- Construction Begins on New HCC Campuses at Northline and the West Loop [Prime Property]
- ITEX Group Planning $41M Mixed-Use Development in Former Flea Market Site at Griggs and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. [Houston Chronicle]
- Largest Christian’s Tailgate Bar & Grill Now Open in the Energy Corridor at 1010 Hwy. 6 N. [Houstonia]
- Indeed, Krispy Kreme Is Opening Next to Bear Creek’s Centre at Yorktown Crossing February 17; Pasadena Outpost To Follow [Eater Houston]
- New Urban Eats Bar, Restaurant and Marketplace in Soft Opening Phase at 3414 Washington [Food Chronicles]
- First LEED-Certified Starbucks in Houston Planned for 3017 N. Durham [The Leader]
- Avery Johnson Sells His Woodlands Mansion for $6.1M, Down from Initial Listing of Nearly $9M [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- LEED Certification Increasingly Important for Class B Buildings [Houston Business Journal]
- How Lovett Hall’s Pink Texas Granite, Ozark Marble, and Byzantine Flourishes “Materialized” Houston’s Cultural Identity in 1912Â [Gray Matters]
- Yearly Salary of $51,200 Required To Afford a Median-Priced Houston Home, According to HSH.com [Prime Property]
- Ranking the Livability of Houston Neighborhoods [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston’s Telecommuting Workforce Increased More Than 100% from 2012 to 2013, According to Census Data [Houston Business Journal]
- Remembering the Houston Chronicle’s Downtown Legacy As the Newspaper Prepares To Leave [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Uptown: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Re: Avery Johnson’s house. I’ve been in that house a few time during construction and after and if I recall correctly they were saying they paid $11 or $12 to have that house built by Jauregui. Nice house and good quality work but waaaay overpriced. Also if you think Real House Wives of Atlanta is ridiculous, you should meet Avery’s wife which is just bizzare because he’s the nicest and most polite guy ever.
Here’s another one, more relevant than the others, and bear in mind that the OPEC decision only came down on November 28th, which means that the carnage isn’t over yet. Actually, this is just the leading edge. And as the article states, this has less to do with the economic break-even points (which are the positive spin that is being portrayed in the media over the past several days) than it does with a decision by oil companies to shut in wells on the basis of leasehold strategy. That might possibly indicate optimistic expectations of the future, but the forward price curve doesn’t indicate a quick rebound; so it probably indicates constraints in terms of corporate finance. That’s going to be a problem.
“Exclusive: New U.S. oil and gas well November permits tumble nearly 40 percent”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/02/us-usa-oil-permits-idUSKCN0JG2C120141202
I value what the LEED rating system brings to the building industry, but it obviously has its flaws. This Starbucks will be a good example of a major flaw. How can a stand-alone building with a drive-thru ever be environmentally friendly? Yes, it will reduce its individual building product consumption and energy consumption, but it will further promote auto-dependency and more greenhouse gas emissions from the folks waiting in the drive-thru for their drinks. The article doesn’t mention a drive-thru, but all the rhetoric in the article sure points to one. In fact, I’ve heard that Starbucks won’t open any stand-alone stores in Houston without a drive-thru.
Not to discredit Architects, Landscape Architects, and Engineers, but I think LEED and other Green Building Certifications would highly benefit from being lead by Planners. This leadership would enable a more holistic approach, which is necessary, to Sustainable buildings and development, rather than a narrow structure/site-only approach. Sustainability can only be about the whole, not the part.
The Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun, not the other way around.
Is the Houston Chronicle currently in a death spiral? *crossing fingers*
Re: Christians Tailgate
Dropped by there last night to check it out. Nice place. They are offering a full menu now as well. I will be back for sure.