such as estimating the square footage of a house, cannot be changed. I’m guessing I could push this as a clerical error (tell them they must have transposed some numbers when filling in their system). Has anyone done this with success? Or are we just screwed?” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot]
BIG VAGUE NEWS YOU CAN’T USE From Swamplot’s tipline comes this groundbreaking prognostication: “This is terribly vague, but as leases and jobs still depend on confidentiality, I am limited on what I can say. . . . A major (non-residential) Houston property is about to make a significant change. The property management may also consider pursuing notable architects for this change. Expect demolition to begin before the end of the year.” Egads, could it be true? [Swamplot inbox] Photo: Seth Bienek
HOUSTON CLUB BUILDING WILL BE DEMOLISHED, SAY AUCTIONEERS 
Going, going . . . gone?: The company auctioning off the contents of the Houston Club ahead of its move to the 49th floor of One Shell Plaza gleefully reports on its website that the Jesse Jones-era 18-story office building at 811 Rusk is “scheduled for demolition!†That’s more than Skanska, which owns the building, has officially announced, though the Swedish construction firm’s own website does note that “future redevelopment” is planned for the Downtown site. [Lewis & Maese via CultureMap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Silberman Properties
COMMENT OF THE DAY: JUST VISIT THE PLACE ALREADY “This is why, IMO, photos (or at least worrying about the quantity or quality) are not that important. People search for a price range, size, area, etc. After that, they’ll take their list of properties that fit and view them in person. Unless the pictures are TERRIBLE then the property will be viewed. And if they’re OUTSTANDING then the property will have to be viewed anyway (unless you’re going after someone buying sight unseen, which is rare). Photos do, IMO, almost nothing to sell a house. Then again, I could be saying this as I suck at taking photos so normally just snap off a few pics with my cell phone and call it a day . . .” [Cody, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: In the Box]
CLOUD 10 HITTING SWEET SPOT IN THE VILLAGE 
We’re guessing Chris Leung will be keeping his ice cream below 273 Kelvin in the shop and open kitchen he’ll be launching this spring at 5711 Kelvin in Rice Village. Cloud 10 Creamery will be one of the street-level shops in the new Hanover apartments set to open next month. This’ll be Cloud 10’s first storefront; Leung’s ice creams have been available since last summer at a few restaurants and food trucks around town. [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Chris Litherland
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE PARKING LOT IN FRONT “Is it possible that any place in our region that doesn’t have a huge field of suburban-style parking in front of it starts at a big disadvantage? Even patron reviews I read regarding otherwise popular places like Sugar Land Town Square and The Woodlands Town Center view having to park in a (free) garage and walk around the block as a serious knock on those places. With the Pavilions garage requiring payment and the public sidewalks harboring the occasional homeless person, Pavilions might have an unavoidable disadvantage for many folks. Is free off-street surface parking and never having to set foot on a public sidewalk that essential to a quality experience in Houston? Doesn’t downtown, and the city, have more to offer? Certainly other large cities — even Los Angeles — do.” [Local Planner, commenting on Books-A-Million Now Packing Up Its Books, Leaving Houston Pavilions]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS “As a contractor I’ve learned the sprayer is installed as a matter of cultural/religious practices relating to cleanliness. What may seem odd to you or I is a necessity for some of our neighbors who want to follow their cultural practices.” [Senor, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Diaper Duty]
BRINGING THAT LADY HOME FROM MAGGIE RITA’S 
UH restaurant management student Catherine Martin is already eyeing the decor of the Maggie Rita’s at 1650 Post Oak Blvd. — doomed, she imagines, for lack of parking at least — for when the Carlos Mencia property follows the Kirby location on its path from former Ninfa’s to shutter-dom: “I even liked the soup, I thought it tasted good. There was this really pretty painting of the Mona Lisa, it was just her face and it was all done in blues and greens. . . . Maybe when this location goes out of business I’ll buy that painting for real cheap on the side of the road. Do restaurants have garage sales? Like in their front yard, in their garage? . . . It’s not too far from my apartment I wonder if I’ll see the signs posted at the corner of my block. I just really liked that painting, you know? The thing is I don’t know where I’d put it in my apartment, I have several blank walls in my apartment, but it’s kind of a long painting, you know, real tall, the only thing is on those blank spots, like I have a book shelf underneath, or my desk or my dresser or something. It’s just not enough space all at once. I’d have to completely rearrange all my furniture and the only problem with that is I’m a bit of a slob, so to rearrange all my furniture I’d have to completely clean my room and there’s a pizza box underneath my bed that’s been there for a while that I’d have to throw away . . . it just kind of seems like a hassle. Maybe I could put it in the kitchen . . . but then it would get, like, oil and stuff on it when I cook, I feel like that stuff gets in the air, you know, and it would ruin the painting . . . you know what, forget it, I’ll figure it out.” [Arbitrary Criticism; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Maggie Rita’s in former guise as Ninfa’s, 1650 Post Oak Blvd.: AmREIT
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHO WANTS TO STAY DOWNTOWN? “. . . I ride my bike around downtown for pleasure on some evenings (unthinkable 15 years ago) and am always impressed by the level of activity after dark. Restaurants, bars, music venues and Discovery Green are always hopping. Another hotel can substantially increase this level of activity and hopefully sustain it by attracting business travelers, not just convention goers. I am a business traveler, and work for a multi-national based here in Houston. When we have out-of-town guests, they never stay downtown — EVER. Actually, they prefer to stay where they can easily walk to entertainment, dinner, and bars, and quickly catch a cab to anywhere else they need to go. Usually, they go to CityCentre, the Woodlands, and Town Center in Sugar Land. When I ask around the office about this, most of my coworkers (suburbanites who have not been downtown in years, except for an errant Astros game) immediately wrinkle their noses at the idea of sending someone to stay there after dark. Word has not gotten out about the amenities downtown, and this hotel will help.” [Superdave, commenting on A Texas Island on the Next Convention Center Hotel]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: IN SEARCH OF GENTLE DEMOLITION “Serious question here. I live in what is basically a future tear-down. It was my first house purchase 20 years ago, and I’m still in it. It’s a remuddled 30s-40s bungalow that looks like someone hired their brother-in-law to do the work, and it was previously a rental before I bought it. I’ve been resisting doing anything major to it because I have been actively looking for a ‘real house’ for quite a while now. It has the original 3″ oak floors that probably still have quite a bit of wear left in them, seeing as they haven’t been sanded and refinished very many times (only once in the last 20 years, and probably not more than once before that). It has an awesome counterweighted attic door that rolls down instead of unfolding. The bathroom sinks are older than I am (they’re dated on the bottom). The vintage 6-gallon-flush toilets might be desired by someone. Certainly the scrap metal inside the walls could fetch some bucks. So there might be some parts worth saving. But how do I find someone to deconstruct it, when that time comes?” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Comment of the Day: Used House Parts Scouting Report]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HAVE I GOT TREES FOR YOU “One miserable tree in the entire 10,500 sq. ft. yard. I’ve heard that home buyers hate landscaping, but this is ridiculous. How ’bout a few bald cypress on the west side to cut down utility bills? A few live oaks in the front would be nice. A few water oaks in the back would be interesting, or go crazy and make it Shumard oaks. Even a mass planting of pink muhly could go somewhere; to hell with the neighbors put ‘em in the front! I’ll stop now.” [Chef, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Glacier Bay]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: USED HOUSE PARTS SCOUTING REPORT “Hopefully, some of those features will end up at Habitat ReStore. The marble counters, doors, clawfoot tub, cabinet doors, and all that flagstone. The casement windows are great for a greenhouse or playhouse. And that angle-top door in the attic room would be a great door for a garden shed or chicken house. I saw parts of some of the other teardowns there about 2 months ago. I remember seeing the stainless steel countertop, marble, and custom bathroom cabinets from one teardown. I may have to check back to see if that angle-top door makes it to the ReStore. I’ll design a shed just around that door.” [Lynn, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Half Timber]
WHAT’S THAT YOU SAID? Swamplot’s email appears to be up and running now, but it was down most of the morning, and some messages likely got lost. At least that tip about the stripper pole came through. If earlier today you sent us a different hot tip, a question about advertising, a vote in the first category of the Swamplot Awards, a last-minute nomination for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate (the Swampies’ final award category) — or anything else — please accept our apologies for dropping the ball, and please try again.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER “I know it is not at all related to the willowick project above, but I’ve got a ‘good’ story about this type townhome. A friend of mine’s folks own one out in the Kirkwood and I-10 area. They are ex-pats and live outside the US 10+ mo a year, so it stays empty or is used by family in town. So cousins show up to use it for a few days and find all the kitchen cabinets all open, the doors won’t close, and cracks in all the walls. The old lady two doors down decided to have her foundation done. The problem is she shares that foundation with a few homes. She didn’t mention it to anyone and well, the rest is history. Still waiting to see how they clean that one up. Also surprised that a foundation company would do the work in the first place.” [MH005, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Bus Stop Stop]