COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RENTS ARE TOO DAMN HIGH “Finally some progressive thinking from a Houston property owner. Houston is filled with vacant junk space left over from failed retail projects priced at ridiculous, speculative prices. The kind of development necessary to pay the outrageous rent asked by property managers and owners for dilapidated spaces just isn’t supported by the market here. There are only so many Applebees etc. that can be crammed into a given area. I’ve never figured out why keeping a space vacant is better than reducing the rent and making it accessable to artists, creatives, and small business owners. If things go well for them the neighborhood becomes more viable and lively, crime goes down, rent goes up and it’s on to the next neighborhood. It’s a win for everyone.” [JE, commenting on New Arts Complex Planned for Abandoned JCPenney at West Oaks Mall]
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A Swamplot tipster is claiming that H-E-B’s Montrose Market, which opened earlier this week without a liquor license, will have difficulty obtaining one — unless some strings are pulled. Before the opening, H-E-B had announced plans not only to sell packaged beer and wine in the new store on the former site of the Wilshire Village apartments at the corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama, but to allow customers to order drinks by the glass and take them to the store’s outdoor patio as well.
But the license did not come through by the opening date. H-E-B Houston president Scott McClelland told Chronicle reporter David Kaplan on opening day that he expected it to come through in 4 to 5 weeks. A company spokesperson tells Swamplot that until the license is approved by the TABC, the store has stocked its future liquor department with other items for sale. What could have caused the holdup?
If, as rumored, Skanska USA Commercial Development is the buyer of this sprawling former ARCO building at 15375 Memorial Dr. west of Eldridge, the Swedish construction giant will soon be the owner of a small one-of-each collection of Houston office types: The Houston Club building Downtown, the 20-story tower Kirksey designed for the company that just began construction on the Galleria side of the West Loop, and this 21-acre Energy Corridor campus. According to reports, the company is likely to tear down both the Memorial Dr. building and the one Downtown and build office buildings on each site from scratch.
- Houston office developers rev up Energy Corridor projects [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: First Sign of Skanska: Where the New Spec Office Tower Near the Galleria Will Go, Skanska Helping Houston Club to Early Exit, Will Skanska Knock Down the Houston Club?, Skanska Post Oak Tower: We Don’t Need a Bank To Build This
Photo: Silberman Properties
INDIANS ON SCOTLAND 
After a ceremony yesterday, this 1984 office building across from the Cleveland Park at 4300 Scotland St. in Magnolia Grove is the new official home of the Consulate General of India. The Indian government bought the building in August. Next door: the Gables Memorial Hills apartments. [Voice of Asia] Photo: LoopNet
- Occupy Houston Protesters Block Rush-Hour Traffic, Get Arrested [Houston Chronicle]
- Local Businesses Protest Proposed Increases in Off-Street Parking Requirements [CultureMap]
- Major Repairs — and Closures — Scheduled for Southwest Freeway this Weekend [Hair Balls]
- Security Cam Video Shows Houston Press Music Editor Heart Attack, Rescue at Metro Light-Rail Station [Hair Balls]
- Aerial Studies Reveal Histories of Cities Slowly Consumed by Parking Lots [The Atlantic Cities]
- Bunker Hill Village’s Strey Lane Drainage Project Given Green Light [Memorial Examiner]
Photo of Bay Area Park: Mike Fisher [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FEEDING THE WEST OAKS MALL JCPENNEY ARTS BEHEMOTH 
“At 100,000 square feet, it is more than twice as big as all the alternative/artist-run spaces currently in existence in Houston combined. If it can actually be filled with stuff and events in a compelling, convincing way, it moves the center of gravity for Houston art to the west purely by virtue of its size. The more I think about it, the challenge will be figuring out ways to effectively use that space. Usually the issue for an art exhibit is a lack of space — a show at, say, Labotanica can feel uncomfortably cramped. For a curator or artist, this space presents the precise opposite problem. A good model in this regard might be Mass MOCA, the enormous museum in North Adams, MA. Filling the cavernous old factory buildings required big, bold artworks. Are there Houston artists who could step up to this challenge? I’d say yes — for example, Sharon Engelstein’s inflatables.” [Robert Boyd, commenting on New Arts Complex Planned for Abandoned JCPenney at West Oaks Mall] Photo: Sharsten Plenge
TCBY Rice Village owners renewed their lease at 2518 Rice Blvd. but dropped the franchise affiliation of 15 years when that agreement recently came up for renewal — a 10-year commitment. Instead, the owners launched their own ice cream and frozen yogurt shop, Purple Vanilla — not be confused with nearby retailers Purple Mango (a children’s store) and Purple Glaze (a design-your-own ceramics studio).
Newer players in the frozen confection industry such as Red Mango and Swirll are typically self-serve shops, with some charging by the portion. TCBY, founded 30 years ago, has taken notice and incorporated self-serve into the new store model it recommended for the Rice Village store. Meanwhile, its existing locations with traditional counter service are considering whether and when to retool. Or, as in the case of Purple Vanilla, whether and when to leave.
MY SPIDEY SENSE SAYS LOOK OUT FOR DRIVE-THRUS IN ISSUE 3 
“They don’t get a ton of super-heroics or super-villainy down there, as far as we know. . . . As every comic book reading Houstonian on the Internet has pointed out, Houston doesn’t have as many skyscrapers as New York, so webslinging around is going to be a different experience. Kaine is going to deal with it in an amazing, unheard of way on occasion: by issue two, he’ll actually drive a car. He might have to hop on a bus, stick to the side of a truck—the possibilities are limitless. . . . It’s also really humid there. Sweating will be an issue. Grackles are a problem. Houston will offer some challenges, but it’s not like Godzilla lives there.” — Scarlet Spider writer Chris Yost, on setting the new comic featuring Spider-Man Peter Parker’s clone, Kaine, in Houston. [Marvel Comic News, via Hair Balls] Drawing: Marvel Comics
After a couple years of threats, live-music straggler Walter’s on Washington finally closed its doors at 4215 Washington Ave. this summer. Almost exactly 6 months later, it’ll open for a Christmas show in a new location: This former classic-car showroom, video-production studio, car-parts distribution center, and cabinet shop at 1120 Naylor St. just north of Downtown, behind DiverseWorks and the UH-Downtown parking garage. Owner Pam Robinson had hoped to open the 190-person-capacity venue much earlier. She told the Houston Press‘s Chris Gray in June that she had run into problems meeting city parking requirements for the location.
- Walter’s Finally Has New Digs: Roky Moon Christmas Gig Announced and Walter’s No Longer On Washington, But Not Gone Either [Rocks Off]
- Previously on Swamplot: Guess Where Walter’s on Washington Is Moving!, Walter’s Was the Only One Left: The Death of Live Music on Washington Ave
Photo: LoopNet
Get ’em here for a self-guided tour: Your map to the scars homes:
- Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Houston’s Allied Home Mortgage [Bloomberg; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Home Builders Could Face Higher Efficiency Standards [Houston Chronicle]
- Artist Finds Inspiration in Houston’s Demolished Buildings [CultureMap]
- Open House on I-45 Expansion Plans North of Downtown< /a> [Off the Kuff]
- Memorial Park’s Dead Trees Will be Hauled to Atascocita for Lumber, Pulp [CultureMap; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Home Sales Up Again, 9 Percent from Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
- New Container Store Opening Saturday at Former Circuit City in The Woodlands [Design Houston]
Photo of Webster fire hydrant: Mike Fisher [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A WORKDAY BEGINS AT THE NEW H-E-B MONTROSE COFFEEHOUSE “While having a cup of coffee in the cafe area this morning, I watched a woman walk around with her laptop looking for an outlet. When she didn’t find one and looked very confused, I suggested it was intentional, that HEB didn’t want people working for hours in the cafe. She looked even more confused by this and then plugged the cord into the outlet behind the Coke machine and left the cord stretching all the way across the floor. Welcome to Montrose!” [lanola, commenting on A Tour of the Lake Flato-Designed H-E-B Montrose Market, Open Today]
3-year-old 11-building condo complex at the intersection of Beltway 8 and Hwy. 59; great feeder-road-U-turn access to IAH. Swimming pool — okay, it’s a retention pond — at the center. And bank-owned. Well, not anymore. Interra Capital Group bought 112 of the 128 flex-space industrial condo units at the High Ridge Business Park from the lender last month, and for the 60-some units still available, it’ll be lease only.
- Interra Buys High Ridge Industrial Condos [CoStar Group]
- Industrial Condos [Real Estate Bisnow]
- Virtual Tours [High Ridge Business Park]
Photo: Commgate
What’s that? The metal scrap heap formerly known as the Tavern on Gray (and before that, Blue Agave and several other temporary food-and-drink installations). Coming next to the corner of West Gray and Waugh: this 5-story Hanover West Gray apartment complex. The Tavern on Gray is now the Tavern on Milam, at 3017 Milam in Midtown.
More reader pics of the North Montrose scene the bar left behind, from over the weekend and early this week:
