Office buildings in the South can be notoriously cold in the summer months – or at least that’s what a majority of women would say who jokingly refer to offices in the summer as “women’s winter.” This year as more companies return to the office amid record heatwaves and requests by ERCOT for Texans to reduce electricity usage, we ask why office buildings temperatures can feel out of line with the outside temperatures. We talk to Stefano Schiavon, professor at UC Berkley’s Center for the Built En...
Sep 12, 2023•39 min
A group of volunteers that, for nearly two decades, has offered free meals four evenings a week outside Central Library has recently started getting fined for breaking city law. The 2012 law, which limits giving free meals to those in need, has been deeply controversial and had gone largely unenforced for over a decade. Food Not Bombs volunteers say the ordinance goes against their morals and hope it will be deemed unconstitutional in federal courts. Mayor Sylvester Turner says giving free meals...
Aug 28, 2023•32 min
Description: The recent demolition of a $24 million historic home by Astros owner Jim Crane renewed conversations about the preservation of the iconic River Oaks neighborhood. Since its founding in the 1920s, the high-income Houston enclave became a quiet retreat from the rest of the city where the wealthy invested in building beautiful, architecturally significant homes. One by one though, many of these historic mansions are getting demolished and replaced with more modern designs. A handful of...
Aug 15, 2023•39 min
After much political wrangling and not one, but two special legislative sessions, the Texas legislature has finally agreed on a property tax relief bill. It has something in it for all property owners -- not only homeowners, but also investors and businesses -- and legislators argue that it will trickle down to renters. Austin bureau reporter Jasper Scherer unpacks the bill and what comes next to Marissa Luck and R.A. Schuetz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2023•30 min
Master-planned communities are playing an increasingly important role in housing families priced out of urban cores. How do designers and developers go about planning the future of these massive mini cities to respond to the growing risk of climate change and housing affordability concerns – while also making these communities pleasant places to live? In this episode of Looped In, host Marissa Luck interviewed John Saxon of Howard Hughes, Robert Acuña -Pilgrim of TBG Partners and Nate Cherry of ...
Jul 08, 2023•46 min
Living with roommates has long been a way to save money on housing. In the past decade or so though, a new class of professionally managed roommate housing has emerged called coliving – think of -up version of college dorms. Coliving providers take the typical hassles out of roommate living while giving residents a quick way to meet new people and save on rent. While coliving in the U.S. emerged first in pricey real estate markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Bay Area, coliving provider...
Jun 09, 2023•42 min
R.A. Schuetz and Marissa Luck discuss a tax break meant to create affordable housing that's in the center of some controversy. Public Facility Corporations have drawn scrutiny both in Houston (we'll hear about some tense words between Mayor Sylvester Turner and the housing authority) and in the state Capitol, where the Texas legislators are battling over how to reform the tax break as the session hurtles toward its end. Links: Big tax cuts for not-so affordable housing draw scrutiny in Houston a...
May 16, 2023•27 min
The real estate sector is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally – and it’s not just because of the power used to electrify or cool a building. Creating and transporting all of the materials that go into a building is a huge source of carbon emissions that the industry is now trying to reel in by tracking what’s known as embodied carbon. In this episode of Looped In, we talk to Skanska USA’s Houston lead, Matt Damborsky, about how the developer is reducing the embod...
May 02, 2023•42 min
Mayor Sylvester Turner is seeking City Council support for a conservation district program he and city planners say could help lower-income neighborhoods preserve their character and fend off gentrification. Critics say it may end up causing gentrification. Marissa Luck and R.A. Schuetz speak with Yilun Cheng, City Council reporter at the Houston Chronicle, about what conservation districts would entail, why some neighborhood advocates have been requesting them and why others are nervous. The or...
Mar 31, 2023•25 min
There’s a new project proposed in the site of The Ashby high-rise, a contentious apartment tower first pitched 16 years ago that set off one of the most intense land-use battles in Houston’s history. We dive into the history of The Ashby, and provide an update on The Langley, the revised version of the project, which developers say is close to breaking ground in Houston’s Boulevard Oaks neighborhood. HoustonChronicle.com subscribers can learn more about the Ashby and Langley high-rise projects h...
Mar 27, 2023•42 min
After the pandemic’s housing boom, which spurred bidding wars and drove up home prices to dizzying highs, the market has shifted. Interest rates have risen, inflation has eaten away at budgets and some economists have forecasted a recession. As many would-be homebuyers have been priced out of the market, fewer people are competing to buy. What does it all mean for Houston’s housing market in the upcoming year? Looped In co-hosts Marissa Luck and R.A. Schuetz sit down with Greg McBride, the chief...
Mar 03, 2023•31 min
Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country with a large population of Chinese residents who have helped to contribute to thriving commercial corridors such as Asiatown near Bellaire and Asiantown near Katy. How would SB 147 -- a proposed law barring citizens and companies from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from buying real estate in Texas-- impact the Chinese population in Houston? What effects might we see on residential and commercial real estate? Looped In co-hosts Marissa...
Feb 16, 2023•30 min
Nearly five months after a Houston Chronicle story about a retired couple's battle with their HOA over feeding the ducks gets picked up by outlets around the globe, the reporter gets a call from the couple's daughter. While Mrs. Rowe and her lawyer said that they had begun feeding the ducks after the loss of their daughter, the Rowe's daughter is in fact alive. How to correct a story that's gone viral, and the surprising prevalence of family estrangement. Cypress couple was sued for up to $250K ...
Jan 30, 2023•40 min
A nationwide, $47 billion effort to prevent evictions during the pandemic is winding down, leaving tenants to cope with higher rents amid inflation. How well did emergency rental assistance, which funneled aid through local and state programs, work? Looped In hosts R.A. Schuetz and Marissa Luck interview Erin Hahn, a researcher from a tenant advocacy group called Texas Housers, who compared Houston's local rental assistance programs with several others across Texas, and then they talk to Stephan...
Jan 24, 2023•41 min
Some homeowners in Houston are dealing with a host of unexpected environmental issues - from discovering years after purchasing their homes that their land was sinking underneath them to learning there are still cancer risks tied to old school industrial developments nearby. As Houston Chronicle’s environmental reporter Emily Foxhall departs, we sit down to discuss a few of her biggest stories impacting Houston real estate. Neighbors contend with rail yard after decades of contamination Fifth Wa...
Dec 15, 2022•30 min
An ambitious $310 million transformation of the eastern side of Buffalo Bayou gets underway this week as Buffalo Bayou Partnership -- which developed the 160-acre Buffalo Bayou Park between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive -- breaks ground on the first piece of its decade-long plan to transform the stretch of the bayou east of downtown.But the groundbreaking isn't for a project normally associated with parks and trails, for which the Buffalo Bayou Partnership is best known. The partnership on Sa...
Dec 02, 2022•34 min
Houston’s East End is in the midst of massive change as the neighborhood once dominated by industrial buildings and small bungalows is turning into a hub for mixed-use developments, apartments and adaptive reuse projects. A major catalyst of the East End’s transformation was sparked by East River, the 150-acre mixed-use development by Midway rising along Buffalo Bayou waterway. We sit down with Midway vice president Anna Deans to discuss how Midway’s game-changing project will start to transform...
Nov 04, 2022•36 min
Meyerland, built on former rice fields in southwest Houston, was one of Houston’s earliest master-planned communities promising to bring suburban life relatively close to the city. But the neighborhood has been repeatedly ravaged by floods, with some of the worst damage occurring in Hurricane Harvey five years ago. Even though Meyerland shows us the repercussions of building in the floodplain and many communities throughout Houston are still recovering from Harvey, real estate developers continu...
Oct 03, 2022•40 min
In a city with virtually no official zoning, the ability to create a historic district over a particular neighborhood is supposed to be a key tool Houstonians can use to preserve the character of a place. But in the case of one historically Black community in Houston’s Third Ward, called Riverside Terrace, residents were convinced a proposed historic district would actually lead to more unwanted change – gentrification – not less of it. In this episode, Rebecca and Marissa talk to reporter Nora ...
Jul 22, 2022•32 min
A federal program is meant to give low-income families the freedom to choose where they live. But most landlords are not interested in participating, put off by requirements such as lengthy inspection periods and the prospect that the voucher might not meet them where the market is, relegating families with vouchers to the few properties that accept the housing subsidy. The Houston nonprofit NestQuest has set out to change that. READ: Houston nonprofit tackles headaches with rent voucher program...
Jun 23, 2022•18 min
More than two years after lockdowns turned downtown into an apocalyptic landscape of darkened towers and deserted streets, downtown Houston is coming back to life. While it hasn’t completely recovered yet, people are once again crowding into Astro’s games, catching concerts at Jones Hall, cruising through Discovery Green Park and converging at large events and conferences. Their return has boosted sales for hotels and some restaurants.But there’s a critical element missing: the 168,600 office wo...
May 23, 2022•36 min
A new paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas warns we may be in a housing bubble, driven by fear of missing out (FOMO) in the market as prices surge and mortgage rates rise. But it’s a tricky thing defining a bubble, and even then, bubbles don't necessarily pop — Rebecca Schuetz and Marissa Luck talk to Enrique Martinez-Garcia and Laila Assani, Dallas Fed economists, about how home prices are outstripping wages and rents and what that means for Texans. Read the Dallas Fed paper:Real-Time Ma...
May 03, 2022•25 min
A hybrid workplace is emerging as the new normal for office workers post pandemic. But how will splitting their time between their pajamas and their pumps impact the way employees work? Can cubicles cut it anymore now that employees have grown accustomed to lounging on their patio or taking a walk on a lunch break? We talk with two thought leaders at global architecture firm Gensler’s Houston office – Dean Strombom and Vince Flickinger – about how companies are rethinking their physical space in...
Apr 08, 2022•29 min
Luby’s, a cafeteria-style restaurant, is so ingrained in Texas culture that the TV series “King of the Hill” has a character named after its signature platter. So when Luby’s board voted to liquidate the brand, many were shocked. But — as Amanda Drane, who formerly covered retail for the Houston Chronicle, tells Rebecca Schuetz — liquidating Luby’s is different than Luby’s disappearing. READ: A Chicago catering entrepreneur bought Luby's. Here's what happens next for the Houston brand. Support t...
Mar 25, 2022•10 min
When Exxon built its big campus north of Houston back in 2014-2015 it set off a wave of real estate development nearby in what many called 'the Exxon effect.' Now that the company is officially relocating to Houston what can we expect? Looped In co-hosts Marissa Luck and Rebecca Schuetz speak with Paul Takahashi, former energy reporter at Houston Chronicle, and Jacob Sudoff, CEO of real estate firm Douglas Elliman, about the dynamics shaping Exxon's move and what it could mean for real estate ar...
Mar 14, 2022•25 min
Meet Marissa and 2022's housing market Things have been on the move at the Houston Chronicle. Rebecca Schuetz has switched to focus on housing, and we're welcoming a new real estate reporter to the team: Marissa Luck! Marissa answers some tough questions -- like which pet is really her favorite -- and talks about what the upcoming year has in store for the Houston housing market. Hint: It won't be a buyer’s market anytime soon. READ: Houston's housing market soared to new heights in 2021. Will 2...
Feb 19, 2022•17 min
Mayor Sylvester Turner's decision to go against staff recommendations and instead direct millions of city money to a project with ties to his longtime law partner is attracting national scrutiny. City hall reporter Dylan McGuinness and investigative reporter Mike Morris talk about how the news broke and the potential implications. Connect with Rebecca, Dylan and Mike. READ: Turner fires Houston housing director who accused him of 'charade' bid process to benefit developer Turner orders review of...
Oct 05, 2021•17 min
Jackie Cooper, the first female president of the Houston Black Real Estate association, has had a lot of doors slammed in her face. That didn’t prevent her from convincing homesellers, homebuilders and even Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to give Black real estate agents in Houston their business. She shares some memories after HBREA created an award in her honor. Connect with Rebecca Schuetz. Read: Houston Black Real Estate Association recognizes members, continues COVID aid Support the show: https:...
Sep 30, 2021•13 min
Believe it or not, Texas real estate is being shaped by outer space. As billionaires bent on commercializing travel to the heavens base their operations in remote parts of Texas, those areas are seeing a huge influx of employees and investors. Andrea Leinfelder, the Chronicle’s space reporter, joins Looped In to discuss the impact on the local real estate market. Tweet at Rebecca Schuetz and read her real estate reporting at HoustonChronicle.com. Read Andrea's series Battle of the Billionaires: ...
Aug 03, 2021•18 min
Right now, there is a fight that could change how commissions work that is winding its way through the court system. In it, the defendant, who thinks that real estate commissions are too high, is pointing to the United Kingdom as an example of how things could work. So we spoke to real estate agents in different countries to see how real estate commissions – and the home selling process -- work in their corner of the world. Connect with Rebecca Schuetz. Support the show: https://offers.houstonch...
Jul 12, 2021•29 min
