Erik Asuncion

Was this designed before 2019?! There has to be a better use of the land than a parking lot and garage. In addition to the parking garage being built as part of the East Blocks development, there are parking lots galore within 3 blocks of the development at Polk St and Texas Ave., and a 6 block walk just across the freeway in proximity to the convention center. Also, METRO Routes 40 and 41 travel down Polk St and METRORail Green and Purple Lines at Texas Ave. If building goes as planned, I imagine EaDo Center, East Blocks, and the Astro's Entertainment District will be completed around the same time. If walking 3-6 blocks is a challenge for Houstonians, the different development groups should collaborate with METRO to designate a loop that shuttles visitors between EaDo, East Blocks, the Astros entertainment district, and the Convention Center. This would also be helpful to reduce congestion once the work on the NHHIP begins (I am praying it won't). The economic impact to the area by these three developments should be enough reason to justify the cost for the shuttle. Designate this as a new business district and call it "EaConDo."

I was out for a walk along St. Emmanuel on Sunday and decided to walk into Lustre Pearl when I noticed people peeking from the rooftop. Based on a discussion with the bartender, Lustre Pearl is open. They are pretty much working with a blank slate, so I am interested to see how they will fit into the East Downtown neighborhood and the Houston bar scene in general. They are currently doing drink service only. They plan to serve food in the near future once they have developed their menu. They have a vision to bring in a mix of events and entertainment: trivia, DJ's, live music, drag brunch, etc. I unfortunately did not take any photos. The space is huge! Where the Austin locations are more vintage rustic, the East Downtown location is industrial rustic. The interior on the first level was wonderfully done. Plenty of bar, lounge, and high top seating on the first level. Plenty of standing room on both levels. The rooftop is beautifully done. It has a great view of the Downtown skyline. From what I can tell, there was not a lot of noise bleeding from the surrounding bars with outdoor spaces, such as Truck Yard and Sunset, and vice versa. Looking forward to making this a regular stop in the neighborhood.

I noticed that there seems to be plenty of street-level and garage parking for cars. I do not seem to see parking for bikes. Maybe I missed something in the photos or when riding through the property. Seems odd to be located right off a bike path and not have racks for bike parking. Hoping the developer is working with METRO to reduce headways on route 30, which would connect East River with Downtown and the Heights for those who choose not to drive. Other neighborhoods would need to transfer via light rail or other routes. Current headway on route 30 is 50 minutes, which doesn't seem optimal when making plans. The guidebooks shows a proposed streetcar into East Downtown, which would essentially connect East River with the recently announced East Blocks development. I hope that becomes a reality as well.

The Ventra System is great. I was in Chicago a month ago and noticed that the fare machines now accept tap-to pay using a credit card with contactless payment or digital wallet on a smartphone. A rider can still choose to use a digital Ventra card from the smartphone app and continue to reload or purchase a pass. The downside I saw to using contactless payment or digital wallet on Chicago's fare card readers was that a $5 hold was place on my credit card every time I tapped the card reader: when I boarded the bus and when I passed through the turnstile at the "L" train station. The maximum fare a rider will pay in a day is capped at $5, the price for a 24 hour pass. The holds were reversed within 48 hours and the correct $2.50 fare was charged. For anyone who boards multiple times in a day, they would see the $5 hold every time. This means a rider who boards four times a day would have a $20 hold on their card. This may not be a problem for a person who has a high credit card limit or who can afford to have funds on hold in their checking account. It could be a problem for those who can't afford to have funds on hold. For them, a physical or digital reloadable fare card would be the better option. I noticed the new machines started to be installed about two months ago and have been left inactive. I saw that the Q Fare Card reader were tethered to it. In the brochure shared by the OP, it appears the ONE Card will replace the Q Fare Card. I speculate that there will be a transition period where those who hold a Q Fare Card will still be able to use them with the old card reader, but will need to purchase a new ONE Card before a specified deadline.

This will be a game changer for East Downtown for sure. Many of the residents have been staring at those unused warehouses with the promise of development for far too long, myself included. I am curious if the other phases of the project will include residential of some sort. Both Alliance Residential and Urban Genesis are building multi-family within walking distance of East Blocks. There appear to be a few townhouse developments under construction. I am hoping the businesses will be the types that all East Downtown residents will be able to take advantage of. With the Polk St. bike lane, Columbia Tap Trail, METRO routes 40 and 41, and METRORail Purple and Green Lines, I am hoping this becomes more of a walkable community, and one that neighbors from Downtown and Midtown will want to visit by using the transportation options available other than a car.

If parking is a concern for patrons, there are other transportation options. Houston METRO route 56 has stops at the intersection of Dallas St. and Montrose Blvd, a 2-3 minute walk. Routes 40 and 41 have bus stops one block away, less than a minute walk. Uber, Lyft, taxi services are other options. Hopefully bike parking will be installed in the future.

I understand that changes to the ordinance have not been adopted yet. Developers should not be forced by the City to create a pedestrian-safe and less car-centric subdivision. There are many existing features within Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances that the developer could have implemented if their priority was anything other than squeezing as many units in a block as possible. Looking at the plat, orienting the homes along Ennis and Palmer such that the garages face away from the street at shared driveways between Dallas and Lamar would have either reduced the footprint of the house or eliminated an entire row. Many, if not most, of the townhouse subdivisions in East Downtown have shared driveways, mine included. Inclusion of shared driveways in this new subdivision would have made it fit-in and be a safer block for pedestrians.

Assuming each lot along Palmer and Ennis have their own driveway, on this square block I count 18 opportunities for vehicles to collide with passing pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles. Kind of a miss opportunity and disappointment.

I live a block from this property. The proximity to METRORail Purple Line, Metro Bus routes 40, 41, and 29, the Columbia Tap Trail, and inclusion in the market-based parking area make the property a great spot for mixed-use development. It would be a great addition to the neighborhood. I would hope not to see a large parking lot pop up in the properties next to it, unless it were to serve some bigger plan to also develop the warehouses within a few blocks.

Agreed! When I saw the trenches being dug for the conduit, my immediate thought was, "Not another parking lot." Also, with the number of bars located along St. Emmanuel within 5 blocks of this lot, driving should not be encouraged.

One of the proposed routes was just that: turn right on St. Emmanuel, turn left to cross over 59 at a crossing at Lamar, left onto a feeder road that runs along the convention center, and then right onto Polk. It would add a few minutes onto the route. I don't own a car. I walk to Kroger when I need missing items for a meal. For my regular shopping, I take the 40 to HEB on Waugh/Washington.

I agree with everything you stated. While there are no parking lots or garages in proximity to the property, there are several options closer to the Minute Maid Park, Shell Energy Stadium, Toyota Center, East Village, Downtown, etc. The light rail Leeland/Third Ward stop is less than a 5 minute walk. It probably isn't ideal for a lot of people in the summer months to walk. It would be a good idea for the owner to coordinate shuttle services between parking lots and the property for events. Also, I never understand why street parking becomes such a contentious topic when it comes to businesses and residences coexisting. Most of the residences surrounding this property are townhouses with at least a two-car garage. Unless every resident has more that two vehicles or uses the entire garage for storage, there should be plenty of street parking for visitors to the neighborhood.

No major line down Leeland or Emancipation, but the 40/41 routes have stops a few blocks away along Polk St. at St. Emmanuel, St. Charles, and Delano. Most of the riders I see getting on the bus in East Downtown are heading into Downtown and Montrose or returning to East Downtown from Downtown and Montrose. Even though the bus occupancy ranges between 60%-90% capacity at these times, I rarely see anyone get on/off the bus in East Downtown, or East End. Many seem to be getting on/off at the Eastwood Transit Center or beyond. There just are not a lot of destinations within East Downtown that would attract people to use METRO Bus or Rail. For those business that do exist, the clientele will drive themselves or Uber before they will get on a bus. I think if developments like Broadstone and Co-op EaDo (Urban Genesis) built ground floor retail into their complexes, it could attract businesses to East Downtown and hopefully increase ridership on METRO Bus and Rail from Downtown, Midtown, and Montrose. And let's be honest, there isn't a lot of traffic in East Downtown along Emancipation, Polk, and Leeland to begin with. The Broadstone isn't going to affect it too much. Look at E. Ceasar Chaves St. and E. 6th St. in Austin. Several complexes and dozens of businesses have opened along those two street and most hours of the day there is little traffic. We'll be fine. I live in East Downtown and work in Montrose. I take the 40/41 when I need to go into the office. I find that during the hours of 6:30 am to 8:30 am and 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm weekdays, the frequency ranges 10-15 minutes. There have been a few times where a bus doesn't come for 20-30 minutes. Outside of those peak hours, you'll be lucky to catch a bus less with less than 25 minute frequency. Fortunately I live across the street from a stop and use the less than accurate METRO Trip app. I would welcome METRO to change the frequency to every 10 minutes during peak and 20 minutes off-peak. I think it would encourage people to use the bus to get to East Downtown Destinations.

This seems like a great addition to the neighborhood to bring in more residents. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't include at least some bottom floor retail space. It would be a shame not to take advantage of the proximity to the Columbia Tap Trail and METRO Bus and Rail stops a few blocks away.

Yes, the reality of this project displacing thousands of low-income and minority residents and multiple small businesses is a BS reason to halt a project. Everyone who agrees with moving the project forward is not adversely affected by it.