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kjb434

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Everything posted by kjb434

  1. kjb434
    They often do. Many suburban developers are turning the detention basins into functional recreational spots. It's cheap parkland. If it is large enough, they'll put soccer fields and baseball fields in them. At minimum trails around them are usually created. Many are build with lakes at the bottom. The detention basins along I-10 will most likely be fenced in at some level thanks to lawyers. Just like detention basin that are build on school sites. For the innerloopers. Just drive E TC Jester heading north from 11th street or south from 18th street and you'll see a baseball field in a detention basin. If you ever jog along Buffalo Bayou (shepherd to downtown, or Terry Hershey park past the beltway) much of those areas are not in any natural configuration. Much of those areas have been re-sloped to create storage for storm water and they are now dual use. Brays Bayou is getting the same treatment. Just check out Art Story Park. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has been implementing much of this with cooperation with the city and county. Sims Bayou has a massive park just finished with this concept also. What's weird is that much of this land doesn't always get classified at parks even though they are. This is why park land numbers are always skewed like we don't have much.
  2. kjb434
    Accidents don't happen on the parkway because it's dangerous, it happens because idiots are speeding. The turn lane at Dunlavy should be closed down there it removes the danger.
  3. kjb434
    I don't know what their timeline is on that, but they did quite a lot in the last year and half.
  4. kjb434
    Much better than it was when it was Bricks. They are making money and trying to improve it bit by bit. Their masterplan will eventually add a second floor and balcony along the side street.
  5. kjb434
    McCord is one of our land development clients. If it makes any of you feel better, he has an abandoned sanitary sewer in his backyard that is causing it to become a smelly swamp!
  6. kjb434
    I use the bars to hang around with a bunch of people. Particularly George's because I still catch a game, socialize, and have a drink.
  7. kjb434
    Turnberry has very good record on their projects. This project looks like it'll go through. The sales center is worth nothing compared to final structure. The sales center is also more inviting than a trailer parked on the site.
  8. kjb434
    I've been fighting it out at the Swamplot blog. This high-rise needs to move forward. If it doesn't, will be a massive loss for property rights!
  9. kjb434
    The relationship has to do a lot with the outfall. Retention ponds generally have to use some sort of pump mechanism to draw its water down. The pump station located near this interchange is to pump water from the low lying intersection into the detention facilities. The outfall is a simple pipe outfall sized for the allowable outflow rate. You can look for the mass planting of trees to begin with the interchange is substantially complete. If these basins are anything like the ones at the I-610/Katy interchange, you'll end up seeing loads of birds nesting and using the facility. How about that, a massive freeway expansion being good for area wildlife!
  10. kjb434
    I don't think it's that speculative. Houston wasn't a hot speculative market to begin with even in the high-rise market. If Houston was more speculative oriented, I think we would have saw more of the explosion of high-rise get built. Houston is luckily to be in a much more balanced real estate market.
  11. kjb434
    No prob. I have to give that explanation (and usually break it down to even simpler terms) all the time at public meetings and at civic club gatherings. You can sound a little fancier and use: Storm Water Mitigation Basins. It'll cover both types and even underground detention/retention concepts.
  12. kjb434
    No, they are technically detention basins. Not retention. Retention basins are a different design than these. I design both of these regularly for private and public projects including highways. Quick definitions: Detention basins limit storm water runoff to the pre-developed or existing conditions. Retention basins limit storm water runoff to zero until the point of discharge recovers to the existing condition. Essentially the storm water would be released after the flood or when the receiving goes back to normal flows.
  13. kjb434
    I didn't mean it at "those people." Although I could have. I'm gay anyway. I just meant I don't like working out at a gym with crowds. Give me a TV and my own equipment (which i have). It saves a lot time and in the end money.
  14. kjb434
    Metro is still trying to use some of this site as a storage yard for it's commuter rail line and as a connection between the Northwest and the Galleria for LRT. Also, The parking along the I-610 feeder road up to Macy's will be completely torn out to make way for the proposed freeway expansion. Check the schematics at the 290 website. My guess is Levcor will do whatever it can to raise the values so when METRO and TxDOT use eminent domain they can get the highest price.
  15. kjb434
    Many of the high-rise units in the city are being sold to out of towners and foreign nationals. Being the energy capital of the world kind of helps that. Also, serving as a financial hub for much of South America is another plus.
  16. kjb434
    The overall Katy Freeway/West Loop project will plant 75,000 trees. If you want to know what the detention facilities by the Beltway/Katy interchange will look like, just drive the West Loop/Katy one. Under all the ramps are the detention facilities. It isn't as large because the increase in impervious area was as much. You probably won't even notice the facilities by the Beltway because of the plantings. It will essentially become a forest.
  17. kjb434
    Just check out the discussion in this forum for the Kroger details. It is to start in September 2008. The will expand towards Durham making the store deeper (longer rows). It will be the largest Kroger in the southwest based on square footage. Essentially we'll get a Kroger similar to the one on Buffalo Speedway.
  18. kjb434
    IAH is under a master plan currently. If you check their website under the master plan, a PDF file will open with how the airport will change. Essentially, 90% of what you see now won't be there in the future. It will be complete overhaul.
  19. kjb434
    The lack of zoning is what makes this city absolutely wonderful. Screw boring urban planning........ Kirby (from Westheimer to University) will become another dense urban center in Houston.
  20. kjb434
    Exxon purposely does not want the heads of the company to be located where their largest division is located. This would show favoritism to the Houston Division. Boeing has done the same thing when they moved their corporate headquarters to Chicago. They still have more employees in the Seattle area for their passenger plane division.
  21. kjb434
    Chevron is also not only considering moving its west houston office to DT. It also moving many satelite offices in other cities and states. All Chevron offic employees from Louisiana will be moving to the new building. I've heard of this over two years ago. My cousin in Lafayette Louisiana got word two years ago of this move. She is starting to look at houses to move here family here when the office space is completed.
  22. kjb434
    The Elysian Viaduct will be torn down and rebuilt as part of the Hardy Toll Road Extension. The right of way is being secured currently. HCTRA will move forward when they feel the need to. The slow down in moving forward came when TxDOT started the process of planning the reconstruction of I-45 North from I-10 to the Beltway.
  23. kjb434
    I wish people would understand that many people who purchase highrise condo units don't necessarily live in them. Many of them are purchased as investment property (not to resale, but to rent). This is why you can sell apartment to condo conversion units. The units still remain apartments, it just an outside invester bought the unit. The building is still managed by a separate company that can handle processing the monthly rent and handling repairs. This is very common.
  24. kjb434
    Suposedly the apartment tower is moving along and the second tower will be later depending on sales.
  25. kjb434
    It's not much different than your new urban areas of Atlanta that you love so much. it's not that bad.
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