- Value of New Houston Residential Projects Increased to $979.2M in March, Finds Dodge Data & Analytics [Houston Chronicle]
- Denver-Based Black Creek Group Has Acquired Stafford Grove Industrial Park in Southwest Houston [Realty News Report]
- Texas City Retail Development Palmer Plaza Getting $3.5M Makeover, New Tenants [HBJ]
- CommercialCafe: Texas Office Market Hit a 5-Year Low in Sales in the First Quarter [Bisnow]
- Harvey Ushered in a New Reality for Houston Real Estate [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- New Lake Houston Grant Program To Award $200K-Plus to Small Businesses Affected by Harvey [Houston Chronicle]
- BikeHouston Pushing for Improvements at Site of Deadly Crash in the Museum District [abc13]
- METRO’s First Driverless Vehicle Will Debut at Texas Southern University Later This Year [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
- How Rice University Students Famously Turned Willy’s Statue 180 Degrees 30 Years Ago [Houston Chronicle ($)]
Photo of Market Square clock tower: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Re: New Reality for Houston Real Estate.. Love the term Swamp Castle to describe super-elevated homes surrounded by older ranches. It’s so startling to see the new builds like this when surrounding homes haven’t yet been demolished. The moniker fits perfectly. (no judgement, I totally understand the need)
Thinking out loud here: maybe zoning in braeswood and meyerland should also include a moat for holding retention waters? I think I’m on to something.
r.e. The Rice University prank involving Willy’s Statue: the university tried its best to cover the prank up and they quickly rotated the statue back (using an expensive hired engineering team) who managed to damage some of the pins that bolted down the statue. The Rice pranksters had offered to turn Willy back around for free, but Rice wasn’t having none of that! As far as I know there’s no good photos of Willy with the Lovett Arch at his back (which would have been nice for publicity purposes). Typical Rice administration..over-reacting to a simple, fun prank. Tsk!
RE: Another cyclist death… “In a preliminary report, investigators said the cyclist might be at fault.” Why, because she didn’t step off her bike to be a “pedestrian” and therefore was illegally in a crosswalk? Would they arrest or at least cite the driver if she had stepped off her bike? It’s unfortunate, but because police spend all their time driving they nearly always side with the driver, and if the cyclist manages to pull through they can expect a fine added to their hospital bills. You can’t win on a bike in this town, if this poor woman had been in the right lane on Sunset it would have been more likely a Land Rover driver on a phone would have flattened her from behind. Protected bike paths are the only safe option for this city…lets hope the $$ heading that way don’t get diverted again.
I’ve nearly been hit in the same manner the woman on the bike was a few times while walking. You are taking your life in your hands walking or biking in Houston. I will not ride a bike on Houston streets, I value my life too much. That’s a terrible way to die. I don’t expect this situation to change within my lifetime.