gwilson

Just NOW got the Cert? I could have sworn the building has had residents for over a year.

I'll tell you what Fajita Flats is good for.... Those long margarita lunches where you just never quite make it back to work. Did that for two years... but it was ok I was with my boss.

That place does get crazy. Watch out for womens birthdays... the waiters do some funky stuff. I think I blushed. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

haha, yes, and bachelorette parties are even more fun to witness. Ive been eating the steak there lately. 13.95 for 18oz Ribeye that is better than Saltgrass or Outback (a tad shy of Pappas bros or Ruths Chris).

No mention of Fajita Flats?

Good food, great atmosphere, awesome margarittas, and oh yeah, the food is good.

It is a across the board winner. The food is better at pappasitos, but flats is more fun.

Im at flats several times a week.

With all of this discussion about inner Southwest Houston, and particularly Sharpstown Center mall, I find it surprising that nobody has mentioned the actual Sharpstown neighborhood.  I just happen to live in Sharpstown, Section One, the original subdivision from 1955 and the very first component of the overall Sharpstown master plan to be constructed.  This neighborhood served as a model for most of the future growth of the Houston area.

Few today may realize this, but Sharpstown was the first master planned community in Houston, if not the nation.  The amount of media attention the development received when ground first broke is almost astounding.  National media and dignitaries from Washington all converged on the pasture that would become Sharpstown.  Dedication ceremonies were covered in newspapers across the country, including several write-ups in the New York Times.  Houston's fledgling TV stations all devoted their day's programming to the opening of the development.  Developers had built large-scale suburban subdivisions before, most famously at the many Levittowns in the northeast, but nobody had ever attempted a master-planned community like Sharpstown, which included schools, churches, shopping, parks, country clubs, etc.

This neighborhood is obviously much richer in history than anyone wants to admit.  Beyond being the first (or one of the first, at least) master plan community, there are other details that add to its history.  The land was originally owned by a famous wildcatter (whose name fails me) whom the movie "Giant" was based upon.  Construction of the infrastructure was overseen by the firm that would eventually become Kellogg, Brown and Root, which has been in the news regarding Iraq recently.  The original Mercury 7 astronauts were offered homes in Sharpstown, which led to a scandal.  Speaking of scandals, one of the most famous scandals in Texas government was centered around Sharpstown State Bank.

The list of significant events in the history of Sharpstown goes on and on.  Ironically, Houston has largely turned its back on this incredible neighborhood.  Staring down one of its streets takes you right back to the 1950s.  The style, uniqueness and character of the homes is something you never see in production housing today.  Beyond that, the construction standards by which these homes were built is also hard to come by today: wood floors throughout, fully tiled bathrooms and kitchens, solid framing.  They're great houses, and I should know.

It's too bad that the developers allowed this neighborhood to cannibalize itself by building enormous apartment complexes on the periphery that quickly became slums.  The fact remains, though, that this is a wonderful, cute, unique neighborhood that I could go on and on for hours about, but this post has to end sometime, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We should talk.

it has taken them FOREVER to get to this point.

Montebello is bigger and went up faster. I believe the rental mid-rise on Post Oak by Uptown Park also went up faster than this building.

Perhaps my time frame is skewed, but I remember it being that same way for almost a year and a half.

I could have sword that said collared green park. *falls over*. It would be the park with SOUUUUUUUL.

What's surreal was making 3 calls a day for anthrax scares for about 2 weeks until everyone got the fear out of their system.

That, and flipping channels at the firestation, only to land on CNN and watch the second plane hit for the first time - LIVE - and knowing it was Bin Laden before the news even realized that it was a second plane that had just hit...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had barely moved back to Houston from NJ when that happened. I saw the 2nd plane hit live as well and almost fell over. Not as if the general shock and gravity of the moment wasn't enough, but the fact that I knew people that worked there, that used the PATH and Subway stations there, I used to date a girl who worked for Larry Silverstein as an Exec.Assistant. In addition I was a member of the volunteer EMS corp in Hoboken, about 1.2 miles away from the WTC and I knew several FDNY, NYPD and even more Port Authority staff. It was a tough thing for me. I haven't been back to NYC since that happened, but I can't imagine the view when coming out of the tunnel heading toward the Holland tunnel and not seeing the WTC there.

Sea-Arama was the aquarium in Galveston right?

My figment of my imagination memory was a theme park I thought in sugarland.

Hana-Barbera Land. I dont know if it actually exsisted or not, but oh well.

I don't think a Marq`e center would work simply because there isnt the availbe land there. The area at I-10 and 610 is close enough to down town to service the area.

An Edwards cinema would work though. A format like their Weslayan location would work quite well.

Perhaps Jillians could purchase some space (first 2-3 floors) of a new construction building there. I hear the Enron buildings have some space as well. I just don't think that right now, downtown could sustain it.

Peppermint Park, that was the indoor amusement park @ 59 and the Beltway right (before the beltway was there).

Man I went there a few times as a kid. Then it turned into an auto shop. It is still there, but not what it used to be.

Without land, it will cost @ $175/ft...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is about what we are building at now, but it isnt compounded by how many floors.

So is that to say that a decently sized mid-rise would cost, land excluded:

15 floors

14,000 square feet (4 units @ 3500 sqft or some other breakdown)

$36,750,000?

At a $350 sq/ft retail average (is that far off),

that would make (less land and construction and marketing)

73,500,000?

Now, knowing that land and marketing and construction would need to be removed from that, , it still seems like a sound investment.

Any architects here familiar with this type of project?

does anyone have any idea how much it costs to build a project like these when all is said and done? We are wanting to get into the mid-rise market, but have no real knowledge of it.

I am not familiar with the build costs of a high-rise, but I would think that the per square footage price to BUILD would DROP as it is spread over so many units. Building 10k sqft for a single family would inherently be more expensive than being able to spread it over 40 units in the same foot print. But that is merely my assumption. I would love to work with high/mid-rises in the future though. Seems to be a natural progression for me.

WOw, the floorplans are great. I especially loved the Coral 2 with its 1700+ft terrace with greenery. Would be awesome if that were an upper floor. Rooftop landscaped terraces are so awesome. It is the ONLY way I would live in a high rise in Houston, and I have been looking for some time now.

As much as I love the Astros run this year, I have to say, Im a Mets fan too. So at least the Yankers didn't get him, I'm happy about that.

Be nice for Mike Piazza to not have to carry that team anymore.

No, these are off Beechnut/Braeswood off the bayou. I can see how these new homes are built to make for better flood protection though.

Here are the pic, I put them in another thread:

They're actually a lot of townhomes going up around that area, these are just the first of the Galvalume style, and the first on Harrisburg. I found out these are 3 bdr, 2 bath, 2 car garage with stainless appliances from 199,900 to 210,000.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I cannot imagine someone paying $210,000 for a friggen Public Storage locker? I can get one right on westheimer, climate controlled for $20.00 a month!

These loft builders are going insane. Their cookie cutter projects are popping up everywhere. They look horrendously out of place there.

*sigh* More money than brains or more debt than brains?

that looks like post oak lane by woodway and san felipe.

What are these other two high-rises you speak of?

Hey guys, hope this is the right forum.

I have been driving to the medical center a lot lately for my dad, and I have noticed a few rather nice houses going up on the inbound side of Braeswood before the Med Center that remind me of F.L. Write designed homes. I am probably grossly misjudging the inspiration, but from the exterior they are nice.

Anyone here involved with those?

Is this the next aesthetic trend here in Houston or is Spanish/Mediteranian going to continue to go strong?

If anyone has pictures, I would be appreciative.

It isn't financially viable to demolish Sharpstown mall for a few reasons. It just isn't cost effective. The structure is sound, and with some revamping (not just remodeling) it could be a GREAT shopping center. It gets tons of foot traffic, although most of it is now of an urban nature. It is safe and it makes money.

It needs some work (a lot actually), but it is a very viable market place and with the right owner and specifically management, it would be a GREAT mall.