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these people build like mad men

Looks like they are finishing it up

I think yall are freaking out a little bit too much. MOST of the galleria area was like this until just recently. Don't worry, soon enough it will be gone.

That's an oddly specific niche you describe, which leads me to believe you're wrong.

Try Cafe Andes At Canal & Jensen. Strang space in a community center but the South American Cuisine is authentic and delicious...not to mention affordable. BYOB and close to downtown. Tuesday is tango night. Very cool.

http://houston-texas-us.blogspot.com/2015/10/crown-work.html

IIRC, that Jack in the Box was there before Micro Center occupied the space a block north where Amegy is going up. It's a commercial use, so zoning really doesn't have much to do with it one way or the other.

Looks good even when downtown is flooded!

The cladding is really growing on me.

Another photo for your viewing pleasure.

Lol those power poles :|

I was gonna say, go east. So many great authentic places to go.

1960 was two lanes at the time with very little traffic. I didn't start driving in that area with any regularity until my folks moved out to Jersey Village in mid '73, but I don't recall Kuykendahl being an intersection of much consequence at the time, if any at all. I'm not sure if it even had a traffic light. Back then, pretty much the only development in the area was Champions a bit to the west. It would be fiction, but near that intersection would have been a good out of the way place to dispose of a body if that's the direction your book might be going.

this building is actually looking better then i orginally thought. the color scheme actually matches the surroundings, and this adds great walkabailty density in that area. If you think the bars and restaurants get busy now, wait till this goes into effect.

To reiterate since I'm not out and about at work right now, you're going to discourage any contributors if you're planning to write a book, and such a book is so ridiculously niche that it making a profit would be slim at best. So what can you do? 1. Do research. Go to the Houston library downtown and spend a day poring over old city directories, or use a library card and use the archives from 1985 on to build an idea what it was like. Take pictures. Write stories about those pictures and what you remember. "This concrete pad used to be a McDonald's, built in 19xx and closed in...." 2. Publish those on a website or blog, and advertise. It will be a labor of love, and keep advertisements to an absolute minimum (if at all). Use a blog or a domain of your own to prevent being swamped with noxious ads. Advertise your own blog by bringing up common topics, like John and abandoned roads, or Tori and the signs of 1980s/1990s Houston. 3. This should bring people to share their own stories or at least share some kind words.

houstonmidtown.com Should check it out. There's some great stuff going on in Midtown Houston. Back to the subject at hand.... this thread is about new Dallas development

The connections between Loop 610 and SH 288 are being added to the project and the change is included in a public meeting at HGAC this week. http://www.h-gac.com/news/articles/2015-10-30.aspx The announcement is also in today's Chronicle.

Hmmmm. Construction beginning "summer 2016" Sales office open in February of 2016. That gives them 6 months to sell, what?, 100+ units? (20% of the total?) in order to get their financing? 4 units a week, every week, for 6 months. That seems like an aggressive timeline to me.

the largest units are only 750? thats weak

http://www.chron.com/about/article/East-Downtown-condo-project-would-offer-6601362.php

To me, rail in the South (and even West Coast) is like a bar in a supermarket that serves beer and wine by the glass. It's certainly only found in nice grocery stores (like Whole Foods though I think some regular HEB stores do it too) and I often wish there was one in my supermarket, but it's less important than other features, like having decent produce or a clean store. I'd be much less happy with it if it involved raising the prices in the store substantially, cutting selection, or otherwise compromising everything else, because I know it's not a necessity when grocery shopping. And once again Slick, you've undermined your own theory in your goalpost-changing arguments as to how rail is always the answer (I find it frankly amazing that you pretty much are the personification of what philosophically anti-rail opponents think pro-rail people are like). You stated that "rail has to be in the right corridors", citing the abandoned railroad right of ways in Dallas. While I'm not sure if that's the actual reason (I would say that because of spread-out job centers, using a "spider web" from downtown is less effective than it should be), it undermines the argument of putting rail down the center of 288 (and I believe you did say something against rail paralleling 59). But again, I'm not necessarily condemning the idea of tollroads or rail down 288 either way, I just don't like the idea that "we need rail", because as it stands, rail statistically won't help much in easing congestion (sorry), and it's not conducive to what public transit even stands for (transportation for the less advantaged).

The pride is about the opportunity that highways provide the American dream of homeownership in a good neighborhood with good schools for millions of people. I agree it's no great shakes aesthetically, but that doesn't mean it's not aspirational for most families. Not my scene either, which is why I live in a Midtown midrise. The key is choice. If you want to live in density by the light rail, by all means do.

"Hey guys! Hey guys guess what? Guess what? I know where things are going, and I could totally tell you...but I won't! Isn't that awesome?!" -swtsig

They are pulling the other crane down today. Sorry no photos, rain and dark is not a good time for that.

Adding anther floor likely pushed this thing over the 500 foot mark. Nice!

http://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Concrete-pour-signals-next-step-for-Fertitta-s-6601448.php#photo-8879539 http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2015/10/tilman-fertittas-uptown-mixed-use-projectgets.html

I spoke to Jeff, the owner of Barnabys the other day at his Binz location and I asked him about Market Square location. He said his business is doing well during lunch and some dinner but it is not really there yet to support the restaurant being open at night yet. He said he does stay open later than is profitable on some early nights. I told him it wouldn't be long before he would have to be open later with all of the Market Square projects coming together. He is optimistic and looking forward to expanding his hours.

To the list above you can add: Irma's (2 locations) Guadalajara Three forks Mia Bella (Green Street) What's the name of the Tapas restaraunt next to Mia Bella? House of Blues Pappasitos Tejas Masa's (Lamar) Virtually every restaurant listed from the original list above and the edited lists is less than 10 blocks. Walk or take a fixed price $6 cab pride.

Barnabys closes way to early which is a flow imo. Sambuca is much over priced for the food quality, great spot for a drink and some music but dont like it for the food.

That's like Michael Berry going to the gay bar "for the beer."

I will never understand you people. People in uptown eat food so someone is going to be the supply to that demand.

Mas de Bobruss: Edit: Also, next door at the St. Luke's School

wouldn't be shocked to see that 50-story tower come to fruition if the first phases go well which i bet they do. Dallas' economy is flying high like Houston's was 18 months ago when we thought it would go on forever. biggest difference is that Dallas' economy is so much more diversified that a local "crash" is unlikely in anytime in the near future. of course they'll overbuild bc that's what every real estate boom does but good for them. and i agree that they generally get much stronger residential/hospitality architecture. for whatever reason over the past 25 years Houston has relegated itself to very cost-conscious and often banal aesthetics. how stucco ever got popular here is beyond me but it refuses to die.

I don't want to speak for him, but having read his previous thoughts on the subject, he does make a fairly compelling argument about this - the suburban hellscape, while awful and alienating for many, represents comfort and opportunity on several orders of magnitude greater than where many, if not most, of the newcomers to Houston come from. If you're privileged to come from a relatively stable society, where your environment is generally trustworthy, and you can count on greater complexity leading to greater opportunities for personal development, then yes, suburbia is oppressively banal. If, on the other hand, your previous life experiences are of a relatively chaotic environment, where institutions cannot be trusted and you're stuck in a small, cramped, dangerous living environment, those suburbs represent space, safety, stability and the opportunity to realize dreams that were impossible where you grew up. There's something to be said for that point.

10/27 http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Moving-in-Residential-surpasses-retail-in-ritzy-6599418.php#photo-8874188

Highways are not going to be the answer in all cases (especially long term), but I'm getting really sick of this dogmatic "we must build rail like East Coast cities or we are failures" mentality. There was a recent article in the Houston Chronicle ("Kotkin, Cox: Light rail in the Sun Belt is a poor fit") that just seemed to prove an ugly fact--unless you're a Eastern seaboard, old-line "legacy" city, rail doesn't seem to work. Even Portland, San Diego, and L.A. have actually seen transit numbers decrease since rail was implemented. Just because Gattis doesn't subscribe the popular urban theories du jour (like New Urbanism) doesn't mean he doesn't try to think of innovative solutions or that he's wrong.

Via Flickr: Untitled by Javi Kawai, on Flickr Untitled by Javi Kawai, on Flickr

Bah perfect place for commuter rail.

I love it.

"There are just too many beer gardens around here" said no one ever! ;-)

Photos courtesy of Bobruss: Sacrificing his own garage for the betterment of the Menil.

I can remember a couple of months ago how everyone was so upset with the glass on this building. I for one think it looks great and I too love the reflective qualities of this surface. It may be a short building but it does so much for this block. The curves, setbacks and footprint will create an exciting space for downtown. Where it will be most apparent is from the ground when you walk into this open space. I hope they have something nice planned for the Travis side where the building sets back from the curb due to the curve of the building. It would be nice to liven up the Travis side. Then eventually when they tear down the old Foleys garage and build a super tall it will all make sense.

The reflection of the skyline... excellent.

Photos thanks to Houston Streetwise Blog http://houston-texas-us.blogspot.com/2015/10/kirby-collection-groundbreaking-pics.html

Is that going to be a clock or a bomb?

During the late 60's I had went dancing there a few times myself. A local country act Bud and Bud the Hooper twins played there some as well as some other great bands that I can no longer remember the names of. Can't remember for sure but I think this picture was made at the gardens circa 1969.

Gulfgate got some air time yesterday on channel 13, a piece on the East End mgmt district and Precint 6 partnership to put in a storefront and patrols, resulting in the lowest crime incidence of any mall in Houston. I don't know if there should be some distinction between a 'mall', like the Galleria or Memorial City, and a shopping center, like Gulfgate. And, wouldn't it be much easier to manage crime in surface lots than parking garages? Greenspoint, to no one's surpise, topped the list. Don't they have an HPD storefront inside the mall? Perhaps they don't have patrols.