southerncrj

Indeed, both cranes are up (photo below). They're already almost scratching 609 Main!

The variance request was denied at the HPC meeting today, so they'll have to re-submit them in a few weeks. Apparently the reason is that Houston Public Works has not had time to review the Traffic Impact Assessment. The plats however, were approved. Separately, here's another render that was shown. I must say I don't dislike the design, plus it's mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly:

Notice of variance request posted on Boundary and Keene St. Seems they are moving fast toward their supposed early next year start of construction date. Apparently the development may also include a restaurant, and as far as I understand the single row of homes sandwiched between N. Main and Keene St. will go (many already unoccupied), replaced by a strip of green space (?)

It seems they uploaded a render to the Chron article quoted above! (It was not there yesterday.)

I saw a soil sampling crew drilling some boreholes on the lot a couple of months ago, and remember hearing rumors (as such, take them with a giant grain of salt) that W2 had always had developing/selling the big parking lot in mind, so I am not overly surprised about the announcement. In fact, W2 had also bought over time several of the lots between N. Main and Keene St. on the photo above. I wonder if they are included as part of the deal with Marquette. With this announcement, Oui Eats under construction, and something likely happening with the almost full block taken by the former Salvatio

Slow progress at Oui Eats... seems they have more equipment on site, have begun working on the foundation, and set up container office by the large WOMH parking lot in the back. Also, the old blue house by the Oui Eats lot has been vacated and abandoned. I wonder if it will be torn down as part of the project. Some photos:

The Castillo Community Center on White Oak Bayou can be rented for weddings. Not a comparable venue of course, but it does have some pretty grandiose views of DT, and it is likely to be much kinder to people's pockets.

New renders and plans (source: https://www.har.com/mapsearch/?sort=listdate+desc&map_tools_nwlat=29.858457269066463&map_tools_nwlng=-95.4662482821452&map_tools_selat=29.7156939508626&map_tools_selng=-95.2476194848505&zip_code=77009&for_sale=1#g10253091)

Work at the Oui Eats site has begun! 😀

Happened to drive-by today (was not able to snap a photo). There is new scaffolding up on the S. side of the building, and they seemed to have started applying a layer of paint.

Very happy to see some movement around Oui Eats. Coupled with the (hopefully to be finished) Holiday Inn Express on N. Main, Black Page Brewing, WOMH, and Raven Tower, I expect to see quite a change in the area by mid-late 2021. There are still several vacant, high-vis lots for sale along N. Main and Boundary St. that I suspect (if we get some kind of normalcy to our lives back) won't remain vacant for too long.

New and higher-quality rendering posted on LoopNet. Several fairly significant (IMHO, for the better) changes to the design. Looking at it though, I can't fully figure out where will the retail go. It appears at least that it won't be street level, or am I missing something?

This is very good news. I noticed it a couple of days ago, but was not completely sure whether work had resumed or I was deceiving myself. I was afraid this building site was bound to remain in limbo for years.

New contractor sign appeared by the fence, suggesting construction start should be imminent. I am curious about the similar sign across the street, on the eastern side of N. Main (you can barely make it in the photo, in the background and to the left of the big sign). Parking space perhaps?

One more update. They have also built a nice little trail to connect the back of the building/parking lot/N. Main St. with the White Oak Bayou trail.