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The Chronicle's link to the agenda is broken, because the username and password were dropped from the URL, but the full link is ftp://PlatViewer:Viewer4DRC@edrc.houstontx.gov//2019/2019-23_DraftAgenda.pdf Note that the username is PlatViewer and the password is Viewer4DRC, in case HAIF breaks the URL too. The information about the Ion is on pages 140 through 160, and there are a bunch of images not in the article. Here is the full set of images:

Master plan for Ion and Innovation District at former Midtown Sears site revealed https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/prime-property/article/The-Ion-former-Midtown-Sears-and-Innovation-14826265.php#photo-18593395

Laying the rebar and cables to support the pool ( lower right)and putting up the supports for the 7th floor which tips out the podium.

As someone born and raised in Third Ward , I naturally champion preserving the area History and Culture. That being said the area that the ION is proposing has largely been abandoned for almost 20 years now. I dont see how this project effects Third ward as a whole if anything it should be seen as boom for the Black own business that reside on Almeda as it would see a rather dead area( Sears area) become more vibrant. That would lead to spill over for the cafes and other black towns business on Almeda as people till to patron business that are within 2 miles of a place of employment according to some studies.

Everyone should carefully read that article, especially the part where it says that this will be "the first CBA in Houston." What you will see in that article is a prime example of how development takes place in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Baltimore, etc. Cities where activism has replaced entrepreneurialism, and grievance has eclipsed growth. Cities that other cities look upon with fear and describe with terms usually associated with the toilet. Cities that have been sitting ducks for Houston over the past 50 years as we've surpassed one after the other. If this kind of thing takes hold here, bid a fond farewell to the growing, dynamic boomtown that we've been. The most worrisome part of all of it is the role that academics are playing. No one understands economic reality less than an academic, with the possible exception of business and economics professors (emphasis on possible). These are people who generally have stayed in school their entire lives, whose advancement has depended on their ability to flourish inside of a kind of mandarin system of groupthink, where any time spent in the "real world" is looked upon with skepticism and distrust, where any pushing against settled academic norms and conventions is swiftly and viciously (and often silently) punished, usually with loss of opportunity to advance further. Academic involvement in real estate development is like putting sugar in a gas engine or salt in a garden. They are the antibodies of progress, total agents of destruction. They would probably laugh giddily, print it out, and post it in their department hallway if they read this post. And it would be the only tangible thing they accomplished in the entire week. Next post I'll tell you what I really think.

Ask and you shall receive: Morgan Group to Break Ground on 13-Story Tower in Houston Exclusive: Developer to Start Construction on Project That has Been on Hold The developer behind a Pearl-branded apartment project where a new Whole Foods is opening in Houston's midtown area this week is already planning to move forward with another project about a half-mile away that has been on hold. Morgan Group, a Houston-based developer that has built $3.1 billion worth of multifamily projects nationally, is reviving plans to build a 13-story luxury apartment tower at 102 Dennis St. in Houston. The project is tucked on a quiet residential street in one of Houston’s hottest neighborhoods for apartment and retail development. Construction on the new project is expected to start in December or the first quarter of 2020, Philip Morgan, vice president of the Morgan Group, said in an interview with CoStar News. The project for now is called the Pearl Rosemont, although the developer is not solidified on a name, he said. In building documents with the city, the project has also been referred to as Pearl on Helena. Morgan Group has used the Pearl brand for at least 10 other apartment projects in Houston as well as projects in Austin, Texas; Phoenix; California; and Miami. The developer's proposed Houston project will include 298 apartment units on top of a parking podium. The total project will be 260,000 square feet, Morgan said. Originally, the Pearl Rosemont project was pitched in 2015, but like several other real estate projects in Houston, plans were put on hold after oil prices started to decline around that time. But Morgan said the market conditions are improving, spurring more multifamily development in midtown, Montrose and the River Oaks neighborhoods. "Midtown has changed a lot in the last decade and there’s other high-rise buildings in the market getting done," Morgan said. "The market is improving and the neighborhood is improving. We’ve already opened our other projects nearby." Earlier this year, Morgan Group opened Pearl Marketplace, an eight-story, 264-unit apartment project located at 3120 Smith St. A 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market opened this week on the ground floor of Pearl Marketplace at 515 Elign St. In 2014, the development group built a five-story, 154-unit apartment complex nearby called Pearl Midtown at 3101 Smith St. The newest proposed project, Pearl Rosemont, will be "a step up from Pearl Marketplace in terms of finishes and views. Being 13 stories high, it will have nicer views and I think that neighborhood is a little quieter," Morgan said. Morgan Group will serve as general contractor for Pearl Rosemont and the architect is Ziegler Cooper. Renderings of the project were not available. The project was originally slated to cost $20 million, according to state documents, but in more recent filings that estimate was listed at $92 million. However, Morgan said those estimates are incorrect. He declined to disclose the project's estimated cost. The midtown market has seen more multifamily growth in recent years as more workers look to be close to downtown and the nearby Montrose neighborhood continues to attract national attention. The Lower Weisthemier-Montrose area was recently named one of the nation’s top 20 coolest streets in a report by Cushman & Wakefield. The report rated it as one the hippest areas because of its walkability, diversity, nightlife, food scene and vintage stores. Nearly 97,000 people live within a 2-mile radius of the area with a median income of $83,233, according to the report, and about 37% of residents nearby are millennials. The city of Houston granted 28 building permits for sites on Westheimer Road in 2018, double the number issued in 2017, Cushman & Wakefield said. Overall, there are 5,064 apartment units under construction in downtown Houston and another 5,634 units under construction in the submarket that contains Midtown, River Oaks, Montrose and Rice Military, according to CoStar data.

Looks like both tower cranes are going to have to be jumped soon. I assume this galvanized steel poking out is for the glass facade.

Got this shot of the Sun peaking through the top floors:

Value of community? What community? This is a bunch of parking lots and an old Sears building that apparently wasn't supported by the "community." The only community in this area is homeless people living under 59 and yuppies living in the apartments to the north. Who decides what the community is? And even if there was a community, why should they get to dictate development on land that someone owns? Does the Humble community tell the airport how it should design the new International terminal? Does the Clear Lake community tell NASA what it should do on its campus? No. You don't get to demand groceries from a developer. There are plenty of other grocery stores in the area.

https://www.rue-re.com/portfolio-item/hanover-project/

Funded. The project would include re-construction of Shepherd and Durham from the bayou to 610, reducing the number of travel lanes from 4 to 3, adding high-comfort bike lanes, 6-ft sidewalks and Metro shelters. Would also include reconstruction of 11th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 24th between Shepherd and Durham to facilitate turns and accommodate future Houston Bike Plan improvements.

Article and map.

From the Facebook page today:

For all the problems and issues that came with and still are arising with the new Blvd Project, I gotta say...it IS the best looking street in all of Houston in my opinion...they did a bang up job! (Of course i LOVE all the huge old tree lined streets through out Houston in various older neighborhoods too!) It is exciting to see all the new developments and changes in Uptown! Love my area!

Another shot of the tower crane:

From Midtown meeting: Outdoor area will have programming to bring in local community Fiesta is already paying below market rate for current lease and Fiesta still intend to close Rice representative said they're not going into space to solve homelessness but will work with partners Main building complete Jan 2021 along with Ion Plaza, entire project 2030 based on current timeline Jack in box currently has favorable lease Representative said in reference to affordable housing in surrounding area they can't control properties they don't hold

Calling on @swtsig, @CREguy13 Morgan Group to Break Ground on 13-Story Tower in Houston https://www.costar.com/article/2133413717/morgan-group-to-break-ground-on-13-story-tower-in-houston

It's interesting how many developers are working on major mixed use developments. 1. Hanover Square. Allen parkway Shepherd 2.. Regents Square Allen Parkway Dunlavy 3. Allen parkway Gillette 4. Transwestern's The RO Buffalo Speedway\ Alabama 5. Caydon's Lane Ways Drewery Lane Midtown 6. Midways Buffalo Heights Washington Ave. Montrose. 7. Midways East River Clinton Drive KBR Buffalo Bayou 8. Lovetts HTX Franklin 9. Hardy Yard 10. Miinute Maids Mix use 11.Skanska Mixed use near Toyota center 12.TMC3 13. Marquette's east end mixed use on Navigation There are more, but my brain is taxed. This is my bakers dozen. I just thought that was quite a number of major mixed use developments to be going up at once.

Looks like JTB Demolition is done at the site. Wonder what's next? They will have to relocate those power lines.

3 crawler cranes on site with pile driving equipment near them.

Tower crane is going up.

So it seems that FIESTA doesn't want to pay more for their lease (soon to expire), and IT IS THEIR decision not to renew (at market rates) and not Rice 'kicking them out'. That is good enough for me ..... besides with the new Whole Foods in Midtown and the new HEB in the 'Third Ward' the area will be amply supplied for grocery options. Could there be more? Sure ..... if it makes ECONOMIC sense. I predict a new grocery will be developed just north of I-45 soon enough as density (demand) increases

While most people now consider the 'Third Ward' to be east of 288 and south of 45, in the ward system it was defined as the area in Houston lying east of Main Street and south of Congress. Midtown is a newer description and in this day and age a better descriptor as it is essentially an extension of downtown (which also is also partially in the old 'Third Ward'). There is no SANE reason to keep this definition other than trying to exert political/public opinion leverage over landowners since the ward system was revoked decades ago. Now days the major freeways mentioned above define the "Third Ward' neighborhood, and it might just as well be renamed TSU "Heights" or "East River Oaks". What they should be more concerned with it developing the area to it's maximum potential to provide decent paying jobs while encouraging the residents of the 'Third Ward' to educate themselves to take advantage of them.

https://product.costar.com/home/news/1654779263?tag=1 Construction is set to start soon on a project being developed by Hines for a Houston energy company relocating its headquarters about 7 miles west to reduce commute times for employees as well as save money. Marathon Oil Corp., a publicly traded producer, plans to start building its 15-story headquarters in CityCentre at 990 Town & Country Blvd. this month, said Curtis Ryland, vice president of special projects at Marathon Oil. When the tower is completed at the end of 2021, Marathon Oil expects to relocate into the roughly 440,000-square-foot building from its current home at 5555 San Felipe St. in the Uptown-Galleria area, where it’s been for 35 years. The new multimillion-dollar project comes as energy companies are under pressure to ratchet down spending amid falling oil prices and concerns of a slowdown in the energy sector and the economy at large. However, Marathon Oil officials say building a new tower from the ground up is actually more cost effective than staying in the current office and will boost efficiency and shorten commute times for hundreds of their employees in the Houston area. While the move provides a glimpse at the steps companies under pressure take to cut costs, it also gives an insight into the decision facing all growing corporations at some point on whether to expand or relocate. The Marathon situation is a study how companies look at a transforming city, an industry facing fluctuations and the challenges in trying to project industry and economic trends for the next 35 years. With Marathon Oil’s lease at 5555 San Felipe set to expire at the end of 2021, the energy firm evaluated options and decided it was more cost-effective to relocate rather than pay for renovations of their space and deal with the disruption of construction, Ryland said. The new location in CityCentre at the southeast corner of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 will also drastically reduce commute times for many of its employees, Ryland said. More than half of Marathon Oil’s nearly 1,000 local employees commute to the Uptown-Galleria area from the quickly growing west side of Houston and Katy. CityCentre will also give employees access to restaurants and other amenities, he noted. The 50-acre mixed-use district developed by Midway Cos. has 400,000 square feet of restaurants and retail space, a movie theater, a gym, and a bowling alley. "We wanted an environment to provide balance to employees and CityCentre is highly sought-out in terms of its connectedness," said Ryland in an interview. It will also give Marathon Oil a chance to create a more modern workspace to improve efficiency, promote collaboration and give employees better access to upgraded and reliable technology, executives said. "The building we are in was built in the 1980s and it's very much a traditional office that was designed before the internet and before computers were on every desk," Ryalnd said. "Now when you have teams at work and the types of spaces they need, we’re trying to create a more active workspace. Flexibility and choice are key aspects of our design." `Project Thunder' Estimate Marathon Oil held a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this month commemorating the start of the project and the selection of its general contractor, D.E. Harvey Builders, but the project's construction will start sometime this month. Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. is the architect on record for Marathon Oil's new tower. Last year, Marathon Oil purchased the land for the new tower from Midway through a financing agreement known as a synthetic lease. In that type of deal, Marathon Oil leases the land from SMBC Leasing and Finance Inc. but essentially acts as the owner, Ryland said. Marathon Oil did not provide an estimate for the total construction costs, but initial filings with the state for a project at the same address called "Project Thunder" show the shell of the building was estimated to cost $109.6 million and the interiors were estimated to cost $60 million. Marathon Oil had a blockbuster year for earnings in 2018 when capital efficiency and a 24% jump in oil production boosted its profits from $1 billion in 2018, compared to posting a $5.7 billion loss the year earlier. But like the rest of the oil sector, tepid crude prices this year have dinged Marathon Oil’s profits, which fell 35% year-over-year in the third quarter to $165 million, according to its latest earnings report. The phrase "capital discipline" was cited often on company earnings calls with investors as executives emphasized their efforts to keep spending in check. Despite planning to boost oil production by 10% this year, Marathon Oil has planned to keep its capital budget flat at $2.6 billion. Meanwhile, at Marathon Oil's space at 5555 San Felipe, the owners of the 41-story tower are in the midst of significant remodeling to modernize the building, which is known as Marathon Oil Tower. Elsewhere in CityCentre, Midway is planning to build a 300,000-square-foot office tower called CityCentre Six directly south of the Marathon Oil project. A Midway spokeswoman told CoStar News that Midway has launched the CityCentre Six project, but did not immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting more information about the project's timeline. Midway recently sold a majority stake in CityCentre Five, a 15-story office tower anchored by Amazon Web Services at 825 Town & Country Lane. Farther west down I-10, Harvey Builders has reportedly halted construction on the buildout of McDermott International's space at 915 N. Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor, according to the Houston Business Journal. McDermott, an oil field services company, leased the entire 525,000-square-foot office building last year for its headquarters. Harvey Builders filed a lien against the property in October, citing McDermott owed the contractor $14.2 million in unpaid bills, according to a filing with the Harris County Clerk. Another lien was filed in October against the property by Trio Electric, an electric subcontractor, citing the owner of the building, TCH Energy Corridor Venture LLC, owed Trio Electric $4.7 million for unpaid work for McDermott's space, according to the Harris County Clerk. TCH Energy Corridor Venture is a joint venture between Dallas-based Trammell Crow and Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Real Estate Investors. It was not immediately clear what company owed Trio Electric the funds. CoStar News reached out to McDermott, Harvey Builders, TCH Energy Corridor Venture and Trio Electric for additional comment.

Maybe this will help. From back on ~ p.16 of the thread - the stakes will be there to shelter you as you wait to be seated to enjoy your steaks.

Thank you for inviting me up.

Houston, and the Planning Commission, have been generally pretty good at making decisions on variance requests based on the merits of the request itself, in accordance w/ city ordinances. For example, the VR for the Ion garage is perfectly aligned with the planning commission's goals for walkable places and transit corridors, and the variance is to be able to go beyond what the current ordinance requires (i.e. allowing the Fannin frontage to opt in to transit corridor standards). If the variance process becomes, as is common in a lot of cities, a method for interest groups to shake down developers, it will be a step backwards.

Houston food is so good that we really don't care what's out the window.

AT Crane flying up the top floor glass. Found a new vantage point.

Shopped early Sunday morning before my bike ride, had a coupons mailed to me since I live blocks away.