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It’s a hardship for those with disabilities though. It’s even tougher during Summer months when those extra few steps seem like an eternity. That extra 60 ft is enough to deter business as well. If I’m a business, I’m trying to attract all types of clientele, not just motorists. Otherwise I’m losing potential income as a business owner because I’m only catering to one type of commuter. Parking in the back doesn’t create this massive inconvenience for property owners and aesthetically it’s just nicer. A great example is the shopping center on W Gray and Montrose. And to also ask how many people live in proximity is an even bigger reason we need to build smarter. Just because the current layout doesn’t cater to pedestrians doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be built to handle pedestrians. Especially when Metro is planning a station in this location.

How will the SE Corner of Downtown ever develop losing this half of a lot to storage for the near future? Yeah, it's not the best, but it's also something. There's a lot of nothing in this area. If there wasn't demand for storage, then they would probably have done something else with their $10 million.

Vic Samuels was an amazing person. I had the good fortune to know him personally. He started at least three huge businesses--Houston Terminal Storage, Leedo Cabinets and Victory Packaging. Leedo manufactured apartment-grade cabinets (I had a business that did business with Leedo), and Victory Packaging was a billion dollar manuf of cardboard & boxes. Vic was as charitable a person as you'd ever meet, hence his giving the building away.

I’ve heard plenty of immigrants say they moved to Houston specifically because of the weather … the truth of the matter is some of the world’s most populated areas, the East Coast of Asia, South Asia, West Africa, and large swaths of coastal South America have weather very similar to Houston. So it’s good to have someone who approaching it from that perspective. But yes what a shame we don’t have more trees lining sidewalks downtown and other more urbanized areas to promote walking. And what a different city this would be if major streets had landscaped medians as well.

A former colleague went to work for Leedo when he left the company I work for. He loved working there. Mr. Samuels sounds like a guy I would have liked to meet.

A surface parking lot has potential to be something decent. This will be a storage unit facility that adds nothing to the community and will be that for decades and decades.

Some would say driving 60 feet across a property is even easier than walking 60 feet across a parking lot. As I mentioned above, there will likely be a BRT station built in an adjacent parcel.

You gotta start somewhere. That’s how you build a great city, piece by piece.

Multi-story self storage will soon take over another parking lot in downtown. Less than 2 blocks away from the new U-Haul building.

That is where it is going.

The alterations they made to the building really are great! 😆

I have mixed feelings about this. Ideally, this designation should have been in effect at least 20 or 30 years ago, when places such as Avant Garden were being harassed for having acoustic music acts. COH's Rip Van Winkle approach will be met with resistance from people who have little interest and no memory of when live music actually existed in Montrose. There's a schism between those who would like Montrose to become River Oaks East, and those who would like it to retain some semblance of its days as a lively bohemian neighborhood. My current home is near a nightclub, and it does get loud sometimes. However, I knew the nightclub was there when I moved in. Asking them to close down because a neighbor chose to live close by seems unreasonable, so resign myself to a few hours of noise a week.

Of course it is. It's tailor made.

That may be so, but the photos still have "HA" on the pillows and "Hotel Alessandra" in the photograph on the TV.

Great rebrand!

Those are also Hotel Laura photos. They did not change any of the rooms or design. Really just changed the name from Alessandra to Laura

Prepping the face for lipstick

u/Jimmyfallonisntfunny Reddit

After seven years, I think I was pretty much spot on. I said IH was 5-10 years away from gaining the critical mass needed to really see it turn around. Right now, development in IH is still pretty spotty with mostly entry level townhomes in the $300s popping up on random lots. Lot values are up but appreciation is not as good as the near northside/Lindale. I have a friend who bought a townhome over by Tulane in IH about 4 years ago. The neighborhood is still pretty rough. A lot of drugs and gang activity is still going on even as new construction goes up with doorbell cameras pointing at the street. Police sirens and gun shots are still a weekly occurrence. IH is right now about where Cottage Grove and Shady Acres were in the early 2000s. The pace of development is picking up but there is still a long way to go before it attracts anyone other than urban pioneers who are willing to put up with the crime, stray dogs, etc. in exchange for a close in neighborhood and an affordable townhome. I am still much more bullish on the near northside and Lindale. They are getting some restaurants, bars and coffee shops (Canary Cafe, Trash Panda, Monkey's Tail, Rabbits Got the Gun, Local Brewing, etc.). Bellissimo moved to IH. But that is really it for IH. https://www.theleadernews.com/community/woman-charged-in-fatal-independence-heights-shooting/article_f681b16c-10cf-11ec-8d9e-0b98b106c0e8.html https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Man-charged-in-Independence-Heights-shooting-that-16115473.php https://abcnews.go.com/US/deputy-fatally-shot-injured-ambush-houston-nightclub-police/story?id=80619451

Retaining wall forming for IB1. Going so fast! Good shot of the collaborative building.

I hope they keep the building, love the architecture.

1977 downtown. From reddit u/morganmonroe81

There are certainly some nice structures being built along Buffalo Bayou - and elsewhere in town these days. @Luminare summed up nicely this building/campus. Many of us have complained over the years about the lack of true quality design here in Houston, but I think we have really seen some remarkable projects the last 5-7 years -including the lofty art institutions who sorta jump started this whole era. This is possibly the first time since the 70s oil boom where such high quality architecture is being built all over town. It’s a maturation process I think. Now, we just need more local firms jumping into the fray!

https://livelifetower.com/

That building's a whole lot taller than I thought it was going to be.

The garage is rising fast!

One of the tower crane's came down today.

That property has high visibility. . . That design is horrendous.

I'm so tired of looking at parking lots. At least front the street.

The Palm Steakhouse on Westheimer in the Galleria area is moving into the old III Forks spot in Greenstreet. https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/08-16-21-palm-steakhouse-original-location-briargrove-closing-moving-downtown/

Trying not to get too OT, but adding to the list of hotels, apparently the Hogg Palace Lofts were re-opened as a hotel by Sonder. Not sure exactly when that happened (but super glad it did, that’s legitimately been one of my favorite downtown buildings since I was a kid) Glad to hear something is being done here. Green Street always seemed like a development that arrived a bit too early to Downtown.

Article on Alessandra sale: https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/08-05-21-hotel-alessandra-downtown-sold-host-hotels-resorts-midway/ Bought by group that owns the St. Regis, Marriott Med Center/Marriott IAH.

State National Bank Building rehab...

From reddit u/touchofbutter

Here's a little perspective on how far we've come. Photo taken August 2001. Minute Maid Park (then Enron Field) is in its first season, 5 Houston Center and 1000 Main are under construction. Enron, the city's biggest corporation, will start imploding in a month. The city's hopes for a rail system have been dealt another setback with Tom DeLay refusing to allow federal funding for a starter line, although Metro has vowed to build it all with its own funds. Mayor Lee Brown is hoping to build a hotel for the convention center but such ambitions have been tried before and failed to get off the ground. HAIF is about a year from getting started.

From reddit u/_jviews from today's rain showers.