hbg.50

Half-hearted? Why do you allege this?

I like Finner. He inherited this mess and should not take the fall for it. The question is can Finner cooperate with all the other law enforcement agencies to create an effective coverage plan. Whitmire is big on sharing resources throughout the area. On the number of police officers he said this during the campaign... Does that mean in your mind that what is not necessary is hiring more officers? No, we’re about 2,000 officers short. And this is kind of a substitute for lack of recruiting, we need to recruit, recruit and recruit capable, qualified, diverse language skilled HPD officers. And I’ll play a role in that. I will not hesitate to go to high schools or our community college, or I’ll reach out to the correction officers across the state. We have 15,000 correction officers across the state. You think I can’t recruit 500 of them that would consider a career as an HPD officer? You just have to make these things priorities, and we’re not doing it currently.

This is the million dollar question. What exactly is his motive? My pure speculation is he feels the TIRZ 27 is going overboard in its project scope. Does Montrose Boulevard really need new drainage? Does it flood? To answer your question on “re-use” it looks like City Council has to approve the TIRZ use of funds, so I’m certain Whitmire has plans for that money (even if it stays within the TIRZ). There is commonality in all of these controversial projects around the city. A minority of residents feel like their voices were not taken into account in the final project plan (Houston Ave., 11th Street, and now Montrose). Whitmire sides with the “little guy” every time. How many times has he said there are neighborhoods in the city without sidewalks (Denver Harbor) while neighborhoods with 3-ft sidewalks want to rip them up to put in 6-ft sidewalks (Heights, Washington, Montrose)? He’s consistent. Remember UH’s superstar President Renu Khator wanted to mandate that all incoming freshman live on campus (to improve graduation rates). Whitmire saw this as blocking accessibility to the underprivileged that UH serves and he killed the proposal. To this day a lot of UH alums hate Whitmire for this. Whitmire is oblivious to it.

Maybe you’ve changed?

Montrose Boulevard project delayed after Whitmire pushes for revisions to key components of plan Permitting for an overhaul of Montrose Boulevard, a project that has drawn ire from residents pushing to protect the roadway's oak trees, has been delayed at City Hall after Mayor John Whitmire’s staff asked project organizers to consider revising key details of the plan. Project funding for the Montrose redesign is set to come from the neighborhood Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, which receives property taxes directly for redevelopment, rather than using city funds. However, the TIRZ cannot move forward on roadwork without city permits. Whitmire has publicly questioned some of its key components, such as the planned tree removal and sidewalk expansion. His new senior adviser for planning Marlene Gafrick said she met with the TIRZ a week ago. “I anticipate the project moving forward with some level of modifications,” Gafrick said, adding that her conversation with TIRZ leaders involved further potential changes to the plan including maintaining lane widths, sidewalk widths and preserving trees, and that they “briefly touched on milling and overlay versus a complete reconstruction.”

Hines' new Levit Green life sciences campus near Texas Medical Center adds tenant Houston-based Hines has landed another tenant for Levit Green, a 53-acre life sciences campus near the Texas Medical Center. Pinehurst, Texas-based PranaX inked a lease for a 7,400-square-foot, turn-key lab space on the second floor of Levit Green’s Building 1 at 6420 Levit Green Blvd., Hines said April 15. "PranaX’s groundbreaking work represents exactly the kind of innovation and collaboration that Levit Green was designed to foster,” John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, said in a news release. “We recognized the need in the market to provide immediate, state-of-the-art research facilities and look forward to supporting PranaX in their mission to manufacture regenerative therapies." PranaX’s business focuses on using exosomes, or membrane-bound extracellular vesicles, to confer regenerative therapies aimed at treating aging, inflamed and damaged tissue and organs. The company recently entered into a technology licensing agreement with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to commercialize exosomes as therapeutics, natural supplements and wellness products that can promote healthy aging. The new space at Levit Green will serve as the headquarters of PranaX’s research and development and manufacturing operations. “We are incredibly excited to establish our research and commercial operations within the world-class facility built by Hines at Levit Green," Steven Greco, founder and COO of PranaX, said in the release. “This is an amazing opportunity to retain technology developed locally and expand upon it within the Houston biotech ecosystem.” Hines is working with PranaX to convert one of the lab’s support rooms into an ISO-7 clean room that meets Food & Drug Administration standards. The clean room will allow for PranaX to manufacture approved therapies for patients at the company's off-site clinic. Additionally, PranaX will use the suite to offer exosome-banking services to support wound healing and initiate cell growth and development. The development of Levit Green The building into which PranaX is moving is the first of nine planned on the Levit Green campus, which will offer a mix of research and biomanufacturing facilities, office, retail, residential and outdoor amenities. When it’s complete, the campus at 3131 Holcombe Blvd. will have a total of 4 million square feet of leasable space. The first building broke ground in October 2021 and topped out in May 2022. The Houston Business Journal named it the winner of the Medical category of the 2024 Landmark Awards. Hines is developing the campus in partnership with Houston-based 2ML Real Estate Interests, formerly known as The Grocers Supply Co. Inc. The property was previously home to some Grocers Supply warehouse and distribution facilities for Levit Green. In fact, Levit Green takes its name from the family behind 2ML Real Estate Interests. While the majority of the 53-acre site is still undeveloped, a new four-lane boulevard with a grassy median — Levit Green Boulevard — runs through it, connecting Dixie Drive to the north and Holcombe Boulevard to the south of the campus. Along it are a pair of recreational detention ponds and native plants throughout. The second building is currently in the design phase with no announced groundbreaking date. While the first building was built specifically for biomanufacturing, Building 2 will be more focused on labs that meet cGMP, or Current Good Manufacturing Practice, standards. Moderators: I ran a search and was surprised not to find an existing topic on Levitt Green. If it exists feel free to merge topics.

Yes it's very interesting... a Houston Landing reporter discovered a clause in the deed "When the late Houston developer John Hansen donated the church sanctuary to the city in 1986, a clause was inserted into the gift deed claiming that if the church property is not used as a library for more than 30 consecutive days, the clause could be enforced to transfer ownership of the library building from the city to the University of St. Thomas, Gordon reports." Miraculously the city reversed course on the library's closure...

DFW Airport falls to third in ranking of world’s busiest airports DFW International Airport is the third-busiest airport in the world based on passenger traffic, falling from its previous spot at No. 2 to Dubai International Airport. At the top of the Airports Council International’s list remains Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which saw over 104 million passengers in 2023. Dubai International Airport saw a 31.7% increase from the previous year, and over 86 million passengers traveled through. DFW Airport saw 81,755,538 passengers in 2023, an 8.9% increase. Dubai also retained its No. 1 ranking for international passengers. DFW Airport has a goal of achieving 100 million passengers by the end of the decade, DFW Airport chief Sean Donohue told The Dallas Morning News in September. The airport is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom also shared the same sentiment as Donohue, with big aspirations for American’s home airport. He told reporters last year at an announcement for a new use-and-lease agreement and DFW’s sixth terminal that he wants DFW to be No. 1. “Second isn’t where we want to be when we want to be the busiest airport in the world,” Isom said. “As you can see, we’re building the foundation to do that both in the facilities and also on the airfield.” Gotta love Dallas…they want to be first in everything! 😀

You make good points.

Some forums make a bigger deal of it than others, going to the extreme of deleting photos that are not originals. In this case, regardless of copyright rules it’s really bad form to knowingly repost somebody’s photos that that person deleted. He obviously doesn’t want them posted any longer for a reason. Respect that. Go take your own picture!

I think this is the headline: "$3 billion in the next 30 years," he said. He said they'll use the hotel occupancy tax to make improvements. That amounts to $100M/year. Also, I would not say Austin is in a “bust” cycle. Sure, things have slowed down but it is nowhere near a bust at this point. I personally hope it can weather the storm.

Did you take a break from gazing at the Austin skyscrapers to pen this gem of a post?

Can’t the same be said for finding a cure for cancer? It’s a cynical mentality…

(Inclusion of the direct purchase link has been authorized by @editor.) I'm intrigued but will wait for the paperback! 🙃

This has to be a good sign, right?