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COMMENT OF THE DAY: ENERGY DEPENDENCE 
“The current Houston economic boom isn’t connected to nation-wide anything. It’s connected to energy-sector activity. If, how and when energy activity slows will determine if the Houston economy, and the Houston real estate market by extension, also slows or busts. If all drilling were to stop tomorrow, our boom would be a bubble that popped. If energy activity continues at this pace for 100 years, they won’t be able to call it a bubble. They’ll just call it growth.” [Densify, commenting on Comment of the Day: Bursting Your Housing Bubble Bubble] Illustration: Lulu
THE CATCH IN KINDER FOUNDATION’S BAYOU GREENWAYS CASH GIVEAWAY 
It’s one thing to get the money to build a bunch of nice parks, and it’s another to keep them nice: Houston Chronicle reports that the Kinder Foundation isn’t convinced that the city will be able to pay for the maintenance of all those miles and miles of hike and bike trails and linear parks it’s setting up through the Bayou Greenways Project. That’s why — before the foundation agrees to donate the $50 million it’s dangling out there to the project — it wants the nonprofit Houston Parks Board to be put in charge of future upkeep: “Under the proposed arrangement, the city agrees to pay the park board up to $10 million a year for maintenance. Although the nonprofit likely will hire private companies and Harris County Flood Control to do some work, the city parks department would be the preferred contractor for the bulk of it, essentially bringing much of the funding back to city coffers. Additionally, the agreement includes an annual 20 percent contingency fund the board can use for capital improvement projects, such as installing new lights or replacing aging trails, or for disaster recovery after flooding or hurricanes.” [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Photo of hike and bike trail construction on Brays Bayou: Allyn West
The bids that were submitted to HISD yesterday to buy the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice High School in Magnolia Grove rang up almost $5 million more than those the first time around in July: Neighboring St. Thomas High School is still in the running to purchase the 11-acre campus on Dickson St., just north of Memorial Dr. and Buffalo Bayou; it offered $45 million, compared with the $42 million the private school said it would pay in July. But St. Thomas was again outbid, this time by an entity called Elk Mountain Ltd. — connected, it appears, to the Gordy Oil Company — which submitted a flat $47,927,114.
- Downtown’s Historic Art Deco Gulf Building Purchased by Lionstone Group [Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Home Sales See 28 Straight Months of Increases [Culturemap]
- As Expected, Use of Katy Managed Lanes Along I-10 Has Decreased After $2 Toll Increase [The Highwayman]
- Wednesday is High Noon for Toll Scofflaws [The Highwayman]
- Hwy. 290 Morning Commute One of Worst in Houston with Speeds as Low as 11 MPH, Based on Transtar Data [Houston Chronicle]
- Are Houston Music Venues Fitzgerald’s, Numbers Haunted? [Rocks Off]
Photo of Lockhart Elementary School demolition: David Hollas
A PREMATURE PHOTO OF PREVIEW, OPENING SOON IN SUGAR LAND 
This signless storefront, a reader reports, will be the home of Preview, the seafood restaurant opening this November just a few doors down from the forthcoming Welfresh Market on Hwy. 6 in Sugar Land. Chef Jason Liao explains to Eater Houston why he chose the ’burbs: “[B]ecause it fit into his budget, is a high-end area and he ‘saw what was happening with Underbelly, Uchi and Oxheart opening in uptown, midtown and [central] areas’ but wanted to take a different route. ‘I’m not trying to do volume or turn tables,’ Liao says. ‘I can afford that small space in that area, and can have people who appreciate what we do [want to] go out there and eat.'” [Swamplot inbox; Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
- 11951 White Oak Crossing [HAR]
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: SWAMPLOT’S HELP-WANTED AD 
Swamplot is looking for a full-time reporter-writer. Know someone who might be just the right fit for this position? Or could this be you? Get all the details here. Illustration: Lulu
Here’s a pic of the foliage and signage of the closed Wel-Farm Supermarket in Sugar Land — which, a reader reports, will soon have its hyphen removed and hyperbole reduced when it opens later this fall as the Welfresh Market. The grocery store, specializing in Asian produce, is located inside the shopping center near Dulles Ave. at 4635 Hwy. 6.
- Welfresh Market [Facebook]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
COMMENT OF THE DAY: BURSTING YOUR HOUSING BUBBLE BUBBLE 
“Your fears of a bubble being caused in this manner are unfounded. The sales of older homes (by Houston standards at least — still less than 10 years) have shot up in just the last 9 months. Sure, we always need to guard against bubbles, but I don’t think an EaDo-specific bubble is occurring, and certainly not because there aren’t existing single-family homes.
Teardowns of existing, livable (leaving out the shotgun shacks) single-family homes have started (here, for instance). In the place of the teardowns are multiple townhomes.
There are some examples of irrational exuberance on the part of the developers, like the $500,000 asking price for the townhomes bounded by Nagle/Capitol/Delano/Rusk, but the recent high appreciation occurring is not out of line and has only been occurring for a few years, whereas places like the Heights and Rice Military have seen prices increases for many years, all without any neighborhood-specific bubble. Midtown, too, has avoided a bubble-then-crash and they have an even smaller stock of single-family homes yards than EaDo.” [eiioi, commenting on Comment of the Day: East Downtown, Brought to You by Montrose] Illustration: Lulu
Looks like MAM’s House of Ice will be opening inside this 780-sq.-ft. former paint supply liquor store at 1040 W. Cavalcade — just in time for winter! This spot is a bit east of where the sky-blue dessert trailer usually parks at Rutland and 20th. Why here? The owners explain to Eater Houston that they “‘tried really hard not to go into a strip center because [they] wanted to have green space’ so that families could go out, extend blankets on the green and enjoy the outdoor picnic tables.” HCAD records show that this new lot comes in at 3,500 sq. ft.
- New Orleans Style Snoballs [MAM’s House of Ice]
- MAM’S House of Ice Snoballs to Open in November [Eater Houston]
- Previously on Swamplot: Snoballs at MAM’s: the Heights of Ice
Photo: Eater Houston
ORDINANCE OPENING CHECKBOOKS, NOT SPACES 
How much new parkland has the city acquired since 2007, when it passed the so-called open space ordinance meant to encourage residential developers to donate part of their properties to the public? “Not one acre,” reports the Houston Chronicle. Almost all the developers, reports Jayme Fraser, have “written checks” instead. But the city hasn’t spent the $11 million it has garnered in fees to buy land; much of it, rather, has gone to maintain and add amenities to the parks it already has: “Mark Ross, deputy director of parks development, said neighborhoods often want upgrades that can be easier to fund, such as . . . [a] playground and water fountains . . . . ‘Most of these might be considered minor improvements, but it’s what people appreciate the most,’ Ross said, pointing to 28 projects completed.” [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo of Mason Park: Jose Luna
- Dornin Investment Group Buys Two More Energy Corridor Office Buildings [Prime Property]
- Imperial Sugar Land To Include ‘French Quarter’-Style Townhomes [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
- Hobby Center Files Suit To Kick Out Artista Over Lease Dispute [Culturemap]
- CreditDonkey Names Houston Among Top Cities for Twentysomethings Based on Rent, Bars, Population Growth [Culturemap]
- There’s a Website Now That Tells You Who Died in Your House [The Texican]
Photo of 2003 Union St. near Washington Ave: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool
