barracuda

I'm all for demolishing it. Put in a parkway with dedicated bike lanes and maybe some nice landscaped sidewalks or park-like areas. The structure itself is an eyesore, and the value of the land alongside it would skyrocket if demo'd. 

This helps explain the mattress store industry: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-02-17/why-are-there-so-many-sleepy-s-mattress-stores-

It definitely looks like a renovation to me. The new brick stand out, as do what look like metal framed windows and the covered rooftop. Whatever the case, I'm glad to see this spot become something functional, as it still beats a derelict building left overgrown with weeds. 

That dog park is nauseating.... now we're sure to have strays running amok biting people... The good thing is that it will bring people together and give a different feel to the local community. The bad thing is well... the hipsters.

I'm not a dog owner, but I think the dog park is a nice addition. It's fenced so I don't think you'll have strays running amok. That was more of a problem when it was an unofficial dog park. 

My guess is it may just take time to catch on. It's a high traffic area, and when Eatzi's was there it was always busy. On the other hand, some people may be like me and avoid the area specifcally because of the traffic.

Such a nice space to sell something as boring as mattresses. 

I could hear it from my home in the Heights. Right at 7am. It took me a moment to register what it was - it sounded like thunder or a low-flying jet at first. 

Sorry to hear Purpledevil. If you look at google streetview and throttle between May 2011 and Jul 2013, you can see a dramatic difference. The house looks great in the before photo and a wreck in the later one. Sad...but hopefully it will be fully restored.

Fisher is also the one reprimanded by the city for opening a hole in the roof of a house and letting it deteriorate for over a year. 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Neighbors-face-off-with-developer-over-house-in-5501587.php#/0

If we had the density and pedestrian traffic of Midtown Manhattan it would be different, but I feel the small tracts of green space are a benefit to an urban environment. They can always be removed or reduced if they become an impediment to heavy pedestrian traffic.

The only downside I see is the potential for Grackles to use the mature trees as a launching point to attack pedestrians.

http://www.chron.com/life/article/Aggressive-grackles-ruffling-feathers-downtown-1923981.php

It can and probably will flood. This photo shows White Oak Bayou flooding just up the street at White Oak and Greenleaf St.
 

I hardly believe my eyes...

So based on the article, Fitz is staying, and Pegstar is opening their own music venue on N Main. Seems like good news overall. I wonder who will lease Fitzgerald's when Pegstar leaves. 

Are there any improvements to the street-facing side? The cavernous interior still feels a bit narrow and claustrophobic to me, especially with all the obstacles blocking one's path (trees, escalators, planters in that last shot) and assuming traffic picks up. I do think they made the most of the space available in terms of making it look really nice. 

Probably stupidity...? My friends needed to get somewhere quickly after our bike ride and their car was parked on Stude. So the quickest way to get from the bike trail to Stude was to take the bridge from where we were at the time. I wasn't until we were actually on the bridge that we realized we made a huge mistake. Absolutely terrifying the entire way.. I'm surprised no one's fallen off that bridge yet.

 

Anyway, this is how that development will sit on this lot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based upon these schematics, if Elan Heights won't even have access to White Oak, then there probably won't be repairs to it then. 

I wonder who will take their children to play under the bridge, penned between two much larger dog areas, when there is a large park across the street. 

I've bicycled and walked through the park a few times in the last week, and I'm impressed by the progress so far. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I can see the vision coming to fruition. I really like the separate paths for runners to help break up the traffic, and also the use of native grasses and wildflowers along the section just west of the skate park next to the bayou. 

What most surprises me is just how popular the trails have suddenly become. I've been using this park for well over a decade and remember times where nobody else was visible on the trails. Now it feels like the running trail at Memorial Park, except with a mix of cyclists and runners doing a fitness circuit. Part of me misses the solitude and peace of the old park, as it feels like an outdoor gym now, only much prettier and with nicer trails.  

Riding on Sunday and yesterday evening, I saw a few security guards on golf carts on the path. I wonder if that is going to be a normal thing?

I haven't noticed this, but it's strange that they would ride golf carts on the paths. Given how busy the path is during peak times, I'd think they would ride bicycles or even Segways.

Depends on what I'm in the mood for. Pink's is my fav for take-out, Dolce vita for dining out, and Bombay Pizza if I'm craving tandoori.  

It looks great driving south on 45 north of town. The BoA Center adds a bit of a Christmas tree look with the perimeter lights. 

For now, this just seems like Randalls is evaluating each location in an attempt to trim underperforming locations in order to focus on the more profitable ones. The Westheimer/Wilcrest and Voss stores are in prime locations, but both are/were older buildings and evidently they didn't see enough value in upgrading or renovating the stores in light of all the new competition. It just seems like the natural lifecycle of retail where the newest stores get the buzz, and the old ones start to look outdated and either get demolished or replaced by a different tenant. 

I also find it interesting that all the Houston Randalls locations are generally in wealthier parts of town west of I-45 (there are also locations in Galveston, Pearland and Clear Lake). Kroger on the other hand has locations sprinkled throughout the eastern half of the beltway. 

From my experience, Randalls is more or less on par with Kroger in terms of price, and probably a little cheaper when using their reward system. I used to avoid Randalls 5 or 10 years ago because their prices were so high, but they seem to have gotten more price competitive over the last few years. But if something isn't on sale they can be expensive. Their larger stores are actually nicer and easier to navigate than Kroger in my opinion, but the larger Kroger locations tend to have more variety and quicker checkout. 

 

It's interesting that all the new chains that have come to town, Sprouts, Aldi's, TJ's and Fresh Market, are putting in smaller stores rather than the large Signature or Flagship type stores.  They're all going after niche markets instead of the one-stop shopping approach.

This is where I really see a chance for a market pullout in the future. Most of these specialty food stores have opened just within the last year or so, and of course Whole Foods has also been adding locations lately. Then there are the local specialty gourmet markets that compete in this space, like Phoenicia Deli, Georgia's Market, Spec's, and smaller niche stores like Revival Market and various ethnic markets around town (Chinatown, etc.). I think the local players have customer loyalty on their side, but it's hard to believe there is demand for so many niche food retailers. 

The big brick box at 1111 Studewood is expected to be completed by year end: 2-year construction nears an end for Heights lofts. 

The ground floor will house two locally owned chain restaurants: Los Cucos Mexican Cafe and Piatto Ristorante, a Carrabba's family venture. They are expected to open in the first three months of next year. The developer still has about 3,000 square feet left of retail space to lease on the first floor.

For those of us who fly United frequently, it may be a good thing if this merger is blocked, or else we lose a Star Alliance member. US Airways is often my backup domestic airline in the event of exorbitantly priced UA flights, since I still get elite benefits and FFMs. Plus, I don't think consolidating more airlines can possibly lead to better airfares. 

Who's vision for the area?

According to HCAD records, McDonald's real estate corporation owns the property for the location at Westheimer and Commonwealth. They seem to do a steady business at that location. I don't see how it relates to the closing and demo of a nearby Wendy's franchise location that seemed to be empty most of the time. 

Maybe because they're two independent businesses?