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bachanon

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Everything posted by bachanon

  1. bachanon
    ..ummm the two 12 story Hughes Landing buildings are already topped out. There are four up; they announced the Embassy Suites recently. ..maybe that's the new crane?
  2. bachanon
    obviously the developer is unaware of texans and their hidden valley ranch dressing. you say "valley ranch" and i think baked potato, side salad, or fried zucchini.
  3. bachanon
    is it the same design only shorter?
  4. bachanon
    (thinking as i type, don't shoot me) dallas has a huge fashion marketplace, and lots of good PR. many buyers for interior design, clothing and accessories go to dallas for shows and to buy merchandise for their stores. http://dallasmarketcenter.com/ over 200,000 buyers from around the world visit dallas market center annually. that said, houston's panache is on a high-speed upward trajectory that, i fear, will surpass dallas eventually. are we ready for a "keep houston down-to-earth" campaign anyone? if landing W hotels and Ritz hotels require that houston have a different personality, i'd rather not have them. it's true that houston has been predominately a working class city; many of houston's movers and shakers in the past would never darken the door of neiman marcus. energy sector folks tend towards less flash more cash. george and cynthia mitchell are prime examples. if the guys at the top wouldn't pay for an executive suite at a posh hotel, you can bet their middle management will not want a flashy hotel on their expense reports. the same cannot be said for the advertising industry, fashion industry; the see and be seen industries thrive on being in the hot places. not a criticism, just an observation. with all of the international money flowing into houston, increasing tourism, luxury homes and high rises, it seems as though we could support more trendy hotel chains. i second the previous comment that we have bits and pieces of walkable high dollar areas scattered about town. downtown or uptown would most likely suit a W or similar hotelier. inside the loop at 610 would not be my first choice. i would want to be near those shiny chrome arches in uptown or near rail lines connecting the med center, museum district and downtown; a discovery green locale or something at the edge of downtown on buffalo bayou, near the theater district. concerning the river oaks district; is it an island unto itself? is it interacting/interconnected with neighborhoods and nearby shopping centers? it's important that all of these mixed-use developments CONNECT seemlessly with the surrounding area. it looks like many developments such as this simply turn their backs to homes and apartment complexes or put up walls. it's sad to see a "walkable" district built with no sidewalks connecting with the street or surrounding neighborhoods.
  5. bachanon
    it's not that it's a secret, it's the timing. it may not be too far in the future, although the word in anadarko is that they haven't filled up the new building yet. everyone know's they own the land for future expansion. a third tower this soon after the second tower is big news. maybe the third tower is only necessary if certain deals or mergers go through; who knows. a tower announcement coming sooner rather than later is what the excitement is about, not whether or not a tower will be built in the future. the tower that is supposed to be a condo on waterway square, next to the westin hotel under construction, may be rental rather than condo. it sounds as if they are ready to build it but cannot build it while the hotel is under construction. i was complaining in the elevator at 24 waterway about howard hughes focusing development at hughes landing and taking resources away from the waterway square area; unfortunately for me, a woodlands development company land surveyor was in the elevator. i learned that my dismay with howard hughes focusing on hughes landing is not about howard hughes at all, but a logistical matter; they simply cannot build fast enough for the demand and building around the waterway square area and the eastern superblock is limited due to traffic concerns, space for setup, and the capacity of available construction resources (i've assumed, perhaps wrongly, that HH altered development plans since they took over). it sounds as if they are buidling as fast as they can to capture demand, while they can; this could explain the less appealing designs and less focused area development as before.
  6. bachanon
    ...second blank face hesitation from non-anadarko employee in development community. something is afoot with anadarko.
  7. bachanon
    Thank you Muralpainter! So many different languages heard in The Woodlands...on a regular basis. Mostly Spanish, but at my office, I hear Japanese in the elevator quite often, and Vietnamese, Arabic, frequently in restaurants. As much as people would like to paint The Woodlands white, it is diverse; it's diversity is absent a significant African-American population. Essentially, when people try to say The Woodlands is all white, all that really means is that there is a small percentage of African-Americans represented; thankfully, that is changing. The less fake blondes we see around here the happier I'll be (no offense fake blondes, I just prefer your natural color...even if it's gray). I recently had a meal with an Anadarko employee and mentioned the buzz about tower three; there was an awkward moment before they said they heard it was a possibility. I think I read "surprise" on their face that I knew. Maybe I'm reading more into it than I should; my inner voice shouted "I KNEW IT!". I relish the moments when a split second of hesitation reveals that someone is holding their tongue, refraining from reaction. Time will tell.
  8. bachanon
    will that area support ground floor retail?
  9. bachanon
    it seems like a horrible place for an apartment complex with elevated freeway on two sides. will it be affordable housing maybe? i certainly wouldn't plop down market rates for that locale. soundproofing seems like a necessity.
  10. bachanon
    I wonder if there are upgrades to the interchange coming?
  11. bachanon
    welcome to the forum MarathonMan. you've already made a good impression by making your first post something that could be news to HAIF, and that's saying something.
  12. bachanon
    maybe places like barnaby's will be open more often and maybe more restaurants will fill the empty spaces in the area. do they have a website up yet? i'd like to live in walking distance of the theater district and light rail.
  13. bachanon
    if this is indeed a driving factor, the east/west lines will contribute to the downtown skyline in that direction as well. currently, we feel like two different cities; one city (downtown/med center) has rail, the other city (uptown/greenway plaza) does not. ("tales of rail for two cities"?)
  14. bachanon
    ...someone said this is not an attractive tower? i do not think it's bad. of course, we all know a rendering can end up being more attractive than reality. fingers crossed. i want this one to look better than the rendering (which i like... i just want it to look better than good)
  15. bachanon
    thread title updated!
  16. bachanon
    i thought bruce godwin owned record rack in the late eighties/early nineties; he was either an owner or manager of numbers too. i bought many of my hard to find industrial and club music cds at record rack.
  17. bachanon
    maybe they were talking about this book: http://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnfingleton/2013/12/21/for-all-who-care-about-americas-future-a-stocking-stuffer-of-a-book-the-crash-of-2016/
  18. bachanon
    chevron didn't start as originally planned because they allocated funds for money-making endeavors rather than sunk costs; they still need the building; the resources are worth more elsewhere at the moment.
  19. bachanon
    BEST. IDEA. EVER. You are rockin' my socks tigereye. That works on so many levels, if it can be engineered. I wonder if the weight of the clear solar panels would be an issue?
  20. bachanon
    according to the folks who document these things, houston will have constructed 18,000 new units this year. if there are 10,000 more i'm sure the CRBE would like to know. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/08/22/demand-for-houston-apartments-is-at-an-all-time.html?page=2 i share your enthusiasm, however. whatever the number are, the building frenzy will not soon diminish. i am curious as to how middle income people are supposed to live in the city. not everyone can afford kirby or galleria highrises. all of this increased density is great, but if all of the low to middle income workers have to commute, density is for the well-off and traffic will continue to be an issue. it will be an issue regardless, but middle income folks not having to commute helps, but that discussion is for another thread. i hope the hanover river oaks makes pedestrian connectivity a priority. if you simply drive in to your home and have little access to the street on foot, you reduce the possibility that developments like west avenue will succeed. i really like this tower. i hope it CONNECTS well with its neighborhood.
  21. bachanon
    just thinking "out loud": if houston can produce 21,000 apartments in one year (last year 15,000, this year around 18,000), let's consider how we can quantify it. 5 200 unit apartment complexes (say the alexan midtown or the hanover southampton at rice village) per 1000; multiply 21 x 5 and you have 105 similar sized projects in and around the city. or 3 333 unit apartment complexes per 1000; multiply by 21 and you have 63 projects. if houston builds 18,000 as expected this year (or was it 2015? i don't remember....whenever) a VERY inexact guess would be 50-90 decent sized multi-family projects would be required to bring 18000 units to market. empty lots will continue to disappear as will substandard housing and single family homes in the high demand areas. i wonder if there are any houston based reits we should be invested (do people still do reits?) i digress. it's a little sad to see poor little delicious beck's prime left all by its lonesome. the smell will be nice for residents.
  22. bachanon
    can you say mixed-use development with transportation hub? so much potential for this property! rail lines nearby could easily connect to light rail through uptown and/or the rail leading downtown to the hardy rail yards. light rail line from here down washington avenue to downtown.....many, many opportunities for a transit system pivot point. 1. adaptive reuse of existing mall structure maintaining some retail capacity (or increased) 2. integration of new and proposed suburban rail and intercity light rail lines 3. add residential (affordable) components 4. add entertainment (or public use) component(s) i would wager that there are MANY entities peeing their pants over this location. https://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_dunham_jones_retrofitting_suburbia check out this ted talk on "retrofitting suburbia". it will give you hope for the plight of malls across the country.
  23. bachanon
    try 4 decades of that; pretty soon,10 years ago will seem like yesterday. did i mention that david lynch's "dune" is guilty pleasure? i cringe at some of the bad special effects now but i can't stop watching it. "FOR HE IS THE KWISATZ HADERACH!!
  24. bachanon

    i really really wish i lived in the city! dissatisfaction precedes motivation..

  25. bachanon
    it is unlikely that kirby between rice village and upper kirby will remain craptastic. also, regarding kirby/allen parkway becoming like broadway: good luck getting towers or high density anything built from shepherd to san felipe; not gonna happen.
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