These are the raw materials we have to work with. Once we get them down to their raw materials.
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- Houston: The Surprising Contender in America’s Urban Revival [Governing]
- Office Vacancy Rates Continue To Shrink in Houston, Finds CBRE Group [Houston Business Journal]
- Dunkin’ Donuts Opens Largest Houston Location in Atascocita [Lake Houston Observer; previously on Swamplot]
- Apartment Vacancies in Houston Down 1.2 Percent from This Time Last Year, Reports Reis [Houston Business Journal]
- HAR, City Unveil Houston App for Newcomers with Handy Housing, Government Information [Prime Property]
- TxDOT Threatens To Shame Publicly Worst Toll Violators To Help Recoup $27M in Unpaid Tolls [KUHF]
- Video: Piney Point Village Commercial Real Estate Broker Says He Caught Process Server Spitefully Peeing on His Driveway [KHOU; more info here]
Photo of The Strand: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
It would seem that tilt-wall technology is not just for office buildings in the suburbs — but war memorials in the suburbs too! Yesterday, the Sugar Land Parks Dept. and local members of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (whose national conference is in Houston this year) dedicated this site in Sugar Land’s Memorial Park for the Veterans’ Memorial, designed by the same firm, Powers Brown, that’s engineering the 6-story Sierra Pines II in The Woodlands, thought to be the tallest tilt-wall building in Texas. If you’re into this sort of thing, you can see how the memorial was propped up into place, thanks to plenty of pics the Parks Dept. posted to Facebook:
Once an orphanage, a gated 1913 Italianate property near downtown and north of Montrose found new life in 2003 as a 15-unit condo re-dubbed Villa Serena. Its historic pedigree encompasses city, state, and national recognition. A corner unit on the ground level quietly made its market debut on Monday, with a $299,000 price tag. The 1-bedroom home last sold in 2010 for $210,000 — down from an asking price of $245,000 at that time.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE KILL THE MODS, WE KILL THE MODS, WE KILL WE KILL WE KILL THE MODS 
“What’s the hottest trend to come? What will every city in the US and entire world be embracing? What will become showplaces and showcases? What’s the hottest trend in architecture?
Why Mid-Century Modern!
What is Houston tripping all over itself to tear down every last trace of?
You got it.” [Darogr, commenting on Delmar-lition: HISD To Slam Old Swooping Hoops Stadium] Illustration: Lulu
Here’s an early rendering of the retail center that might be going up in place of the 2 demolished buildings that once belonged to the Heights Baptist Temple Church. Developed by Braun Enterprises — also responsible for the transformation of the former Harold’s in the Heights on the corner of Ashland and 19th into a new Torchy’s Tacos and the Heights General Store — the retail center, as rendered, would cozy up to the corner of Rutland and 20th and provide parking in the back. Though the old Harold’s building was able to be restored, Dan Braun tells the Leader that that was impossible with the 2 Baptist Temple buildings, which were “[r]oofless and covered in asbestos.”
- Do-Over: How Braun is remaking ‘sleeper’ Heights downtown retail [The Leader]
- Previously on Swamplot: Now Serving: Torchy’s in the Harold’s in the Heights, Putting the Finishing Typefaces on the Heights General Store, What’s Becoming of Harold’s in the Heights?, A Heights Retail Resurrection, Torchy’s Tacos Taking Harold’s Old Corner Spot in the Heights, The Last-Ever Sale at Harold’s in the Heights Is Over, Harold’s in the Heights Is Closing Down
Rendering: Braun Enterprises
HEIGHTS GOOD DOG HOLDING THE WHOLE-GRAIN MUSTARD A FEW MORE WEEKS 
Well, we had been told it would happen in September, but Eater Houston is now reporting that the non-mobile version of that purveyor of encased meat Good Dog won’t be opening at the former Big Mamou spot at 903 Studewood in the Heights for at least a few more weeks: “[T]hey’ve seen some delays and are waiting on ‘things that are out of our control,’ presumably permits and other city-related issues. . . . [Owner Daniel] Caballero says they’re hoping to be open ‘definitely in October.'” [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Eater Houston
THE NEW MONTROSE BAR SPORTING HOUSTON SPORTS WALLPAPER 
Looks like the name of the bar and restaurant that will be taking over the old Sophia and Café Artiste spot in Montrose just around the corner from the Menil Collection will be Lowbrow — and not, as the TABC sign that was hung in the window in April suggested, Faustian Bargain. Developed by Omar Afra, who heads up Fitzgerald’s and the Free Press Summer Fest, Lowbrow will be stocked with local craft beers and local insignia too, reports Culturemap: “[Artists] Blake Jones and Dual have partnered to create a wallpaper that incorporates iconic Houston images such as the Astrodome and the Houston Oilers derrick logo.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
- Downtown’s Heritage Plaza For Sale, Could Garner $480M [Culturemap]
- Louisiana St. One of the Most Expensive Streets in the Country for Office Rents [Houston Business Journal]
- A Call To Open HOV Lanes During Non-Peak Hours [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Some Ideas for Doing Critical Mass Smarter [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Some of Those Wild Mushrooms Popping Up All over Houston May Be Deadly [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of the underside of the Galveston Island Causeway: Stephen Alexander via Swamplot Flickr Pool
ASTROS OWNER PITCHING ‘CAMP STRIKE’ 
Houston Astros owner Jim Crane this week confirmed rumors that the team is interested in building a facility for a new Astros Triple-A team 41 miles up I-45 from Minute Maid Park — on the grounds of Camp Strake in Conroe. Johnson Development is expected to complete its purchase of the 2,083-acre former Boy Scout campground by the end of this year. Crane tells Fox 26’s Mark Berman he’s had initial conversations with the new owners about securing a portion of the property, but will wait until after the closing to complete his own deal. Crane will likely go shopping for a new Triple-A team to move to the area once a facility is built. [MyFoxHouston; previously on Swamplot] Photo of PuffUp Webelos Camp at Camp Strake: Adolfo Chavez III
A deep-lot pocket of Oak Forest near White Oak Bayou appears to have escaped the area’s new-build frenzy, getting some second-story work instead. This property, for example, added an upstairs master suite with pool-view porch as part of a previous overhaul. The 1955 home landed on the market last month and has a $499,000 price tag. It last sold in 2009 for $359,190, just a tad higher than the $359K asking price.
We don’t have all that many to spare, but it appears that there will soon be one fewer thin-shell paraboloid roof in Houston: HISD says it plans to demolish the 1958 James M. Delmar Fieldhouse (known now as the Delmar-Tusa Fieldhouse) and build a new facility in its place. According to a press release, the old stadium is “currently in poor condition with major roof leaks, flooding problems in the locker rooms and a sports medicine area that falls short of athletic league standards.”
The 5,000-seat swayback fieldhouse is located at 2020 Mangum Rd., just outside the Loop in Lazybrook and Timbergrove. Designed by Milton McGinty, who also had a hand in the Rice Stadium, the gym served as the home court in the ’60s for UH and the Elvin Hayes-powered Coogs. But it would seem that HISD wants to make haste and move on from that history: “The goal is to have the site ready for construction as soon as possible and complete the replacement facility by late 2016.”
Photo: Houston Daily Photo
- 1725 Des Jardines St. [HAR]
GOT ANY BIG IDEAS FOR METRO’S FUTURE? 
You know you’ve thought about Metro. And it just so happens that Metro has been thinking about you: Officials plan to spend the next year and a half imagineering a revamped transit system, almost as though from scratch, and they’ve set up a 15- to 20-minute survey to solicit feedback from folks who actually ride the things. Metro’s Christof Spieler explains to KUHF: “You can’t bring in an expert and get the right answer because there’s no one right answer to [the] question. So the first stage of this, which is what we’re getting public input on right now, is actually what should our goals be. What kind of system are we trying to operate? What is the purpose of that system?” If you wanna chip in and take the survey, click here. [KUHF; Transit System Reimagining; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
