Tag: Headlines

• Randall Davis Explains How His Arábella Condo Tower Is Meant To Channel New York [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Toll Brothers Now Selling Homes in New ‘Cane Island’ Development West of Katy Mills Mall [Houston Chronicle]
• Kroger-Anchored Woodshore Marketplace Now Under Construction Near Lake Jackson [Prime Property]
• Wine and Record Store Combo Vino & Vinyl Set To Open on Hwy. 6 in Missouri City Early This Summer [Eater Houston]
• Insurance Assessors Still Deciding Fate of Wunsche Bros. Café After Fire; Nearby Businesses Affected [Houston Chronicle]
• Eastern Chunk of Downtown Near Minute Maid Park ‘Ready to Explode,’ Claims Jackson Street BBQ’s Bill Floyd [Houston Chronicle]
• Bernadine’s, Hunky Dory, and Foreign Correspondents All Opening in the Heights by June [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• CityCentre’s Walkability by the Numbers [Urban Land Magazine]
• Emergency Crews Work To Clean Up Sulfuric Acid Leak at Abandoned Storage Facility on Texas City Wye [Galveston County Daily News]
• Newly Proposed Oyster Fishing Regulation Aims To Restore Texas Coast Oyster Habitat [Houston Public Media]
• Hilcorp Billionaires Mindy and Jeff Hildebrand Pledge $10M to the Houston Parks Board for Bayou Greenways 2020 Project [Culturemap]
• How Houston is Becoming the New Hub for Indian-American Community in Texas [The Economic Times]
• Touring Downtown Houston by Segway [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Downtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Tilman Fertitta’s First Tenant for His New Uptown Mixed-Use Project Is Tilman Fertitta [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Signorelli Planning 2 Multifamily Projects Totaling 700 Apartment Units at Valley Ranch in Porter [HBJ]
• C&J Energy’s Westchase Headquarters Sold to American Realty Capital Global Trust for Undisclosed Amount [CoStar]
• Glen Park Residents Bracing Themselves To Be The Next Woodland Heights or First Ward [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Report Ranks Houston No. 5 in U.S. for Luxury Sales, with 1,045 Homes Valued at $1M or Higher Sold in 2014 [HBJ]
• 25 Employees of Houston’s Kirksey Architecture Are Now Co-Owners of the Company [HBJ]
• Pluckers Wing Bar Opening Second Location in Houston Next Year at 10407 Katy Fwy. [Austin Business Journal]
• First Look at the New Karbach Brewery, Ahead of Its Public Debut in Mid-May [Beer, TX]
• Walters Downtown Starts Indiegogo Campaign To Help It Resolve Debt by April 30, Avoid Foreclosure [Rocks Off]
• Metro Votes To Sell Pinemont Park and Ride Site to Harris County, Not Public Housing Agency [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• 5 Bars Wins $3M Contract To Install WiFi at NRG Stadium Ahead of 2017 Super Bowl [Houston Public Media]
• The Story Behind the Shuttered Magic Island Venue at Southwest Fwy. Near Greenbriar [Houston Chronicle]
• Secret Service Took More Than a Year To Replace Broken Alarm System at George H.W. Bush’s Houston Home [Washington Post]

Photo of mural by Wiley Robertson at 3301 Cline St., Fifth Ward: Swamplot inbox

• The Sovereign Apartment Tower at 3233 W. Dallas St. Is Now 85% Leased [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Housing Authority Waiting for Metro To Decide Whether or Not To Sell It the Former Pinemont Park and Ride [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Millennium Tower II at 10353 Richmond in Westchase Reaches 24 Stories [Prime Property]
• U.S. Green Building Council Ranks Treehouse Memorial City Greenest LEED Building in Texas [Realty News Report]
• Johnson Development Moving Forward on 1,300-Acre ‘Agri-Hood’ Harvest Green in Fort Bend County [HBJ]
• Houston Home Prices During First 3 Months of This Year Went Up 12.6% Over Last Year to $157,900, Finds Zillow [Prime Property]
• Fifth Area Trader Joe’s, Along Westheimer Near Royal Oaks, Will Open Late This Year or Early Next [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Sozo Sushi Opening September 1 Inside Blvd Place [HBJ]
• Houston Billboard on 1500 Block of Heiner St. Just Outside Downtown Dismantled To Remove Several Large Beehives [Click2Houston]

Photo of the West Loop: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Proposed Legislation Would Allow Chaotic Monthly Property Tax Sales Events To Take Place Online [Houston Chronicle]
• 29 Renderings of 17-Story Condo Tower The Wilshire, Starting Construction in June on Site of Former Westcreek Apartments [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• SkyHouse Houston, Now 40% Occupied, Offering Rebate To Lure Tenants [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• BMW Building Vehicle Distribution Center at Port of Galveston [Houston Chronicle]
• How Houston Can Become a More Walkable City [Houston Chronicle]
• Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill Now Open in West Houston at 947 Gessner [Houston Chronicle]
• 6 Turn-of-the-Century Homes Will Open for East Montrose Civic Association’s Home Tour and Art Walk This Saturday [Houston Chronicle]
• A Bottom-Up, Unofficial Guide to the Cigna Sunday Streets on 19th St. This Weekend [OffCite Blog]
• Trustees Propose $134M for 10 BP-Funded Oil Spill Recovery Projects, Including $20.6M To Increase Waterbird Nesting Areas in Galveston Bay [Houston Public Media]
• Scientists Link Swarm of Earthquakes West of Forth Worth to Natural Gas Drilling [AP]

Photo of Spaghetti Warehouse: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Unnamed Buyer Under Contract To Purchase Northwest Mall at 610 Loop and U.S. 290 [Prime Property]
• Omninet Capital Buys 466-Unit Northwest Corners Complex in Spring Branch [Prime Property]
• Population, Sales, and Home Prices Are Up in Fort Bend County [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s New Neighborhood: Downtown [Urban Land]
• La Casa del Caballo Reopening as Saltillo at 5427 Bissonnet in the Bellaire Triangle [Culturemap]
• Crews Now Making Final Adjustment to Newest Light Rail Lines, Set To Open Next Month [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Metro’s New Light Rail Lines [Houston Strategies]
• Debunking 5 Myths About Dallas-to-Houston High-Speed Rail [CityLab]
• Next Stop for Sunday Streets: 19th St. Between Heights Blvd. and Shepherd, on April 26 [Houston Public Media]
• Cleanup of 1,000 Gallons of Kerosene Spilled in Baytown’s Cedar Bayou Underway [Click2Houston]
• Wildlife Groups Hope To See More Funding for Restoration Projects from BP Gulf Disaster Money [Houston Public Media]
• There Is Order in Houston’s Un-Zoningness [Urban Land]
• Tomball, Somerville, Copperfield, and Jersey Village Residents Report Property Damage From Large Hail During Weekend Storms [Houston Public Media]

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

• Number of Buyers Who Paid At Least $1M for a House in Houston More Than Doubled Last Year, Finds HAR [Houston Chronicle]
• Number of Multifamily Units Permitted Went Up in February to 5,938 from 4,268 in February 2014, Reports CBRE [Realty News Report]
• Median Price of a Single-Family Home in 2014 Increased 10.6% to $199,000, According to HAR [Houston Chronicle]
• Erroneous Sales Estimates Reported by HAR and Used by HCAD Make Housing Market Look Stronger Than It Really Is [Covering Katy]
• Bidding Wars Are Now Common Beyond the Beltway as Rapid Escalation in Home Prices Has Spread to the Suburbs [Houston Chronicle]
• Developer To Start Construction on New Section of Harper’s Preserve, East of The Woodlands [Houston Chronicle]
• A Brief History of the Vacant Oakbrook Apartments at 5353 DeSoto St. [The Leader; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston’s Economy Shows Signs of Further Slowing Amid Oil Slump as Texas Lost Jobs Last Month, According to Texas Workforce Commission Report [Houston Chronicle]
• Florida Chicken Chain PDQ To Open May 31 at 9440 Katy Fwy. in Bunker Hill, Second Location To Follow Later This Year in Cypress [Eater Houston]
• Luxury Bus Service Vonlane Launches Houston-Dallas Route Aimed at Business Travelers [Culturemap]
• Decade-Old Leak Might Be Gulf of Mexico’s Longest-Running Commercial Oil Spill, Worse Than Previously Reported [AP]
• Lobbying Firm with Ties to Southwest Airlines Drops Work for Anti-High-Speed-Rail Group After Dallas Rapid Transit Agency Raises Questions [Dallas Morning News]

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Parkside Capital, Vigavi Realty Buy 35 Acres in Katy’s West Ten Business Park for New Industrial Development [HBJ]
• Construction Underway To Convert River Oaks Luxury Apartments at 3435 Westheimer into Condos [Houston Chronicle]
• METRO Board of Directors Gives OK for Sale of Vacant Pinemont Park-and-Ride Lot; Residents Concerned Houston Housing Authority Will Buy It [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Sheriff’s Bomb Squad Trying To Find Time Capsule Rumored To Be Buried in Astrodome Foundation [Houston Chronicle]
• Lazy Lane Has the Highest Median Home Price in Houston at $21.5M, According to Zillow [HBJ]
• Research Arm of Highway Lobbying Groups Recommends Expanding I-45 Between US-59 and Beltway 8, Widening I-69, Building New 610 Loop Express Lanes [Houston Public Media]
• NRG Park To Sell Silver, Red, Orange and Bleacher-Style Astrodome Seats Online on April 20 for $200 a Pair [HBJ]
• A Map of 311 Service Calls Houston Residents Made in 2014 [Houston Chronicle]
• Hitchcock Resident’s Backyard Fills with Feces Every Time There’s Heavy Rain [KHOU]

Photo of Montrose: Alex Steffler via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Trammell Crow Residential Buys Nearly 4 Acres of Lakes at Post Oak Office Complex [Prime Property]
• 4,000-Acre Business Park Generation Park Under Construction Off Beltway 8 in Lake Houston Area [HBJ]
• Valley Ranch Town Center Under Construction at 59 and the Future Grand Pkwy. in Porter, Will Be the Largest Retail Development in the Greater Houston Area [HKA Texas]
• Northwest and Southwest Houston Have Highest Rental Rates for Industrial Space in the City, Finds CBRE [HBJ]
• Leon Capital Group Has Broken Ground on 220-Unit Apartment Project in Southwest Part of Downtown [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Crews To Break Ground Next Week on 162-Acre Bayside at Waterman’s Development [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
• Pearland Costco To Open in October After City Council Approves Sales Tax Rebate Plan [Community Impact News]
• The Highlights of 1000 Main’s Short History [Bisnow]
• The Burger Joint Opening in Old Little Bigs Spot in Montrose in June [Eater Houston]
• Council Approves Ordinance To Hire Contractors, Waive Permitting Fees To Help Homeowners Fix Sidewalks [Houston Chronicle]
• Heights Resident Walking Along Studewood Wearing ‘Black Man Can’t Walk in the Heights — It’s Some Law’ Sign After Stop by Constable [Glasstire]
• Mitchell Center Art Festival CounterCurrent 15 Kicks Off with Main St. Viaduct Projection [Houston Chronicle]
• How MFAH Plans To Preserve the Area’s Oak Trees During Its Expansion [Houston Public Media]
• The 3 Types of High-Speed Rail Opponents You’ll Meet in Texas [CityLab]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• NFL Wants Up to $50M in Luxury Box, WiFi, other NRG Stadium Upgrades for Super Bowl, but County Officials Not Interested in Paying for Them [Houston Chronicle]
• More Renderings of Kirksey-Designed Wilshire at River Oaks District Condo Tower Pelican Builders Is Planning for Former Westcreek Apartments Site [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• National Apartment Monitoring Service Finds Houston Month-to-Month Rent Growth Slowing Down in Houston [HBJ]
• City of Humble Establishes Downtown Improvement Program [HKA Texas]
• Lake Houston Area Boosters Talk Up Development in Their Region [HBJ]
• El Tiempo’s New 1308 Annex on Westheimer To Open April 20 [Food Chronicles]
• Ula’s Mexican Restaurant To Open on April 27 in Former Coppa Spot at 5555 Washington [Food Chronicles]
• The History Behind the Midtown Sears on Main St. [Houston Chronicle]
• Landscape Architecture Firm West 8 Selected To Create Master Plan for Houston Botanic Garden on Glenbrook Golf Course [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston B-Cycle Wants To Add 71 Stations, 600 Bikes Over the Next 2-Plus Years [The Highwayman]
• The Worst High-Water Spots in Houston for Roadway Flooding [Houston Chronicle]
• City Has Reduced Pothole Repair Backlog By 1,000; Still More Than 2 Months Behind Incoming Requests [Houston Chronicle]
• Hermann Park Installs 20-Ft. Tall Sail-Like Sculpture by Yinka Shonibare [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of St. Emanuel St. mural, East Downtown: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• 85 Warehouses Are Currently Under Construction in Houston [Realty News Report]
• 327-Unit Apartment Complex Kings Landing Headed to Kingwood Next Year [Prime Property]
• Stream Realty Partners Planning Renovations to Newly Purchased Four Corners Shopping Center at Texas 288 and This Way St. [Prime Property]
• KTR Capital Partners To Break Ground on First Phase of Industrial Development at I-45 and Airtex Blvd. [HBJ]
• Hearst Hoping To Fetch $40M in Sale of Houston Chronicle Property Downtown [Realty News Report]
• Burlington Opening 60K-SF Store in Kohl’s-Anchored Meyer Park Shopping Center at 9751 S. Post Oak Rd. This Fall [Prime Property]
• How the Old West-Focused Bryan Museum Ended Up in the Galveston Children’s Home [Houston Chronicle]
• Former Charles Bender High School in Humble Now the Charles Bender Performing Arts Center [Your Houston News]
• City To Expand Capacity To Catch Drivers with Unpaid Parking Tickets with More License Plate Number-Reading Cars [KHOU]
• Tonight’s MFAH Expansion Public Information Session To Go Over Plans, Lane Closures, Infrastructure Changes [Houston Public Media]
• Proposed 58-Story Condo Tower Would Be Tallest Building in Austin [Realty News Report]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou: Alex Steffler via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Construction Underway on Daikin Industries’ 90-Acre, $417M Campus in Waller [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Some Houston Apartments Offering Rent Concessions, Beefing Up Marketing Amid Oil Slump [HBJ]
• Martha Turner Ex Launching Her Own Firm [HBJ]
• High-Poverty and Majority-Minority Neighborhoods Facing Declines in Nearby Jobs, Finds Kinder Institute [Houston Chronicle]
• Newest Little Woodrow’s Opening on the Katy Freeway Next to Landry’s Between the Grand Parkway and Mason Road in May [Culturemap]
• Sugar Land To Start Construction Soon on 10 Miles of New Hike and Bike Trails [Houston Public Media]
• City To Consider Hiring Sidewalk Repair Contractors, Waiving Permitting Fees To Help Homeowners Fix Sidewalks [Houston Chronicle]
• Highlands Residents Living Near San Jacinto River Waste Pits Frustrated by Lack of Government Action in Response to Cancer Cluster Finding [Houston Chronicle]
• Bill That Would Prevent High-Speed Rail Projects from Using Eminent Domain Authority Advances [Texas Tribune]

Photo of Marriott Marquis construction downtown: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Thousands Attend Ceremony To Mark the 50th Birthday of the Astrodome [Reuters]
• Slideshow: A Past and Present Look Inside the Astrodome [Houston Public Media]
• The Astrodome’s Prospects for Survival [The Guardian]
• Chicago-Based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital Joining Midway in Developing 60-Acre Mixed-Use Project in College Point [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Grimaldi’s Opening in CityCentre by Late Summer in 3,500-SF Space Beneath the Texans Grille [Culturemap]
• Bovine & Barley Now Open in 2-Story Space at 416 Main Once Home to El Centro [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• Proposed State Law Would Allow Houston To Regulate Petroleum Coke Piling Up Along the Houston Ship Channel [Houston Public Media]
• How the Waldo Mansion Ended Up Moving from Quality Hill to Westmoreland 110 Years Ago [OffCite Blog]
• The Origins of Houston’s Art-Car Movement [Houston Chronicle]
• Old Sixth Ward Compound Including Moved, Restored Eisele House Featured in This Weekend’s Rice Design Alliance Home Tour [Houston House & Home; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Westheimer Rd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Home Sales Up Slightly in First Quarter of 2015 with 14,805 Single-Family Homes Sold, According to HAR [Culturemap]
• Griffin Capital Corp. Buys 2 New Office Buildings in Energy Corridor’s Park 10 Regional Business Center [Prime Property]
• NRT LL Acquires Houston’s Coldwell Banker United Realtors [HBJ]
• Katy Freeway—Energy Corridor Submarket Reports a 89.2% Occupancy Rate, Down Only 4.4% from This Time Last Year, Finds PM Realty Group [HBJ]
• Houston Industrial Real Estate Will Surge from Export Growth, Predicts CBRE [HBJ]
• Suburbs Will Grow This Year While Inner Loop Struggles, Predicts Real Estate Valuation Professional [Realty News Report]
• Pizaro’s Pizzeria Napoletana Now Open at Corner of Montrose and West Gray [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Tomball Tollway Opens This Sunday, Running North of Spring Cypress Rd. to North of FM 2920 Near Tomball Bypass [Click2Houston]
• A Driving Tour of Houston’s First Ward [OffCite]
• Help Wanted Identifying the Art Inside 2212 Salisbury [The Great God Pan Is Dead; previously on Swamplot]
• UH Students Map Houston By Potholes, Wireless Networks, Murders, and More [Houston Matters]
• Alligator Mating Season Underway; Expect Sightings To Increase [Houston Chronicle]
• Forest Tent Caterpillars Infesting Polk and Liberty counties, Causing Power Outages [MyFoxHouston]

Photo: David Elizondo via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Trammell Crow, Artis REIT Planning Park 8Ninety Industrial Park on 127 Acres in Missouri City [Prime Property]
• Crescent Communities Readying 993-Acre The Groves Master-Planned Community in Lake Houston Area [HBJ]
• Greenpoint Occupancy Down 8.2% Year-Over-Year After Exxon’s Exit From Four Greenspoint Place [HBJ]
• Houston First Will Convert 4,000-SF of the Hilton Americas Lobby into a Beer-and-Wine-Serving Starbucks [HBJ]
• Enterprise Products Partners Completes Expansion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Export Terminal at the Houston Ship Channel [Fuel Fix]
• Cars Are Already Parking in the Lamar St. Bike Lane [Houston Press]
• Life Magazine Photos of the Over the Top Apartment Judge Roy Hofheinz Built for Himself Inside the Astrodome [Houston Chronicle]
• 67-Year-Old Houston Resident Says Her Home Went into Foreclosure After New Mortgage Holder Wouldn’t Accept Her Payments [abc13]
• Federal Railroad Administration To Host Public Meeting April 23 in Cypress on Dallas-to-Houston High-Speed Rail [Houston Public Media]
• New Houston-Based LoveMyGasPrice.com Offering Gas Insurance to Drivers [KHOU]
• Cheap Oil Squeezing Property Owners in Energy Hubs Like Texas, North Dakota [Bloomberg]
• Here’s Brookfield Office Properties’s Art Car for This Saturday’s Houston Art Car Parade [Prime Property]
• A Third Ward 2-Story Designed by Brett Zamore and Stuffed with Art Is One of 8 Homes in This Weekend’s Rice Design Alliance Spring Architecture Tour [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of The Dunlavy, under construction at 3501 Allen Pkwy.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Zieben Group Closes on Portion of Hardy Yards in Near Northside for Public-Private Mixed Income Apartment Development [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
• Siemens Planning New Oil and Gas Headquarters in the Energy Corridor [Click2Houston]
• Metro Evaluating Plan To Sell Pinemont Park and Ride to Housing Authority [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
• Darling Homes To Build 31 Houses in Bridgeland [Prime Property]
• Average Household Real Estate Taxes in Texas Are More Than 50% Higher Than National Average, Finds WalletHub [Prime Property]
• Restaurant and Lounge Tarakaan Opening at 2301 S. Main in Former Knoll Furniture Showroom in Midtown This June [Prime Property]
• Peska Seafood Culture Slated To Open in BLVD Place on April 8 [HBJ]
• Hugs & Donuts Now Open Next to Fat Cat Creamery in N. Shepherd Retail Center [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• City Council To Vote Wednesday on Residential Parking Permits for Hyde Park Blvd. Block in Montrose [Houston Public Media]
• Texas Transportation Panel To Consider Naming the Galveston Causeway After the Mitchells, Extending Reagan Name on 290 Inside the Beltway [The Highwayman]
• Anheuser-Busch Brewery Bringing Back Regular Tours Starting This Friday [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of 19th St. Parklet: Swamplot inbox