HIGHLAND VILLAGE APPLE STORE TO DEBUT WITH THE IPAD 3 
The Apple Store still under construction at the corner of Drexel and Westheimer in the Highland Village Shopping Center will open just in time for the debut of the iPad 3. If, that is, workers scramble quickly enough to get the glass-roofed, walk-through structure ready to open by March 16th — which a super-secret source tells Chron tech columnist Dwight Silverman is the official opening date. And, uh, if Apple actually goes ahead and introduces an iPad 3 on March 7th. Oh yeah, and also if the new iPad actually goes on sale on the 16th or later. Please form your line to the left, in front of Sprinkles Cupcakes. [TechBlog; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Vinson
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A RANCH-THEMED DEVELOPMENT FOR HOUSTON’S LAST RANCH? 
Lisa Gray tries to find out why the owner of the 19 acres at the northwest corner of George Bush Park that constitute the Marks LH7 Ranch has requested that the Texas Historical Commission remove the landmark designation on the grounds of Houston’s last remaining undeveloped ranch: “‘The property hasn’t been maintained for decades,’ explains Mark Wolfe, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission. ‘The buildings are so badly deteriorated that the owner says the property is a public nuisance, that it could hurt people who come onto the property.’ The development that would take the ranch buildings’ place, Wolfe says, would have a ranch theme and interpretive signs. The developers might reuse artifacts from the ranch, such as a windmill. And the ranch buildings would be painstakingly documented before they’re demolished. . . . I called Milo Marks to ask about his plans. ‘We’re working on a project,’ he said. ‘I’ll just wait to talk until May or June. Thank you!’ And with that, the phone went dead.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Louis F. Aulbach
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN I HEAR THE WORD ‘CULTURE,’ I REACH FOR MY WALLET “i just wish i could base all my purchases off rigorous aesthetic and historical trends rather than the underlying economics and my base financial well-being. everyone has their personal priorities and should have the right to cater to those priorities as they see fit. as for me, i fully intend on buying the cheapest and most efficient/utilitarian townhome to fit mine and my families needs, which is of course guaranteed to be ugly and of shoddy construction. if i choose to defer proper maintenance on it for 40yrs in exchange for a well-funded roth IRA and 401k, is that really so morally reprehensible (especially after what the boomers are doing to this countries finances)? on the positive side, in 40yrs time a much better and more efficient home will be built making all those aesthetically pleasing and expensive townhomes of current years look out of place, again.” [joel, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Apartment Hunters]
FUDDRUCKERS GROWING INSIDE LUBY’S 
Seven months after converting a Luby’s takeout room on the I-10 East Fwy. into a Fuddruckers Express drive-thru (shown in the photo at left), the company behind the 2 chains is building its first-ever combo restaurant from scratch, Catie Brubaker reports. Construction will begin next month on a new 12,000-sq.-ft. Luby’s-and-Fuddruckers hybrid on a 2-acre site at 11023 Shadowcreek Pkwy., at the northern end of Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland. This time the Fuddruckers will be a bit bigger, though, taking up a full 2,500 sq. ft. of the building, plus an additional 1,000 sq. ft. of shared kitchen-and-storage space. Expected opening: August. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Luby’s
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE REPLACEMENTS “I happen to live in a 3-story townhouse and love it. There are plenty of older homes, 4-plexes in my neighborhood too, but yes, it’s basically becoming a 3-/4-story townhouse haven. While many people speak about the “history†of Houston in these homes, I find many of them to be dilapidated and run down (not all, of course). So, I see no reason to enjoy keeping up decrepit structures that 1) need to be remodeled or 2) demo’d. Don’t fool yourself — not everything that is old is built to last or of quality craftsmenship. There are a lot of cheap townhouses being put up, but there are also some very nice ones out there (including mine). Also, what’s the deal with everybody hating stucco? What makes ugly brick feel full of life and warm? . . .” [Fernando, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Apartment Hunters]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: INVASION OF THE CAR SNATCHERS “It’s a mystery to me who lives in these new construction [townhomes]. I make considerably more money than the average wage earner in Houston, and I sure don’t live in one. Look at The Fink and then look at the monstrocity next to it, with the huge a/c unit in front, constantly kicking on and off. I think pod people live in those things and they keep their pods there. Think about it . . . do you ever really see someone who lives in those kinds of townhomes? You may occasionally see the huge garage door open and shut, but never see the people.” [Darogr, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Apartment Hunters]
A LONG GOODBYE FOR THE WOODLANDS MALL SEARS 
The Woodlands Mall location is among the 11 anchor stores around the country Sears announced it will sell to mall operator General Growth Properties. All of the stores will remain open until 2013; a closing date will be announced within the next several months. [Retail Traffic] Photo: City-Data
COMMENT OF THE DAY: KEEP THOSE TRAINS MOVING BY MY HOUSE, PLEASE “This is a great photo of the cars that Union Pacific parks behind our neighborhood on a constant basis. I’ve been fighting them for 1 1/2 years now about leaving running refrigerated cars there overnight. Those suckers are LOUD. Yeah, I understand the track was there way before my house but we didn’t have this problem until UP started using it as a delivery point for a local distributor 2 years ago. Miserable sleep for 10 households just so UP can save a few bucks. When the cars aren’t running, I actually enjoy the constant change of scenery. We’ve seen some pretty interesting stuff back there.” [JenBen00, commenting on Headlines: Affordable Housing Demos; Young Houston]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ABOUT THAT 35-STORY TOWER ABOUT TO GO UP DOWN THE STREET “I need some opinions. A friend of mine owns a patio home on W Alabama next to this site. Will this help or hurt her property value? There’s a one acre tract between this development and hers, and we don’t know what it’s going to be. I figure it might help her value because it will be near retail and probably a restaurant or two, but who knows?” [Bill, commenting on First Sign of the 35-Story Apartment Tower Coming to Weslayan and West Alabama]
PHOTOGRAPHERS: SHOW US WHAT HOUSTON REALLY LOOKS LIKE 
How tough is it to get your photo featured on Swamplot? Not very: Just submit your pix to the Swamplot Flickr pool. That’s where we’ll be looking for great images to use atop our daily Headlines posts. If we like one of yours, we’ll post it and credit you. Be sure to label every photo you submit so it’s clear where it was taken and what it shows. We already have way too many glowy tall-tower shots and downtown-skyline sunsets to choose from, thanks. What we’re looking for instead: Pix that show the greater Houston landscape as it really is, or as you experience it. Everyday places that maybe haven’t been photographed so much; your little pieces of the city. Photo: Sohail Rizki [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE TO PICK UP 20 TONS OF ABE 
“Hey, now you can buy your own David Adickes Presidential sculpture! Its listed on ebay.com. Check out ebay listing #180818753008.” [ck, commenting on So We Put Our Heads Together and Decided To Take Presidents Day Off]
HOW HARRIS COUNTY STARVED THE ASTRODOME 
It’s not that county officials weren’t looking for some big new thing to do with it, argues Cynthia Neeley. The big problem was they stopped taking care of it while they waited for the sports stadium’s grand new future to arrive: “Let’s add up just a few things: $18.8 million for the lease buy-out, $517,000 for repairs to qualify for temporary occupancy for the Rodeo, $3,210 for that final inspection and permit, $50,000 for a workshop to study future use of the Astrodome, $50,000 more for consultants to study the workshop study; grand total is $19,420,210. . . . Does it bother anyone else that . . . the Sports & Convention Corporation spent that whopping amount and we still have a building doing nothing? And that millions upon millions of potential revenue have been lost? And that whatever grand plan is in its future is going to cost us millions more? In 2007, the year before Astrodome was closed, there were only seven events in the building for a paltry annual net income of $103,596. Did anybody see ads that the Dome was available for lease for private parties or events? Were there promotions or incentives publicized? Did anyone know that you could have rented the field for a bar mitzvah? (Someone actually did, for a reported $15-18,000.)” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Jeff Balke
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MAKING HOUSTON HISTORY “that IS history, and a culture. it may not work in most parts, but some people see it as a progressive sign that we are not willing to be bound to what worked 100, 50, and sometimes 20 years ago . . . that in Houston, if it ain’t perfect or up to snuff, knock it down and make it so.” [HTX REZ, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: The Best a Demo Can Get]
WTF IS TAKING THE SHIPPING CONTAINERS SO LONG AT THE MOON TOWER INN 
An only slightly cleaned-up report on the progress of the brewery and shipping-container redo at the Canal St. bar, straight from the Moon Tower Inn Facebook page: “as you all should know, we’re late for everything and some time’s we just plain don’t show up. but DO NOT WORRY, moon tower will be OPEN SOON. using new technology (shipping containers etc) is tricky business and moves a lil slow with our fine city. so, we’re not gonna say exactly when we’ll be back open yet ’cause we’re ass holes like that and we like the suspense. but, our brewery equipment is damn near built and the containers for the kitchen and bar are being fitted at a welding yard and are almost ready to bring on-site! so… everything’s a go! SEE YOU THIS SPRING . . .” [Moon Tower Inn on Facebook, via Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Eddie S.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE JUST RUN THE NUMBERS “If you dig a bit deeper into the Milhaus proformas, what the developer is REALLY saying is that there won’t be retail because: 1. lenders don’t like it; 2. buyers don’t like it; 3. adding retail reduces my return on cost somewhat; AND 4. mostly because of #1 and #2, it kills my numbers. If you look at the overall return on cost (NOI/cost) you get 7.7% return on cost with retail vs 8.7% return on cost without retail. That’s a substantial difference, but not eye popping. If the Midtown TIRZ really wanted some retail in the deal, they could easily toss Millhaus a bone and bridge this 100 basis point gap with ease. The real problem, at least according to Millhaus (not that I disagree), is that the lenders and buyers treat mixed use differently. In the example comparison, Millhaus assumes the non-retail deal gets a permanent loan underwrittien to 1.25 DSC [debt service coverage] vs 1.30 DSC for the with-retail deal. This means a larger permanent loan upon completion for the no-retail deal (more cash in Millhaus pocket). He’s assuming lenders will get more aggressive on a apartments-only deal. He also thinks his eventual buyer will prefer a non-retail deal. He calculates the as-completed value using a 7.00% cap rate for the non-retail project, but uses a 7.25% cap rate for apartments+retail project. What he’s really saying is, ‘Don’t blame me for not including retail in my development. Blame the lenders and buyers.’†[Bernard, commenting on Nixing Milhaus Retail: Why These New Midtown Apartments Won’t Have Shops on the Ground Floor]