COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RENTS ARE TOO DAMN HIGH “Finally some progressive thinking from a Houston property owner. Houston is filled with vacant junk space left over from failed retail projects priced at ridiculous, speculative prices. The kind of development necessary to pay the outrageous rent asked by property managers and owners for dilapidated spaces just isn’t supported by the market here. There are only so many Applebees etc. that can be crammed into a given area. I’ve never figured out why keeping a space vacant is better than reducing the rent and making it accessable to artists, creatives, and small business owners. If things go well for them the neighborhood becomes more viable and lively, crime goes down, rent goes up and it’s on to the next neighborhood. It’s a win for everyone.” [JE, commenting on New Arts Complex Planned for Abandoned JCPenney at West Oaks Mall]
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INDIANS ON SCOTLAND 
After a ceremony yesterday, this 1984 office building across from the Cleveland Park at 4300 Scotland St. in Magnolia Grove is the new official home of the Consulate General of India. The Indian government bought the building in August. Next door: the Gables Memorial Hills apartments. [Voice of Asia] Photo: LoopNet
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FEEDING THE WEST OAKS MALL JCPENNEY ARTS BEHEMOTH 
“At 100,000 square feet, it is more than twice as big as all the alternative/artist-run spaces currently in existence in Houston combined. If it can actually be filled with stuff and events in a compelling, convincing way, it moves the center of gravity for Houston art to the west purely by virtue of its size. The more I think about it, the challenge will be figuring out ways to effectively use that space. Usually the issue for an art exhibit is a lack of space — a show at, say, Labotanica can feel uncomfortably cramped. For a curator or artist, this space presents the precise opposite problem. A good model in this regard might be Mass MOCA, the enormous museum in North Adams, MA. Filling the cavernous old factory buildings required big, bold artworks. Are there Houston artists who could step up to this challenge? I’d say yes — for example, Sharon Engelstein’s inflatables.” [Robert Boyd, commenting on New Arts Complex Planned for Abandoned JCPenney at West Oaks Mall] Photo: Sharsten Plenge
MY SPIDEY SENSE SAYS LOOK OUT FOR DRIVE-THRUS IN ISSUE 3 
“They don’t get a ton of super-heroics or super-villainy down there, as far as we know. . . . As every comic book reading Houstonian on the Internet has pointed out, Houston doesn’t have as many skyscrapers as New York, so webslinging around is going to be a different experience. Kaine is going to deal with it in an amazing, unheard of way on occasion: by issue two, he’ll actually drive a car. He might have to hop on a bus, stick to the side of a truck—the possibilities are limitless. . . . It’s also really humid there. Sweating will be an issue. Grackles are a problem. Houston will offer some challenges, but it’s not like Godzilla lives there.” — Scarlet Spider writer Chris Yost, on setting the new comic featuring Spider-Man Peter Parker’s clone, Kaine, in Houston. [Marvel Comic News, via Hair Balls] Drawing: Marvel Comics
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A WORKDAY BEGINS AT THE NEW H-E-B MONTROSE COFFEEHOUSE “While having a cup of coffee in the cafe area this morning, I watched a woman walk around with her laptop looking for an outlet. When she didn’t find one and looked very confused, I suggested it was intentional, that HEB didn’t want people working for hours in the cafe. She looked even more confused by this and then plugged the cord into the outlet behind the Coke machine and left the cord stretching all the way across the floor. Welcome to Montrose!” [lanola, commenting on A Tour of the Lake Flato-Designed H-E-B Montrose Market, Open Today]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: TRACKING THE RUMORED JACKIE O-EXXONMOBIL CAMPUS CONNECTION “The property and Coventry Development Co. are owned by the Aristotle Onassis Estate. Onassis blew thru Houston in 1960 and bought this tract known as Chrimerene, the Gulf Fwy land developed into Baybrook and a motel which is now vacant land on South Main at Greenbriar.” [charles zeller, commenting on Who’s Behind Springwoods Village, Anyway?]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ANSWERS TO YOUR LINGERING QUESTIONS ABOUT PREFABRICATED BATHROOM PODS “. . . Offsite Solutions manufactured the Rice University bathroom pods in panel form, they were then shipped to the US where they were assembled & fitted-out by Kullman Buildings Corp. Bathroom pods were originally developed for boats, aeroplanes, trains & RV’s. Aside from these applications they are now widely used for military, hospital, university, care home, hotel and residential accommodation. They can be made in any size and with nearly any specification from small & basic to large and luxurious – the only real constraint being transport of the units from the factory to site. Bathroom pods are now used in most large construction projects in the UK & Europe where a large number of similar units are required (> 100). Quality can be closely monitored in the factory environment, the construction programme can be decreased, wastage is significantly reduced and less skilled labour is required on-site giving significant cost & time savings to the main contractor. Pods are of two types – FRP and Steel Framed, the former is preferred where a more robust finish is needed, the latter where a conventional (residential) finish is required. Offsite Solutions currently produce 5,000 units a year from their facilities in Somerset, England . . .” [Richard Tonkinson, commenting on Reducing Bathroom Waste: Rice’s Prefabricated Pods]
THE MAN WHO RESURRECTED THE GRAND PARKWAY 
As recently as the beginning of this year, 2 northwestern segments of the proposed fourth ring road around Houston were considered by many to be stalled projects — remnants, even, of an outdated dream to project sprawling, suburban-style development ever outward from the city. But by September, construction on the 15.2-mile Katy Prairie paving program known as Segment E of the Grand Parkway had magically begun; further north, Grand Parkway’s Segment F — the portion that would connect ExxonMobil’s proposed campus in Spring to western suburbs — now appears inevitable. How’d that happen? Reporter Angie Schmitt looks at the role of developer and TxDOT commissioner Ned Holmes in the startling turnaround, including the former banking executive’s remarkable ability to dig up a previously unnoticed $350 million deep in the books of the otherwise cash-starved state agency he oversees — in order to make the Grand Parkway happen. [StreetsBlog; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Rte. 99 ramp construction: Covering Katy
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FEELING THE ENERGY ALL AROUND HOUSTON “I see nothing wrong with XOM making the move to the Woodlands area. It now creates a third energy corridor in the Houston metro area, and a different environment in which to recruit. CBD has Chevron, BG, Shell, El Paso, Enterprise, etc. Woodlands now will have Anadarko & XOM. BP and service companies are located on the west side. Now you have can have real options on living close to where you work — and the type of lifestyle that you want.” [DJ, commenting on Urban Escape: An ExxonMobil Video Tour and Explanation for Its Enormous New Houston Forest Campus]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: EXXONMOBIL’S NEW PINE-FRESH SCENT “. . . And about those trees. Those are shit trees. I know because I grew up around them, they’re second growth pines that shed pine needles half the year, and disgorge nasty pollen for weeks. They’re not Sequoias. They’re not the original Big Thicket and old growth pine and cypress species. I hate those pine trees.” [Scott Bodenheimer, commenting on Urban Escape: An ExxonMobil Video Tour and Explanation for Its Enormous New Houston Forest Campus]
NEW BRAUNFELS RESIDENTS APPROVE TUBING CAN BAN 
By a wide margin, New Braunfels residents voted to uphold an ordinance passed by city council over the summer that will prohibit Comal and Guadalupe River tubers from using disposable containers within the city limits. Supporters of the beer-can ban, which takes effect January 1, hope it’ll limit pollution from visitors; layers of tossed aluminum cans have been found lining riverbottoms after peak tubing season weekends. A group of local business owners has already filed suit to block the ban, claiming it violates state law. [San Antonio Express-News; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Lelombrik
GEORGE MITCHELL WANTS TO BUY GALVESTON PIERS 
Billionaire George Mitchell’s Mitchell Historic Properties has been leasing Piers 19-22 on the dock side of Galveston since 1993. The leases don’t expire until 2065, but he now wants to buy the properties from the city. Sitting on the piers: the Harbor House Hotel and Marina and a couple of Landry’s-owned restaurants. Mitchell claims he wants to make improvements to the docks that would make more development possible. The sale would require a city charter amendment and voter approval, which the company hopes would take place next May. [Galveston County Daily News] Photo: TripAdvisor
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN THE NEW H-E-B MARKET OPENS ACROSS THE STREET “I shop at the Dunlavy Fiesta fairly regularly. To brace themselves for the new competition, the staff just got spiffy new uniform shirts, and they’ve put out a banner that says that location has housed a neighborhood grocery store for 60 years (indeed, my grandmother shopped there decades ago when it was a Safeway). I keep wanting to ask the employees if anyone is moving over to the HEB, because if I were running HEB the first thing I’d do is hire away the best Fiesta employees. But I’m sure it’s a touchy subject. I love HEB and will probably shop there, too, but I’m going to feel like a traitor.” [Carol, commenting on Meanwhile, on the Former Site of the Wilshire Village Apartments]
MISSOURI CITY GROWS ITS OWN TRAIL MIX 
Missouri City forester Paul Wierzbicki tells reporter Cory Stottlemeyer that he expects the Jujubes, Mexican plums, Mexican persimmons, mulberries, pomegranates, figs, pears, and kumquats he began planting along the Oyster Creek Trail last fall to survive through the year. The 70 fruit- and nut-bearing trees now growing along half of the Missouri City section of the trail between Mosley Park and FM 3345 were selected for their tolerance to local conditions, including drought and Gulf Coast pests. Planted in 7 separate groves and interspersed with signage bearing descriptions and the corporate logos of sponsors, they constitute the region’s first-ever edible arbor trail. By next fall, Wierzbicki hopes to have the city’s entire portion of the trail lined with tree bounty trailgoers can reach out and eat. [Fort Bend Sun] Photo: Missouri City
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY WE MOVED UP TO THE WOODLANDS “My mom moved to Afton Oaks as a child & went to Lamar. I grew up in the Galleria area & my family now lives in TW because we work out of our homes and, when that’s the case, TW becomes the more rational place to raise a family. The air is cleaner, the free schools better; the city has been officially declared bike friendly, and the 160 miles of paths are great for a runner like me. I really don’t want to spend $300,000 over 12 years sending my children to private and then never be able to retire. Sometimes as a native Houstonian who lived in H-Town — Galleria, Rice Military, downtown loft — for much, much longer than we have lived here, this back-and forth is tiresome. “Chains†up here include Hubbell & Hudson, 1252, and the G’s, and those who tend to blindly diss TW are simply ignorant. So; fine; I’m glad we’re getting a TJ. Houston’s going to be getting one too.” [M77002, commenting on Here’s Where the First Trader Joe’s Is Going — in The Woodlands]