Leaderboard

Concrete pouring this morning at construction site.

@asubrt rotated for you.

These guys are from Melbourne. Them's shooting words.

199' tall tower crane application approved by the FAA on Tuesday this week. I would guess we will see the crane go up by next week. letter_434486880.pdf

Crane went up today. Guess they didn’t have to wait for the weekend since there’s no traffic right now EDIT: ugh sorry sideways

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

And then what? There would be fewer residents in the area. Fewer residents means less demand for park space. It would reduce the number of affordable apartments in Montrose, which are increasingly difficult to find. Even more of the people who made this neighborhood interesting to begin with will be forced out. That's some mighty expensive dirt under those apartments - and the owners know it. I can't imagine the city spending millions to buy and demolish taxable property for the sake of tiny parks that will serve a handful of people. OTOH, the greens space that will replace the Spur is land that we already own. In addition to the excellent points made by @Texasota (see above) it will also provide pedestrians a safe and enjoyable connection between Lower Westheimer/Elgin and the eastern end of W Alabama (an area which hasn't been given much love). We've grown so used to the ugliness and inconvenience caused by the Spur that it's difficult to picture the neighborhood without it. Its elimination will be a vast improvement.

as I have been venturing out of my home and just driving around in an effort to change the scenery a little bit, I am struck by how absolutely empty freeways are. It frustrates me to no end that our state is not willing to embrace public transportation, but I still want to see that idea happen, and this freeway expansion not happen. as we all sit here working from our homes, rather than traveling into offices, another thought sticks out like the cliche'd elephant in the room. why not spend the money that would go towards this freeway on programs that encourage working from home? I have referenced a study previously in this thread from Belgium that a reduction in 10% of cars results in a 40% reduction in traffic. surely we are seeing an even greater reduction in cars for a 100% reduction in traffic. the benefits are obvious, lower pollution, fewer accidents, less traffic. this city could reduce traffic ALL OVER TOWN (not just on this freeway) it could reduce road/highway maintenance costs, it would reduce road closures for projects like this. it would remove the need to remove people from their homes and communities, the cost savings alone is reason to choose this instead of more construction. I have a hunch that even if the government doesn't offer incentives for WFH that a lot of companies that had resisted will probably start to adjust. even if that adjustment is only to allow 3 days WFH, and 2 days in the office, we are going to see a change naturally as a result of this pandemic.

Correct me if im wrong, but doesn't this project also remove multiple back to back billboards along i45? Thats a HUGE plus in my opinion because its literally the most hideous site I've ever laid my eyes on. It's actually embarrassing driving down i45 from the airport with guests visiting Houston, and this is the first thing they see.

Soil sample crews are back on site again. Interestingly, the Midway signs have been taken down.

Love how the official website takes you to this page lol

Just to give people insight into the plight of the 25-35 year old crew, a mix of professionals and non-professionals in my extended group of friends/acquaintances: A 200,000 move-in ready suburban home with a decent yard, big enough to house a family of 4, and a good school district doesn't really exist in the Burbs anymore. 300,000, yes, but a true 200k home is a fantasy unless you are in the far, far out burbs or the house is in a mid-level, or lower, floodplain. For example, speaking to you guys talking about passing on the buck in terms of infrastructure, I've helped some clients with their issues with their kingwood/atascocita flooding. Moving to the burbs, an easy assumption for where people move to in Houston, still comes with these types of traps, where developers hurt the floodplain and the residents don't know. When a cheaper house occasionally does pop up in Pearland/Sugarland/Tomball my friends are losing out to people putting down 60% + cash on the homes, which should tell people that the people buying those homes are investors looking to lease or flip the house. My dad lives in a suburban home inside of the beltway but outside of 610, and was in talks with people to have it bought for 140k, mostly cash. It is not in a good school district (I went to it), and it was built in the 70s. There are some underlying assumptions in this thread that I believe doesn't reflect what younger people are seeing in the market. I actually have been doing the research on HAR and Zillow for myself for a year or so, if you want to be in the loop and have at least two of the kid's schools you're automatically zoned to be B or better on Greatschools (not a great metric, but alot of people use it) you're looking at 650k+. There is clear demand for that area. Growth will happen in the burbs, which is normal for Houston. But it wont be as dominant as before because it is more expensive to live in the burbs than some of you make it out to be.

2019 metro area population estimates were released yesterday: July 1, 2019 population: 7,066,141 July 1, 2018 population: 6,976,147 2017 population: 6,900,090 2016 population: 6,806,503 (they revise each year's estimates) 1 year increase: 89,994 Growth rate: 1.3% July 1, 2010 population: 5,947,236 9-year increase: 1,118,905 Percentage growth since July 1, 2010: 18.8%

I have a tiny repair project at a hotel. They are Howling about price for the repairs and trying to equivocate whether the repairs are needed. I imagine this is related.

Hotel occupancy has collapsed:

Some hardcore social distancing

Since we are discussing this, i just want to wish every single person on this board well and hope you are all taking good care of yourself...wash your dang hands because i need you here to entertain me and inform me xo

View from above. Went inside HRO today!

Has anyone heard any info of projects being delayed or pushed back due to the pandemic with the Coronavirus? I figured I’d post here since Going Up is the most frequently viewed of all the threads.

Damn they are flying through this

There is no lockdown in Harris County anyway, and even in counties that have more strict shelter-in-place rules than the very light ones effective for us today, construction is generally still allowed. So I wouldn't see that as a concern just yet.

View from above

Anecdotal, but I have one renovation project in San Antonio so far has been put on hold. For my projects that are under construction, most of the contractors are implementing cleaning regimes, spreading out the workers, and then one project of mine split their workforce into 3rds and put them on day shift, evening shift and night shift.

Since this is an extraordinary event, I am going to pin it to the top of this forum for a while so we can have an open discussion about the effected Going Up projects. Eventually, this will be moved to another subforum.

All the projects I rode by today except one had workers on site on Saturday.

Danger Construction Site.

And the hits...keep...on...coming. Its like every week thus far in 2020 we get an major announcement.

"Bagby doesn’t have that much traffic." LOL. This creates a private Spur on-ramp for Westmoreland? No wonder they're in favor. If I could get the government to close the streets by my house to the public and only let me use them, I'd probably be in favor of that too. Doesn't mean it makes any real sense.

You’d think they would put a nice wooden painted fence with or without verbiage. It looks rough!

Right? I mean its not that much better. They are also very different in building mass. Completely different projects. Its pretty unfair to compare both. Two different contexts as well.

I'm not sure I agree that the Atlanta design is better. I actually like how the "Bowen River Oaks" design is more broken up. Giant superblock buildings like the Atlanta design are not generally my favorite. And as to ARCs - I think the form-based regulations to be (hopefully) associated with the Walkable Places and Transit Corridor ordinances are a better, more predictable, consistent, and speedy approach than individual architectural reviews for every new building.

Its their first design here. Its not bad. Is it a masterpiece no. I actually expected a lot worse. I would also say yes to ARC's if I didn't know the reality which is the fact that it slows development and puts to many cooks into the kitchen when it comes to design. I rather give companies more freedom to design what they want. The only time I'm all for design committees is when it comes to infrastructure as that is something that needs the extra time and care to get right. Other than that more power to those who have a stake in the actual project. An ARC has zero stake in the project and in the end it keeps more projects from being built than it should.

Literally looks like a Holiday Inn..... from the looks of it, it looks like they went with one side taller than the other to prevent blocking the balcony views from Arabella? I just don't understand because this would essentially be another gateway to the River Oaks district, and THAT is what they want to put up? People were saying Arabella is poorly designed but at least its modern, has a unique shape and isn't the standard brown & beige exterior like this My favorite part is the pool facing south which will eventually be blocked :)

Straight TRASH design - reminds me of M5250 on Westheimer across from the Galleria (ONLY WORSE). This is why Houston needs some sort of Architectural Review Committee. Compare this design to what Lennar is currently building in Atlanta’s Buckhead area (which is very similar to Houston’s Uptown) to see why this sickens me!

Equipment is starting to pile up in the corner. Possibly unrelated?

LMC plan review permit.

Yeah, in the most urban version they build their own functional public transit system to other residential and business hubs. The downside is that they set aside 60% of residential units for foreign investors who will leave the unit empty, and they peg the price of groceries to a NYC Whole Foods.

More urban than the one on Washington with office and multi-family?

I’m curious about this project, could be HEB’s most urban concept? It is becoming such a dense area, maybe they will replicate Pearl and Whole Foods in midtown, hopefully even more. Love HEB

@TylerHerman13 Thread for Lennar Westcreek already exists.

Is the writing on the wall for the Bed, Bath and Beyond?

oh wow, that's where this is! I've been confused for a week Project seems to go a long with the expanding Upper Kirby.

I mean, there are patios on Main Street with a 0' setback.

I just don't see how there is enough space for the parking etc. And the luxury mid-rise "Giorgetti" will now be facing this. Wonder what effect that will have on the sales.

And Whole Foods will be undergoing a major change with Amazon. I used to work for HEB corporate in Houston, albeit the pharmacy side, but they aren't afraid to try new concepts. Pure speculation on my part... but I think this concept will be a HEB twist on what Whole Foods/Amazon plans to do. The store footprint in my mind will be mostly devoted to a cafe that serves beer and win and the "warehouse" section where grocery orders are put together and stored. Fresh fruit, veggies, meats, and fish along with basic staples will take up a smaller foot print as the focus will be more automated ordering.

I just happened to have driven by that stretch a couple days ago and noticed that the businesses on West Alabama appear to be pretty much gone. Just found some interesting information on the Giorgetti website. The Giorgetti will be north of Steel Street and it shows a 4 story mixed use apartment development on the parcel bounded by Virginia, Steel, Kirby and Alabama. I think that's the answer to your break-down question. FWIW, I think that parcel is larger than their Heights Blvd/Washington parcel.

Im curious how that NW corner is going to break down. IIRC, the Giorgetti luxury mid-rise is kicking off soon, plus there's a few businesses further west down West Alabama. With Steel St just north of West Alabama, it's going to be a tight squeeze.

It was clear this morning, and this sub-thread gets very little love.