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Dirt is moving onsite:

Fencing is up:

From ze Planning Commission: This was found through a recent variance request for "Off-Street Parking": The developer is Colombia Residential? Not to sure. We do know from the documents that it will be 197 units of affordable senior living. Site: Site Plan (Parking): Elevations: EDIT: This is what I get when I get behind on the map! Thanks mods for fusing this with the proper thread.

Nope, Mann eye building is just phase 1.

Maybe.....just Maybe...those that actually live next to Bagby and Brazos of this discussion should have their opinions heard and “ weighed” against the idea that large businesses like Spec’s ( and their many satellite stores) Whole Foods ( and their Satellite stores) and Randall’s ( and their satellite stores) would be adversely impacted by moving off ramps and access ramps TWO streets over....yes literally a stone’s throw— th streets that were constructed for just that purpose. Avondale ( their neighborhood boundary is on the north side of Bagby and Brazos at Elgin) spoke long and hard against the Bagby access (as did Westmoreland, Audubon, and First Montrose Commons)when it was first proposed so many years back——-those opinions were ignored because someone who had “researched and was knowledgeable “ knew what was better for those residents! hmmmmmm and so the residents lived what turned out to be a character building experience. The noise issue is indeed horrible and impacts the quality of life— the idea of a green space there is incredible and will Impact the quality of life. Closing Bagby access and taking away the Brazos bridge to make room for a pocket green space is a good thing, that deserves support.

FFA permit : https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=428474356&row=2 Structure Type: Crane Structure Name: Peiner SK-315 Tower Crane (Boone Manor) Work Schedule: 02/10/2020 to 02/08/2021 Structure Height: 285

Signage up.

Got this shot from a block away:

Looks topped out.

Coming along.

Lots of dump trucks hauling away dirt from the site this morning.

It was open on both sides originally We are not talking about removing the spur. We are talking about removing one of the entrances and the exits to the spur. It appears your compassion is as keen as your reading ability. Of course it's a balance, but sending tens of thousands of commuters through surface streets (and having them drive 40+ MPH) through a rapidly growing neighborhood doesn't make sense. Giving people options on places they want to live near desirable jobs that don't require them to drive 50+ miles/day is the only way sustainable way forward.

Do you really think that Midtown will end up being an area that people only go to, not through? That's stupidly ridiculous. It's fast growing because for decades no one lived there. In the 1990 census, there were less than 1000 people in Midtown. It started growing in the late 90's. You haven't said what the 65,000 cars per day that use the Spur should do if it is closed. They still need to get to Downtown. Personally, I don't give a crap what the residents of Midtown think. They live in Houston, and have to understand it ain't just about them.

They should build out patios. That scaffolding makes the building look more interesting

The residents in Midtown aren't the only stakeholders here. Plus, lots of people in Midtown use the Spur to get to work. When we lived in Midtown, I worked in Bellaire. I got on teh Spur every morning, and got off of it every afternoon. If the Spur disappears, which seems to be your goal, then how do people in Midtown get to 59? Or off of 59? Taking the Pierce/Gray or McGowen/Tuam exists adds as much as 20 minutes, depending on the time of day. Should people in Midtown who need to use 59 suffer? The neighborhoods will develop just fine with the freeways in place. Midtown has always been a place to go through. The Spur carries 65,000 cars a day. Where do those cars go if is closes? If it is harder to get to Downtown, then businesses will locate elsewhere.

I didn't say you were ever opposed to walkable neighborhoods. I said you predicted for years they wouldn't work in Houston, because we don't have portable air conditioners to walk around with. I agree that we need freeways to get around the metro area. Midtown residents heading southwest have a very large freeway right close by, the Southwest Freeway. But your post above focused on the need for the spur so that lots of traffic will continue to channel through Midtown and help support big box stores. This does not say to me that you really care about urban neighborhoods, or even understand what an urban neighborhood is. You want Midtown to be a place that people can easily go through, not a place that people particularly want to go to. Your linked posts basically make the point that Houston is great with people getting around by car and doesn't need walkable neighborhoods. Increasingly, more and more people in Houston think otherwise, and you are stuck trying to sell us on Houston 1980.

Union Pacific and BNSF already have rail that goes through all these small towns. In ideal world you utilize these existing routes and connect them to HSR. This would give people the option of taking the slow train or taking a slow train to a HSR terminal for a somewhat faster trip. Currently none of this is feasible with freight being prioritized on these routes. http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/tpp/maps/2016-railroad.pdf

Yeah that area has a ton of foot traffic especially at night. They could add five new bars on the ground floor and all of them would print money.

Speaking as a pedestrian who lived in Westmoreland for more than 23 years (1985-2008), I see many advantages to this plan. After a couple of unsatisfactory approaches to the Hawthorn/Holman/Bagby kerfuffle, we finally have one that makes sense. The extension of Stuart St to accommodate Courtlandt Place is an innovative approach to mollifying what's always been the Problem Child of the neighborhood. (BTW, has it never occurred to anyone to bock off the eastern entrance to Courtlandt Place, and move the gates to the western end, accessible via Taft St.? They might lose an insignificant tree, or have it moved to the eastern end of the block, but accessibility would vastly improve.) Also, it will neatly knit together a couple of currently neglected open spaces (the encampment under the 527 bridge on W Alabama and the Hawthorn/Holman/Burlington triangle pocket park), and alleviate the claustrophobic feeling that the ramp adjacent to Burlington St gives to the eastern edge of the neighborhood, while providing a cut-through that will shorten the distance for those walking to the HCC/Ensemble Station. And this? What a steaming load of crap. Robert Moses is dead, may he rot in peace.

Milam and Smith provide the lion's share of the traffic going to the Southwest Freeway; Louisiana and Travis have always taken practically all of the northbound traffic. The reality is that Brazos and Bagby don't connect well to downtown. Brazos dies at the south end of Allen Center, and Bagby is a rambling indirect cluster between Pierce and Dallas. Taking it out of the theoretical, the bridge to Brazos has now been closed for months without any noticeable negative effect.

From today.

You put it very well, HoustonIsHome! I completely agree.

That corner of the street has been sinking for quite some time. I don't know that the townhouse itself has been effected.

Quick question which is off topic. Who owns the land the surface parking lot is on? It seems like an ideal spot for a mixed use high rise.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/patrinely-group-announces-construction-begins-on-hewlett-packard-enterprise-campus-301003928.html

I'm sure you're right, its been so long since they said anything about their project I couldn't remember. I think I'll leave this site to you experts for a while and follow from a distance. I don't mind being corrected. I make mistakes but Its just the snarky way at which some of you seem to take glee in it. I've tried to always be pretty positive and bring new information, or things I think others might be interested in, but you and a few others makes it nor so much fun anymore.

but will it do it soon? 😶

it'll do both.

People that choose to pay that much in rent are those for which $3,900 would not get them a home that they'd want to live in. They'd want to live ITL so you're at a minimum spending 700k for anything they'd even consider. Putting 20% on a $700k house would be $2,670 (4% interest) + property taxes puts you at $4k a month. Believe it or not, the people that pay that much in rent are those that are waiting to buy (or just downsized) a home that's more expensive than 700k.

apartments starting at 3900.00 a month.

Ha...Never thought I'd read an Oliver Cromwell quote in a downtown Houston thread... Now NYC..that would make sense since he had the Duke of York's father beheaded. Yes, that Duke of York that named NYC after himself.