Simbha

Apparently, there are some references to this project from 2010. Sheila Jackson Lee mentioned it on her website in reference to the 90A rail corridor here. Although there's no date on that posting, I reached it through a blog comment I found which was posted in August 2010.

Edit:

Similarly, Buffalo Lakes, a large undeveloped area located north of Holmes Road and west of Kirby Drive, is to be developed as a mixed-use project that includes 3,580 residential units and 1.9 million square feet of office, retail, and entertainment space.

I like me an office tower pretty much anywhere, but the Houston Press is right...West Loop and Galleria area traffic in general pretty much does stink like no other. This will be a nice addition to the look of the area, but i feel sorry for the people who have to drive in that area.

But, in a city with no zoning, isn't the 'right' order... 1. Build buildings, then 2. Build infrastructure (including roads)?

If we (through the city government) want to allay concerns of traffic, then we either need to be proactive about the development of such infrastructure - and impose either regulations or incentives to drive developers to build in designated areas - or we need to be more efficient in addressing infrastructure concerns upon the declaration of developers to build... or, we can just sit around and wait until traffic and other problems reach crisis levels. Hmm... now THERE'S an idea...

Heard from a pretty good source that UH has been working behind the scenes so that if Baylor Med goes into default and needs state funding to help it along, that there will be a HUGE push from all Houston area legislators to make sure that the funding would only come if the medical school allowed itself to be absorbed into the UH System.

I think this is the only positive outcome left for Baylor since the talks with Rice fell apart. This would be a huge boost to UH's tier one efforts. Additionally, with the old Baylor Board (egos) removed from the equation, it's likely that fences could be mended with Methodist to ensure that one of the world's finest hospitals becomes a teaching hospital again.

Meanwhile, in the interim, Baylor Med's reputation continues to spiral downward...

I wonder if it would then retain the Baylor name (which continues to have strong recognition) or if it would instead become something like the 'UH Medical College'?

Any information on exactly where this is located? Is it by the existing optometry building, somewhere else on campus, or in the TMC?

Not sure a golf cart-like vehicle would suffice. As most of you probably know, the 'museum district' as a coordinating body covers institutions within several square-miles, including (for example) the Menil. I think this would require one or more standard shuttle buses.

Edit: Perhaps two types of routes. One could be a local 'art cart' in the 'core' district bordered roughly by 59, La Branch, Hermann Park and Montrose. Another could be a wider route that carries passengers to and from: this core museum district, Bayou Bend/Rienzi, the Menil/Montrose District, and the DT theater district. I would think that would be appealing to residents and tourists alike and could really help to boost Houston's reputation as a center for the arts (in general).

Yes, I know that the rail goes between the museum district and the theater district, but I think that having people look to two distinct routes for this need wouldn't be very pleasant for them. Much easier to say, "Hop on the Arts Bus and it'll take you there" rather than "Oh, well... to get to such-and-such a place, you'll need to take the rail but to get to this other place, you should take that bus."

Good to know I wasn't just spreading unsubstantiated rumors. Again, I can't really comment on the whole "not playing ball" thing as it was a short conversation. Porchman's suggestion seems possible.

Anyone know of any renderings?

I was at a conference, the Houston Summit for the Creative Economy, a few weeks back (I think it was Oct 22nd) and some people were discussing the potential for a shuttle bus/jitney loop which could carry museum-goers from facility to facility with ease. Just park your car at any of the member institutions and hop on and off the bus to visit the facilities.It might especially be popular with tourists...

What do you all think of this idea?

Well, I've been going to UH for two years now and I walk around campus almost everyday and I still have no clue where this biomedical building is being built. The article doesn't give much detail... awesome. Would this happen to be the building on Cullen next to the stadium or is that some other building that's already been mentioned before?

I think the one to which you're referring (and has a similar-looking design) is a science and engineering research/office building. This appears to be something different and would likely go in a spot in proximity of the rec center/current optometry building (that is, unless it goes in TMC). This is all purely speculation on my part, though.

I was at the MFAH yesterday looking at the Ife exhibit and got into a conversation with one of the attendants. She told me about a new MFAH wing/building slated to start construction in early-2011. I hadn't heard this before.

According to her, the new facility will house modern and contemporary art. When I expressed surprise about this - given that the CAM is right there - she indicated that the CAM didn't "want to play ball" so the MFAH is going forward with this plan.

The purported site is next to the Presbyterian church - where the surface lot across Binz now stands.

Can anyone confirm this? Sorry if I'm behind the times. I didn't see this posted anywhere else...

Not sure if I'm allowed to post renderings from OffCite so I'll just post the link: http://offcite.org/2010/03/14/the-bridge-formerly-known-as-tolerance

If I see someone else post the renderings from there, I'll know for future reference.

I seem to also remember some talk, perhaps only among my relatives, that there was a p'ing match going on over installing public fountains.

Could you elaborate on this further? I'd like to better understand what the historical reasons for opposition to fountain installations might have been...

I don't want to post it here out of respect to Story's copyright, but there is a very good view of the Sunken Garden (and Cullinan's house Shadyside) from the roof of the Warwick in Story Sloane's book of Houston images from the 20's and 30's.

I wouldn't wish to do this either, but there's a picture on the website here. Bottom row.