Leaderboard

Not gunna lie, this looks cool AF

Good job to the construction crews for all wearing their PPE!

On The Origin of Block 98

BTW errbody, Google Earth has 4/19/2020 imagery now for the CBD area

Full impact to the skyline 😍

Taken yesterday of course

taken a couple days ago

Tube glass install with a view of the soffit system partially installed. I think this glass looks great in the Houston sunshine!

This is really a great shot. Montrose blvd. needs to be turned into a beautiful promenade from Allen Parkway to the roundabout in Museum District ie from Aga Khan to MFAH. It will be awesome watching this stretch continue to be lined with mid-rise and high-rise multifamily with hotels certainly not far behind.

Probably millions of pics were taken today.

Hi pm91. I am speaking from a homeowner's perspective, in the neighborhood that your are talking about (East Bayou District). At the core of this neighborhood is Kennedy Place, a 108unit/224bedroom, Houston Housing Authority, low income housing project. This whole neighborhood, as you see it now, has grown up around this. There are literally, hundreds of new homes surrounding this development on all sides. Property values have sky-rocketed since the purchase my new townhome in 2013, and I attribute it to the potential of the East River property, as well as proximity to downtown and easy access to highways and all central city neighborhoods (Montrose, Heights, Midtown, EADO, etc...). So, the NRP project you are speaking of, is across the Bayou, on the southern bank . Much of this is designed as a replacement for Clayton Homes, which is currently being demolished and will be fully eliminated. THE NRP (which was actually further from the East Bayou District) will have little effect or interaction on this neighborhood. The closer proposed development is the OJALA mixed income development which 304units are proposed along with hundreds of market rate units. It's a large piece of property. Details are sketchy (and that is a concern) but it is easy to see how this could become a development of more than 1000 new units, as what has been indicated. In my opinion, what will effect the neighborhood more, is the additional residents that this development is likely to bring, which will bring more retail (to East River and elsewhere), which is desperately needed. As I see it, The enormous size of East River, the amenities and residents it will bring, the ongoing development of he the Bayou/BBP will far overshadow a few hundred additional low income residents. Reference: http://www.housingforhouston.com/public-housing/housing-developments/kennedy-place.aspx https://www.saveeastend.com/

I believe this is the crane you can see

I choose the one on the bottom right, we don't need anymore tan/beige buildings downtown.

Blue Angels flyover, from M+A.

Unfortunately, it’s gonna have to drive you crazy for a while longer lol. The replacement glass is literally on a slow boat from China.

Imo bottom right has the best looking street portion out of all of them, and the garage is way better than previous designs. For some reason the brick just doesn't do it for me on this building, it just doesn't look as good as some of the other renderings. But that's all up to preference. Personally, I think we're getting the best out of the proposed designs.

Tower crane base arrived today.

What do you mean, "environmentally questionable"? Either the site is contaminated or it isn't. An ESA will determine that and is required before they can build. The videos make a big deal of "They're next to a lead facility!" but that in itself doesn't mean anything. If this area were questionable, there wouldn't be developers like Midway scrambling to build there.

The "oversight" is my main concern. HHA has been less than transparent and provided several misleading statements in their application to HUD (for instance they state that Middle Street will provide direct access to the site directly from Navigation, this is not accurate and misleading). The environmental issues that exist at the NRP site are of the most concerning. The City is essentially forcing low income folks to live in an area that is environmentally questionable. My back of the napkin math for this project (land and construction cost) puts the cost of each unit at $260,000+. That is high even for Class A projects let alone on a site with environmental issues. I agree that giving private developers incentives in some cases makes sense. The problem is when the developer flips the property (many times at a large profit) and you are stuck with a developer/operator that does not live up to the agreements as they were set forth. This has happened in several cases with NRP, JLB, Ojala, etc...The developers and their brokers seem to be the only winners here.

They are moving fast on build-out of the restaurant portion. Maybe a half-dozen workers were present. No sign is up, so I’m not sure if this is still going to be a Corky’s or some other restaurant. https://imgur.com/gallery/vOISdHl (Sorry for the link, it’s inverting the orientation of photos when I try to upload directly, and Imgur imbed feature isn’t working on mobile)

If brick was ruled out, bottom right (current proposal?) is best. If your going to make curves or angles like some of the renderings - best to go bold... bolder than what they proposed. I feel like this area badly needs brick. While I am disappointed there is no brick, I think we could have ended up with the best one. Simple, different, well designed. Almost appears to be 2 towers with a connector.

Yeah, if it were brick, the second one would be the best. Otherwise either top right or bottom right.

This is great! I hope they continue to build this area by the Warehouse District up. Isn’t there a thread for the plans to redevelop that area as well?

Looks like the renovation is complete. New Transwestern flyer. https://transwestern.com/property/8515-fannin-street

Not really related to anything, but that is the McGowen Camden sign up in the corner.

It's Aerial Work Platforms for the guys that were tensioning the cables.

As a person who only ever gets excited for whispers about trains (and buses too) this place thrills me. Might I have some critiques, sure. But frankly the thing is worthy of critique. It's cool in a whole lotta ways. It's possessed of a rather more severe grandeur than in the renderings.

Noticed Harvey did some writing in the concrete. Very cool. Modern hieroglyphics. Reads: Harvey #1, Safety 1st, Zero Accidents My Safety, Got PPE?, Keep 6-Foot Apart, Drink Water, then repeats in Spanish.

Thank you so much for layin it out. That area is definitely our first choice and we certainly hope we can move in.

HHA has yet to provide any ESAs and part of the issue is that they plan to purchase that land without making those disclosures. So if the land passed a Phase I, why not release it? If there is no remediation required, why not disclose that? It gives the appearance that HHA is hiding something (which they have been known to do). Using tax dollars to purchase land without doing proper due diligence such as environmental, traffic study, etc...is not being a good steward of tax payer funds. And given the history of the site and proximity to other industrial sites, I think it is safe to say that the environmental integrity of the lot is questionable until proven otherwise.

There are currently about 250 households in the immediate area. HHA is planning on placing 926 units (many of which are low income units) on the NRP site. This is about a 370% increase in the density of the neighborhood, with absolutely no intention or plan to upgrade the infrastructure. Furthermore, taking the Ojala and NRP properties off the tax roll will put further strain on existing residents already burdened with rising taxes.

I agree 100% but there is currently no plan to redo this street. And Montrose Management District was disbanded; who probably had the best shot at getting something done. I would love to see this street done up like Kirby. Problem is - How does it get done?

Land prep has started.

Saturday, May 2 at 2:30...

Tower crane is up.

Details from the paywall article: roughly 25 story right across the street from the dual hotel-multifamily development the company is currently building (Latitude @ 6750 main) skybridge to Latitude break ground in Q2-Q3 2018 in talks with several healthcare systems, both local and out-of-town to occupy tower retail and restaurant on ground floor