Houston, Texas real estate development, home buying, landscape, and design

• Invesco Puts in $480M Bid for Downtown’s BG Group Place, Reports Real Estate Alert [Prime Property]
• Development Negotiations To Continue as Related Chapter 42 Reforms Move Forward [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• City Approved More Than a Dozen Demo Applications for Houses in Oak Forest, Garden Oaks Last Week [abc13]
• University of Houston Bans Smoking on Campus [KUHF]
• Bloomberg Ranks Houston Among the Fastest-Growing Metropolitan Areas [Bloomberg via Houston Business Journal]
• Property Value Increases Should ‘Touch Nearly All Homeowners’ Over Next 2 Years [abc13]
• Gulf Freeway HOV Lanes Opening Next Month for Weekend Use [The Highwayman]
• Will Seawall Parking Program Cover Its Own Startup Costs? [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Environmentalists Want Public Input on Memorial Park Reforestation Plan [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Pepper Jack’s Closes in Old Cabo Space Downtown [Eating Our Words]
• Bobcat Spotted Near Buffalo Bayou in George Bush Park [Click2Houston]
• 8th Wonder To Host First Tour of EaDo Brewery This Saturday [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of building being torn down at Town & Country Way and Attingham: Robert Boyd via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Astrodome Proposals Must Include Funding Source or Else They Won’t Be Considered [KUHF]
• Galveston Housing Authority Approves Agreement with State To Fund Mixed-Income Housing [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Afton Oaks Homeowners Worried About Cut-Through Traffic Going To River Oaks District Development on Westheimer [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Transformation of Branch Water Tavern into Federal Grill Now Complete [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• League City’s Red-Light Cameras To Be Shut Off Today [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• State Budget Panel Endorses $2B Plan for Reservoirs, Pipelines, Other Water-Supply Infrastructure [Houston Chronicle]
• ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ Plant Seeds with Slingshots in Unused Midtown Parcels [Culturemap]

Photo of construction on the MetroRail north line at Fulton St: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Texas Supreme Court Rejects Beaumont Landowner’s Challenge to Keystone Pipeline [Fuel Fix]
• ExxonMobil Campus Progress: ‘Like a Small Downtown Being Built from Scratch’ [Houston Chronicle ($); photos]
• Make the Astrodome Houston’s Version of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim [Houstonia Magazine]
• Allen Harrison To Upgrade Chalfonte Apartments, Add to Complex on Enclave Pkwy. [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• La Guadalupana Chef Building Pasadena Shopping Center [Eating Our Words]
• Opponents Sue State Land Commissioner Over Plans to Shut Down Rollover Pass [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• League City To Vote on Ending Red Light Camera Contract [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Woodlands To Stop Use of Red Light Cameras on March 31 [Woodlands Villager]
• Woodlands Creates Bicycle Advisory Task Force [Woodlands Villager]
• West Ave Business Has ‘Increased Dramatically’ with Addition of Jonathan Adler Store [Culturemap]
• Feast, Down House To Join Forces on New Heights Restaurant To Be Built from the Ground Up [29-95]
• Torchy’s Tacos Now Open in Rice Village [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Gerald Hines Receives Cornell University Real Estate Leadership Award [Culturemap]
• New Book Explores Why Houston is the Fastest-Growing City in America [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of El Real Tex-Mex at Westheimer and Waugh: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• City Council Votes To Sue BP for $23M in Damages from Gulf Oil Spill [abc13]
• Galveston Council Votes To Remove Conditions Delaying Reconstruction of Public Housing [Houston Chronicle]
• Deadline for Astrodome Proposals Set for June 10 [abc13]
• Galveston’s San Luis Resort Undergoing $10M Renovation, Opens New Conference Center [Culturemap]
• Ellington Airport Breaks Ground on Seventh Hangar [Bay Area Citizen]
• Houston Developments Going As Fast As They’re Built [GlobeSt.com]
• Washington Ave.’s New Parking District Takes Effect May 1 [The Highwayman]
• Don’t Expect B-Cycle in the Heights Anytime Soon [Off the Kuff]
• Texting While Driving Ban Advances in Texas House [Houston Chronicle]
• Citing Boston Bombing, Houston Officials Want To Expand City’s Surveillance Camera System [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Drought Update Shows Slight Improvement for Houston [Click2Houston]
• City Sells Off Center St. Recycling Facility for Revenue, Seeking Alternative Site [The Leader]
• City Council Decriminalizes Trash Diving in Public Garbage Cans [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• More Than 45 Steamboat Wrecks May Lie at Bottom of Trinity River [Cleveland Advocate]
• 177 Years Later, San Jacinto Battleground Still Turning Up Musket Balls, Other Relics [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• If Hiram Butler Won the Lottery, He’d Buy And Tear Down His Blossom St. Gallery’s Neighboring Townhouses [Culturemap]

Photo of Capital One Plaza: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• University of Southern California To Announce Idea for the Astrodome [KUHF]
• BP Named in $1B Emissions Lawsuit [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• City May Sue BP To Recover Sales Tax, Hotel Tax Revenues Lost After Oil Spill [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Environmentalists Question Proposal To Remove Benzene, Hydrogen Sulfide from Texas City Air Pollutant Watch List [San Antonio Express-News]
• Second Rabid Bat Found at Friendswood High School within 2 Weeks [abc13]
• Video: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About the George R. Brown Convention Center [Newswatch]

Photo of Reliant Park: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Marquette Developers Granted Permit Extensions To Build Highrises, Golf Course in West End [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
• ExxonMobil To Sell Virginia Campus, Consolidate Work in The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal]
• 2 Texas Senators File Legislation That Would Allow Customers To Opt Out of Energy Smart Meters [Houston Business Journal]
• Art League Puts Out Call for Scrap Lumber for Patrick Renner’s Montrose Blvd. Funnel Tunnel [Glasstire; previously on Swamplot]
• Today is Bike to Work Day in Houston [abc13]

Photo of US-59 near 610: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Up to $16M Unaccounted For from Construction of 2 Montgomery County Buildings [Courier of Montgomery County]
• City Council To Discuss Changes to Chapter 42 Development Ordinance Today [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
• Metro Rolls Out New Train Cars With Bigger Capacity, Dedicated Bike Racks [Culturemap]
• Galveston Park Board Approves Plan To Use Funds Meant for West End Beaches on $15M Seawall Sand Project [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• Galveston Conventions Lure 5,000 Visitors To Island This Week [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• City Council To Consider Building Concession Area at Houston Permitting Center [Houston Politics]

Photo of Texas Medical Center: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• The Hidden Original Design Elements Houston Restaurateurs Found While Repurposing Old Buildings [Houston Chronicle]
• Aldi To Open First 9 Houston Stores This Thursday [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• ‘Decaying Surfaces’ Along Westheimer, West Alabama Not on City’s Priority List [Culturemap]
• La Madeleine Plans To Add 8 to 10 More Restaurants in Houston in Next 5 Years [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• $30M Fifth Ward Renaissance Project Aims To Attract Businesses, Homeowners [Houston Chronicle ($)]
• MetroRail Celebrates 100M Boardings with Free Rides Tomorrow [HAIF]

Photo of I-10 near Downtown East at Gessner: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool