COMMENT OF THE DAY: HURRICANE RITAS “I know there are people who ‘go out for Margaritas’ . . . that is, they are looking for a good ’Rita and don’t care that much about the food. However, I don’t think that means a place can succeed if that’s all they’ve got. No shortage in this town of good ’Ritas or good Mexican food or places that can do both, like Hugo’s or Sylvia’s. On the other hand, I have a fond memory of the Ninfa’s on Kirby because they were open right after Ike when most of the city was still without power. Under those circumstances, I thought the food was awesome.” [toadfroggy, commenting on Out with Mama Ninfa’s, in with Maggie Rita’s]
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WHERE PHILLIPS 66 WILL HANG OUT FOR A FEW YEARS IN WESTCHASE 
On its way to building a new headquarters at some yet-to-be-revealed location “within the I-10 and Beltway 8 corridors,” newly jettisoned refining and chemicals company Phillips 66 announced back in March that it’ll be parking employees in a few separate temporary office locations in the meantime. Many will stay in the Two and Three Westlake Park office buildings on Memorial Dr. east of George Bush Park where they are already. But a previously unidentified third temporary location has just been revealed: The top floors of the Pinnacle Westchase building at 3010 Briarpark, where the company will be taking over 209,482 sq. ft. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Pinnacle Westchase
MAKES THE ART REAL Artist and punk rocker Mark Flood — who made a practice of setting up studio space in decaying, abandoned buildings — explains Houston to New York Times arts blogger Randy Kennedy: “Q. You’ve described Houston as an “oil-stained, overdeveloped parking lot, packed with cars, littered with advertising, designed for profit, not people.†Why have you stayed there all these years? A. I don’t hear any anger in that description. Merely truth telling, which freaks people out. I’ve just always liked Houston. I could operate there. I could drive around. I had a pickup truck. And it was a city that fed my work with something — I call it reality. Houston is more real than most places, more real than New York.” [NYT]
OUT WITH MAMA NINFA’S, IN WITH MAGGIE RITA’S 
What’s behind the rebranding of the 3 non-Navigation Ninfa’s Mexican Food restaurants — on Kirby at Richmond, Post Oak north of San Felipe, and the Gulf Fwy. feeder Rd. at Winkler — into Maggie Rita’s Grill & Bar locations, and the attendant replacement of the well-known Houston restaurant’s Tex-Mex classics with . . . tapas? Besides freeing himself and co-owner Carlos Mencia from licensing payments for using the Ninfa’s name, Suave Restaurants’ Santiago Moreno explains, switching to the Maggie Rita’s chain means a lighter menu that customers might be able to eat from as often as 3 times a week. But by his calculation the food switch may not make much of a difference anyway: “We’ve found out consumer decisions are made by women,” Moreno tells Eric Sandler. “When we track what makes a woman decide where to eat Mexican food, it has to do with margaritas. It has nothing to do with food.” The changes won’t effect Ninfa’s on Navigation, which has been owned since 2007 by Legacy Restaurants. [Eater Houston] Photo of Ninfa’s at 1650 Post Oak Blvd.: AmREIT
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MONTROSE, GOING VEGAS “. . . It took Montrose it’s whole lifetime to get to ~7000 units. Yes there is strong demand, no one would doubt that . . . which is why you have people building. But they’re building at a frantic pace. So while it took Montrose it’s whole life to ~7000 units, we’re about to DOUBLE that in a few years. So strong demand brings strong supply. I believe turds is saying that the supply is coming so strong that it’ll outpace demand and thus create the need for incentives. Personally I think we’re going to have a Vegas (strip) style disruption in econ 101 where supply tends to CREATE demand. As these units come online, they’ll make the area better, and increase demand to live here. These units won’t be for the people living here. They’ll be for new people coming here. So I think Montrose can take these units on and be just fine (with respects to multifamily operator demand).” [Cody, commenting on What To Make of the Museum Gardens Sale]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LIGHT RAIL FOR THE PEOPLE “One very interesting upshot to delaying Uptown and University is that it heads the ‘LRT is elitist’ argument off at the pass. If you open the E, SE, and N lines without Uptown and University then you’ve just created an LRT system that predominantly serves black and hispanic neighborhoods. Possibly the first such new-start system ever built in [the US and Canada]. Opposition to the ‘white man’s train,’ whether it takes a grassroots, Los Angeles Bus Rider’s Union form, or whether it’s simply a talking point for people who will always think rail is a ‘boondoggle,’ is thus impossible. Considering that H-town will be minority-majority by the 2020 census, I think it’s kinda cool. And I’m an elitist white dude.” [KHH, commenting on Light Rail Scorecard: 6 Miles Down, 9 To Go, Culberson Blocking Goal]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: COWARDS SHAPE THE CITY “. . . Has it ever occurred to you that developers (whose core competency is development) develop apartment complexes for long-term investors and operators? What you refer to as cutting and running is actually just an element of their business model. It is a hand-off of ownership from one entity preferring stability to another that demands it. Neither entity is assured of stability, however. A developer can’t pretend (with a straight face) to know what is in store for a nation, a metropolitan area, or a submarket over a five-year period of planning, permitting, financing, construction, the first year of lease-up, the second year of burning through concessions, and the third year of stability so that they can generate a reliable set of T-12 profit and loss figures. As it turns out, they have to make an educated guess about the future, close their eyes, hold their nose, and jump in. The business model may be different, however the same lesson is analogous for subdivision developers and home buyers, too. They can only try their best to make the right decision, then hope for the best. But eventually . . . they all sell. Everybody sells. The only consequential purpose in owning real estate is to be able to sell it. If selling something is cutting and running, then our entire society is founded on cowardice.” [TheNiche, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Shelf Life of Apartment Complexes]
WHAT TO MAKE OF THE MUSEUM GARDENS SALE 
Residents of the Museum Gardens Apartments at 1123 Bartlett St. received notices taped to their front doors this week announcing that both the ownership and management of the 28-unit courtyard-style ensemble a couple blocks northwest of the Contemporary Arts Museum has changed. Contact info for the new owner matches that of real estate, construction and development, homebuilding, REIT, and mortgage firm Jetall Companies. A reader wants to know if Jetall might actually manage apartment complexes too — and asks “Is this lovely old complex a goner?” Photo: Midtown Houston Real Estate
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE SHELF LIFE OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES “. . . please drive by the Belmont Apartments on Bissonnet between Buffalo Speedway and Kirby. They were built in 1991 and pretty much kicked off the modern era of apartment development in Houston (post 80′s bust). They are in FINE condition at the ripe old age of 21 years. There are plenty more early 90′s vintage complexes around that are also going strong and aging well. Vanderbilt Square (1995). Inverness (1991). Pin Oak Green etc. (1991). City Scape. City Walk. And MANY more. There is nothing wrong with these 20 year old complexes. Finally, take a look at Westchase or Avalon Square and you’ll see 50 year old apartment complexes that are still fine places to live. Yes. Buildings age. And deteriorate over time. But well located assets in high demand sub-markets where the rental rates are high enough to finance proper maintenance can stand the test of time.” [Bernard, commenting on Apartments Replacing Park Memorial Condos in Rice Military: More than Triple the Density]
COUNTRY LIVING IN THE LOWER FIFTH 
Nancy Sarnoff surveys the collection of repurposed structures moved from Montrose, River Oaks, and Milby St. cobbled into the 4-block Japhet Community run by landlords Jim Ohmart and Eileen Hatcher near Clinton Dr. and Emile St. in the Lower Fifth Ward, off Japhet Creek just north of the Ship Channel-bound Buffalo Bayou: “The rental application for Ohmart’s properties includes questions like: ‘How would you contribute to the neighborhood to make it better?’ and ‘What skills do you have that you’d be willing to share with everyone?’ About 20 people of various ages live there, including several photographers, a professor, nurse and commercial painter. Some are families. Three babies were born in the community last year. Ohmart says he tries to keep the rents affordable, but the taxes have gone up. The cheapest house is $350 a month and the most expensive — a three-bedroom — rents for $980. . . . Ohmart would like to build more housing on a 4½-acre tract adjacent to the community the couple bought in 2003. He’s considered a multifamily development, perhaps with solar power, where tenants could share common facilities, but no official plans have been made.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Megan Parks
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GETTING AROUND IN THE MIDRANGE SUBURBS “. . . To me, the goal is not to make Houston’s car culture better. I want to provide people with alternatives to driving. But we have fallen into a trap, where we concentrate our efforts on a few prewar neighborhoods near downtown — because they look the part — and assume that postwar neighborhoods are beyond hope. This happens all over the country, but in Houston it’s really tragic because most of our City was developed after World War II. I brought up Gulfton because not only is it Houston’s densest neighborhood, it is also one of the most neglected. But Sharpstown is in the same predicament. And Oak Forest. And most of Memorial at the other end of the economic spectrum. Most of Houston, really. These areas are too spread out for walkability and rail. But with a few small improvements (a new bus route here; a bicycle path there, a foot bridge), they could be made far less dependent on the automobile. If only we could get out of the trap we’re in.” [ZAW, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Drive Toward a Denser Houston]
LIGHT RAIL SCORECARD: 6 MILES DOWN, 9 TO GO, CULBERSON BLOCKING GOAL 
Metro says it’s now laid 6 miles of track for the 3 light-rail lines its working on — the new East End and Southeast Lines and the North Line extension. And construction is now under way on 10 of 24 new stations. All is on track for a 2014 opening date, including $200 million of federal funds for 2 of those lines, approved by a vote in the House of Representatives last Friday. Also approved within the same bill, though: Congressman John Culberson’s ban on federal funding for both the Uptown Line and the long-delayed University Line. A House-Senate conference committee will determine if the funding block remains in the bill’s final version. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Metro
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE DRIVE TOWARD A DENSER HOUSTON “Density is fine as long as it’s Not In My Back Yard. Hey, that’s catchy, someone should come up with an acronym for that. in all seriousness, though, there is a transit issue with density that’s related to the character of Houston’s approach to the car. Density in other cities works well because transit in other city cores works well. Houston is . . . working on it. The fear a lot of people have with large vertical density is that assumption that transit follows the plow, so to speak. In Houston, that can be a riskier gamble than elsewhere.” [J, commenting on Regent Square-ish Apartment Tower Possibly Breaking Ground in 2 Weeks]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CHOOSING WHICH HISTORY TO PRESERVE “I don’t understand how we’re supposed to decide which moment of time in history we are all supposed to value more than all the other moments in history. A vacant lot is actually much closer to the historical use of this site. It was vacant for millions of years before someone built a farm there. Many decades later someone decided the farm had to go to make room for a house. Several more decades pass and someone else wants to use the site for a bigger house. To argue over the type of house best suited for this lot seems silly. I propose that we use eminent domain to condemn every non-agricultural structure that currently exists more than one mile from Allen’s Landing. Let’s bulldoze them all and write zoning laws that allow only farm, ranch or wildlife use for everything else within the city limits. We can all move into downtown high rises that are super duper dense, walkable and mixed use. And we’ll have a choo choo train on every street and ban cars. Yippeee!!!!!!!!!!” [Bernard, commenting on A Brief Illustrated Guide to Bungalow Removal]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CATECHISM OF THE NATIVE HOUSTONIAN “I grew up in Houston and never thought I’d choose to live here long term, but life and kids and job opportunities kept me here. I have grown to love this city. I travel frequently for work and am always impressed, for instance, at how clean Houston is by comparison. The biggest difference is the attitude that if you have a good idea and the guts to try, you can succeed here. You aren’t subject to the same kind of exclusionary treatment by the monied elite of some other cities. I live close in and take advantage of art and entertainment that seem a bargain and rival other major cities of the world. If we could just fix the summer heat, it would be wonderful.” [stevec, commenting on Comment of the Day: Pack Them In]