Leaderboard

and this is what I have been working on for a month, a lighting feature in the HoB stairwell. It will be finished either Friday or Saturday. it's 96 individually controlled RGB LED strips, one per pane.

windows up to the fourth residential level

Big day for Sandy.... Her name is in lights

No signs of the vertical sign yet. This photo is from last night around 7:30pm or so:

and a windows delivery

The Greensheet really does bring buyers.

It's official: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/08/10/exclusiveaustralian-developer-acquires-more-land.html

With the additional density added to this area in the last several years, it's time to extend the CBD's exemption from parking minimums at least to Elgin between Bagby and 59, if not the entire "crotch" between the Spur/Bagby and 59.

The Greensheet building being renovated does not mean they are not moving forward - the Caydon site surrounds the building and is excluded. If anything, I would guess they start working on plans sooner rather than later.

It was off of Mesa Drive. They used two out of service sidings to house the cars for several years. This was around the time they restored the M-K-T and Southern Pacific cabeese. I don't recall a turntable there, cloud. Only turntable that I vividly recollect in East End is the one at the Milby St. shops at York and Milby. This is the video of the museum equipment being moved onto the Canal St. spur. The spur doesn't see a lot of activity, as you will see below.

Signs...

While Dallas manufacturing thrives, Austin and Houston rank as nation's worst Tony Romo Tribute by Joseph Haubert Texas Job Creation/Loss by County Dallas + 3,200 Travis - (3,000) Harris - (19,000) North Texas Job Creation/Loss by County Dallas + 3,200 Denton + 396 Kaufman + 249 Rockwall + 249 Collin + 225 Ellis + 77 Tarrant - (2,095)

They had an open house party last night and you'll never guess who showed up... a train... that blocked Sampson Street for the entire hour-ish I was there. Still a good turnout though, and I was told that they are already 50% leased.

"Go big or go home. And if you go big, might as well go really big." -old Melbourne proverb

Looking at the text a bit more closely, it appears Caydon is not moving forward with additional towers on these sites, at least not in the near future--the Greensheet building is being renovated, for example. However, additional retail and residential is most welcome in that area.

Milby Street sounds familiar. I've been meaning to drive by and try to catch a glimpse of the turntable, but every time I'm in the area I forget.. Thanks for the video! Those rail cars seemed to have been sitting there for so long that I was starting to come up with ideas for how to incorporate them into a new development/repurposing of that warehouse at the end of the spur.. Haha. If they were to do an artist oriented development at the warehouse that the spur dead ends into (on the south side of the bayou across from KBR), kind of like the Silos on Sawyer development, some old rail cars on the abandoned tracks could make for a unique industrial vibe that houses individual art gallery/installation space, as a throw back to the sites former industrial heritage.

Caydon is going all in on Midtown, Houston.. I love it!

I moved last month and have really been digging it. They did a great job renovating the building. The train can be pretty loud but I've lived in a few different places in the East End and have always lived close to the train tracks. I don't really mind it.

The good news is... I think It already goes to McGowen

Oh good I wasn't full of ****

Great news. This is a very underserved area.

http://swamplot.com/north-main-is-all-ready-for-its-holiday-inn-express/2017-08-11/

Might have to rename it Caydon Town. I am happy they have such confidence in the area. I hope this venture is extremely successful. Lots of room for growth in midtown.

Interesting. That might explain the height of the FAA filing that we got on this one. The building could be a tall-skinny tower next to Greensheet, and would need the height to get in a larger number of units.

My guess is that they are waiting for tenants to sign leases before moving forward with the renovation, and having trouble with that since the city's office market is in the dumps and new office product was just delivered in Midtown a few blocks away. But having a bunch of residential towers materialize out of thin air around them won't hurt.

This is all good news but what's the story with greensheet? I know they announced something a while ago but doesn't look like it's been touched.

Details on the proposed changes. http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Commissions/docs_pdfs/hahc/App_Materials_2017/August_MATERIALS/723_Main_Alt_Windows_APP_Materials.pdf

Looking forward to completed pic. Time lapse video of color changes would be even better.

Yeah, I like alternate 1 the best, due to the downtown connectivity and the loop down Clinton. Is the railroad museum at that old rail round table thing? I had been wondering about those random rail cars on the spur.

A nice one, too. http://www.kingswayrc.com/gcst/ They have a restored M-K-T passenger car, caboose (MKT 6), SP caboose (4696), a couple of old switchers (one of which is an old HB&T unit), and a helium tank car. Weird, weird looking car to say the least. Last I saw these pieces of equipment, they were being stored off of Navigation, just west of Sampson/York, on an old rail spur. I believe the museum is moving, but have heard nothing recently concerning its venue change.

I feel like alternatives 1 and 2 do the most to connect downtown (both east and not east) together. Also - there's a railroad museum?

They were discussing a few different routes for an East End streetcar.. I'm not sure any decisions were ever made or if discussion of a streetcar progressed much further past that point though. Hopefully they revisit the idea as the area gets built up. http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/11-02-12-its-full-speed-ahead-on-streetcars-in-eado-public-transit-plans-routes-are-revealed/#slide=3

I remember reading (or posting) somewhere that mixed-use is planned for this site. Edit: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2016/12/05/exclusive-houston-developer-finally-closes-on.html#i2

I hate how the beige that Weinhgarten added to the color pallet of the art deco elements a few years back, doesn't blend in the area.

D-FW tops the country in single-family home construction

We are about to see density levels for residential in the Minute Maid area reach historic proportions and if this gets built I think we will start seeing some serious retail and service oriented GFR in the area. This is truly a remarkable turn around from five years ago when virtually a handful of people lived in this quadrant. My wife and I being one of them. What a difference five years make.

People in need of affordable housing were not the demographic DLI was hoping to attract. Also, commercial rents kind of establish a price floor below which it doesn't make sense to build residential. If a developer can get $30/sf for Class A commercial space, that's roughly the equivalent of $2500/month for a 1000-sf apartment. As residential and commercial rates fluctuate relative to one another, the mix of new development should shift accordingly.

HGTV should branch out into real estate and buy this building. Create a new show called ultimate fixer upper, unleash all their fixers to build a whole bunch of condos each of them styled in their own fashion.

Interesting. I wonder if the proprietors know a Starbucks is being built right now less than 1000 feet away from them at 6201 Washington Ave? https://woodcresthouston.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=59272493 http://swamplot.com/daily-demolition-report-broke-forest/2017-05-31/ Commercial Structures Gurrola ReproGraphics, Inc., 6201 Washington Ave. 77007 (Camp Logan; Starbucks Washington Schuler) Also, does anyone here know what is going on with the Union Kitchen at this location? It was supposed to be open in July but is not yet open nor is this location even mentioned on their website (that I can find...)

Most of the windows and the exterior facade itself is in the process of being removed as we speak/read/write/post/forum/whatever.

More article about the negative effects: http://www.houstonpress.com/news/one-year-after-moving-to-eado-search-homeless-services-may-be-forced-out-by-i-45-expansion-9662634

It looks pretty sharp in person

Someone has to know someone that works for Gensler... These would be magnificent. EXACTLY what Midtown has needed for a very long time.

Anyone have renderings of this project? Midtown may be starting to develop a skyline!

lets do 1MM (1million) by 2030.

I don't know about impressing visitors with walkable streets. I just want the midtown neighborhood to have as great a retail and service related presence as the Rice village has, which in my opinion is the most walkable neighborhood in Houston. If they put in a couple more residential towers and a couple of boutique hotels and a grocery store in the Village, you wouldn't need a car. Especially if you worked in the med center, at Rice U. or Greenway Plaza. You'd have to find a way to work but those three areas are all on bus lines. The more GFR the better for the future. Skyscrapers and GFR can co-exist.

The two are are not mutually exclusive. We've got great skylines. What we don't have much of are walkable streetscapes. Midtown is one of the best opportunities for this and thus should be encouraged, over skyline, IMO. I too have been stumped when visitors have asked me to take them to "where there are people". They usually look at me like I'm stupid when I say, "I can drop you off at the theGalleria.

Well, it seems like there are a large number of "plausible" looking towers proposed for midtown. They range from 100 feet to almost 700 feet. They have offices and residential. Some more and some less serious. I hope to see them all pop up.

I agree. Towers pop up any and everywhere in Houston. The chance that this are of midtown getting some towers is more likely than not

If constructed, these would do a great deal to help fill in the gaps in the skyline between Downtown and the TMC.