thedistrict84

45 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Do more than hope! Make sure the Planning Commission knows a neighbor supports this project. The loudest voices are typically from people complaining about parking. 

From my understanding the planning commission meeting will be virtual as well as in person, if that’s the case I will try to attend if my work schedule permits it.

I received a letter from the Houston Planning Commission regarding the parking variance requested, as I live just around the corner. The letter indicates that they will be rehabilitating and subdividing the current building into restaurant space (letter implies multiple spaces). The applicant is asking to opt-in to the Walkable Places Ordinance given the proximity to Navigation and Harrisburg, where that ordinance is in effect.

Limited onsite parking and offsite valet will provide 59 places instead of the required 122 (if the variance request is not granted). It is unclear from the included site plan and area map where exactly the offsite valet lot will be.

Seems to be a promising improvement to walkability in the immediate area, I hope it’s granted.

6 hours ago, wilcal said:

Shouldn't be too bad. All of the signaled intersections have unprotected lefts and two lanes, so giant backups don't really happen. 

I live in the immediate area and drive through this intersection at least once on most days. Emancipation is a higher volume road here than Polk, and that will be even more true once the I-45 reroute construction kicks off and blocks access to downtown on Polk.

The CVS will directly lead to at least a moderate increase in traffic volume at this intersection. Having an entrance to a drive thru only accessible directly from Emancipation will also lead to a significant increase in left turning vehicles heading southwest on Emancipation, and the close proximity of the driveway to the intersection with Polk makes it even more problematic. 

I’m afraid that you are greatly overestimating the driving abilities of average Houston commuters/drivers if you don’t think this is a problem. And, for the record, I’m more concerned about safety and the potential for accidents than I am traffic backup.

21 hours ago, hindesky said:

48 parking spots inside the 1st floor building and the drive thru comes in from Emancipation.

I think the Emancipation entrance might cause some traffic problems. Emancipation along that stretch is a fairly busy road, and having people slow down to turn into a narrow entrance—or worse, trying to cross traffic on a left turn from the opposite lane—is going to make things interesting.

The only practical solution is making Emancipation one lane in each direction with a center turn lane, but I don’t think there are any plans to that effect.

On 10/13/2021 at 11:56 AM, ljchou said:

The current Houston Saw location was listed on LoopNet for the past few months at roughly 1.2M and is no longer listed. Can't find any indication it sold. Does anyone have any insight into this?

This building has a lot of potential for adaptive reuse, would make a good spot for a restaurant.

1 hour ago, HtownWxBoy said:

Club 2020 is no longer a thing... it went from a night club to a church... 🙄

Don’t be too sad, it will be bulldozed as part of the I-45 reroute project. 😈

So it’s just a remodel and not a tear down. Somewhat disappointing. I wonder how much of that is not wanting to dig up the dirt and deal with soil remediation from contamination?

14 hours ago, Naviguessor said:

I fear the this will just be parking for the building across the street. 

That was the exact concern I had when I saw this happening. It’s an oddly shaped, almost triangular lot so it’ll make for a very inefficient parking lot. Frustrating if that is the case.

On 10/4/2021 at 2:44 PM, 77011transplant said:

Read some comments on Nextdoor about this and you would think a brothel was moving in 🙄

Those are the same people that still thought a Sprouts was going in, even though I posted a link to this HAIF topic every single time someone posted about it over the last three years.

Even in the post you referenced there was still a “I thought this was going to be a Sprouts?” comment. 

1 hour ago, samagon said:

and that building looks rough in the street view, I wonder if it was just too far gone to bring back?

That would be my guess, it was abandoned for quite a while.

This listing for the property shows that it has sold, so someone has some plans for the lot.

Drove by on Milby earlier and noticed a crew demoing this building. It was a minimal-setback building probably dating back to the 1940s that had an interesting inverted curved eave along the front of the building, similar to White Rhino (which is more or less across the street). 

It formerly operated as a night club, but had not been occupied in a long time. I’m not sure when it shut down, others in the neighborhood might know better.

The bigger loss might be that whatever gets built there does not keep the minimal setback.

6 hours ago, Montecore said:

Urban Living owner Porsche collection

The cat is out of the bag now I guess.

I wonder what’s going on with the appeal on that multi-million dollar verdict against Urban Living for using that firm’s architectural plans without permission?

42 minutes ago, BigRed said:

LOL I mean I feel ya but also this is a prime example of a home that probably could stand to be leveled... its not like anyone (IMO anyways) is going to restore this bungalow for a home - its off Cavalcade and Main (wooof) and next to commercial space. So its a bummer that its more parking but also not a huge loss.

The homes in that neighborhood are slowly being renovated, and there is no reason this one couldn’t be as well. It definitely needed some work but I’m sure the basic structure was still good.

By example, my friend and her husband live a block away, and bought in maybe six or seven years ago. They’ve done a great job with renovating their original bungalow. 

Also worth considering, the entry to this lot is on a residential side street, bringing additional thru traffic and affecting use of the sidewalk by pedestrians.

5 hours ago, thatguysly said:

People sure do love to complain when something affects them directly. Lane closures have existed forever and now it matters to them. Yeah it is super annoying and I used to commute on these roads and it will back up. But no worse than what the Post Road bus project did and countless others in the area. It is part of construction and growth. Not only that but the streets within Tanglewood have been closed off and on for months as they just got repaved.

You just don’t understand, these people are obviously very important and delays and lane closures affect them in a disproportional manner because their time is much more valuable. . .

Traffic jams are for the plebeians.

On 8/28/2021 at 8:31 AM, IntheKnowHouston said:

I sent this news to Eater Houston, but the news outlet decided not to follow up and report the news to their readers, unlike their sister sites ( Eater LA, Eater SF, Eater NY) which report things like this.

Hey @CrockpotandGravelwelcome back! Missed your snideness and pedantry. It’s going to take a bit to get used to the new name though.

On 8/30/2021 at 11:33 AM, wilcal said:

Permit issued for demo and commercial parking lot

Alright HAIFers, get your pitchforks!

On 8/30/2021 at 10:02 AM, wilcal said:

More infill! This already has a pin on Google Maps. It is the corner right at 13th on the west side of Durham.

Former location of the Cardenas Auto Sales.

 

Another Durham/Shepherd used car lot down, only like 30 more to go!

Once all of the used car dealerships are eliminated, it’s on to the final boss: Tommie Vaughn Ford.

52 minutes ago, Eastdwntwn said:

Based on the images in the link, wouldn't half of the building need to be torn down? How else could you fit in that much parking? I thought there are no parking minimums in Eado. Seems excessive. 

My favorite part of the listing is how it mentions being located in the “[d]ensely populated walkable and bikeable EADO neighborhood” under highlights, yet features an awful, non-pedestrian friendly parking lot layout. 

On 8/28/2021 at 1:22 PM, Eastdwntwn said:

There are signs on the windows that "Gotham" is moving into this space. I saw it while I was driving by. I will try and get a picture the next time I drive by. 

On 8/29/2021 at 8:37 AM, HoustonMidtown said:

 

7 hours ago, Ross said:

It's the name of the German immigrants who developed the area.

Specifically, it’s named for J.J. Settegast, who donated the land to the City of Houston in 1911 I think. But the Settegast family were involved in the community for at least a few decades by that time.

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

The two-story structure will span 23,000 square feet and will create a “competitive socializing and entertainment golf experience, ” featuring four nine-hole courses.

“Competitive socializing”? These marketing buzzwords and terms are getting out of hand.

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This is cool though. I go to this park often.

I don’t disagree. It has been neat to learn about some additional history from the nearby area with which I wasn’t familiar with. But even in the story Mr. Navarro presented to support the proposal, he mentioned the importance the name “Settegast” had among the people who went and played baseball there. It just seems shortsighted to record over that part of history, especially something that has endured for more than a century. 

There is an effort underway by Christian Navarro (son of Yolanda Black-Navarro) to rename Settegast Park to Los Compadres Park. 

The effort is meant to commemorate an organized baseball team known as Los Compadres comprised of predominately Mexican-American players who played for the team at Settegast Park at various times from the 1950s up through the 1980s.

Personally, I certainly support efforts to commemorate the history of Los Compadres through renaming the baseball field and/or a plaque or historical marker on site, but not by renaming the entire park.

For anybody interested, the link to the Second Ward Super Neighborhood 63 Zoom meeting where the proposal is discussed is below. Password/code is h6Z!UzYV. Fast forward to around the 40 minute mark for the presentation by Mr. Navarro:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/eDe_Ddz0ItgG7Yal1Y-j3j574ftd4qe2_SdYcC5MZf8y-6vMJRH2hFcbyvDAGxM2.VIyZBzr4XGnWruRk?startTime=1627946025000

21 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

Nothing embodies gentrification more than a former “African Art center” being torn down to build a giant warehouse to store yuppie’s disposable income in the form of excess consumerism.