Kirzania

Hey guys... Don't hate me for resurrecting this thread. It's been well over a year and I was hoping maybe someone had some kind of new information on this project. Our community toes the property line with this proposed ... monstrosity. I guess I really struggle to see how ONE building, let alone TWO can fit onto the JW's auxiliary parking. If anyone's noticed, they re-did their lot to separate it from the rest of the lot. It's been significantly reduced in size and is raised above the remaining portion of the lot. I don't know what they're thinking really. There's no way Brownway can handle the traffic that would come with the 600-some residents that would live here... Highway6 - apparently you're my neighbor. Edit: Well, I've done a little of my own digging since then. This transaction must've only been done this year. There is no HCAD record for 2007, but there is one currently pending under the Whiteco name: WR SAGE WEST LP 1000 E 80TH PL STE 700 MERRILLVILLE IN 46410-5608 http://www.hcad.org/records/details.asp?ta...t=1303930010002

I am super picky when it comes to my car wash places. I gave up on interior cleanings all together (I do a thousand times better with my old vacuum, Armor-All wipes and some Windex) so the places I go to must have exterior-wash only choices. Mister Car Wash on Voss was hit or miss with me. I've taken both our PT and our Town & Country through it (we joined the membership thing briefly) but more than half the times I took the cars through, there would still be dirt on the bumpers or bird droppings on the roof, whatever. I liked the Mister Car Wash (Signature?) on Kirby for awhile until the 4th time when the grill on the front of the PT was obviously not getting cleaned at all. I dunno, I think Houston's drive-thru car washes are generally all pretty shoddy. I really miss Mike's Car Wash (exterior only - they give you a super-absorbant paper towel and some coin operated vacuums at the back of the wash.) They would ALWAYS get the salt and street-snow-grime off every square inch of the van.

The Midtown Randall's was ok for when we lived downtown. We really tried to avoid it (like so many other people have said) because the prices were MUCH higher than at the Kroger on W. Gray. I think for every 10 trips to W. Gray Kroger, we would go once to the Midtown Randall's. Now that we're in the Galleria area, we continue to avoid the Randall's on San Felipe (exactly 1 mile away.) We will drive the 9 miles to Costco for the staples that can be frozen - chicken, beef, pork - and most of all, eggs and milk. It's amazing how much cheaper they are compared to HEB/Randall's/Kroger. For produce we generally will hit up the regular grocery store; I've been having a lot of trouble with produce lately. HEB has really let me down, there's no close Kroger, and Randall's is hit or miss for the $$$$. I've even been forced to try to stop by the Uber-Wal-Mart on the way home without any luck. It's really frustrating. ... Is anyone else having this problem lately? Yes, PLEASE. I miss Trader Joe's and Wegmans of all the NE stores... Meijer: I could live without. They changed too much since I knew them from when I was a kid. (They used to almost be like Costco as far as ambiance goes and had a HUGE selection.)

I don't know. I enjoy the tunnels. Maybe it's just the result of my first job in downtown and all the "glitz and glammer" or whatever you want to call it. I think the tunnels just add to Houston. Running out of retail space up top? so they just go below. To be honest, I hated being trapped in the office all day, so I'd go into the tunnels to grab lunch, wander around, "prarie dogging" it until I found some place to sit and eat. I think I found more places to sit and relax around downtown than I ever had if I had had to walk street-level the whole way. And crowded? I don't recall ever finding the tunnels very crowded. Maybe under where Bank One/Chase used to be, near Beck's. (Still don't understand the appeal of that place. Ew?) Besides, it was always funny to see the same tunnel-walkers every day.

This was a huge to-do in Lexington. Personally, I think it's a great idea because I don't smoke and it makes me pretty sick... I'm of the opinion though that the city should pass the ordinance giving any "public area" the right to be completely non-smoking and enforce it with fines or ejection from the premises. I agree with TJones and the others of you who say that "smoking's a choice, restaurants should give patrons a choice to sit with smokers or be in a smoke-free area." I would think though, that most retaurants these days would go non-smoking with the hurry to cater to people who want to lose weight and eat/be healthy. I do have to say, there was a hospital in Missouri (right?) who tried to make the entire campus non-smoking. "Entire campus" as in you can't smoke anywhere - not even outside, in the parking garage, on the grass, anywhere that is hospital property. The town was furious... I guess I hope that if Houston passed a non-smoking ordinance, that it would give the choice to be smoke free or not. That way people can't argue if a restaurant or hospital wants to be smoke-free. Btw... I don't understand why people would be mad against a law prohibiting smoking on hospital grounds. At UK Hospital, I saw a small family, mother, father, and little boy who was maybe 12-13... They had taken him outside in his wheelchair with a nurse pushing respirator in tow. The kid had way too many pipes hooked up to him and the parents reason for taking him outside? Not for the fresh air... Because they wanted to smoke. Disgusting.

JT, what are you going on about? This just looks like a self-promotion post.

I hate to say this, but I need to use my degree at some point in my life, so here goes: Sounds like art.

Yeah, it's open. Say hey to my hubbie when you go in. And it's more of a "Walk-Thru" Sbux. There isn't much place to stand around or sit and work on your laptop. It's narrow and ... weird. I think the grand opening was today. Or tomorrow. Iced tall 2pumps coconut, 1 pump vanilla percent latte

This is what got me at Live Oak Lofts. "Amazing features! Exposed duct work! A wall between your bedroom and your living room! Open floorplan! No money down and NO doors! Act now! Going fast! !!!" Hasn't anyone ever heard of a freaking door? Sorry, but even in a 1B/1Ba, I'd like to have some privacy if I have guests over. Or if a guest needs a private place to change clothes or something. Then what? A curtain. How contemporary! I'm living like an artist now... So poor, I can't even afford a door! --------------------------------- Live from Lex and Poor Artist's Doorless House

Haverty's! Ack, guess not. Sears! ... Oh, wait. No... Foley's! Oh, wait. Crap!

Is the one on the right in downtown, near the Icon? It's a park now, right?

Funny story about Sinclar Oil... Anyone remember the show Dinosaurs? It used to be on ABC's TGIF (back when it was good.) Of course, if that doesn't jog your memory "Not da mama!" should. :wince: All the dinosaurs on the show were named after big names in the oil industry. The family was the "Sinclair family," after all. Sinclair Oil works the northwest region now; they're based in Utah. Gratuitous Wikipedia link.

What's "The Grasshopper"? Keep Houston Beautiful's website has a table that states that 508-510 Main is currently unoccupied. Don't know when that was last updated. Alfred C. Finn: "Victory Wilson Inc. Store Building, Hamilton Brothers Store Remodeling, 508-510 Main St., 1921; 1926; 1927. Sixteen tracings and blueprints of floor plans and elevations." (Edit: This is historical stuff... Nm me. I'm just jumping the gun.)

Ok, so I did a bit more snooping around. If you're really really fanatical about reading applications to the Texas Department of Housing And Community Affairs, this is the Jefferson Davis / Elder Street Artists Lofts Application. It got all the nitty-gritty details including the breakdown of what kind of apartments they'll have: 5 Efficiencies, 15 One-Bedroom, 10 Two-Bedroom, and 5 Three-Bedroom units.

Or even ArtSpace, if you don't want to open a PDF. They have a bunch of other nifty historical properties listed on their properties page from around the country. It's pretty cool. (Of course, there aren't any in KY, where there are tons of old tobacco warehouses just dying to be artists' lofts.)