Porchman

Chronicle says "will fund the construction of a state-of-the-art, 600,000 square-foot facility on five acres of M.D. Anderson's main campus."

MD Anderson needs 5 acres on their main campus.. What do you know.. Perfect timing.

I thought the same thing, however the Pru site already was slated for an outpatient center. Unless plans have changed, that would raise the question where on the "main campus" they would build such a build such a large facility.

Does this place already exist? Is this donation for a building or research? How big is 600,000 cubic-feet?

http://culturemap.co...on-150-million/

The IPCT exists. According to The Chron, it will fund both research and a 600 square foot building on the main campus.

That address is residential. (I happen to drive by that stretch of 27th on my way to Home Depot.) Presumably that's Morgan's contact address for mail order inquiries.

Work at 6th and Heights appears to be underway.

It appears you're correct. The HBJ is also reporting the W 27 location, as well. I thought maybe they'd be replacing the tax guy with meat.

HBJ is reporting that this is slated to open in January. However, it appears that there is a change in the location.

http://www.revivalmeats.com/about/contact.html

I wonder why they chose this location. Anyone from the area who is a runner/cyclist also think there was a need for a connection here?

I'm not familiar with the park space that it connects to. I know it's mainly a golf course at that point, but I'm assuming there are running/bike trails that go around the course as well?

I was a bit confused by that, too. First, note that they have apparently tunneled a trail under MacGregor at that same location to take people into Hermann Park. Then I looked at the greater scheme of the trails in the area. The trail on the west/nortth bank is not fully contiguous east of 288. Not only is the east/south bank trail contiguous all the way to MLK just south of UH, it also intersects the Columbia Tap Rail Trail coming out of 3rd Ward/Eastwood.

So, to go by trail from Eastwood or UH to Hermann Park, this bridge would be an important link because people would otherwise have to cross around 288 or near the TMC. I have not walked/run/biked any of these trails, but that's my theory.

Location...

Sources: Top developer ponders new Galleria-area tower

Hines would buy one of the unfinished parcels at BLVD Place, but so far no land has changed hands

I speculate that the property for which the hotel was slated (the west side of the new segment of South Post Oak Lane) would be in play for this.

Prairie Home Companion is live from the Wortham tonight. The show will be rebroadcast tomorrow afternoon.

They had a lot of local references (mostly inner loop) in the opening bits including a painful cover of California Girls ("Houston Girls"). Otherwise, Houston coverage has been a references to our cowboy culture. DBigTex. were you looking for a Houston stereotype?

EDIT: The mezzo-soprano, Susan Graham, was great. The rest of the show seemed phoned in.

I disagree. It's better than the twisty design they previously had.

It's going to be quite pleasant, when its done, jogging through the tree tops.

Agreed. The design is that of a park-like bridge like the number of bridges on the lower trails around it. The subtle ramps and curves are complement to the bayou. It's peaceful.

There was a fight to keep Buffalo Bayou natural. This bridge pays homage to those who fought to preserve it in its natural state.

Does this have anything to do with the Duncan Family Wing? If so, it's already being discussed in another thread.

What did she mean they didn't want to play ball? They wanted them involved somehow, did she say?

The Duncan Family Wing is at HMNS. I would venture a guess this new MFAH wing might carry the Glassell name since an enormous share of Alfred Glassel Jr's estate - about $200 million, I believe - went to the MFAH.

I don't know what the "playing ball" issue is either. The CAM is committed to be a non-collecting entity. Housing the MFAH's collection might have felt like an infringement on their mission and their independence.

An article about Architect Ronnie Self's 3rd Ward house in the NYT Magazine today. Link.

If you’re going to build your dream house in a city that revolves around cars, why not plant it right on the side of a freeway? Ronnie Self, an architect, has done just that on a plot of land in a gritty but art-filled neighborhood with unobstructed views of the downtown skyline in Houston.

Isn't this the location that was cleared in anticipation of a new very high-end hotel back around 2002? A Ritz-Carlton, or something?

Yes. Then some other things were poposed, but nothing materialized

Texaco Building leads CBD hotel surge

From Ritz to rentals: Group could turn Texaco building into apartments

Profile piece on Mayor Parker in Business Week.

http://www.businessw...98096799595.htm

When I was sworn in as mayor of Houston, the media attention worldwide was overwhelming. "Houston elected a lesbian?

Houston?

"...It has given me a fantastic opportunity to change how people think about my city.

When's construction suppose to start?

Soon. They expect to initiate the 2012-13 school year there.

regarding Kohler Street Development, also referred to as the possible Walmart project. I want to provide residents another opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about traffic, drainage, noise, crime and lighting issues. This meeting will focus solely on areas of the development that are under the city´s control.

Only city representatives will be present. [shirt color optional].

900 square foot bungalow entrance...150,000 SF camelback add-on in the back.

Much better. The greeters would be more to scale.

Swamplot posted some new renderings.

This design sucks! They need to be more sensitive to the Heights. They should emulate the McTorians that exist throughout the Heights, and, from an environmentally sensitive standpoint, they need to make a smaller footprint.

WalMart should develop a two-story, antebellum-styled, double-porch edifice: A 150,000 square foot Tara. It could be complemented with magnolia-styled parking lot lights and grassy-looking asphalt. Better yet, a Sanders-driven KFC could take one of the pad sites, and put up a giant inflatable of the Colonel to wander the front of the grounds to say, "Howdy".

They also need to rename this Walmart. Call it "Rollback Manor".

Clearly, this development does not gratify the gentrification of the Heights. How skewed are these developers?

Did Lauren lay down her life for you in some politically questionable way?

By the way...

Sam Houston Park...no downer monuments that I've seen.

Tranquility Park...no downer monuments, but if you believe the moon landing was staged I could see your offense.

Sam Houston...died of pneumonia, monuments celebrate his life.

Dick Dowling...died of yellow fever, monument celebrates one of Houston's greatest saloon keepers (at least to me).

Holocaust Museum...private musueum on private land

Ghandi...you may have a point, but the monument celebrates his life and achievement, not his death.

The servicemen, and shuttle crews...I'll give you those, though they died in service to their country.

Oh, and the garden does look nice.

Nicely put, Red. The memorials are an honor to those who have passed. They are a comfort to those who remember them. They are honered in large ways as you noted above, in burial places, and with white crosses where they met sudden death.

There was a proposal to recognize the Death of Ghandi, too. Last year, some folks were pushing to rename Hillcroft "Mahatma Gandhi Avenue".

Reminder from the GHPA:

The City of Houston Planning & Development Department is hosting the fourth in its series of public meetings to discuss proposed changes to the historic preservation ordinance tonight (Thursday, August 5) from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Glenbrook United Methodist Church, 8635 Glen Valley Drive.

Although anyone may attend, tonight’s meeting will primarily address property owners in the proposed Glenbrook Valley historic district. The complete schedule of meetings and a summary of the proposed amendments are on the Planning & Development Department website.

There is a great deal of misinformation circulating about the proposed amendments. GHPA’s website addresses these misrepresentations. Click here to view the information in pdf format, which can be e-mailed or printed to share with your neighbors.

GHPA will continue to provide its members with updates on this issue.

Sev, thank you for posting this. Annise Parker listed the same bullets in The Leader. (and they reprinted these bullets point-for-point). However, the ordinance, as written, is open to draconian interpretation. At the very minimum, there needs to be a press from the preservationists to make the City define "conforming". This one issue, I think, would address many fears. If this issue is not addressed, the objective, as I infer it, will fail.

Here we are...a City without zoning, This ordinance has all the good feel of a toddler attempting to walk in Daddy's Birkenstock's. I and others view that with its inherent awkwardness. The Mayor needs to get clear about what is enforced under this ordinance.

To simplify..

• 67% of a neighborhood can agree to be part of a district
• They will agree to certain restrictions

What are those restrictions....by ordinance, not by HAHC's discretion? Can anybody answer that, specifically? As an example of where this proposed law stands, why does this ordinance need digest in hearings in multiple neighborhoods? Is the neighborhood concept of Hawthorne the same as West Heights? Who gets to decide that?

I don't think a majority of people in the Heights are either of those things. There certainly is a hipster element in the area but it's down in Montrose too.

For the most part, people here are "normal".

An excerpt of comments on the HBJ....

We do not want Wal-Mart in the Heights. This area is undergoing a major redevelopment and Wal-Mart moving in will STOP this progress. The reason Target worked is because Target attracts a different type of buyer.

Let's hope we do not equate this sense of "progress" with a sense of "normal'.

Porchman,

HUH? I want to take offense but I honestly can't figure out what that post was about. I appreciate you posting a picture of one of my favorite houses but I don't see the relevance to my post. I'm particularly proud of that one because it was on a half lot on a corner 1 block from Shepard that had been sitting vacant for years. Nobody wanted to touch it but I was able to put up something that a family lives and people enjoy looking at. I've had more complimants from that house than pretty much any other I've built. Why don't you post some of the others? There are 3 in there that were nominated for Improvement awards by the Heights Association.

My point was that The landmarked houses in River Oaks are not subject to this ordinance. They can still be altered and demolished at the owners whim, where the little bungalows in the Heights are protected. Isn't that hypocritical? How is a bunglaow more worthy of protection than a one of a kind, truly architecturally and historically significant, landmark? Why? Because if the City tried to apply this kind of regulation on the property owners in River Oaks it would never fly. They, the Powers that be, understand that this is unpopular and unfiar to the homeowner so they went out of their way to exclude the people that have real power and money from being included.

As a tax payer I am outraged that classism is guiding our public policy so blantantly. They are usually much more subtle about screwing the plebes.

SC, I did miss your point on this post, partially because it seems incongruent with your “everything inside the loop” and “everything inside the Beltway” rants. I don’t think it’s an issue of classism, tough. It’s largely a matter of where residents have been more active.

As far as the house is concerned, it’s not bad…for Memorial. In that, it may constructively define the issue of “compatibility”, and what the ordinance may be seeking to address. Where I believe the draft ordinance fails is its lack of setting forth that definition.

Check out their advertisement on swamplot if you think this is misinformation.

From Rice's Glasscock School..

Historic Houston Neighborhoods

Houston’s tremendous growth from village on the bayou to town to city came about because of increasing wealth from trade in cotton, lumber and eventually oil. Beginning in the 1890s, architects and landscape designers created suburbs now seen as close-in neighborhoods to house the influx of people. Local historians, including Stephen Fox, will look at several of these unique neighborhoods, including Courtlandt Place, Westmoreland and Independence Heights, to tell the story of the birth, growth and in some cases, the rebirth of some of these neighborhoods. In the opening lecture, Betty Trapp Chapman will examine the roots of Houston’s planned neighborhoods, and Courtney Tardy of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance will close the series with a look at methods and attempts to preserve Houston’s neighborhoods.Neighborhoods to be discussed:

• Westmoreland
• Garden Oaks and Oak Forest
• Broadacres, Shadow Lawn and Shadyside
• Independence Heights and Magnolia Park
• Country Club Place and Idylwood
• Courtlandt Place

"Misinformation", no. Misinterpretation, yes. This discussion is lacking "ears" and discernment. That's not productive.

From the GHPA:

A great deal of misinformation is circulating about what the proposed changes will mean to property owners in Houston's historic districts. GHPA is determined to clear up these misrepresentations:

* The amended ordinance will not dictate paint colors.

* The amended ordinance will not govern the type of air conditioning units that can be used in historic buildings.

* The amended ordinance will not govern interior remodeling. In the United States, preservation ordinances do not govern the interiors of privately owned residences.

* Routine maintenance and emergency repairs do not and will not require the approval of the Houston Archeological and Historical Commission.

* The ordinance does not require a minimum $50,000 investment in rehab projects for historic houses.

* The ordinance allows and will continue to allow the construction of additions to expand the size of historic houses. Houston Archeological and Historical Commission has approved many such projects; some of these projects have been recognized with Good Brick Awards from GHPA.

GHPA is developing a Web page to further address these other misconceptions. We will provide a link when the page goes live online.

Thanks, sev. However, what might help further dispel misconceptions is to state what is being sought in the ordinance. What is the vision? Because the way this reads (and, BTW, the draft does leave a great deal to interpretation), it's a lot about restriction of individual homeowners. The reason I'm concerned is that the sense of such restrictions is going to undo and undermine the greater good. On this thread, we're hearing about recission of the petitions which create historic districts in the first place.

I think most people here in the Heights have a sense of the neighborhood they want. They may personally engage in that neighborhood in different fashion. They might beautifully preserve a bungalow. They might enjoy cocktails on the porch of their new Tricon. However, I don't think the vision of the neighborhood is really not that different for people.

One other issues that muddies the ordinance is it also addresses landmark status. I think that creates some of the misconception on the ordinance, itself. It also potentially waters down the ordination of landmarks.

There has been a lack of clarity in presenting this and agility in responding to concerns. I hope GHPA and other groups dedicated to preservation can develop that common vision of what is being sought. People buy into vision not restriction.

it did not say:

The GHPA will not tell you what your house must look like

The GHPA will not tell you what materials you may use on your house

The GHPA will not tell you what size your home may be

The GHPA will not tell you what landscaping is required

The GHPA will not make you bring up to their "standards" before issuing any permits to do work

The GHPA will keep their not intrude upon individual homeowners private property rights.

The GHPA will not change their mind and add hundreds of new restrictions at a later point.

It's HAHC which would make decisions about such things. GHPA is an independent preservation group. They advocate in a balanced manner unlike AWBA (Angry White Boys of America).

Go to this site, and at the top they have all of the districts listed. If you click on them, a map pops up. Based on your screen name and past posts about Mam's, my guess is you're in Heights West.

http://www.preservehouston.org/

He's not. He and I are the bastard children of the Heights. And we get to act out here. If the ordinance passes, our property values will increase because people will be able to modify their property the way they want.

Block people from building homes that look like Jiffy Lubes. However do not tell people that they cannot modify the crown molding above their door, that they cannot use Hardiplank, that they cannot modify the color of their house, or that they cannot replace the windows on their porch with French doors. This ordinance feels like an over-reach. As others have suggested ,it could do more harm than good. The perspective I would seek is preserve the front-porch aspect of the neighborhood, not the specifics individual buildings.

When the New Orleans Garden District fought Walmart, they had significantly stronger protections and zoning in place then SuperNeighborhood 22 does in Houston. New Orleans lost. They did end up with a building much more suited architecturally to their area, but hey had to start by wanting to keep them out completely and the better building was the compromise. We can't start by asking for what we may actually want because Walmart will negotiate us down from whatever point that is. Never start a negotiation resigned to failure. We have to start at one extreme if we expect them to meet in the middle.

News strory on its opening... http://www.wdsu.com/...082/detail.html