We’ll sacrifice these for the greater good:
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- FBI Investigating Improvement District’s Connection to Proposed New Caney Dinosaur Theme Park [The Tribune; previously on Swamplot]
- Ric Campo: We Will See Mixed-Use Developments Downtown — But Not Now [Houston Business Journal]
- Ziegler Cooper Architects Designing Its Own Lofty Office Space in Downtown’s Bank of America Center [Prime Property]
- New Antique Mall Set To Open in Downtown Conroe Next Month [Courier of Montgomery County]
- Berryhill Baja Grill Returns to Push-Cart Roots with Food Truck [Eating Our Words]
- Galveston Planning Commission Approves Revised Noise Ordinance [Galveston County Daily News]
- Bad Roads Cost Houston Drivers $1,900 Each Year, Finds Report [Houston Chronicle]
- Heights’ Nightmare on the Bayou Named 13th Best Haunted House by HauntWorld Magazine [Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Ranks Among Top Cities for College Students [AIER via Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Residents ‘Incredibly Optimistic’ About Its Economy, Finds Study [Houston Chronicle]
- More of R. Allen Stanford’s Empire To Be Auctioned This Saturday [abc13; Q&A; slideshow here]
Photo of the Strand, Galveston: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
COMMENT OF THE DAY: OBSTACLE COURSE SIDEWALKS WERE PART OF THE EAST END PLAN “. . . The City government had the power, through its consent agreement, to require wider sidewalks. Put another foot or two on a sidewalk and suddenly an intrusive fixture, like a power pole, become less of an obstacle. However, elected officials at that time were freaked out about right-of-way takes. Also, the mayoral administration at that time decided that the City should not burden METRO with more costs, a position with which of course METRO heartily agreed. There was no other funding mechanism (like the recently created East End TIRZ) to fill the cost gap. There were those of us who tried very hard to express our concern, but it was decided otherwise. So when you are dismayed at the photos above, rest assured that when the City officials made their choice, they knew full well that we would end up with those results.” [Local Planner, commenting on Power to the Pedestrians: Sidewalk Utility Poles of the East End Line]
BEHIND THE GLASS AT THE DOWNTOWN STRIP HOUSE PEEP SHOW 
Peeking through darkened windows into the former Strip House steakhouse on McKinney St. in Houston Center, which abruptly shuttered over the summer, restaurant watcher Eric Sandler spies signs that workers have gone further than simply removing the strip-club-themed decorations that once lined its walls. Ladders and “other signs of construction” reveal designs on the space by the Pappas restaurant group, which Sandler reports is preparing to put a Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in its place. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Flickr user jerry1540
Montrose-area real estate investor (and frequent Swamplot commenter) Cody Lutsch expects to close later this month on 3 apartment buildings on Holman just east of HCC between Crawford and 288 that he calls “the worst of the worst” in Midtown. A web listing for the properties cautions potential buyers: “DO NOT WALK THE PROPERTY AND DISTURB THE TENANTS. (it’s for you own good, i mean it).” Lutsch calls the group of buildings, which date from 1938 and has seen half a dozen owners over the last 10 years, “very very rough . . . Police are always going over there, there is drugs, prostitution . . .”
High time for these properties to stand down:
- Heights Leads Inner Loop Rent Hikes with 17% Increase Over Last Year [KHOU]
- Hanover To Demolish Bissonnet Village Apartments Near Bissonnet and Kirby Next Month To Begin Work on 5-Story Complex [Houston Chronicle]
- Third Texas City Tex-Mex Restaurant Closes This Year with Shuttering of Cabos Grill [Galveston County Daily News]
- Moody Gardens Golf Course Has Yet To Pay City Since Reopening in 2008 [Galveston County Daily News]
- Santa Fe Couple Plans To Sue Galveston County Over Landfill Leakage [Houston Chronicle]
- South Houston Man Fighting $9,000 City Water Bill [KHOU]
- Cleveland Raises Property Tax Rate, Blaming Spike in Debt Service, Declining Property Values [Cleveland Advocate]
Photo of IAH construction: Candace Garcia via Swamplot Flickr Pool
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RING ROAD NAME INFLATION CHALLENGE “Only problem is that with a huge name like Grand Parkway, what will we call the next, even bigger loop?” [Frank, commenting on Three More Links in the Grand Parkway Are Now Ready To Roll]
Clearly, the kitchen is the highlight of this freshly listed 4-bedroom in the Copperfield area near 290 and Hwy. 6. There, the decor’s twin themes of fruit and flowers are blended and stirred:
Courtesy of a reader wielding a camera along Harrisburg Blvd., here’s a tour of a few standout elements you can expect to encounter in a stroll along the path of Houston’s new East End light-rail line, now that sidewalk coordination work between CenterPoint Energy, Metro, and the Greater East End Management District has been completed.
“Most of the poles,” the reader reports, “are now in the center of the sidewalk leaving 24 inches to squeeze by on either side.” Or maybe a bit more:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Get offa these lawns:
- Planning Commission OKs 9-Story Hotel on the Seawall [Galveston County Daily News]
- Galveston City Council Approves Public Housing Plan Just 1 Hour Before Federal Deadline [Houston Chronicle]
- Skanska Begins $35M in Renovations to HCC’s San Jacinto Building [Houston Business Journal]
- H-E-B To Open Stores in Cypress, Jersey Village along U.S. 290 This Fall [Prime Property]
- Calling Houston ‘Under-pizza-ed,’ Reginelli’s Pizza Chain To Open First Location in Memorial [29-95.com]
- New Highway Segment Loops Traffic Around Downtown Cleveland [KUHF]
- How Power Outages Like TPC’s Last Week Near Park Place Subdivision Increase Refinery Pollution [StateImpact Texas]
- Tourism Officials Looking for More Effective Ways To Deal with Seaweed, Erosion [Galveston County Daily News]
- Number of West Nile Virus-Infected Mosquitoes Down in Past 2 Weeks [KUHF]
- Abandoned Sections of Original Brays Bayou in the Middle of Texas Medical Center [HAIF]
- Ship Channel View Marks Houston Landscape’s First Appearance on a Stamp [KUHF]
Photo of 321 W. 23rd St. demo: Swamplot inbox
A restaurant owned by family members of former Rockets star center Yao Ming has been shut out of the space it leases from the Houston Pavilions — for nonpayment of rent, according to a sign posted on the door by Midway Management. Yao Restaurant and Bar opened in the space near the corner of Dallas and Fannin — a few blocks from the Rockets’ home court at the Toyota Center — more than 2 years ago. A story in the NY Daily News earlier this year had owner Bill Wang saying business had been good since Ming’s retirement from the Rockets in 2011, but also giving a shout out to the Rockets’ latest star: “We want this place to be the home restaurant of Jeremy Lin.†A group headlined by former LA Lakers point guard Magic Johnson bought the 3-block Houston Pavilions complex out of bankruptcy earlier this year.
- Yao’s Locked Out Of Houston Pavillions [Eater Houston]
- At Yao’s place, Linsanity already on menu [NY Daily News]
- New owners hope to bring new life to Houston Pavilions [Houston Chronicle]
- Previously on Swamplot: CityCentre Owner Buying Houston Pavilions
Photo: Wolfgang Houston
GRANTS TO SPARK MIDTOWN ARTS CENTER FUNDRAISING 
The consortium of independent arts organizations planning a theater and gallery complex at the corner of Main and Holman just got a step closer to the $25 million it needs to build the project. Two weeks ago, the group received a $750K grant from the Fondren Foundation. Last week it got word of an even bigger haul: a $6 million grant from the Houston Endowment. In August, the group — which includes DiverseWorks, Fotofest, and Main St. Theater — changed its name from the Independent Arts Collaborative to “The MATCH,” short for the Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston. The 59,000-sq.-ft. complex at 3400 Main St. is being designed by a match-up of San Antonio’s Lake Flato Architects and Houston’s Studio Red. [Previously on Swamplot] Rendering: The MATCH
COMMENT OF THE DAY: COOL DEVELOPMENTS NEED WACKY BUCKS “There’s plenty of eccentric millionaire money around. I guess they are just more private that they used to be? (My husband’s boss keeps bars of silver in his basement, for example.) Or, they prefer to spend their money on credit default swaps than cooky real estate schemes. C’mon rich people! Do something interesting.” [anon, commenting on Comment of the Day: A Different Kind of Money]