thedistrict84

There hasn't been any meaningful activity at this site in months. Looks like Lovett is content to just sit on this property for an extended period of time with absolutely no progress, much like they’re doing with Post HTX and several other sites around town. I guess it’s their M.O. You're not joking. The Sprouts rumor was dismissed well over a year ago. I can understand still mentioning it if the change in plans was a recent development (say, within the last month), but to still mention it now is a glaring oversight for a source that is presumably up-to-date on commercial real estate development news.

That’s kind of my point, 13 Degrees Celsius and other places in that part of Midtown are doing well because there are more new residential developments (MidMain, Camden McGowen Station, etc.) creating a customer base and pedestrian traffic. This in turn disperses the concentration of homeless populations from the immediate area or otherwise reduces the negative effect by the homeless on pedestrians in the area due to higher concentrations of pedestrians walking in the area, using light rail, etc.

I meant “isn’t as bothered” as in “they don’t care as much about it.” No doubt the homeless people and some of the sketchier New Hope SRO residents frequently loiter around VooDoo, I go there maybe once a month and see it firsthand. But as I said, I’m not personally bothered by it and, due to walking in all corners of this city for years and encountering all types of people, I don’t have trouble interacting with even the most aggressive of transients. But, the typical customer who would be drawn to a wine bar might be more likely to be bothered or annoyed with that situation. That’s all I’m saying: the homeless and quasi-transients in the area (due in part to light rail and the New Hope SRO facility) might have a meaningful negative effect on business. I hope that’s not the case, and will definitely go to support it regardless, but until more new residential development occurs in the immediate area to provide a built-in customer base and critical mass of pedestrians to counter the negative effect of higher concentrations of homeless and transients (as is currently happening in the heart of Midtown), it is a real possibility.

That’s a fair point. I think the crowd at VooDoo skews younger and more blue-collar though, and isn’t as bothered by dealing with quasi-homeless people engaging in loitering and other transient behavior. Even taking into account Sammons’s intent for it to be more casual than typical wine bars, I still think you’re talking about a different clientele target than VooDoo, Sigma, Moon Tower, etc.

Site work underway today. Several flatbed 18-wheelers were lined up on Jensen dropping off large concrete culverts for drainage. It looks like work digging the trenches where they will be placed has started too.

Surprised there haven’t been any “HTX” vs. “HOU” comments on this thread.

1. Yes, it technically is. It is a short article about the bar published on the Eater website. The fact that they summarized information from another article by another publication or source doesn’t detract from that fact. 2. Not everyone has a Houston Business Journal subscription. I assume your quote from the HBJ article is complete, and thank you for providing that from behind the paywall, but it doesn’t hurt to have additional sources with the same or similar information for people to access.

Another brief write-up on How to Survive on Land and Sea, from Eater Friday. https://houston.eater.com/2019/5/10/18564597/mike-sammons-wine-bar-coming-soon Looking forward to another bar/food place opening on the Sampson/York corridor, although I am a bit concerned about how well it will do with the New Hope SRO facility right across the street. It might discourage some pedestrian traffic in the immediate area (for the record, the New Hope facility is on my way to the nearby Green Line stop and I walk by here regularly, but am concerned of the effect it may have on others’ willingness to go here).

Walked by the Gribble Stamp & Stencil building on my way to MMP and noticed that there are renovations underway. It’s certainly a cool building with an interesting layout, so it’s good that it’s being renovated instead of torn down. Old Loopnet listing on the property in question: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19940204/121-St-Emanuel-St-Houston-TX/ Couldn't find anything else. Anyone know what’s going on with the property?

This will be a great addition to the Sampson/York corridor. Glad to see Brian building on the success of Pitch 25 and committing to invest further in the neighborhood.

I think that would be correct. As I understand it, “Near Northside” is a blanket term for the area east of I-45, north of the UP railroad that runs through Hardy Yards, west of the BNSF line that runs parallel to Hardy and Elysian, and south of 610. It covers a large area that includes several distinct neighborhoods, similar to the “East End.”

Why don’t you go ahead and move the other 20+ comments talking about the automated parking garage from the first page over to the other thread too, if it bothers you so much. It has been an ongoing topic in this thread for months. I’ve specifically commented on it a few times, as have many others. I was more focused on the new site plan you posted instead of your one-line link, sorry I missed it...

I know the initial speculation was that the automated garage would go where the current 10-stall, sorry-excuse-for-covered-parking lot by Christian’s Tailgate currently sits, but the updated brochure puts it on a larger lot further east towards Studewood and White Oak, where a few older homes currently sit. Since there is more land area to work with there, it looks like the automated garage will not be as tall as we initially thought.

@CrockpotandGravel, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we greatly appreciate your contributions to this site, and I’m grateful for the information that you’re able to hunt down out of some far-flung places. But dude . . . you need to relax a bit. I’ve seen so many recent posts of yours where you get bent out of shape about the smallest of things. Just let it go!

For the record, this seems to pertain to the existing parking lot in front of the commercial building that takes up most of the block. Also, 25 parking spots is only a portion of the existing lot. The bigger takeaway is the fact that the City facility that will be utilizing this parking on a five-year contract term is in the direct path of the I-45 reroute project. That suggests that we’re looking at five years or more before businesses between St. Emanuel and Chartres get taken by eminent domain and torn down to make way for construction, which seems to me to be a bit behind the proposed schedule.