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kjb434

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Everything posted by kjb434

  1. kjb434
    I would be surprised that they may try to move forward with construction cost going down so much. The city of Houston is noticing a lot of a contractors coming in with really low bids for jobs with concrete being the major component to cost reductions. Concrete for paving going to for $32/SY versus $46/SY. It dropped a million dollars from the construction estimate. Steel and wood prices are dropping also. Looking at this project, it'll be mostly wood with a concrete/steel structure for the first one or two floors. The other extreme it could be like West Ave and be all steel.
  2. kjb434
    Yippee! Craptastic overpriced food. For kids it's great. Outside of that I have a lot of better choices.
  3. kjb434
    As I mentioned on other blogs, if you don't want the theatre torn down in the future, just buy it. It has a price. Weingarten would be glad to sell it if you want to pay for it. When did this theatre become historic? If it was torn down 40 years ago would the same furor exist? Will new structures built now be fought for a 100-years from now? All you are preserving is a building. Not memories. Those are in your head. As for the variance request: Weintgarten will get it because the neighborhood has not legs to stand on in this fight. A wine bar does not generate much noise. Not as much as Shepherd does already. And since Shepherd is pretty much at capacity or exceeding it during rush hour, the noise really can't get worse.
  4. kjb434
    METRO can't service areas south of the BW 8 on SH 288. It is out of the service area. The city of Pearland and a portion of Brazoria County would have to have an election and accept a higher property taxes to become part of the service area. Northeast areas of Fort Bend County have turned down METRO expansion measures before. Commuter rail is also a waste of money for the amount of people that are available to use it. On top of that, most will not want to use it. Commuter rail is not a simple installation either. It has to work around the freight rail carriers schedule which is increasingly getting busier. The rail companies will force METRO to build all needed improvements to allow the freight operations complete freedom while still allow commuter rail. In the end, the rail companies don't have to do a damn thing. It's their tracks. All of these issues factor into why commuter rail is such a crappy option. Not just ridership. A toll facility is cheaper, more flexible, and giver users more freedom.
  5. kjb434
    OOPS, yes Herman Park. The trees on main street were planted in the late 20s. That's 90s. But it only take about 20 for good growth to occur. And how are the new Kirby trees to be planted any different than all the new trees in downtown after much of the street reconstruction?
  6. kjb434
    Just check the HCTRA website. They give a rundown. The project will use the large median for SH 288 to place toll lanes similar to I-10. The tollway will have entrances and exits just like the Katy Toll road. It will terminate just before US 59 with flyovers going into midtown and exits onto the final portion of SH 288. It will not go all the way to I-45. The purpose it to move people and not cars. This leads to moving commuters. The primary destinations for the toll road will be Beltway 8, Loop 610, Medical Center, then Midtown which will allow traffic to move into downtown. The Katy Toll road does the same thing with exits at specific points.
  7. kjb434
    When Kirby is done and all the new trees are re-planted on the outside and the new median, Kirby Dr. in this stretch will be quite beautiful. Remember, Main St along the side of Memorial park at one time only had saplings. Now it has majestic oaks. Kirby too will have an awesome treescape.
  8. kjb434
    I did some of the hydraulic work on this bridge. As currently planned, it will never get built. It impedes too much flood waters for the bayou. The only way I could justify the bridge working was to cut down all those trees you see in the picture to allow the water to flow better. I suggested some kind of cable stayed or suspension concept for the bridge that would eliminate a lot of the piles. Alas, I'm not an architect but only a hydraulic an hydrologic engineer.
  9. kjb434
    As much as we talk about a down economy, businesses in Houston are still doing well. Restaurants, stores, bars, nightclubs, and malls are all still quite busy this year. Also, like some others mentioned: The Denver Pavilion is a small part of the overall downtown experience. HP is part of downtown. A lot more will gradually happen. I don't have a problem that the residential component didn't get built. Right now downtown is awash in residential units for sale and lease. The One Park Place is just adding a whole lot more on that. I think Finger's project is what hinted at HP to kill the residential component.
  10. kjb434
    Current building that is approaching completion will house the tenants in the nearby shopping center. As the tenants move over, the older section can be demolished. It doesn't mean the next phases will start right away though.
  11. kjb434
    stilettoninja, That could mean something. If the design was finished, the worker could have been laid off because of lack of future work. At the engineering firm I work at, a couple of large project were wrapped up early so workers could get laid off. The rest of the work force would handle the smaller projects lingering. So, I hope the design team finished. I need to go digging on the City of Houston permits website to see if I can see any activity for this project.
  12. kjb434
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard the site went under archeological study (doesn't mean digging for bones) a while back. Only after the exhausting research and approval from the state could the move forward. The existing land under the project had various activities happen on it dating back to earliest days of Houston. Allen House was built at a time when this type of study wasn't performed.
  13. kjb434
    It's based off the market. If the majority of Houstonians weren't christian, you may see the display set up differently. I'm sure bookstores in predominately Jewish neighborhoods cater to their market.
  14. kjb434
    The Astrodome should definitely come down and a massive parking garage be build in it it's place.
  15. kjb434
    I'm guessing some of you may have looked at the swamplot blog. The tall building is not any part of Regent Square. I'm guessing the architect is also working on a tower design in the area and has it in the same rendering. The two condo towers for Regent Square are much shorter.
  16. kjb434
    The put the tree on West Ave and they put it on the first phase of Blvd place that is finished in elevation.
  17. kjb434
    Leases can be broken especially if the building they are in gets sold to another group. The Lease would actually be bought out for a price.
  18. kjb434
    Based on that, it'll probably be just a restaurant.
  19. kjb434
    Do you know of a Shruber? I know some knights over in Kni who wants some shrubbery. They also want a nice little white picket fence! Those bastards!
  20. kjb434
    They have been toying around with lots of ideas to replace the surface parking. Obviously and surface parking removed will have to be replaced with garages. The skywalk that is built will eventually connect to the Mall in some way. Currently it will just access the surface parking. There were plans at one time for an Aquarium in that corning of the mall by I-10 and Gessner. The developer is trying make the area a cohesive urban development. Of course having the Hospital attached to the mall helps when you get stabbed by some of the crowd I've seen there.
  21. kjb434
    I live nearby at TC Jester and I-10, but I always drive to the Edwards at Wesleyan and Richmond because I can't stand the teenagers at the MarqE. I never really feel safe near the theater. I have been to the Dave & Busters when it was Jillians, but only because and organization I belong to was hosting an event there. The place has potential, but the demographics does not support it. So more offices located near it would support eateries in the place and add some traffic for better stores. The removal of Vans helped it a lot more than hurt. The demographic Vans brought in is not the one to support a place like this.
  22. kjb434
    Well, since we are on trees, does variety of the Cypress they are planting produce knees? If you are familiar with swamps in southern US and from my home state of Louisiana, Cypress trees should never e planted near a foundation because they will crack them. This species I'm talking about is particular the Bald Cypress. Cool fact: Cypress Tree wood never rots!
  23. kjb434
    Not really, it is done quite often. I wouldn't put critical baseball fields needed for league play in this situation, but for neighborhood, being sunken isn't a problem.
  24. kjb434
    The Great Hizzy, The baseball field along TC jester just outside the loop on TC Jester park isn't an example of this. It's built at natural ground. If the field was sunken several feet below natural ground, then it would be a good example. Actually, that would be a great idea to suggest to community groups and to the Parks Board. HCFCD might as well be on board.
  25. kjb434
    I'm not a structural engineer, but i do have some background in geotechnical engineering (subset of Civil Engineering). The deep excavations and large basements are build to offset the immense weight of a building. The science behind this is that the lower level of earthen material has existed for a much longer time with either weight of just the existing soil above or other buildings. Engineers will design a large basement to remove as much existing soil, since the weight is now gone, the building's weight can replace it. This will reduce the amount of concrete needed to form a foundation and/or footings. The use of basements in large buildings is not just efficient land use, it's for engineering reasons too. Just look at how large the excavation for the World Trade Towers were in NYC.
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