linearmovement

There are also a lot of coworking spaces in the area, and with the pandemic subsiding it's likely more workers will be returning and needing nearby lunch (and happy hour?) options.

The Second Shop vintage clothing retailer now open. Instagram: @thesecondshop

I always avoid that stretch of the trail and opt to take Runnels to Navigation instead. Crossing 59/I-10 feeder can be annoying and I'm not a fan of that narrow stretch of Runnels between 59 and Navigation because of the busted up road and train tracks, but otherwise Navigation is nice and smooth and open.

Wow, you're right. Hard to believe there are no stations between the west Navigation esplanade and Eastwood Park. They have a station suggestion tool on the website; I just added Harrisburg at Sampson.

This location really is great for both travelers and the surrounding businesses alike. Within a 12-min walk: all the places listed above, VooDoo Queen, White Rhino, East End Backyard, D&W Lounge, La Esquina, Champ Burger, Moon Tower, with so much more a quick rail ride or B-cycle away.

Tried again and with some quick ctrl-A and ctrl-C I got the full article text: By Shafaq Patel – ACBJ minority business reporter, Houston Business Journal 2 hours ago Wanderstay will open a new boutique hotel in the East Downtown area after the success of the company’s first shared-room hostel. Technically located in the East End District, Wanderstay EaDo at 520 Sampson St. will have 17 private rooms in the 6,700-square-foot space — double the size of the hostel near the Museum District, said Deidre Mathis, owner of Wanderstay. The renovations are expected to be complete by November 2021, with the anticipated opening sometime between November 2021 to January 2022. Mathis said she’s excited to open her second hospitality space and still make it affordable. The rooms will be under $100 a night. After traveling to over 40 countries on all seven continents and writing a book about it, she believes that travel should not be only for the rich. “You should be able to stay in a nice, fun, quirky, safe, clean, cozy place at an affordable price,” said Mathis, who is also part of the Houston Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Class of 2020. The hotel will be a more mature space for the young business and conference traveler, different from the company's first youthful hostel, but it will still be colorful and community-oriented, Mathis said. Wanderstay chose the Sampson Street location because it’s close to the Metro and the potential for nearby activities once events start happening again, Mathis said. She also noted that while there are large hotels and some Airbnbs in the area, she will have the first boutique hotel. She hopes to partner with local breweries and wineries and have group events on the weekend. Mathis started to look for her second location and talked to lenders in June 2020, as the pandemic was hitting its summer peak in Houston. Even though travel in general had plummeted at the time, she said she had to think about the future and how Houston normally accommodates millions of travelers a year. “Travel is one of the most resilient industries. If you look at any bad or horrible thing that's ever happened to the travel industry, it’s had a short-term effect,” Mathis said. “Of course, we haven’t seen anything like the coronavirus, but studies are showing that people have been cooped up for a year and will be ready to travel once a majority of people are vaccinated.” Like most of the hospitality industry, Wanderstay's hostel, which has been open for almost three years now, was affected by the pandemic. The occupancy rate dropped to an average of 52% from the hostel’s normal occupancy of 60% to 70%. But there was still enough business for Mathis to want to grow her company.

I don't subscribe to HBJ, but I did google "houston business journal wanderstay" in a private browser window and scanned the text as quickly as I could before the paywall popped up and managed to see the address - 520 Sampson (corner of Sampson at Texas, one block south of Harrisburg); this is INCREDIBLE news for the neighborhood.

There's a new sign in front of the property at Dallas and Telephone advertising "The Sanctuary" opening Spring 2021 and some sample photos on the website: https://www.thesanctuary-lofts.com/

3810 Walker is a cool old house I always hoped would be restored to its former glory; the adjacent lot and the one across the street are both empty and usually overgrown, so the prospect of any kind of construction on those is exciting.

From the post above yours it looks like Oso's @hectorgarciahtx is also rockin' the "HTX".

One of the new places is @thesecondshop

Brand new sidewalks and some driveways have been poured on the entire perimeter and it's looking great.

That's incredible news. Boxpark is awesome and if this turns into something remotely similar it'll be a great draw for the neighborhood.

Do you know if they're meant to be office/co-working spaces or small-scale retail popups (akin to Boxpark in London) or something else entirely?

"Preliminary information reveals a development program for the Kim Hung Rising that includes a mix of studio condo units, a 170 room Hotel, and an assortment of ground floor and second floor retail uses anchored by a grocery store." A grocery store!

I'm really excited about this - it looks a lot like the Heights Mercantile development on 7th St. between Yale and Heights and I hope it brings in similar businesses (especially Local Foods). Either way, it will be very nice to have this easily accessible by bike or foot from Eastwood and parts of Second Ward to serve as an activity hub for the neighborhood and nudge some more development in the available empty warehouses further west along McKinney. With The Plant right up the street at Harrisburg and East End Backyard just down the street at Lamar, Sampson is also becoming quite the corridor.

Don't forget the waistline :).

More great news for this development: https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/08-17-20-roostar-vietnamese-grill-restaurant-new-location-second-ward-east-end-navigation-place-linda-ronnie-nguyen/

I ride a lot and completely disagree with this - maybe it'll be different when the bike lanes are redone, but currently on Polk there's always a ton of debris in the bike lanes (especially under the railroad bridge near Milby), plenty of vehicle traffic, and the miserably long light at Scott. The Hike and Bike trail requires slowing at every street crossing (same with Columbia Tap). As long as you don't get stuck at the train near Milby, McKinney is by far the best cycle connector between Dumble and downtown - it's a straight shot with relatively low traffic, few stop lights, a second lane in each direction, and an easy jog over to Polk to cross 59. I'll always opt for McKinney or Leeland over Polk or the Harrisburg trail.

Not to mention the poor visibility of eastbound traffic around the corner on McKinney when stopped at the northbound stop sign on Cullen.

It looks like they filed for bankruptcy back in April

Soft opening July 4, according to Instagram.

Agreed - something cool and unique would be ideal. If it had to be a chain, I'd want Local Foods.

Taqueria Los Mexicanos is fantastic and highly recommended! Sigma and LDSGFaKL don't serve their own food, but Speedo's frequently has pretty good food trucks and pop-ups (Street to Kitchen Thai, Pan de Taco, etc).

La Esquina Taco Truck with patio seating and bathroom (!) Hunt @ Harrisburg Breakfast tacos, barbacoa, horchata Usually a cooler of free beer on weekends Cajun Stop Jefferson @ Hutchins Shrimp Po' boy with cocktail sauce Not BYOB La Reynera Bakery/Tacos McKinney, near Cullen Killer tortas, bolillos, conchas, etc Not sure about BYOB; more of a takeout spot Cafe TH Vietnamese Pease at St. Emanuel Hu Tieu Do Bien (seafood noodle soup), but really anything is good BYOB!