Porchman

Skateboarders are prohibited in the Plaza, and while surely you may have seen some, its fairly strictly enforced.

yeah..now

I have a visual of Red and his dogs, cruising Caninos on Saturday morning for chicks.

Edit: Red's dogs appear to be mighty mighty cute and he is not bad himself, so it isn't a bad visual, but a funny one. The whole shopping for vegetables thing.

I bet Red eats celery. Freshness being a factor...maybe not. I think the pups would be seriously stressed at Canino's. If I go there at prime time, it's stressful for me.

BACK ON TOPIC Y'ALL: I have been digesting the expense of fixing the 2001 screw-up on Jones Plaza. It seems stupid after only 6 years of living with this mistake. On the other hand, people trade cars and wives much sooner, so who am I to judge?

The square is not congenial (sorry for that particular adjective, but it's not...congenial). It needs to be flattened again. When one stands, enjoying a cocktail (just anyone, really!), at the front on Jones Hall, you should enjoy the psychadelic, modern castle that houses the Alley. Besides, I always thought there was a decompositionist aspect of watching skateboarders during a symphony break.

Also, if it is reconstructed, it creates a great works project. And on that point, I give the floor to my right honourable friend, TJones

Why not just add a bunch of showerheads on Jones Plaza? It would complete the picture.

Vietnam Restaurant on 19th near Shepherd. Good vermicelli bowls, inexpensive.

Mrs. P. and I went had dinner at Vietnam last night. Food is still great, not to mention relatively cheap. They're still adjusting to the new set up a bit, and they got slammed with a big crowd. However, the service was very attentive and courteous.

The word I'm hearing, from Galvestonians in-the-know, is that Shriner's will not be reopening.

I hope they are wrong.

They laid off their 300 employees yesterday. Memorial Hermann likely will like have to take on many of the patients.

KTRK report

Yesterday I noticed a large black vehicle with "Hotel Zaza" emblazened on the doors.

What caught my attention was the pair of longhorn horns attached to its front. As a pedestrian, such things can make a much bigger impression on me than on your average Houstonian - literally. They're the perfect height and shape to impale the unwary. Getting hit by a car is never fun. I've been fortunate enough to have survived it a couple of times. Then too, those vehicles weren't sporting cattle horns.

Now, I understand that this is a sly, cute, ironic reference. But does it have to be so potentially deadly as well? If they want to complete the wink-wink Western theme, perhaps they could dress the driver as Yosemite Sam, and have him randomly fire a pair of six-shooters.

It's nice to know that their cars are more tasteful than the interior of the Hotel's lobbies. I just don't get the big go-go-whore thang. It's a lovely place otherwise.

They should have chosen Cullen State University. Don't know what was wrong with that name, or why they now have stupid names to choose from.

...or Hobby University, or Duncan University, or Sarofim University, or [Whoever commits $200 million to us] University. Although they might have to push back on any naming interest from Houston Endowment b/c they wouldn't want to be confused with Bob Jones University.

Did they open back up yet? Been expanding/renovating the past several weeks. We need to try it.

As of Monday, they're still closed. The renovations look great, and they look like they're done. Not sure what the hold up is.

I know the sign said "get fresh... go local" or something similar - but I honestly never picked up on the local foods emphasis. Could have just been me being oblivious, but I don't remember signs around the store touting the local source of various foods or anything like that. I think I might have made a special trip more frequently, if I'd realized.

As I said, I could only rember those couple things, and it's been about 2 years since I've been in there. I also remember they had a lot of jarred items on the far wall, too - chutneys and the like. I can't remember if those were local or not.

... Penzey's Spices on 19th. I went by there on Sunday at 12:30 PM and it was packed. If you have not been there, do yourself a favor and go.

Mrs. P. and I are Penzey's addicts. We go by, at least, monthly. It's a great olfaction shopping experience and the spices are really fresh.

I only went there one time, just to check it out. I didn't see anything really unique offered, but I could have missed something. I would think that if you're going to try to open a small market you have to do something really well or offer things you can't get elsewhere, because you're not going to get by on volume sales.

EDIT: I didn't mean to criticize so much as ask the question: do they offer anything unique?

I only went in once or twice. The only things I remember being somewhat unique were Texas venison (which, I know, is not that unique if you hunt or, like me, schmooze people who hunt), and, if I remember correctly, some local, hothouse produce.

The local concept for food has been a big thing of late. However, McCain's positioning in this realm made them just a fancier, more expensive version of a farmers market, of which Houston now has plenty.

I do feel bad for its failure. My only surprise at the closing is that it has taken this long.

I understand after reading the Chron last weekend that this project "bit the dust"....although the developers are blaming on red tape instead of the economy.

Not sure if it bit the dust. The article inidcated it was delayed (while other mentioned projects are biting the dust)

The developers behind this residential high-rise designed for the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby say red tape, not access to financing, has slowed its progress. Dubbed the "Ashby high-rise" and "tower of traffic" by angry neighbors, the building has been denied city permits multiple times since area residents started putting up a stink over a year ago.

Neither http://www.stopashbyhighrise.org/ or Buckhead Investment Partners indicate that this is a no-go..yet

Two council members urged its passage. Channel 13 noted that Weingarten Realty had contributed to each of their campaigns.

Yeah, Wanda is getting some wine bar on her side of Shepherd, and Pam screws residents of her constituency on the her side of Shepherd. The ladies were workin' the strip today.

(I'm not a moderator, so I'm callin' them out, dbigtex56 ).

I heard Mooya is like In-N-Out and 5 Guys.

...Not to be confused with the In-N-Out on North Shepherd, which is more about the buns than the burgers. Sorry...however, katyresident's comparison, as phrased, struck me with surprise, at first.

The body has been identified.

The obituary for William Bracken. Had it not been for the picture, I would not have noticed it.

Not to sound too morose about this, but there have been a lot of news stories about kids dying around here lately, and it's sort of bugged me. Perhaps, because it particularly poignant when families have to bury a child at the Holidays. There's my bit of cheer for this foggy morning. Aplologies.

This is really sad.

On a side note, this complex houses Bush 41's office as well as Culberson's Houston office.

There's another thing somewhat like this north of I-10 around...Kirkwood? Dairy Ashford? I forget which street exactly but north of I-10 a bit and west of the Beltway.

Edit: Ah okay, really different but still anyone know what this dome thing is?

http://www.newlifechurch.net/

I swear there's nothing more disturbing than seeing someone with a beer in a brown bag at like 11AM.

I know. Bloody Mary's are much more appropriate for that hour.

I've lived in Houston for about 15 years now, all over the city. Now I'm thinking of moving downtown, and was wondering about the Franklin Lofts, renting, that is. There are a couple on HAR and they look nice. Anyone know anything pro or con about them?

For renting, you would probably be okay, although there is some volatility. I have heard some hum about a few problems there.

• Apparently Ike did some things with the roof.
  
• Some investors have gotten in, possibly paid more than what their units are worth now
  
• An owner or two have decided HOA fees are optional
  

It's a cool building, though. Redone about 5 years ago. It had a better view to the north toward the Bayou before UHD (or whatever it is this week) built the Urban Ed./Criminal Science building across the street on Franklin. (Urban Ed. and Criminal Science are two, separate departments, BTW.)

I have an idea, HAIF.

How about we create an official, native, thread to discuss all of the old Historic Houston Residential Mansions? We can catalog all of the famous Houstonians, where they once lived back in the day. 

Where did the founders of Houston, the Allen brothers live? 

Where did the founder of Hermann Hospital/Herman Park, George Hermann Live?

Where did the first Mayor of Houston live? 

Where did all the famous oil barons live, such as Roy Cullen, Glenn McCarthy, and Walter Fondren?

I assume there will be a lot of River Oaks locations here LOL. Probably some residences located in Downtown in the turn of the century as well.  Those huge estates. 

I'll start.  I heard the Weingarten Mansion was located at 4000 South MacGregor Way.

Thanks Sevfiv...

as per my disclaimer, my "leads" were a bit misleading.

the actual street is WESTHEIMER

the "Family" of restaurants WAS Vallone

want take a guess before i reveal??

Grotto. Fertita owns it now.

Maybe its not to overwhelm either street with constant traffic? Kinda splits it up and evens things out a bit.

The separate garage ramps, you mean? Yes, that's what Allied Realty indicated their intentions were.

Anyone know what these apartments are goin for?

When they presented this to area residents last year, they indicated average monthly rental would be arrond $1,500/mo.

admittedly, better looking than about 99% of the new apartments going up in houston. maybe we're seeing the beginning of the end of faux mediterranean?

Not necessarily. This same company has built plenty of those. They chose to go with a more traditional/industrial edge here, and with stucco being the alternative, I'm glad. As I walked around the place yesterday, though, I also had a sense that it was going to look dated soon.

One can only hope.

Knowing some of the hardcore Heights views of anything that doesn't fit their particular opinion of what belongs in the Heights, I've not commented recently on this building. However, I drive by it twice daily, and I think it fits in rather well. And, as I've commented previously, it will provide about 500 new customers within walking distance of the 19th and 20th Street shopping district, helping to keep them in business. I think commercial areas are great locations for apartments, as opposed to say, the middle of a residential street. I hope the finished product does well.

Red, you and I have had this conversation - online at live. To recap, I agree that it's an improvement to Yale. Not so much an improvement to W22nd. I will say at least it's only 5 stories. However, think of 13 stories might do to the neighborhood adjacent to White Oak.

What will be interesting to see is what spawns from this. Little Kroger is puportedly doomed after the expansion of the Signature at W 11th. Weingarten is apparently talking 24Hour Fitness and major remodel to that strip on W 20th. And the critical question...What's going to happen to Dorsey's Beauty Academy?

An update on 2125 Yale (fka Retreat at the Heights)

Yale and W 22nd

The entrance to the upper level garage on W 22nd. (The entrance to the lower level garage is on W 21st

On W 22nd

Who needs morning sunlight anyway?

Let's brainstorm a new name.

I'm voting for "Baylorice" -- Pronounced "Bale of Rice."

In all seriousness, though, if this thing were to happen, I would love to see it named the DeBakey School of Medicine at Rice University. Not only did Dr. DeBakey bring tremendous prominence to BCM, he assigned many of his patent royalties to the institution over the years. In so doing, he may be one of BCM's biggest, all-time donors.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6083117.html

I think a merger would be beneficial for both institutions. Collaborative synergy and joint grant applications could create an even bigger powerhouse in the biomedical sciences.

Moreover, I was interested in the articles mention about concern over BCM's precarious financial situation, and the future of its President...

The BCM Board should discuss his leadership as well as their own. In just 5 short years, BCM kissed off a 50-year relationship with Methodist, then couldn't play nice with St. Lukes, then leveraged itself to the hilt to build a hospital in an ever-evolving and highly competitive, managed health care environment.