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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/18/2020 in Posts

  1. Finally it's going vertical!
    10 points
  2. Decided to take a look to see what this area is like in 2020. Went here and The Grid just to see the two approaches in this early stage. While its still too early to tell which of these will be successful in the long run, it was interesting to see both initial approaches to development. While The Grids initial approach left me wanting, and disappointed, Redemption Square at Generation Park left me impressed and hopeful for the future. I got the sense even though this was only just a couple buildings that they have an clear mission in what they want to do, and are pursuing that mission from the start. While this initally will probably make it feel empty in the beginning because its trying to establish itself as something different, like CityCentre (which also started slow), as it adds layers it will start to become a destination for the area and be seen as something different and unique. Here are pics from trip out there (pardon the darkness of the photos. taken with my camera and didn't have time to edit them): The Square itself felt like a place already. Looking forward to this being fleshed out with retail and seeing people use it. Especially with it being set in the middle of nowhere it was nice to be contained in an enclosed environment: Even the Courtland Marriott which is normally a symbol of suburban development is being incorporated into an urban square setting which was interesting. It proved to me that they are really trying to put effort into developing this as a concept: Then there is the first residential development for this site. The entire bottom portion that faces the square will have ground floor retail. It will take awhile for it to fill out, but once it does it will be very nice. The scale was good, and the building felt like something of quality while I was there. Apparently its near completion and has already started leasing: The office building really came out nice as well: They are setting up fencing for the next phase I think: Further down the main road from Redemption Square is construction for the San Jacinto Campus: Thats about it. Though small right now, its a great start. From aerials on google maps you just don't get that sense that anything has happened here yet, but once you take a look for yourself it does feel like an actual place with a lot of potential. I can't say the same thus far for The Grid. To find out what I said about that development then go to that thread. Redemption Square is staying true to their mission, and feels like they are in this for the long haul and want to get it done right. Looking forward to what evolves out of this in the future.
    9 points
  3. It already did break ground. What you are seeing is the beginning of the project. A massive amount of civil work is required before they can even get close to constructing buildings. They are basically building a mini-city on land that had very little infrastructure to begin with. We won't see much progress for a bit. Once we see streets finished then the buildings will begin. For reference look at the photos of the Lower Heights District. For awhile it looked like nothing was happening, but during that time they were putting in all the storm/sewer and surface infrastructure which is required to get things going in an urban core project like these. Yes you can do it the other way where you build everything at once, but sometimes its better to do it the way they are doing it.
    7 points
  4. This has to be one of the most imposing structures I've ever seen for a building. Most of the other buildings downtown don't have this kind of street presence. Most of them are setback from the street with small bases. This is something else.
    5 points
  5. I'm not going to take credit for this, but I did leave a comment to that affect on the map when the city was asking for comments! I'm sure this has been in the works for awhile though. This would be an incredible change. Honestly, there is no reason to have the spur go all the way to Bagby and Brazos. They could simply end it at W Alabama with the outbound lane coming from Milam and the inbound lane connecting to Travis. As you have said, while this bridge has been out of commission there has been no complaints, and there really hasn't been any increase in traffic on Milam and Travis. Looking forward to seeing the diagrams for the rest of what is planned for this portion.
    5 points
  6. It looks like METRO's gearing up to start the next BRT line- the extension north toward the proposed HSR site at the NW mall site from the NW transit center, and then moving east along I-10 to link the NW transit center up with downtown. I couldn't find anything on their site, but I did see this article from abc13. Nice to see that it sounds like they're moving forward on the next phases of the plan, which also makes me wonder if METRO has high confidence that the HSR to Dallas is actually happening (despite opposition from some folks at the moment)- I am so pumped to check out the BRT line when it's open this summer.
    5 points
  7. The whole statement from rice seems absolutely stupid. That corridor is from end to end is 20 mins with stop.. that downtown to midtown to medical center. 12 by car ..I have rode this route hundreds of times if you factor in the years I had to ride the rail to work.
    4 points
  8. Decided to take a look to see what this area is like in 2020. Went here and Redemption Square at Generation Park just to see the two approaches in this early stage. While its still too early to tell which of these will be successful in the long run, it was interesting to see both initial approaches to development. While Redemption Square at Generation Park left me impressed and hopeful for the future, The Grids initial approach left me wanting and disappointed. I'm genuinely shocked that they have this amazing post-industrial building just sitting their which can make this place an interesting destination and instead they decided to start with cheap retail pavilions with Chipoltle, Pluckers, etc... Like what? This place actually has a huge initial advantage over Redemption Square, and instead of pursuing the best parts of their plan first to distinguish themselves they have decided to focus on the lowest common denominators which will make them the same as everything around it. Oh wait...I'm sorry, I forgot they have an In-and-Out Burger, yeah ok...whatever. The post-industrial object that has enormous potential, that they have decided to do nothing with yet: Look at the structure of this! Are you kidding me? This was a hidden gem. I'm definitely coming back to do some actual photography of this building: The apartments that they have built, and the next phase. Nothing special. You can find apartments like these anywhere: The Streets...Look at our big plans for this site everyone! Yeah I'm sure you do: Now get excited everyone, here is what we have thus far... And the Cherry on Top: When your biggest get is a gimmick like an In-and-Out Burger, along with an ensemble of the usual suburban suspects...I get worried. Fine its "phase 1". Your phase 1 is crap. You can find these things anywhere in Houston. Congrats you are just like everyone else The Grid. You have this beautiful found post-industrial object, but instead you go for the easy bacon. Right now it just feels like this is a development that is trying to get rich quick, instead of creating an actual place. I really hope that I am wrong. Please build something worthy of this site, but you believe that first impressions are everything, then this is one lame first impression. Right now out of the two, Redemption Square at Generation Park knows what it is, and is sticking with their mission, while The Grid lost the plot along the way. If you want to see my initial reactions to Generation Park then check out that thread.
    4 points
  9. Great overview. The potential for this development is staggering. The owners are sticking with the plan and avoiding compromising the plan for cheap / quick gains. They are expecting another 600+ homes built between Balmoral and the Groves per year in the area. Along with Apartment, you could expect a population increase of ~25k over the next 5 years just adjacent to this property. You have a lot of good things going for this area, but like you said, the perception is that this is in the middle of nowhere.
    4 points
  10. Yeah they’re definitely working on the other one. Guess they just wanted an excuse to have two topping out parties
    4 points
  11. Microsoft’s already entered Houston with an accelerator at the Ion. This was announced way back in April 2019, Mayor Sylvester Turner was the driving force behind it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/04/17/microsoft-to-launch-accelerator-for-smart-city.amp.html If you’re waiting for something else from them then I think it’s safe to say that it’ll lead to disappointment because I don’t think they have any additional expansion plans beyond this. Microsoft already has two offices in Houston besides the Ion. The first is near Memorial Park in Uptown Houston along I-610W. The other is inside City Centre along Beltway 8 West and I-10.
    4 points
  12. The forums I have popped into are Oklahoma City (OKCTalk), Detroit (DetroitYes), Dallas (DallasMetropolis), and Fort Worth (FortWorthArchitecture). Then there are the Curbed.com sites for Atlanta, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, LA, New York and San Francisco. I didn't know about the Nashville one but I'll have to check it out. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...
    4 points
  13. The Art Supply construction is coming along on Almeda. I share your hopes for this @HoustonIsHome. Turkey Leg Hut has done wonders to make the area livelier and show its potential, although it still has some work to do to address some of the negative externalities caused by its success. With respect to the topic at hand and that Rice study, I'm curious as to how Prof. Egan developed his model. Anecdotally, having worked in Uptown, Downtown, and now Midtown, I'd rank Uptown a distant third in terms of the "spontaneous interactions" I've had at lunch or walking about. The area is geared toward car traffic and is an absolute nightmare to navigate at lunch. I find that the ability to use the light-rail like a tram, which I've done to visit Downtown for lunch, is far more conducive to getting to an area to run into others I know.
    3 points
  14. Land values within a half mile radius of the Ion are going to skyrocket in due time. No wonder there are so many tear down 5,000 sq ft lots near Richmond Ave, just west of the spur, on sale with asking prices of $1M. Lots of that size in other parts of Montrose are asking half that.
    3 points
  15. Why would they move? They have been there for more than 100 years, IIRC. That grass field is a welcome respite from a sea of concrete. Sometimes it's nice for kids to have a safe, grassy place to run around.
    3 points
  16. 2808 Summer St https://www.officespace.com/tx/houston/2132493-2808-summer-street
    3 points
  17. The Oklahoma site is near the great town of Burns Flat, Oklahoma. A thriving metropolis of about 2,000 people. The only real attraction there is the Clinton Sherman Airpark, which has a 13,503 foot runway, built by the USAF decades ago. It was an alternate landing site for the Space shuttle. A friend's parents were from there, and I was shocked when I looked at it on a map, and saw how small the town is.
    3 points
  18. central market will always be HEB's flagship for houston though? the gumption to build this across the street from Whole Foods is just.... wow.
    3 points
  19. Uploaded to complete @Luminare HAIF development map
    2 points
  20. All the images you post in place of actual arguments, no matter how big you make them, all the argumentum ad lapidem retorts and ipse dixit assertions you make, they don't hide the fact that you don't have a cogent argument to make, they lay that fact bare. You can say all you want over and over that "no one voted to demolish the dome", but that doesn't change the fact that Ed Emmett, the PAC formed to promote the bond election, and numerous other pro-preservation groups spent a lot of time and money telling Harris voters that if they voted against the referendum, they would in fact be voting to demolish the Dome, and they did just that. When the author of a referendum who is also in charge of managing the Dome tells you that a vote against his referendum is a vote for demolishing the dome, and you vote against the referendum, you are in fact voting to demolish the dome. You can't counter this with any logical argument, so you don't even try, instead, you just say "it wasn't a vote to demolish the dome because I said it wasn't." Emmett said it was, and he and his people spent a chunk of change to make sure Harris voters knew that. How can I make that any clearer to you? The dome was initially kept around to be able to tout it as another venue for a failed Olympics bid. Beyond that, Indecision and inaction, not sentiment, is what has kept the building standing vacant and un-repurposed for over 20 years. Your confidence that this won't change over the foreseeable future is based on nothing - after Harvey few thought Emmett would be ousted the very next year, but he was, and his Astrodome boondoggle after voters rejected his 2013 referendum played a part in that. And now that he is out as the champion of the Dome, your "foreseeable future" isn't worth the current ticket price to see an event in the Astrodome. And you know it. That's why you've ramped up the posturing to a fever pitch.
    2 points
  21. Yeah you could take Bayou to Columbia tap but that always made me feel like I was going out of my way to go back up. Plus, at the very least, you have to access Brays either at the light on Almeda or cross somewhere else in the park to get into the bayou which then has me surrounded by usually fast traffic. I like this because to me it feels like less of a hassle, cars are a little slower. So basically, if I want the extra exercise its Bayou to Columbia, otherwise its the new way. Gray is super-duper nice. Goes from Bagby down to the Columbia Tapp, but the portion of nearest to the columbia tap for like three streets is a sharrow. Then it gets protected. With Bagby in downtown getting the facelift its getting, I'm wondering if bike volume on Bagby in Midtown will go up. That area, with all the apartments, need something other than the sidewalk (since people actually walk in that area) that is away from the cars to allow for bikes.
    2 points
  22. what changed cost wise is that the matching funds from the national government were blocked by these two distinguished gentlemen, so the internal funds for the project were moved to other projects.
    2 points
  23. Smith, two blocks east, will still be an entrance to the spur, now with no cross traffic from Bagby. 💁‍♂️
    2 points
  24. They probably concentrated there because Galleria/Uptown was a much more desirable area for such a long time. Rice made the right decision, as downtown and midtown have increased in desirability in past decade.
    2 points
  25. Also very suspicious that the first roll-out of this is at the Westmoreland Civic Association meeting? Also I'm pretty sure there are laws about announcing government meetings. "Brazos Bridge Vicinity Concept" project exists exactly nowhere I can find online. The people hyping it up are only referencing the Project # for the $4 million bridge repair contract, which was already awarded. Did they pull the contract after the demolition? This has shenanigans written all over it. I have lots of questions.
    2 points
  26. Exactly. This is how train travel worked in Germany while there. Their ICE trains went on straighter routes bypassing the majority of small towns just like TCR is doing with its trains. Then DE in Germany also had a regional network of trains (RE) that would connect to small towns which then connected to larger regional centers which had access to ICE. It was an incredibly efficient system with some built in redundancy. HSR doesn't and shouldn't be used in every situation. Have HSR connect major cities. Then another layer of transit which is just a notch slower than HSR, but still quick which gets out from major cities to large regional towns, and then you have the next step down from that which would be regional travel. In Germany it was ICE (intercity express) which was the fastest, then IC (intercity), then it was RE (Regional Express). So if here we have our HSR which will go at 200 mph or higher, then the next step below that would be an Intercity/InterLargeTown train at 150mph, and then a Regional Train that would go at around 75-100mph.
    2 points
  27. The head of Rice's endowment said the church isn't going anywhere and they have been giving input during the development process, if I remember correctly. It was either during a presentation or the looped in pod. He seemed pretty pleased with, and complimented, having the church there, saying they were one of the few things that hadn't abandoned that area. @HoustonIsHome the nice thing about TMC3 is that it extends the urban landscape further toward NRG, so maybe in the future NRG won't be considered too far from much?
    2 points
  28. MICROSOFT TO EAST RIVER !!???? That would be perfect...
    2 points
  29. This...as much as we complain about historical buildings being removed/replaced, why on earth would the church move? I imagine the powers that be behind Ion may have thoughts about how they may be able to utilize the parking lot, and I'm sure the church has their thoughts about it as well.
    2 points
  30. ^^^ those WINDOW WALLS are absolutely gorgeous! not to mention, the high ceilings... WOW!
    2 points
  31. The buffer is great for planting trees, which calm traffic and make walking or cycling more pleasant (that whole shade thing).
    2 points
  32. Well, that's a giant load of codswallop. The students need to get back to studying, and stay out of topics where they are clueless. I'm oppositional enough to react to those demands by buying some more land and cranking up the bulldozers.
    2 points
  33. Almost time for the outside cafeteria awning to come down. Man, I went here starting in the fall of 1997 and graduated 2001 and was very active in the Drafting Department when Mr. Sheppard taught it. That classroom will soon fall. Lot of memories.
    2 points
  34. Would be really epic if true.
    2 points
  35. Just because we haven't found a use for the dome by now, that doesn't mean we NEVER will. It might take more time than YOU may be willing to give it, but that doesn't mean OTHERS have to give up trying. Even if they never find a use for the Astrodome I don't want it torn down. NOT EVERYTHING can be measured in dollars. Sentiment DOES have value. Especially in a place that doesn't have much sentiment to start with. Better uses? In all likelihood, what would have once been the ground the Astrodome now stands will be a beautiful, brand new, all-purpose, highly useful parking lot. Houston has millions of those (you can now park where useless old Astroworld used to be). But Houston does not have any structure that comes close to the uniqueness and cultural relevance as the Astrodome. Say what you want, but to me the best thing Houston has regarding it's place in the world (outside providing jobs) is that fact we just love to build buildings (our skyline is becoming a monster). So I think we should have at least ONE building that stands apart from all others. That is what the Astrodome is. In all of Houston's history I don't think we ever built anything as unique and revolutionary or anything that ever achieved the world fame that the Astrodome did in its day. I think the Dome represents Houston at its best. Yes it's old, yes it's useless. But it's worth preserving. We are not a poor city. We can afford to keep it standing until a new use can be found. But even if a practical use is never found, it still has value. I know that the Astrodome means nothing to a lot of people in Houston and even less to people who moved here from somewhere else or who don't give a crap about anything outside the perimeter of their own front lawns. But I think they are being short-sighted and cheap and forget that money isn't the only thing of value in world. Feeling good about something also has value. Home town pride has value. Yankee Stadium? New York City has dozens of culturally relevant buildings. Houston does not. Maybe a parking lot is as important to you as the world's first indoor stadium and preserving a grand scale shrine to mid-century architecture. But it's hard to imagine Houston ever building anything in the future that will ever come close to being the potential world icon that the Astrodome could become to Houston with a little love and good marketing. I know, it's not Buckingham Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral or the Eiffel Tower but it's going to be the closest thing Houston will probably ever get to it. We can't just tear it down like it never meant anything to anyone. What it represents to Houston's place in history is irreplaceable. As much as I enjoy NRG stadium and Minute Maid Park, I'd rather see them torn down than the Astrodome. I'd rather the Astrodome become a dilapidated eyesore like the Roman Coliseum Ruins for the next hundred years or so than to see it torn down and replaced with a parking lot. Whatever it takes as long as it's still standing because even a century from now the Astrodome will likely will still be the only thing Houston ever contributed to the elevation of world architecture and building technology.
    2 points
  36. Midtown is dominated by 5-lane roads with narrow sidewalks and few stops where cars whiz along at 40 mph. It is a hostile environment for pedestrians in most places. The amount of recent mixed-use development and land speculation shows that it is trying to hatch out of its egg as a truly walkable urban neighborhood but it is being held back by decisions made in the past to make it a speedzone for commuters. It was one thing to laugh off the urbanists when land in Midtown was worth $20/SF, but now that it is worth $200/SF, we need to realize that the world has shifted. Houston's future and competitiveness does not rely on helping people in the suburbs commute to downtown easily the way they once did. I say this as a person who lives in the suburbs with a large family. Property values in the core are skyrocketing while values in the suburbs are growing modestly with inflation because preferences are shifting to the urban core. Which means that the balance of interests in these decisions needs to likewise shift. Yes, the commuters are still important, but not as important, while the inner city is exponentially more important. Whatever detriment to the city's interests is caused by southwest commuters having to wait through a few more traffic lights on the way to work downtown is more than made up for by the creation of value resulting from removing a freeway spur in an area where land values are high and interest in urban living is high. This is, at bottom, an economic decision.
    2 points
  37. I didn't know about the underground plan. Interesting. I think they should consider a tunnel connecting it all the way up to 45 so that traffic doesn't have to cut through the neighborhood anymore. People don't complain when they assume something is temporary for construction. Permanent is a different issue. Put up a fair-sized sign at the Bagby entrance to the Spur saying it may be closed permanently along with a number to call with feedback, and then see what people say...
    2 points
  38. One of the first people I met in Houston was Jay Hollyfield (of the Hollyfield Laundry/real estate family) who grew up on Westheimer. Their house was located where Sakowitz was built. At that time, Westheimer was a dirt road west of Post Oak. Imagine that.
    2 points
  39. Since it is now mid-February, I figured I'd do the honors. :p Canino Produce by Marc longoria, on Flickr
    2 points
  40. 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
    2 points
  41. Lots of dump trucks hauling away dirt from the site this morning.
    2 points
  42. 2 points
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