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MikeRichardson

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Everything posted by MikeRichardson

  1. MikeRichardson
    Did you look at the elevations? It's basically the old apartments, except with a strip mall stuck underneath them. Residential density is only coincidentally improved because the new apartments are smaller.
  2. MikeRichardson
    I can point to one example where Randalls/Safeway, as well as Kroger, do seem to get this right. I used to live in Meyerland a few years ago and both the Randalls and the Kroger had tons of kosher stuff all year round. I remember the Randalls specifically had a good selection of kosher meat. There's not really a Meyerland HEB to compare to, although the Sellers Bros store had no visible kosher products the few times I went there. I thought about that, but then, think about all of the evil stuff that employees could buy with just their salaries? Porn, drugs, hookers, gambling, whatever. Edit: Ross' quotes also applies, but there is no way to edit this post to add another quote. So you could still say, well, the employee of a trucking company could use their salary to purchase alcohol which then causes the employee to have an accident with the truck.
  3. MikeRichardson
    .
  4. MikeRichardson
    OK, there's been sale of the "E" building, 2220 Westcreek Ln only. It has been sold to an "individual owner". No evictions. Kaplan is still the management, and they are putting in a leasing office in the building. Going forward, rent checks are to be made payable to "Highland Terrace". I'll post a scan of the letter later.
  5. MikeRichardson
    The point was that Randalls (Safeway) is offering both types of cards for sale, one which permits the "vice" items, and one which does not. I don't know if this is Safeway policy or just some old holdover, or if Kroger offers a similar thing, etc. I only got the one mailer rather arbitrarily.
  6. MikeRichardson
    As a small business owner a couple of weeks ago I got a mass mailer from Safeway/Randalls/Tom Thumb/Vons/Whatever. They were advertising their gift cards as a kind of holiday bonus to employees. They offered two different kinds of gift cards. One kind could purchase anything, but the alternate card could not be used to purchase any kind of vice items (cigarettes/alcohol/gambling/etc).
  7. MikeRichardson
    Both of these. The sale to Safeway, in retrospect, was a travesty. In regards to alcohol sales. Some of my earliest memories as a child were taking a trip to Randalls. I remember back then, 1993 or so, it was possible for anyone to retrieve cigarettes from any of the displays at each checkout line, you know, where they have the magazines now. I still remember what brand my mom smoked because I could walk right up there and pick out the package. But she was a single parent, worked 40+ hours a week, didn't touch alcohol at all, and Randalls didn't sell it. Yet they had the cigarettes right there.
  8. MikeRichardson
    http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/28120-westcreek-mixed-use-san-felipe610/?p=434586 Whatever may or may not be going on, it will not involve all 6 remaining buildings. I still don't even know who bought the 2 buildings. I spent a few hours looking up stuff on HCAD, looking into the little shell LLC companies, checking news sources, real estate still being marketed, any kind of filings with the city, etc. The most promising stuff I found had to do with "replats", the county has to redraw the lines so that the 2 buildings on the northeast side of Westcreek can have a different owner from the remaining buildings, but there have been no replats (as of a few weeks ago). (disclaimer: I probably screwed up some of the terminology or understanding here, real state is not my forte)
  9. MikeRichardson
    I finally got some answers today. The quick summary is: Comcast screwed up their disconnection of the empty/sold off buildings, then refused to correct the problem, so the landlord told Comcast to FO, so Comcast told every resident to FO. Basically, everybody blames everybody else. However, Comcast says that after they "re-determine" the "serviceability" to my apartment, I can purchase TV and internet from them directly, at the standard (non-bulk) rates. The landlord says they will remove the $40 cable television charge from our bills. Edit: Someone from Comcast corporate escalations called me so I guess they'll have it sorted out soon enough. Unfortunately I can't provide any solid news in regards to the demise of these buildings, management has completely remodeled one of the apartments for use as a leasing office, since the old leasing office is part of the sold off property. That building also has the cleaners and the fitness center. Several vacant apartments have also filled up recently. There is so much traffic and mess from the River Oaks District, personally I wouldn't want to buy any of these buildings either until that whole thing has settled down. Maybe another year or two for the remaining buildings, I have no expectations as to their longevity, and only half my boxes are really unpacked.
  10. MikeRichardson
    I got this notice today. Yesterday, ALL of my Comcast services were cut off, including cable internet services I was paying full price for, at 2220 Westcreek Ln. SERVICES WERE NOT DISCONTINUED AT THESE BUILDINGS: 2020 WESTCREEK LN - STILL SERVICED 2040 WESTCREEK LN - STILL SERVICED 2221 WESTCREEK LN - STILL SERVICED I have not received any eviction notices. This disconnection is arbitrary and unrelated to the condition of coaxial lines. I CAN STILL RECEIVE SERVICE AT MY APARTMENT, BUT NOT LEGALLY! This is BULLSHIT.
  11. MikeRichardson
    Wow, slightly more dense apartments. yawn
  12. MikeRichardson
    These would probably be the residential units replacing the ones HEB tore down, in order to move their store half a mile away so they can have an excuse to raise prices and set up the rat's maze layout whilst absolutely not leasing their store out to any other grocery store, meaning it will probably sit abandoned.
  13. MikeRichardson
    Prove it. I am so tired of seeing this garbage that Randalls is always and without exception more expensive than any other store on earth.
  14. MikeRichardson
    Who wants to bet on what the old HEB will become? Abandoned derelict building for hobos to live in?
  15. MikeRichardson
    After demolishing the B and D buildings, you get a narrow tract of land, sandwiched between Westcreek Ln and the Target. These renderings only make sense if the developers intend to purchase and demolish the Target as well.
  16. MikeRichardson
    Only two of the six buildings have been sold and are being cleared out. Any story claiming the entire complex is being evicted is false. It is also true that the sale has nothing to do with River Oaks District, because "F" building was not sold and has not been evicted, and it stands in the way between B & D and the River Oaks District land.
  17. MikeRichardson
    No text. kaplan.pdf
  18. MikeRichardson
    I wasn't posting to see if anyone cared whether or not I will have a place to live next month. I did, however, make a post relevant to the topic at hand, which concerns a potential mixed-use development at the corner of Westcreek and San Felipe, and the status of some of the buildings that currently stand in the way of the aforementioned development. Being that I actually live on Westcreek Lane, I believe I'm in a unique position to provide updates as to the development going on here. The fact that I included remarks concerning my future residential situation merely reflects my own self-interest, and the precious few seconds you had to waste reading them are the price you pay for the otherwise topically relevant information provided.
  19. MikeRichardson
    Westcreek is being chopped up piece by piece. Buildings B and D are being emptied out by November 30th and are to be demolished. Residents are being offered apartments in the other remaining buildings on a first come first serve basis. I'm in building B and got on the short list for an apartment across the street, so I guess I'll be moving pretty soon. Gotta make way for more juicy organic couture yoghurt granola shops or whatever the bloody hell it is they're planning on building. I'm sure I'll be moving again sometime next year when they sell the other buildings as well. Probably gonna head west out of the loop, maybe get some place near the beltway that's less likely to be torn down.
  20. MikeRichardson
    I'm sure the patrons of the various handbag shops will appreciate being gawked at after spending $500 on a purse.
  21. MikeRichardson
    Now there's been a dumpster fire in the building adjacent to the demolition. The dumpster next to the gas meter.
  22. MikeRichardson
    This has to be the most fascinating place I've ever lived. Just now there was a car fire at the endmost building, the one right next to the demolition. You can smell the smoke all the way over here in the B building, the one next to San Felipe. The most screwed up part is that they didn't have one of those red 911 boxes on the new gate (the old gate had one, but it was demolished). There's a sign on the gate that says HFD and a number but I guess that didn't work for some reason. I heard the fire trucks and saw one at the gate trying to get in and literally had to run over to my kitchen window (which overlooks the gate) and keep pressing my remote to keep the gate open, until the on site maintenance guy made his way over to put in the code that keeps the gate open permanently. Anyway, no one was hurt, the one fire truck and ambulance left, I don't know if the other fire truck has left or not. EDIT: It was a dumpster fire, not a car fire (I wasn't going to get close enough to check at the time). 30 minutes after I initially made this post, another two fire trucks and an ambulance with full sirens roll out here, this time to the dumpster next to my building and directly next to my car. Thank God no fire this time (so I'm not really sure why they rolled out here with full sirens) - there was some concern I guess. Apparently the gas meters are next to the dumpsters, and one of the firemen said they are going to shut off the gas, which is only used for the dryers in the laundromat, and I guess for the hot water. Which, now that I think about it... if the hot water is gas, and they shut off the gas - well, that seems like a pretty fast way to empty out these buildings... Arbitrarily, or not, there was also a gas main break on Wednesday: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/14504-river-oaks-district-retailofficeresidential-project-westheimer-westcreek/?p=432214
  23. MikeRichardson
    A few more bits of gossip. Tomorrow they're doing an "asbestos inspection" and "may need to enter the unit". For the last two days this truck with some kind of huge drilling rig on the back of it, marked with the company "Van & Sons Drilling", took some kind of samples or something out of the parking lots, from the back of the adjacent building yesterday, and this morning right outside my bedroom window. I'd never seen a truck like this before, and the drilling rig, when erected, was taller than the building. Maybe 40 feet tall. Eviction. Surveyors. Inspections. Drilling... hello handbag shops...
  24. MikeRichardson
    The street is back open although CenterPoint is still working on it. So much for "Precision Demolition".
  25. MikeRichardson
    Well, they screwed something up big time today, not too long after 5 PM, and a third of Westcreek Ln. is now shut down. It smells like natural gas. There's a hazmat truck out there, a fire truck, a few ambulances, several HPD response pickup trucks blocking the road off, etc.
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