WALK THIS WAY 
Only 17 percent of projects eligible for incentives included in the city’s 8-year-old Transit Corridor ordinance have taken advantage of them, reports Hilary Ybarra. So the next city initiative aimed at walkability will take a different approach: “The recently established Walkable Places Committee has been tasked with reevaluating the city code to dive deeper into the issue of walkability in Houston. The committee is currently focused on creating an application-based process to establish specific ‘walkable place’ areas,” she writes. “Under this new system, any neighborhood could voluntarily apply to become a ‘walkable place’ and in doing so establish their own set of self-defined unique rules for development to encourage walkability. These rules would include specific regulations covering the building setback, design of the pedestrian realm, landscaping, pedestrian friendly building design, and parking (a separate subcommittee has been formed exclusively to deal with parking).
But once adopted, unlike the Transit Corridor Ordinance, neighborhood- and site-specific building rules would be required, not optional, for all new development. Though still in the early planning stages — adoption of a new ordinance is targeted for 2019 — the proposal certainly faces challenges. How will a neighborhood come to consensus on new guidelines? What are the incentives to apply to become a ‘walkable place?’ What will trigger the application of the new guidelines to existing development? Are historic structures exempt? And perhaps most importantly, what about the spaces between and connecting to the specific neighborhoods?” [The Urban Edge] Photo of Gray St., Midtown:Â Mark Taylor Cunningham (license)
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- First Harvey-Damaged Home Bought in Houston’s Rapid Buyout Program Demolished [Houston Chronicle]
- Why a Third Reservoir Isn’t a Surefire Solution [Save Buffalo Bayou]
- Houston Civil Rights Finding Could Delay Harvey Housing Funds [Houston Chronicle]
- Friendswood Concerned About Illegal Dumping as Harvey Debris Cleanup Service Comes to an End [abc13]
- Houston’s Long Harvey Recovery Now Largely a Private Matter [Washington Post ($)]
- Petition Calls for Houston Street To Be Named After Mattress Mack, Honoring Harvey, Astros Support [abc13]
- Miami-Based One Real Estate Investment Has Sold 2 Houston Apartment Complexes Totaling 882 Units for $60M [Houston Chronicle]
- Washington Ave Redevelopment To Include Co-Working Space [HBJ ($)]
- Where Rent Has Increased the Most for a 1-Bedroom in the Houston Area [HBJ ($)]
- Apartment List Names Houston the Least Affordable Major Rental Market in Texas [Culturemap]
- Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. To Break Ground on $14M Brewery and Restaurant in Sawyer Yards [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Hooters To Return to Galveston Today [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- TxDOT Plans To Expand Stretch of Texas 99 from I-10 to FM 1093 from 4 Lanes to 6 Â [Houston Chronicle]
- Galveston County Voters Approved $80M in Bonds with Bulk Earmarked for Roadwork [Houston Public Media]
- Montrose Management District Cancels Monthly Board Meeting Scheduled for Monday [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Metro Bus Crashed into Southeast Houston Home Last Night [abc13]
- Chinese Government Building Water-Absorbent Projects in 30 Cities Through ‘Sponge City Initiative’ [Business Insider]
- Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Houston’s Struggle Is America’s Tale [New York Times]
Photo of Main Street: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
No permits from the Veterans Day holiday, but we’ll unbreak and continue the building breaking tomorrow.
TAKING OFF FOR VETERANS DAY 
Swamplot salutes the many brave men and women who have served — or still serve — in our armed forces. And we’re off for the long Veterans Day weekend. Please join us again Monday for more of our regularly scheduled Houston real estate fun. Photo of Wings Over Houston: WoH2009Â (license)
- State Approves $90M in Emergency Funding To Help Expedite Debris Removal from Hurricane Harvey [Houston Chronicle]
- Harvey-Damaged East Houston Regional Medical Center Will Not Reopen [HBJ]
- Potholes Popping Up on Hurricane Harvey-Flooded Roads [Fox 26]
- Texas A&M University Flood Scientist Calls for Changes Like Building Homes 3 Ft. Above Flood Level [NPR]
- Lessons for Houston from Hurricane Sandy Recovery [abc13]
- Texas Library Organizations Win Nearly $300K in Grants for Harvey Recovery [Houston Chronicle]
- Nitya to Upgrade 35-Year-Old Norfolk Tower, Rename It Nitya Tower [Houston Chronicle]
- Navy Federal Credit Union To Open First Houston Branches [HBJ ($)]
- Farmers Market at Sugar Land’s Imperial Market To Close To Make Way for New Development [abc13]
- Grand Parkway Marches On Despite Arguments, Lawsuits, and Ethical Conflicts [Houston Chronicle]
- Mayor Orders ‘Deep Cleansing’ of Homeless Encampments Near Midtown and Minute Maid Park [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston First Corp.’s Augmented Reality App Lets You Explore Houston [HBJ]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Demolition is just another path. One that we all must take.
- 418 Lakeview Blvd. [HAR]
Is Houston ready for yet another loop road? Here’s the proposed Green Loop, a 5-mile network of parks, trails, and other public spaces that the neighborhood supergroups behind Plan Downtown imagine ringing in Houston’s bicentennial — if it’s completed by 2036. One of 10 separate proposals in the plan, the city’s littlest loop is meant to take advantage of TxDOT’s proposed rerouting of I-45 to the east side of Downtown — by wrapping the district tightly with a transportation and recreation circuit that could attract adjacent development and help link the city center to adjacent neighborhoods.
Plan Houston’s new report flags ideas and renderings for 3 spots along Downtown’s proposed Emerald Choker: At Buffalo Bayou, on top of I-69 and I-45 once they’re sunk behind the George R. Brown, and on Pierce St. at the Midtown border.
New buildings at the northwest corner of Downtown would face Buffalo Bayou as well as the surrounding streets, lining the waterfront with flood-worthy attractions:
It’s a Wrap!
Today’s Swamplot sponsor:Â personal coach Cricket Buchler. Thanks for the support!
Searching for a creative, personalized holiday gift for friends, family members, or employees? Consider the gift of a fun and inspiring 90-minute personal coaching session with coach Cricket Buchler. An experienced corporate trainer who has helped top executives, Hollywood celebrities, and employees in a range of industries address personal and professional development issues, Cricket also works one-on-one, guiding clients to explore and unlock possibilities and design plans to realize change, and coaching them through their journey toward an intentional life.
A coaching session can be an inspiring gift for anyone on your list who is looking to take the next step forward in life, work, or relationships, but feels a bit stuck as to what next steps might look like. You’ll find a sampling of testimonials from Cricket’s clients on her website, along with more information about coaching sessions.
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- Houston Home Sales Continue Rise After Harvey, Latest HAR Numbers Find [HBJ]
- Best Buy To Build 550,000SF Distribution Facility in Fort Bend County [HBJ ($)]
- Meyerland Plaza Refinanced for $93M, Opening Door for Potential H-E-B Move-In [Realty News Report; previously on Swamplot]
- LePeep Leaving Westheimer Location After 30 Years, Relocating to Nearby Westheimer Location This Month [Houston Chronicle]
- Disappearing Neighborhoods a Cost of Selling a Flood-Damaged Home After Harvey [NPR]
- Analyzing Need After Harvey Through Calls to United Way of Greater Houston’s 211 Helpline [The Urban Edge]
- House Flood Insurance Program Reform Vote Delayed Until Next Week [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of 1500 Louisiana St.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Every new structure comes from some other structure’s end.
- 6710 Falcon Pt. [HAR]
Coming soon to the complex of light-colored industrial buildings across 34th St. from the Pat H. Foley funeral home and its accompanying embalming services facility, the Hare Krishna Temple and Cultural Center, and the Foster Family YMCA between them just south of Oak Forest: a 17,831 sq.-ft. retail and restaurant center redo. Revive Development’s Stomping Grounds, which will also include 5,000 sq. ft. of upstairs office space, is to be carved out of 4 buildings on a 3-acre site formerly occupied by vehicle-repair and service companies and the Bank Shot pool hall.
Drawings from Cisneros Design Studio show the 2-story metal building at 1229 W. 34th St. (pictured above) formerly occupied by a succession of electrical companies cleaned up, reconfigured, and outfitted with cantilevered balconies and glass curtain walls. A new building modeled after it is shown to the east, with an 8,000 sq.-ft. lawn bordered by patios fitted between.
224 parking spaces will surround the center’s main buildings and garden. Here’s a plan of the entire site:
Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, or Thereabouts
THE KATY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WITH A FLOOD POOL SECRET 
Some documents related to the Katy ISD’s 1998 purchase of the 15-acre site now occupied by Creech Elementary School at 4242 S. Mason Rd. have been frozen — in an attempt to preserve them, after they got flooded when Barker Reservoir got backed up after Hurricane Harvey. What those records might show, once thawed: some explanation for why school officials at the time signed a notice indicating they did not review a map filed with the county by Westbrook Cinco East LP (the developer from whom the property was purchased) that disclosed in a note that the land came with the risk of “extended controlled inundation.” Though several Katy schools sit on land near or in the Barker reservoir flood pool — the area expected to fill up with water when the dam is closed for a major flooding event — only Creech suffered major damage. All 800 Creech students are now attending classes at the University of Houston’s nearby Cinco Ranch campus while the school undergoes an estimated $5 million worth of repairs. The school district’s superintendent tells the Chronicle‘s Lise Olsen that he and other school officials were unaware that the school was built in the flood pool until they were contacted for her story. [Houston Chronicle] Photo of flooding at Creech Elementary School, 4242 S. Mason Rd., Katy: Breta Gatlin
Thanks to Just Buyers Houston, today’s Swamplot Sponsor of the Day!
Thinking about getting into the market for a new place? Contact Judy Thompson of Just Buyers Houston.
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