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Project: Warehouse District Address: 850 McKee Houston, TX 77002 Architect: W Partnership - Wallace • Wilson Architects Information: 4-Story multi-family with parking at level 1. Total residential space is 28,840 SF with 31 units. Outdoor amenity decks at level 2 and 4. 6 unit terraces at level 2 and 3 unit balconies at level 4. The building exterior is comprised of masonry and fiber cement siding. Project: Warehouse District Address: 813 McKee Houston, TX 77002 Architect: W Partnership - Wallace • Wilson Architects Information: 5-Story multi-family with parking at level 1. Total residential space is 244,314 SF with 273 units (all 1-bedroom). Outdoor amenity deck at level 2. Lobby and Coffee Room at level 1. 11,500 SF courtyard terrace and separate outdoor kitchen and fitness area (4,000 SF) at level 2. The building exterior is comprised of masonry and fiber cement siding with a small amount of metal panels. There will also be a total of 11 art walls at the North and West side of the building (20' high).

It’s going to be a French-themed nightclub named Discothèque Krogeré (pronounced KRO-JHER-E). 😝

And the latest anchor tenant has been announced! Intuitive Machines will build a $40 million, 125,000 sf facility on a 12.5 acre lot. This will represent an expansion from their space in the HASC. It's a great to see another Houston born and grown company as anchor tenant at the spaceport. https://communityimpact.com/houston/bay-area/development/2021/06/10/breaking-intuitive-machines-expanding-in-houston-spaceport/

The dirt has reached the top of the easterly tunnels.

Demo started this morning.

Hopefully they don't let them set up the pricing model for parking in the garage. $1 parking + $.21 facility fee + $.39 environmental tax + .....

Went by Tuesday, about the same stage as @hindesky posted above. The water hole has dried up, and every day a little more debris is hauled off. The lead excavator (my new buddy 😁) told me they have about 2 weeks left to scrape it clean, before they move on. It's amazing how good the view of downtown Houston is from here.

that new crushed gravel path for foot and bike traffic that replaces the old picnic lane road is super fun to ride on with it's curves and "in the middle of the woods" feel! It does kinda go a bit out of the way if you are in a hurry to get home like i was the other night haha...but yep it's awesome!

Looks like demo units are being built out.

https://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/board/docs/books/210513-book-210506.pdf

Only $1 for the first 10 customers that reserve their spot 15 days in advance. A resale fee of $5 + 10% will be charged on the Ticker Master website. The on site price will be dynamically set by an algorithm that scans the make and model of the car with an additional $11 service charge for sedans and SUVs. Once the parking lot reaches 50% occupancy the remaining spots will be set aside for $899 VIP packages that include a bottle of fuel additive and additional purchasable upgrades.

That shouldn't be a problem in Montrose.

Why in hell is the city spending $40mil when this company could easily go out and bank finance the job themselves (or get a developer involved)? I wasn't aware that our tax dollars are being used to fund commercial development....

Don't forget the in-person convenience fee. It's so convenient!

Yes, that was my point. Piggy bank with negative interest rate. But keep in mind that someone along the line will be responsible for maintenance. A low income earner with no savings other than home equity will be a tight spot trying to make an unexpected repair. Again, if this were sprinkled throughout Houston it might work, but amassing large subsidized rent-locked neighborhoods is not a good idea.

By apologies for not believing that a non-profit could come up with something so idiotic. Capping the market valuation is essentially providing a crutch without treating the underlying poverty issues. From some light googling, I was able to find this: https://www.houstonclt.org/faq The first FAQ states that this would be a ground lease, not a purchase. As @Kinglyammentioned, owning the home is essentially a piggy bank with a negative interest rate.

If they were sprinkling this in various neighborhoods it wouldn't have such a high likelihood of turning into a slum.

Yep...I'm one of those people. It's actually quicker sometimes to take the Westheimer exit and get onto 59 northbound from the feeder road after Westheimer & W. Alabama than it is to stay on the freeway, especially that right lane. About a year ago, I had a web conference with five people from TxDOT...although only two of them actually spoke the whole time. I asked them why they don't work on one ramp at a time before tearing up other parts of the freeways and intersection. One of the reps told me that they didn't want their people working on top of the each other for safety reasons. Let me repeat that...one of TxDOT's reps told me that they didn't want their people working on top of each other in response to my "why not work on one ramp at a time" question. When I kindly reminded him that my question takes that into account by default, he told me they have other projects going on simultaneously across the entire state. So I asked why they work on multiple major highway projects at a time just in one city (Houston in this case) as opposed to allocating more of their resources on one project at a time in that city and getting it done in a fraction of the time before starting the next one, and then he "informed" me that we were out of time. All I could think of was what Bill Burr once said...it's like they want to frustrate you enough so you say a curse word or something, so they can have an excuse to hang up on you. Like you mentioned, this kind of practice not the exception with TxDOT...it's the norm. It's not a fluke, it's by design. These people aren't stupid. They know exactly what they're doing. After over two decades driving in this town and years worth of experience dealing with TxDOT, it couldn't be clearer to me that this is a racket...and I'm willing to bet there's a ton of hands in that pot. When things that seem easy don't make sense, there's almost always corruption involved. Look at who benefits from poor roads, traffic jams and accidents and tell me with a straight face that I'm insane to think there's a better chance than not that they're getting kickbacks in some way from the automobile, oil & gas, insurance, etc. industries...in the oil & gas capital of the world no less. There's a lot of money to be made from traffic jams and accidents, and when you look at shit like this under the lens of "maybe that's the goal in the first place," TxDOT's actions make a lot more sense.

https://envisionold6wardtirz.com/

The dang road needs a diet along most of the long stretches. Throw in traffic control, wider sidewalks, trees, etc. and it would be an economic boom to the area.

The ramp actually is two lanes. Yes, only one lane goes from the Loop to the ramp, but what people are apparently not noticing here is that a lot of the traffic coming from Uptown will no longer be getting on to the Loop at all, but going directly to the ramps to I-69. Works really well.

I'm always impressed with the downtown views from this area or the East River development :)

What affordable housing is that? The only thing I'm aware of is the gang-infested crime hub at Allen Parkway Villages, but I thought that is all public housing.

Those estimates are always a bit wacky. The only thing you can trust are the actual census numbers, which have had a tendency to lop some of that growth back. Especially in Dallas-Fort Worth...

Capping the property tax valuation will absolutely help low income homeowners build equity by reducing their annual tax bill. This is the same idea behind homestead exemptions, over 65, disabled, etc. The properties are still appraised at market value, but the increase on taxable valuation is limited. Also, there is usually a 10 year waiting period before they can be sold at full market value without having to return some portion of the profit to the city. There was a similar program in 3rd Ward a few years ago and those houses are probably worth $100k more by now. Because the tax valuation is limited, the homeowner isn't forced out of their home due to their income not increasing as fast as gentrification. That being said, I definitely don't think Hardy Yards is the right places for this type of development scheme. They should be targeting the area northeast of St Arnold's or 5th Ward where there are more vacant lots than houses.

if I recall (and I think it's way near the beginning of this thread) the good homeowners of Afton Oaks fought the original design so that it would be forced to stay within the existing ROW. so this is probably what we are left with after that fight. anyway, the last laugh is saved for the doctors who have patients in Afton Oaks, they're going to be the ones who make extra money from the higher rates of asthma occurrence caused by pollution from slower traffic so close to their homes. at the end of the day, I do support the design needing to stay within the existing ROW, I can't say "well, let's demo some houses here" but then be against the i45 project that I disagree with because (among other things) they need to take houses to make more ROW. with that being said, we need to have more transit options introduced asap. edit: I know the question of 'but there were 2 lanes in the space of 1 now' I think this whole process was done to bring the road standards for 59 up to interstate levels so they could call it 69. which includes having wider shoulders, even on interchange lanes, so in order for the ramps to comply with interstate standards, and still fit within the existing ROW, this is what we get.

That one did the water/sewer disconnect in the back. I'm sure the big hoes are coming on the way.

I spoke to some neighbors yesterday who attended the first meeting. They reported the first round of comments were uniformly negative. Supposedly the plan is to sell the homes below $90,000, then artificially cap the property value increases on these homes at 1.5% per annum (less than the Fed's target inflation rate), which I expect would have the effect of depressing neighborhood property value growth, too. I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that having an artificial cap below the annual inflation rate is NOT going to help lower income homeowners build capital?

Live Nation.

Water and sewer disconnect and a Cherry track hoe on site.

Got confirmation from a source at TxDOT that the permanent 610 southbound exit ramp to 59 northbound will remain one lane similar to the current configuration, and that lane will be shared with some of the traffic exiting 59 southbound. If you go to TxDOT's "projects and studies" page on their website, the first paragraph reads: "Before a project is built, a study must be done to determine if it will fill a transportation need, will not negatively impact the surrounding area and fits the department's overall plan. During the study phase, potential projects are analyzed to determine if they are cost effective, while also efficiently improving mobility." I'd love to see this "study" that suggests going from two lanes exiting off 610 southbound like we had before this project to one lane will "efficiently improve mobility" and "not negatively impact the surrounding area"...and who approved this design? This is unacceptable.

Here's what the facility will look like The Houston Spaceport is really becoming a hub of activity, another major tenant will be announced this month and will build a 125,000 sf facility to support 250 jobs. In addition, a new EDGE center is being planned. With the unnamed development, Axiom, and Collins, 1500 jobs will be created at the spaceport. https://communityimpact.com/houston/bay-area/development/2021/06/02/houston-spaceport-to-one-day-house-new-larger-training-facility/

Another development that could potentially take advantage of the opt-in Transit Oriented Development standards. Edit: my star is a little off. It should be shifted to the left part of the block, but still would apply if they go onto Richmond frontage. If they opt-in, they would get a 50% reduction in the parking minimum requirement and they would have to follow some streetscape design guidelines. See the back half of this PDF if you want a refresher https://houstontx.gov/planning/docs_pdfs/User's Guide for WP and TOD report_2020-10-01.pdf

Based on the subdivision plat I posted back in 2016 the strip center containing La Tapatia will be demolished as well.

I absolutely love that the the pavilion is being reused and not torn down.

That sounds correct, has nothing to do with capping value for property tax purposes.

Based on the project name and description, this seems to be a separate project. Unless Mark Dana Corp is out, which seem unlikely given the massive about of subsidies they have lined up.