Jump to content

KP Plaza: Mixed-Use Development At Beltway 8 & Beechnut St.


Urbannizer

Recommended Posts

I hope they build this. My home is just inside the belt off beechnut, and this area really needs some development that isn't another Western Union "cambiamos cheques" or pay-as-you-go telephone store. This rendering seems sketchy, but I will post a picture if there is any activity on that property.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Replies 63
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • 5 months later...
  • 1 year later...
On 6/3/2014 at 10:08 AM, Luminare said:

Ugh! That's not mixed-use -.- Developer has no idea what mixed use really is. Not to mention I already don't care about this because each building is literally surrounded by parking. What a disappointment :/

 

The building would actually be surrounded by many old apartment buildings.  Maybe they are trying to extend Chinatown further south.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/15/2018 at 1:23 PM, AREJAY said:

I drove by this site yesterday and the pad site "Parcel A" is almost finished being framed.

phrase%201.jpg

It looks very similar to the rendering, so maybe this project isn't quite dead.

 

I drove past this yesterday and the rendering does look like the same as the building being built.

beechnut.jpg

beechnut2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/19/2018 at 4:14 PM, ArtNsf said:

I love the buildings.  But, WTF is with all the stupid palm trees ?  This ISN'T Galveston.  It's not even Kemah I'm pretty sure - Geeeeez...

 

So what? Palms grow just fine in Houston.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, AnTonY said:

 

So what? Palms grow just fine in Houston.

Just my personal opinion.  But, most of the Houston area (not all) is in a zone where evergreen trees and other native plants and trees thrive.  For all practical purposes, the normal boundary for the palm tree is much closer to the coastline and about 3/4 the way to Galveston from Downtown.  Plus, I just think they are ugly for our area.  And, that is just my own opinion.  Thanks.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are a near tropical region ( unlike our cousin city north of us). Quite a few palms grow well here: Sabals, Pindos, Windmills. The latest freeze hurt several of my palms but the vast majority are recovering well. If the people landscaping KB Plaza choose wisely they should have no problems with their palms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nice, but you know, just because something "grows well" in our climate, doesn't always mean it's a good thing.  Palms in our area I've noticed, tend to be not very well kept up with and some look very "dirty" with all beards and little or no greenery.

 

Who knows though, you may all get your tropical wishes soon as the climate continues to warm and these palms start growing way up north and far west past San Antonio/Austin.  That is, if the "deluge" of droughts don't get in the way first.

 

Frankly, Memorial Park is a prime living example of the flora that is native to Houston in the bulk of the city and I applaud the efforts of the Buffalo Bayou folks for bringing back local native species of trees and plants to that area after decades, if not a century of neglect and/or non-native species gone awry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ArtNsf

 

Galveston and the coast definitely have the most ideal palm growing conditions, as winter temperatures are mildest. But Houston still is mild enough for many palm species/genera to thrive, as are some other areas further inland. Just to name a few, you have the sabals, pindos, and windmills that @Twinsanity02 mentioned, as well as washingtonia, dates, and livistona. And yes, they thrive, to the point that they sprout through freeway cracks. That boundary of yours is meaningless as far as these species are concerned.

 

Evergreens are precisely the kind of flora that blend well with palms. Like butter and bread. Matter of fact, there are palms as native to Houston/Texas as the loblolly pines of Memorial are. But many non-native plants still thrive here, given the suitable climate, so there's no issue with their presence.

 

As far as "beards," that specifically applies to palms of the washingtonia genus, especially the filifera. That is actually their normal behavior, retaining dead fronds as a "skirt" to provide habitat for many organisms. The washingtonia genus originates from the deserts of the SW US/Baja Mexico, so drought will be the least of their worries. Same goes for date palms, which can be found in the Arabian desert, and other dry regions in Afro-Eurasia. And even the sabals, livistonias, etc and other humid climate palms still are highly tolerant of drought, and some other extremes (flooding, high salinity, wind, etc).

 

Therefore, many palm species are fantastic plants for Houston, and can easily fill all over the city, whether in our parks like Memorial and Hermann, in our new botanical garden, or all along the bayous. Nice company for all the loblollies pines, live oaks, bald cypress, and magnolias.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IIRC, Montrose Blvd. used to have esplanades that featured palm trees. I read somewhere that neighbors expressed their relief when the palms were removed because they were a favorite breeding/nesting place for rats.

23 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@dbigtex56, that issue is due specifically to choice of palm they used, the washingtonia. Other palm species like the sabal don't retain their fronds like that. 

 

But with that said, the pest argument isn't a very good case against washingtonia. They may be shelter for pests, but its all outdoors, so it's not as if the vermin are crawling inside your house. The real issue with them is how overused they are compared to sabals and other humid climate palms better suited for the climate here; as good as they grow here, washingtonia are desert palms, and thus won't gel with the landscape as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 4 months later...
20 hours ago, AREJAY said:

They recently put up a big banner on the front of the strip center with a rendering of the group of highrises that are part of this project. So it seems like this is still in the works. 

 

It still seems like an odd location for high rises but it is close to Chinatown and in the International district.  Maybe years down the line we will see an emerging skyline in the Chinatown district. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 11/14/2018 at 1:38 PM, AREJAY said:

They recently put up a big banner on the front of the strip center with a rendering of the group of highrises that are part of this project. So it seems like this is still in the works. 

 

Yea I saw that banner with the high rises.  No tenants in the first phase yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...