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bachanon

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Everything posted by bachanon

  1. this tower is one of the sparse connections between greenway plaza and uptown's ever so slowly merging skylines..........google earth is causing much lost sleep lately also, it looks similar to aqua or acqua in chicago. i think it will be impressive.
  2. uptown continues its eastward expansion.....watch out afton oaks, you may not have light rail going through your neighborhood, but you are increasingly surrounded by high density development and towers looking down on you (along with university line supporters with long memories)
  3. ...........not to hijack the thread, but considering "connecting urban centers" in houston: while looking at google earth tonight, i noticed an angle between uptown and greenway plaza that has several towers under construction or planned. it looks like there is more potential for the uptown skyline to connect with greenway plaza than downtown and tmc. if you set google earth on the perspective thingy.....yes, i said it........ and view uptown and greeway plaza while considering the residential and office towers going up, you can begin to imagine how the two areas can connect.
  4. remember that the medical center was property owned by one person (william marsh rice? i should know this. perhaps someone can confirm) or organization and donated or set aside for the purpose of having research hospitals. it was one piece of land. to "master plan" midtown would require all of the owners of smaller properties to sell to one owner or developer. barring a major depression where land is sold for pennies on the dollar, a master-planned midtown (even a portion of it) is highly unlikely. now, could demand or incentives create a greater possibility of taller buildings in midtown, absolutely.
  5. it wouldn't be unreasonable to consider that the east side of hermann park could eventually be surrounded by highrise residential, much like other parks in other large cities.
  6. several cranes are up in the hughes landing, research forest lakeside, cb&i area (6 or 7). 10 waterway ave and waterway square hotel soon to break ground.
  7. http://www.elkus-manfredi.com/project/the-woodlands/ i think this is old, but it is the first time i've seen a plan for expansion of the woodlands mall's outdoor space....it extends from i-45 to six pines in between the mall ring road and the existing mall.
  8. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/24+Waterway+Ave,+The+Woodlands,+TX+77380/One+Hughes+Landing,+The+Woodlands,+TX+77380/@30.1661551,-95.46874,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x864736bf8516d9e9:0xa6a98c0919cc17e5!2m2!1d-95.4585749!2d30.1607867!1m5!1m1!1s0x864736ce2e6a1433:0x97dcfd50d599cb51!2m2!1d-95.470322!2d30.171505?hl=en 1.2 miles from 24 waterway to one hughes landing.......15-20 minute walk (about the same distance as that between hobby center for the performing arts and minute maid park) hughes landing is .5 to .8 miles from market street. it essentially bookends what is becoming downtown woodlands. (about the same distance between minute maid park and market square park)
  9. I'm sure he was talking about ExxonMobil and Chevron Phillips Chemical, not based on where headquarters are located. And before someone says that ExxonMobil is not in The Woodlands, after hearing hearing Bob Davis, Senior Advisor of ExxonMobil Corporation, speak at lunch today, they are here because of The Woodlands and built here to be close to The Woodlands as possible. He lives in The Woodlands too, by the way. Davis gave kudos to George Mitchell for changing the industry. I forgot to add my notes from Ron Corn, Senior VP of Specialties, Aromatics, and Styrenics at Chevron Phillips Chemical. They are growing rapidly. Huntsman Corporation? I wish he would have specified, now. As an economic development guy he may be prone to exaggeration. Or.....did he say something he shouldn't have? Good times.....good times.............
  10. From The Woodlands Economic Outlook Conference today: Alex Sutton: Co-President of The Woodlands Development Company 10 Waterway Avenue Coming Soon; 22 Stories (Most of us knew this, but information from another speaker may be a key factor) Waterway Hotel to break ground soon; hotel brand announcement soon to be announced Hughes Landing Hotel to have retail on first floor; immediate proximity to Hughes Landing Restaurant Row. Hughes Landing Restaurant Row angled on an East/West axis so that all restaurants face North or South for better afternoon patio dining. Restaurants to include Escalante's, Whiskey Cake, California Pizza Kitchen, Eddie V's. Hughes Landing includes a regional entertainment venue connected to the hotel. HAIFy Observations to Mr. Sutton and the renderings shown: -Office buildings at Hughes Landing are not mixed-use; no retail on the first floor like Waterway Square -Office structures and new Waterway Hotel design appear more institutional, less appealing than designs we saw before Howard Hughes took over. Tim Welbes: President of The Woodlands Development Company The Woodlands has less than a 1 month's supply of single-family housing for anything under 300k. 2014 Projected demand for new homes in the Houston area: 77,006 2014 Projected delivery of new homes: 28,205 2013 Multi-family development at equilibrium. HAIFy comment: The new home construction industry does not have the capacity to build the amount of homes needed. To make things more difficult, there is a shortage of laborers. Used homes will continue to increase or maintain their value for 2014. Gil Staley: CEO of The Woodlands Economic Development Partenership The Woodlands has 3 Fortune 500 companies 2 Fortune 250 companies have presented proposals to locate here with median annual salaries 100K/125K; The Woodlands is on the "short list"; the moves would represent 1500 jobs and would "fill up 10 Waterway Avenue". Major (non-retail) employers in The Woodlands represent 27,400 jobs, 32% of those are energy related. 2013 Q4 Office Vacancy Rates for Houston (COSTAR) Central Business District: 10.5% Greenspoint: 10.3% Greenway Plaza: 7.6% Energy Corridor: 1.6% The Woodlands 4.4% Galleria: 10.4% Sugarland: 10.7% HAIFy Observation: The gap between skilled labor and available jobs is growing. There are thousands of jobs in Houston. All of the energy companies in The Woodlands are growing. Chevron Phillips Chemical has outgrown their building on Six Pines. REPSOL is outgrowing the new space just completed for them and are expanding into another unbuilt building at Research Forest Lakeside. Talisman's Woodlands' office is responsible for finding talent for their Eagle Ford shale project(s). Anyone with a mind for Math/Science fresh out of college or about to graduate should be contacting energy companies in Houston. Chevron Phillips Chemical is investing over $6 billion in plants at Cedar Bayou and near Lake Jackson; many jobs will earn 60-85K with certain two-year certifications from a junior college.
  11. more howard hughes "watered down design"; they have no interest in anything appealing....just cashing in on high demand. the buildings they've thrown up (pun intended) at hughes landing are ugly. the hotel is no longer curved like the shape of the waterway and it creates a barrier between the waterway and its lower levels.....disgusting waste of what was a grand idea....utter stupidity. the folks in control of finishing out the woodlands have no desire to build on the last forty years of planning, only to cash in. blech!!!! the boats passing by will not see people dining or sitting at a cafe, they will see a wall or windows.
  12. ....yeah....not sure you'll find much about the history of grocery stores in the woodlands. what does the "post-built" woodlands mean? are you interested in the progress of development from inception to now? the most interesting thing to me about the woodlands is the planning that came before the development. the months spent walking thousands of acres to determine flood plains and the mitchell's and environmentalists planning how natural run-off to area creeks was central to determining how/where each village was placed. it was very detailed and no clear cutting (originally....now days they almost have to, to meet epa requirements/yes, the environmental protection agency makes it necessary to remove thousands of trees and makes it uneconomical to preserve existing vegetation) interfaith was a key factor in providing a sense of community. interfaith was the welcome wagon for all new residents and became a major community outreach for everything from food pantries, senior services, counseling....interfaith brought/brings people of all faiths together to support common humanitarian/community ideals. in grogan's mill, the wharf/convention center, was a lone island of development for a long time, then panther creek, cochran's crossing/indian springs, research forest, the mall/pavilion, harper's landing, alden bridge, sterling ridge, town center, the waterway, eastshore, creekside......if you look at the interactive map on the woodlands website and look at my list (maybe not exactly in order but close) you can see the development pattern. the location of retail initially was intended to be completely hidden but this made it difficult for retail to survive and prevented certain franchises from having interest in the village retail centers. inevitably, retail has creeped front and center over the years. one genius idea of the master plan was to leave the freeway frontage area undeveloped until the population of the area could support large scale retail. most developers would have cashed in on the easy frontage right away, mitchell and his crew knew that it would benefit the region and the woodlands proper to have space for large corporations, retail and hospitality closer to build out. the woodlands is more than the built environment. when someone asks about the history of the woodlands, it's easy for locals to think you might mean the actual history of the woodlands.
  13. http://www.amazon.com/The-Woodlands-Inside-Creating-Hometown/dp/0874209315 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodlands,_Texas http://www.thewoodlandstx.com/history/timeline.php
  14. http://impactnews.com/houston-metro/the-woodlands/woodlands-playing-a-role-in-high-speed-rail/ this is an article from last march. i'm sure the woodlands is campaigning heavily for stop in the area.
  15. Interesting to see the increase in mid-rise/high-rise development on the east side of W. Loop 610 in the Galleria area. The Galleria's skyline grows eastward.
  16. actually, i stated that the tower is a done deal and that the rumors about the property to north, if true, are regarding a chevron company separate from the tower. in addition, the rumors i heard were that more than one well known energy companies bid on the camp strake property. i will state it again to help keep the thread on the subject of the tower: the tower is a done deal. if anyone wants to discuss the camp strake property, there is a thread on that separate subject. i do feel a little giddy at the thought of chevron's tower ultimately being taller than 50 stories. is there evidence this could be the case?
  17. http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/28300-camp-strake-development/?p=426868 interestingly enough, there have been at least three people who do not know one another with the same or similar information. i do not intend to suggest that chevron would cancel the tower. i do believe there are other chevron companies that could be behind the rumors. at minimum, a chevron company most likely placed a bid on the camp strake property and as of yet, a large portion of the plans for the property have not yet been announced by the new owner. essentially, everyone may be right, at least a little bit. i'm positive the tower is a done deal. also, based on my source (who sounds a lot like ferz source), an energy company could be in the works for the development at camp strake in conjunction with the new owners.
  18. ......a "multi-family residential" conference in las vegas. go to the link http://www.humphreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MFEC_FutureDesigns_FINAL.pdf
  19. as this rendering is from a presentation for a multi-family development conference in las vegas, what evidence to we have that it represents an actual project with legs? has it been announced elsewhere?
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