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shasta

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  1. shasta
    do you have a rendering of the Disco Kroger site wrap proposal?
  2. shasta
    You are correct, people all over the world regard Houston as a model of high quality development and superior urban and city planning. WE are definitely on the short list for most charming cities and every city looks to Houston and wonder how they did it...oh wait, none of that is true and the demise of a quality project like Regent Square to a very bland dull project that can't even get tenants, is a perfect example of a reason why! Am I wrong, Luminare?
  3. shasta
    Someone needs glasses Someone had to move to Houston because they wanted to be in a city with a real College Football team
  4. shasta
    NOT worse...it's a million times worse. Go back and look a the original layout, design and the fact that a number of high quality architects worked on the original scheme. It went from the best inner loop project to what we have now and add in the fact the lots (A + B) vacant for almost 15 years and A is still vacant. Even with being open, they still haven't leased the spaces and GID started this project in 2007! They even built a building across the street with a large scale model! Compare that progress to Hanover.
  5. shasta
    No, the hate is 100% justified. They Value Engineered both the layout and quality it worse than the Embassy Suites downtown and in the process left the lots vacant for over a decade. Meanwhile, Hanover put together a very high quality product in a fraction of the time and were faced with the same exact issues as GID, from a catchment area analysis. Two solutions for the exact same type of project in the exact same exact location. But with two drastically different strategies: One went high quality and one went cheap and still has only 2 tenants. The hate is definitely justified. The only hope is that they use the now vacant "Block A" to significantly improve the quality but their reputation of Block B may hurt. They can benefit by piggy backing off of the Hanover vision.
  6. shasta
    Autry Park makes Regent Square look like a cheap strip center.
  7. shasta
    Of the two additions Law Building- Probably the best looking building on campus and that include 1 designed by Pritzker Prize winner (Philip Johnson) and one designed by Cesar Pelli. Medical School Building - .
  8. shasta
    Serious question...why did the Karens scream over this project? There are many examples of mid rises in the Rice University area, and surrounding area. Many over looking residential. This is not out of character for this district. The do need a stop light at Dunlay @ Bissonnet, with or without this building.
  9. shasta
    Didn't Randall Davis, with the Rice conversion to Residential, along with a few other pave the way before Fingers? Plus, how many here remember the once proposed residential high rise on the block on Main that used to house a suburban style McDonalds?
  10. shasta
    I imagine a Nail Spa, Sauna, and Clean Juice are not the type of tenants they thought thought they'd get for this project. I didn't know River Oaks was getting a new strip center...what, no checks cashed place...no dry cleaners...no donuts shop? This literally went from a City Centre or River Oaks District type project to this! How did GID botch this project when every other developer figured it out and in less desirable locations?
  11. shasta
    To give them credit, they are really good at building giant scaled models of "their development"
  12. shasta
    It has to be said. GID royally messed up this project...here is how: 1) Good: They design an excellent ambitious project (probably one of the best inner loop infill projects from a quality standpoint and attention to detail standpoint) 2) Good: Demolish Block 1 & 2 of Allen House Apartments for upcoming Groundbreaking of the project above! 3) Bad: Great Recession of 2009-2010 puts project on hold indefinitely. Revenue is lost from the now demolished Allen House Apartments on Block 1 & 2. 4) Bad to Neutral: GID responds to the boom times immediately after the Great Recession by scraping their initial urban village style master plan and building a stand lone Residential tower on the FAR edge of the future Regent Square Site 5) Bad: There are rumors that the Regent Square Project has gone through multiple value engineering changes that could transform it from one of the most ambitious projects in Inner Loop Houston to one that has been VE'd to a point it is no longer recognizable (i.e. Embassy Suites ) 6) Bad & Good: Rumors above are confirmed and a generic looking project breaks ground. 7) WTF: The project FINALLY opens in early 2022 (15 years after the project started) with ONE open tenant (The Flight Club). As of mid May 2022, The other restaurants have yet to start construction and ALL of the retail spaces are still boarded up?!?!? Summary: they only had 15 years to get this right and they almost have a random approach to this project. On the lack of retail- THEY ARE LOCATED IN ONE OF THE BEST CATCHMENT AREAS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS (RIVER OAKS) and still could not get the retail component finished. I've walked to the project many times...The "park" area is always empty and this is in large part due to ONE retail/restaurant space. Meanwhile, Hanover, In probably 4 years of time have designed, constructed, and secured their retail/restaurant tenants. WTF is GID doing!?!?!?
  13. shasta
    There is no activity on the restaurants or the retail shop! I believe the restaurants were first scheduled to open last month but they are still an empty lease space.
  14. shasta
    I've seen zero movement on the restaurant build-outs.
  15. shasta
    No thanks, this PROUD Houstonian reps the University of Houston and not the University of Austin (UT-A).
  16. shasta
    Wouldn't a Cougar Paw or a Whooty Who have been more appropriate than a Hook-em IN Houston?
  17. shasta
    I stopped by over the weekend to see what was open. So far, there were some residents in the apartments and The Flight Club appeared to be the only thing open. I walked past the future restaurants (Georgia James & Pastore). Georgia James had a sign up that they were opening in April 2022 but they haven't even started construction on the interior space so that is obviously wrong. Do we have an opening date? On the Flight Club, it was a really cool place and they did a great job on it. It has been open a month a half and it was pretty busy. It had a late 1800s carnival theme interior. Makes me wonder why they haven't even started construction on even ONE of the other retail spaces. The restaurants were nowhere near opening and the retail under the apartments were still boarded up so who knows what they will be? I did like the Flight Club but this development, or Autry Park, really needs an upscale Sports bar. We don't have one serving the River Oaks/West Gray/ Allen Parkway area. The closest one is the Bw3 on Washington but I think this can accommodate a nicer upscale sports bar. The Flight Club is a nice add but I can't see it having as much repeat business in the area as a sports bar/restaurant. How many times can you pay to shoot darts? The Sports bar would be packed for football, March madness, baseball, World Cup, etc. And on the strategy of the development as a whole is still very confusing to me. The development was "technically" under construction way back in 2009 (Allen House demolished) and they got skittish and tabled a far superior design to "wait out" the recession. They then call an audible and build the Sovereign FIRST and scrap the original master plan for a completely different value engineered bland version and begin construction a decade later..... all while missing out on the boom cycle. They then open Regent Square up in early 2022 with ONE retail tenant! Anyone else confused by the strategy on this project? Covid did not seem to hurt the opening on The Flight Club and this is IN Texas so I don't see that as an excuse. Especially since retailers are looking to open up in less restrictive states. This project has been as slow and methodical and calculated as you get so how are they still getting it wrong?
  18. shasta
    I'm serious...we would probably have renderings of their district if the lockout hadn't occurred. The Astros have been quietly purchasing neighboring lots to build a baseball theme village similar to what has been happening in other MLB cities.
  19. shasta
    That's a really old photo. The Indoor practice facility already blocks the view.
  20. shasta
    Are the lots behind the Marriott Marquis going to be part of the Astros village development?
  21. shasta
    You do realize, Texas (including Houston) has some of the highest property Tax rates in the country....right? Our tax money should be re-invested to assist and protect our property...they are not! Every significant rain event leads to flooding. We have some of the worst roads in the country. We have limited connectivity with sidewalks, etc. Yes, we have made MAJOR strides in the last 20 years but we essentially let to inner city rot for the 100 years before that.
  22. shasta
    This may be the most sort-sided response I've ever seen. Yes we have many people moving into the city of Houston but our infrastructure is lagging ...by a lot. We literally have unpaved ditches a quarter mile outside of downtown Houston, we have streets and side walks that are in very poor condition, for a metro of 7 million + we basically have very few miles of mass transit. And if you state wide, our energy grid wasn't equipped to handle a major weather even like the one we had last February. And I don't think you understand how Suburban Sprawl works...a city/region can squash suburban sprawl with regional and city plans leading developers to develop a region per an actual plan. The City of Houston n=has a rejected a city plan multiple times. The truth is...there was a while when the only "federal funds" we aggressively went after was funding to build new freeways...thus encouraging sprawl for developers looking to develop master plan communities and supporting developments. Very little in Houston is thought our from a Civic standpoint...they are almost all negotiations with developers/ This is NOT the way to create a forward thinking city that matches the charm of the other Alpha cities it desperately wants to be a member of that group. You get a city of nice "pockets" but you also get a lot of third world type infrastructure.
  23. shasta
    Uh...No. We have some of the worst infrastructure and planning of any major world city that claims to be "alpha status". We desperately need some kind of city plan, or vision, or we will continue to have have haphazard developments , some quality, but surrounded by poor sidewalks, no connectivity, even ditches a block or two over. .....quite pathetic The strategy for Houston, and most of Texas, is to pass on the costs of infrastructure on to the developer. You want this development YOU help pay for the sidewalk upgrades, etc...no coincidence they are doing sidewalk and street upgrades right now around Regent Square and the Hanover project. I'd love to see the actual breakdown of who paid for that. The city of Houston sometimes applies for Federal money for improvements...but this is Texas so they do so lightly because those sitting in the Capitol Building in Austin do not like that move. Texas even rejects federal funds that were GIVEN to us (i.e. Tom DeLay rejecting light rail funding). The joke is on us because THOSE funds just go to competitor cities that gladly take the federal funds that taxpayers ALREADY have paid for... It will be very interesting to see how Texas handles President Biden's Infrastructure Bill....so do we ACCEPT the federal funds earmarked for improvements in Texas or do we REJECT the funding out of political pride and grandstanding?
  24. shasta
    They purchased one of the nicest looking developments in all of Houston and in a great location. I would really like to see a building like this downtown..but even taller. I envision high rises replacing the shopping centers on Kirby...one by one.
  25. shasta
    Maybe Aga Khan is waiting for Arc Angel Gabriel to also visit him with a message to BREAK GROUND!
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