[native_Houstonian]

Does anyone know when the new HISD building by Northwest mall will be completed and when HISD is due to move?

[danes75]

Is it still going to be Trammel Crow or are they spinning this off with their hotel/residential business?

This post has been edited by danes75: Thursday, November 3, 2005 at 2:35 PM

[nmainguy]

native_Houstonian, on Thursday, November 3rd, 2005 @ 9:08am, said:

Does anyone know when the new HISD building by Northwest mall will be completed and when HISD is due to move?

Spring 2006

[houston-development]

danes75, on Thursday, November 3rd, 2005 @ 1:31pm, said:

Is it still going to be Trammel Crow or are they spinning this off with their hotel/residential business?

to my knowledge, the only thing tc is spinning off is their management business.

based upon what ive been told by reliable sources, tc will do the office/retail/hotel (if there is one) and morgan will do the residential.

[citykid09]

Hopefully this is facing Richmond or Weslayan

This post has been edited by citykid09: Saturday, November 5, 2005 at 6:38 PM

[Talbot]

Pretty cool project renderings. I hope it looks similar to that when finished.

[citykid09]

Talbot, on Saturday, November 5th, 2005 @ 11:44pm, said:

Pretty cool project renderings. I hope it looks similar to that when finished.

Honesty, do you think it will ever start?

The only project in Houston that I trust right now is the Memorial City Center thats getting built. The reason why is because they announced it and they began construction about a month latter. Now that is quick action!

[YakuzaIce]

citykid09, on Monday, November 7th, 2005 @ 8:55pm, said:

Honesty, do you think it will ever start?

The only project in Houston that I trust right now is the Memorial City Center thats getting built. The reason why is because they announced it and they began construction about a month latter. Now that is quick action!

Well rereading that thread, it was annouced in March, but doesn't sound like it started construction till June. Also, do you not trust any of the other projects under construction around town?

[citykid09]

YakuzaIce, on Monday, November 7th, 2005 @ 9:24pm, said:

Well rereading that thread, it was annouced in March, but doesn't sound like it started construction till June. Also, do you not trust any of the other projects under construction around town?

Yeah, I trust the ones that have started, but I was talking mostly big projects.

[RedScare]

citykid09, on Tuesday, November 8th, 2005 @ 10:32am, said:

Yeah, I trust the ones that have started, but I was talking mostly big projects.

The new cathedral looks pretty big.

[VicMan]

HISD has a Q & A on the project, but apparently it's only available to employees. http://www.houstonisd.org/HISD/portal/arti...6841553,00.html

I wish the new HQ could be built in Downtown Houston, but alas...

[nmainguy]

VicMan, on Tuesday, November 15th, 2005 @ 5:32pm, said:

HISD has a Q & A on the project, but apparently it's only available to employees. http://www.houstonisd.org/HISD/portal/arti...6841553,00.html

I wish the new HQ could be built in Downtown Houston, but alas...

Maybe the next "could" be built downtown.
For now, the new one is nearing completion in the parking lot of Demar Stadium.

[eelimon]

citykid09, on Saturday, November 5th, 2005 @ 5:38pm, said:

Hopefully this is facing Richmond or Weslayan

What is the web site you got these from?

[YakuzaIce]

http://www.hermesarc...m/homepage.html
Potfolio-->Master Planning-->Paseo

[eelimon]

YakuzaIce, on Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 @ 6:17am, said:

http://www.hermesarc...m/homepage.html
Potfolio-->Master Planning-->Paseo

thank you!

[GovernorAggie]

Do any of you know what kinds of residential are included in this--I see townhomes but will there be any condos?

[Trophy Property]

Last night I was discussing all the big projects slated to go up around the Gallaria, Upper Kirby, Westcreek, Richmond, etc. One of the persons I was discussing this is Real Estate Broker who works on two very high profile Retail projects. He is credible and knows all the players involved with most of the deals.

The rumor he heard was that Costco was going to be taking over the big HISD site at Richmond and Westlayan. With so many players chasing the same tenant base it makes sense that some of the delopments will never get off the ground. The owners of this tract are aware of this and might be willing to make a deal with Costco. Hmmmm.

I know many will be livid if this occurs. I too think it is a waste of a huge opportunity to offer a unique use for the site. Of course on the flip side, all those wealthy people living inside the loop will have a Costco for to send the Housekeeper too.

Again, this is by no means concrete information. I just thought it was worth passing along.

Editor: I could not find the original thread about the Richmond site, so I apologize if this thread needs to be linked to another.

This post has been edited by Trophy Property: Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 2:25 PM

[WesternGulf]

Yeah that was brought up at another site.

[houston-development]

what i heard just yesterday is that morgan and crow are having a hell of a time finding retail commitments due to the possibility of rail going down richmond. the problem is two fold if it in fact does happen:

1) richmond will be torn up and the accessability will be absolutely terrible for some time (look at main)

2) if metro doesnt put a stop in front, the site will get double-donged (as in construction and then no stop)

they have up a huge letter of credit with hisd. if they end up not closing, its gonna be REAL ugly.

[Trophy Property]

houston-development, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 3:08pm, said:

what i heard just yesterday is that morgan and crow are having a hell of a time finding retail commitments due to the possibility of rail going down richmond. the problem is two fold if it in fact does happen:

1) richmond will be torn up and the accessability will be absolutely terrible for some time (look at main)

2) if metro doesnt put a stop in front, the site will get double-donged (as in construction and then no stop)

they have up a huge letter of credit with hisd. if they end up not closing, its gonna be REAL ugly.

Thanks, that is why I love this site. I had not heard that angle before, although it makes total sense. Main street was a total dissastor for years. One day there was bars, restuarants and life along Main and the next it was gone. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[texas911]

Costco? No way.

[Trophy Property]

texas911, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 4:50pm, said:

Costco? No way.

Why do you think it is out the question.

[musicman]

Trophy Property, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 4:57pm, said:

Why do you think it is out the question.

I was surprised to hear that HISD is actually keeping the building for some other purpose. I think Terry Abbott said either training or lease portions of it to other businesses.

[Trophy Property]

musicman, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 11:35pm, said:

I was surprised to hear that HISD is actually keeping the building for some other purpose. I think Terry Abbott said either training or lease portions of it to other businesses.

So the deal is dead all together. Wow, I figured it was pretty much a done deal. How have they not closed on the land by now. I also thought that HISD had already vacated the buildings.

[musicman]

Trophy Property, on Friday, May 19th, 2006 @ 8:59am, said:

So the deal is dead all together. Wow, I figured it was pretty much a done deal. How have they not closed on the land by now. I also thought that HISD had already vacated the buildings.

When they moved..Terry went on channel 13 and said that they were keeping the Taj Mahal. It really surprised me cause watchdog groups were complaining for years that the building was too wasteful. Don't know whether he was blowing smoke but that's sure what he said on the news.

[MaxConcrete]

texas911, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 4:50pm, said:

Costco? No way.

Why not? In Dallas, about 40% of the former Prestonwood mall was turned into a Super Wal-mart even though the area is mostly high-income. My experience is that the Wal-mart is very lightly patronized by Walmart standards.

HISD has a responsibility to taxpayers to get the highest possible price for the property, even if it means a Costco or Super Walmart.

I think it will be a plus for the inner loop to have a variety of retail opportunities, including big box retail.

However, as other posts noted, nothing may happen for the time being until the rail issue is settled or construction is complete.

[RedScare]

Trophy Property, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 3:32pm, said:

Main street was a total dissastor for years. One day there was bars, restuarants and life along Main and the next it was gone.

Your memory is a bit off on this, but that is another subject.

[Subdude]

Note the HISD - Costco topic was appended to the earlier HISD land topic.

Looks like it may not happen after all, but I didn't think Costco was such a bad idea. Inside the loop lacks a lot of low-price shopping options.

[Trophy Property]

Subdude, on Friday, May 19th, 2006 @ 2:26pm, said:

Note the HISD - Costco topic was appended to the earlier HISD land topic.

Looks like it may not happen after all, but I didn't think Costco was such a bad idea. Inside the loop lacks a lot of low-price shopping options.

Thanks Subdude. I should Now we have one big thread !!!

As for the prvious post, maybe it should be on another thread, but Many of the resturants and bars closed down on Main or went through a horrible slump while the Rail project was being built. I might have exageratd a tad (which I tend to do) but I clearly remember all that reatil by Rice slumping bigtime.

[Pumapayam]

The tax office is getting ready to come down, they removed all the glass from the building recently.

[Scharpe St Guy]

Looks like two older trailers used for classrooms and the Taj are left standing. Does anyone have an update on this property? A prior post mentioned Costco possibly locating a store there. Any truth to the rumor?

Scharpe St Guy

Pumapayam, on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 @ 11:40am, said:

The tax office is getting ready to come down, they removed all the glass from the building recently.

[musicman]

Well the wrecking ball is at the Taj Majal (old HISD headquarters). ch 13 confirmed Costco and a few other retail stores will be there.

[Scharpe St Guy]

Musicman, thanks for the update. Can't wait to have a new and closer Costco to go to.

Scharpe St Guy

musicman, on Thursday, September 14th, 2006 @ 4:19pm, said:

Well the wrecking ball is at the Taj Majal (old HISD headquarters). ch 13 confirmed Costco and a few other retail stores will be there.

[abs1nthe]

Scharpe St Guy, on Thursday, September 14th, 2006 @ 5:13pm, said:

Musicman, thanks for the update. Can't wait to have a new and closer Costco to go to.

Scharpe St Guy

crap. with costco coming there is no chance of this thing being the dense development they promised. another vacuous parking lot. how can you possibly want another parking lot? we can only hope they do a parking garage to conserve space for other retail development. why didn't they put the costco some place else that already has a lot of concrete? how about 610 and 290? this news totally ruined my day. it'll be an even worse eyesore than the CVS in midtown.

[Houstonian in Iraq]

abs1nthe, on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 @ 7:05am, said:

crap. with costco coming there is no chance of this thing being the dense development they promised. another vacuous parking lot. how can you possibly want another parking lot? we can only hope they do a parking garage to conserve space for other retail development. why didn't they put the costco some place else that already has a lot of concrete? how about 610 and 290? this news totally ruined my day. it'll be an even worse eyesore than the CVS in midtown.

Yeah I know what you mean. But according to the Chronicle

Quote

The school district sold the large, concrete building at 3830 Richmond for $38 million to a company thatplans to build a mixed-use development on the site

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/4188462.html
So maybe it's Costco and mixed use. I do hope they do a lot more than just another box store

[TheNiche]

Houstonian in Iraq, on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 @ 5:56am, said:

Yeah I know what you mean. But according to the Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/4188462.html
So maybe it's Costco and mixed use. I do hope they do a lot more than just another box store

Sure, they'll mix the Costco with a bank branch or two and a gas station.

Seriously though, people like Costco. It'll be a neighborhood amenity.

[musicman]

abs1nthe, on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 @ 1:05am, said:

crap. with costco coming there is no chance of this thing being the dense development they promised.

Who are they?

[Pumapayam]

musicman, on Thursday, September 14th, 2006 @ 4:19pm, said:

Well the wrecking ball is at the Taj Majal (old HISD headquarters). ch 13 confirmed Costco and a few other retail stores will be there.

Is the site flattened now?

[sevfiv]

Pumapayam, on Friday, September 22nd, 2006 @ 3:42pm, said:

Is the site flattened now?

should be close if not done - i was there last sunday and the main building was about a third gone - the inside atrium was really neat looking (and sad) with all the dust and dead plants

[WesternGulf]

I doubt this will continue with the mixed use concept. The urban Costco in Vancouver, BC was described as a challenge. If anything, the architect will go with the laissez-faire style of development in Houston.

[west20th]

musicman, on Monday, September 18th, 2006 @ 5:41pm, said:

Who are they?

Like Sam's WH but a little nicer IMO.

[dguet]

Has there been any specific information given about the layout of the new development? I had originally heard it would be a more urban style, mixed use devlopment. Would be interested in seeing what the developer's model looks like as a close friend (who live across from the property) is very upset to hear about Costco.

Has anyone seen anything more about it since the last post?

[Ethanra]

Driving up 59, today I saw a crane rising up in this area. I wonder what project was it for?

[bkjones98]

Pumapayam, on Friday, September 22nd, 2006 @ 2:42pm, said:

Is the site flattened now?

It's all gone--nothing but dirt and Caterpillars

[TheNiche]

I have some bad news for the urbanistas out there. The Costco rumors were true. I have confirmed this through multiple sources in City Planning and the Upper Kirby Management District.

The layout, shown below is an abomination. Note the location of the loading docks, along Cummins, which is an otherwise residential thoroughfare. Note the sea of parking out front and the bank branches on pad sites at the far corners. Note the 500 apartment units situated behind Costco. Even if a light rail stop was placed along Richmond in this location, a resident would have to walk through a sea of parking (and if the resident lived on the Cummins side, then past a long dreary loading dock as well).

The sketch at the very bottom depicts the two-story strip center along Weslayan, perhaps the only meager concession to those who had a grander vision for the site.









Folks, you all know me pretty well. After 2,900+ posts, you damn well should, anyway. You know that I'm not big on contrived urbanism. But this is a genuinely urban site, and should've been developed as such.

Feel free to raise some hell.

[musicman]

I"ll bet the Costco will be more welcomed by the average joe.

[WesternGulf]

That's unfortunate. They could have boxed in that parking lot with the development facing Richmond and Weslayan. Probably could have used a lot less land by mixing in the 500 apartments too. When will some folks learn?

This post has been edited by WesternGulf: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 12:05 PM

[TheNiche]

musicman, on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 @ 10:56am, said:

I"ll bet the Costco will be more welcomed by the average joe.

Yeah, uh that's less of a problem than is the sea of parking. Land that expensive should've been allocated to higher and better uses by developing more structured parking.

[Pumapayam]

What the hell happened to this?

This post has been edited by Pumapayam: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 12:04 PM

[TheNiche]

Pumapayam, on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 @ 11:03am, said:

What the hell happened to this?

Long gone.