iah77

15 hours ago, Amlaham said:

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/business/2021/10/12/410697/shut-out-of-a-contract-a-third-ward-community-coalition-continues-to-fight-for-equitable-development-of-houstons-ion-district/

Im confused? I mean this in no disrespect but why should they care about 3rd ward if they're.....not in 3rd ward? 2nd ward residents seem to be more welcoming of all the projects going on in 2nd ward (EADO for example) 

This literally the way it is stated is extortion. Disgusting 

They make it sound like Rice which is a non-profit is some sort of Fortune 500 company. 

8 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

😐

Yeah these look like they are going to age very badly...

2 hours ago, Highrise Tower said:

Centennial Tower registered with TDLR. wow!! Start date April 2022.

This seems very expensive! I'm guessing it's going to have a very nice mass to have such a square footage. Should be a great addition to the skyline! 

On 9/10/2021 at 12:44 PM, Triton said:

I didn't realize until now that it looks like they are removing the Memorial street connection.

I hope they also improve the left turn going on to the W Memorial Look Dr. There is a major backup of traffic there because the lights aren't synced so only about 5 cars are able to wait in the median.

I think it's still there, it's just shown as covered with a lot of trees. It looks like it a long gradual curve now though?

Why do they propose such nice things in areas where less people will use them while ignoring very dense areas like Gulfton where bus usage is very high? I feel they really need some program to promote density around the stations to make it actually work. Like the area around Shephard and 1-10 is literally an open stone counter place and not friendly to pedestrians etc.  

Agreed, I don't think there is anything to do with the strip center currently. 

On 8/11/2021 at 2:15 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

Fair enough. I get that some of my observations on things are very anecdotal. But you can't dismiss anecdotal evidence as inaccurate or meaningless. I guarantee you there are lots of people in this city without a car that wish they had the ability to get around more easily. I'm def passionate about making sure something sustainable is built here, and I firmly believe this isn't it. I say all of that not to argue with you, but I can't say my experience riding transit has been bad. If anything I left many of those cities wanting more transit here in Houston. 

I don't understand why you view it as a zero sum game when in reality the highway and rail should be built. Houston and the port are growing fast enough where both are necessary. 

1 hour ago, gene said:

this is amazing news...i have stayed at Hotel Saint Cecilia before and man that place is amazing and so darn cool! Jake Gyllenhaal was staying there at the same time btw! 

anyway...don't know if you all remember but originally these owners were looking at the land where Cane's Chicken Montrose is now but when the economy went down, so did their plans. I am so excited they have decided to open up a Houston hotel after all, as they are one of the best at small boutique hotels with exceptional service. 

 

Liz Lambert who made the group what it is what fired from her own company a few months ago so this hotel is not going to be as detail oriented as past proejcts but a welcome addition anyways. Very good article in Texas Monthly on her this month! 

https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/liz-lambert-next-act/

14 hours ago, nyc_tex said:

Only random people who live in the city and pay taxes. No differently than a home owners association in __________ random mass produced suburb tells its folks how, when, and where to build on their property. 

Many people chose to live here specifically because there is no HOA. What does taxes have to do with a private development? 

3 hours ago, EllenOlenska said:

I'm not sure if I just like the black painted international style buildings (which I do) or because the first few renderings of the garage were so so ominous, but I'm okay with the building. 

This looks like a crappy rendering of a Morris Adjmi building who makes his buildings look very industrial. He did just do the Standard Hotel in Nola so this seems like  possible connection but I think it's a weird fit for the area and would have been better in a more industrial heritage area like sawyer yards or Eado or even Westheimer through Montrose. 

8 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This is cool! You see things like this in other cities. Having small grassroots organizations develop in your city shows the greater sense of community thats developing. A new generation of Houstonians are making it known that they want to have a say in how our city develops. This is similar to the group fighting the NHHIP. https://instagram.com/stoptxdoti45?utm_medium=copy_link

You think random people who don't own a property should have specific demands on how a project that is privately financed is developed down to the T? Why don't you share your address to we can evaluate how your garden and siding effect the quality of life of your neighbors lol 

48 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This city man smh 

Everyone on this forum has such amazing ideas I don't know why they don't go get an investment loan with 20% down and make their visions a reality lol. 

3 hours ago, samagon said:

I know you guys were joking, but whatever the speed limit, wide lanes, plus huge shoulders encourage fast driving.

it's unfortunate that this is a thing, and it's even more unfortunate that this was not built to comfortably and safely accommodate more than just cars.

This is literally supposed to be part of the Hardy tollway aka a freeway lol...

1 hour ago, arche_757 said:

You guys hating on Arquitectonica I see… also design architects for the Hilton Americas downtown next to what would later become Discovery Green.  For those who don’t know Arquitectonica is a firm out of Miami, which, like many architects from the 1980s got their start designing Post Modern edifices that today border on the absurd and garish.

I think both @Montrose1100 & @j_cuevas713 are correct. This project will allow similarly scaled development to become more than just a passing thought to many local and out of town developers.  However, at least right now, this project appears to be the exception to the norm.  That said, is there there not interest in doing something like this just up the street at Montrose and Westheimer?  And DiscoKroger - which I realize is a tad differently having a more corporate driven renovation with Kroger’s.

Arquitectonica actually used to have an office here hence their many projects here. The founder is from one of the wealthiest families in Peru which I think might have helped a little. 

Since when do politicians care about what is actually needed* versus what they "think" should be needed?

3 hours ago, phillip_white said:

Tunneling under Franklin to add a tie-in to the Buffalo Bayou bike trail would be awesome (but is never going to happen).

That was actually planned but the city/downtown authorities  refused to chip in for any of it so got pushed back. Was going to be a nice staircase etc.

23 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Well that's simply fallacious.

How are the Committee members appointed?

Harris County has SUED TxDOT over the project . . . why would anyone appointed by the County vote in support for the resolution?  As the editorial states, Mayor Turner has also made his position clear.  The City has de facto control of the METRO Board, with another 2 of the remaining 4 appointed by the County.  The outcome of the vote shouldn't have surprised anyone . . . or at least anyone who knows how these things work.  (Not to mention it's a toothless resolution . . . )

There is undoubtedly plenty of support within the County and City for this project, and plenty of examples within this post.  They aren't appointed by the Mayor or Commissioner's Court to the HGAC Board, however.

Look at it this way . . . just because Ken Paxton decided to sue GA, PA, WI, and MI because of some wacky partisan plot to undo the 2020 election results doesn't mean that all of Texas supported him.  In fact, even though TX went for Trump, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of Texans did not support him.  But people in these political positions tend to be a bit more ideological and catering to their perceived base.

Is there anything we can do to publicly support the project and counter this crap?

15 hours ago, Kinglyam said:

I understand that they basically considered the new "upgraded" HEB experience to be sufficient, while the CM experience I guess was too expensive to develop and maintain. But since they had already developed the Houston one, adding more to it wasn't as big a deal. They just wouldn't want to spend the money to buy this land and develop an all new CM, that wouldn't be as profitable as a regular HEB.

Besides, as someone earlier said, this area has poor access to the freeways compared to other locations (though not sure that is the case compared to other EMPTY large lots), which makes CM less desirable.

Which I don't understand because in Dallas they are opening 4 Central Markets and they are not hybrids including one near downtown in Victory Park. 

11 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

No offense to La Tapatia but I'd rather see new residential.  

That's not part of it, just the two small garden apartments and the abandoned street between them. I'm sure eventually that strip center will be bought by a developer and fixed up.

That sounds correct, has nothing to do with capping value for property tax purposes. 

4 hours ago, hindesky said:

I rode right by this last weekend, looks like very old decrepit apartments. They had already thrown out most of the interior junk on the lawn.

They were demolished this morning when I was going to Starbucks across the street.

1 hour ago, Kinglyam said:

Which I anticipate will have about as much effect on the end result as any other backlash against development in a non-rich neighborhood. 

It's interesting they are saying "higher density" but will be single family homes? 

1 hour ago, samagon said:

I find it hard to believe that this was one of 12 buildings of that type.

in 100 years, if the Camden midtown apartments are one of 12 apartments of that style left, is someone going to stand up and say that is a significant part of the history of Houston? assume also that over the course of that 100 years that parts of the building had been remade, and added to. 

I mean, preserve history and all that, but there's a point where it's kind of is everything now a historically significant building and what's the point again?

This is clearly a rare example of a large early 20th century commercial structure with a perfectly intact façade. Comparing it to cardboard structure like Camden owned by a soulless REIT clearly shows everything that is wrong with this town. This area had dozens of acres of empty lots that could have houses this ugly apartment complex. 

22 minutes ago, quietstorm said:

I am a long-time resident of Third Ward and disagree with your characterization of Garnet Coleman who I know and who is my state Rep. Vacant lots aren’t unique to TIRZ zones and holding them for extended periods of time until suitable development is reached isn’t either. Your definition of suitable development (e.g. gentrification) doesn’t override the development wishes of current Third Ward residents who also have agency and some power in the area, which seems to vex some non/recent residents.
 

Additionally, wanting Coleman to just “go” doesn’t rest with you, but with the majority of voters who overwhelmingly support him. 

We are all Houstonians and no group should have power to exclude anyone from "their" neighborhood. For some reason diversity doesn't seem positive with your connotations. Under Coleman the area has only gotten worse and can say that also as a long-term resident lmao...