COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LIMITS OF EASTWARD DEVELOPMENT 
“With every mile moving east, you are getting nearer to Houston’s gigantic petrochemical industrial complex, along with its unpredictable environmental and public health issues, which begin just about a mile east of Eastwood (for example, look at the location of identified Superfund Sites in Harris County, . . . which gives a clear picture). This is the main reason why people in Houston, and those who can afford it, stay as much west as possible. . . . ” [Larry, commenting on Comment of the Day: What’s the Scoop on Eastwood?] Illustration: Lulu
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COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: THOSE CRAZY DIY HOUSTONIANS 
“And what is up with everyone wanting to build a house? I have friends who are building in the Heights, Spring Branch and Oak Forest. I can tell you that it is a miserable process. Lots of delays (trades and materials can be in short supply), cost overruns, failed inspections, builders who don’t return calls until you start dropping the ‘l’ word (not ‘lesbian’) and having a double bill for housing if you buy the land. All of that just to get a ‘custom’ home that is really just a slight variation on a form of residential design that an architect has recycled dozens of times for different clients all around Houston. Why not just find a house you like well enough, make an offer, sweat the inspection and move in after 30 days?” [Old School, commenting on Garden Group Looking To Turn Gus Wortham Golf Course into Botanical Wonderland] Illustration: Lulu
The waterfront pedestrian-friendly complex in The Woodlands named for the famous recluse has signed another place to eat some grub: Whiskey Cake. The rendering above shows the Restaurant Row, part of the 66-acre spread on Lake Woodlands, which is also planned to include office buildings, apartments, entertainment venues, a hotel, grocery store, and other retail. Community Impact News reports that this row could house as many as 6 restaurants; by 2015, Whiskey Cake will occupy about 8,000 sq. ft. here, joining Escalante’s Fine Tex-Mex and Tequila, which is slated to open first sometime next year.
- From-Scratch-Only Slow-Cooking [Whiskey Cake]
- Whiskey Cake to open restaurant in Hughes Landing [Community Impact News]
- Previously on Swamplot: The Woodlands Landing Huge New Pedestrian Complex
Rendering: via Facebook
The owner of Hughes Hangar is building another bar about 50 ft. away on Washington Ave. Culturemap reports that the De Gaulle, rendered here with old-timey airplane, will share the property at 2811 Washington that backs up against the Washington and Glenwood Cemeteries. Owner Bien Tran explains to Culturemap that the concept’s name, design, and accoutrements, all right across Rue Washington from that recently opened Sonic, “will create an old world Parisian atmosphere complete with a miniature Eiffel Tower.” Opening night will be Halloween, Tran hopes, following an Edgar Allan Poe theme party.
Wanna see a rendering of the interior?
Construction started yesterday on this Kirksey-designed office building for Noble Energy. The 450,000-sq.-ft. Energy Center Two, located on the site of the former Hewlett-Packard and current Lone Star Community College campus at Hwy. 249 and Louetta Rd., will pair with an existing 497,000-sq.-ft. building that Noble Energy had had renovated.
- Noble Energy to break ground on phase II of new campus today [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: HP Go Boom: Watch These Former Compaq Buildings Disappear in a Cloud of Dust, The Coming Local HP Implosion, The Lone Star College System of Real Estate Deals: 70 Percent Off Hewlett-Packard Surplus!, Hewlett Packard Goes to School, Compaq to HP to College, Another Buyer for HP Parts
Rendering: Kirksey Architecture
- Developer Randall Davis Sells Historic Galveston Building Containing The Strand Lofts [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Construction Underway for New Pappasito’s in Downtown Hilton Americas [Food Chronicles]
- In Honor of Downtown Burger Guys Closing, Houston’s 12 Cursed Restaurant Spots [Houstonia Magazine; previously on Swamplot]
- Designating Buffalo Bayou as a National Heritage Area [Texas on the Potomac]
- New Memorial Park Running Trails Center, with Showers and Lockers, Gets Going [abc13]
- First Seeds Planted To Restore Full Height of San Jacinto Battlefield Vegetation [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Rodents Hanging Out in Closing Galleria H-E-B Parking Lot [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Neighbors Upset About Smoke from Gulfton Crematorium [abc13]
Photo of the Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
What’s that glow on the horizon? Could it be flashing reflections of the sparkly and shiny finishes inside this 2003 home in Mission Bend? The highly polished property in the Keegan’s Ridge neighborhood appeared on the market last week; it has an asking price that’s just a dollar short of $200,000.
The next Dunkin’ Donuts in Houston will be in Humble. Though this newest one, to open next Tuesday at 18315 West Lake Houston Pkwy., will have the all-important drive-thru window, it will also include some room for those who need to stay a bit longer: The standalone in Orleans Square will have 2 conference rooms geared up with projection equipment, each of which could hold about 20 people, give or take.
Additionally, Prime Property reports that there will be one more Dunkin’ Donuts to open in the area before the end of the year and as many as 60 in the next 5 years.
- Dunkin’ Donuts announces opening date for next Houston-area store [Prime Propery]
- Previously on Swamplot: Il Palazzo del Donuts in Humble, and Other Dunkin’ Domains, Dunkin’ Donuts Opening Next Month in Westchase Strip Center, The First Inside-the-Loop Dunkin’ Donuts?, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Big Texas Push, Dunkin’ Donuts Coming Back to Bellaire
Photo: Swamplot inbox
- 2323 Amber Springs Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A JUICY BURGER IN OIL TOWN 
“I went there relatively frequently, but I was turned off by how much grease the burgers had — there would just be puddles and puddles on the tray by the time I was done, and it got the bun all soggy. Once when I ordered, I asked if after they finished cooking the burger they could let it sit and drip off the grease a little bit. The chef came out and told me no, that was impossible, but they gave me a second ‘backup’ bun.” [MindTheGap76, commenting on Downtown Burger Guys Closes Down] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: UNJINXING A TOUGH RESTAURANT SPOT “We had a building in my hometown that housed several restaurants that all went belly up within a couple of years. A few of them were pretty good, too. Then the Los Cucos chain came in, invited a priest to pray over the joint and sprinkle some holy water on it, and then — according to gossip — they brought in an curandera to do some kind of magic on the place, and now it’s been open and busy for a good ten years and counting. I’m not saying I believe in all that stuff, but . . . does it hurt to cover all the bases? The landlord should at least do whatever the Flying Saucer is doing to stay in business.” [Anse, commenting on Downtown Burger Guys Closes Down]
The fake graffiti has been removed, and the neon signage switched on: Torchy’s Tacos opened its 3rd Houston location earlier today inside the former Harold’s in the Heights store on the corner of Ashland and W. 19th. The others are in Rice Village and on S. Shepherd. Torchy’s is occupying about 3,400 sq. ft. in the mod men’s retailer, sharing the rest of it with the Heights General Store. (Which isn’t yet open.) There aren’t any restrictions on the tacos or guac at this new location, but because this area of the Heights is dry, if you want a beer to wash your tortillas down you’ll have to join Torchy’s private Firewater Club.
Here’s a look at some more neon:
BILL GATES BUYS DOWNTOWN FOUR SEASONS 
Really rich guy and charitable fellow Bill Gates is investing in one more good cause: He’s buying the 30-story Four Seasons Hotel at 1300 Lamar St., announcing yesterday that his Cascade Investments will close on the deal sometime next week. It’s not clear yet whether Gates, as is his wont, will start working to update the operating system of the 1982 hotel, which has 64 rental apartments and 404 rooms and is home to Quattro, the Italian restaurant, though Ralph Bivins speculates that he will. [Culturemap] Photo: Klik To Go
Here’s a concept that HKS came up with for a site just behind the Hotel Granduca, Montebello, and Villa d’Este towers in Uptown Park. The concept shows how it might go if you wanted to build a conference center and a combo hotel-condo tower on 14 green acres between Tilbury and N. Wynden off S. Post Oak, just west of the Loop. This rendering shows the boxy exterior of what appears to be the conference center flanking a linear park shooting off from the banks of Buffalo Bayou.
