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SteveTXMD

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Everything posted by SteveTXMD

  1. "HUD-funded"? That doesn't mean lower-income, does it? The links I've seen suggest it will be "high-end."
  2. So it will be called "Citiplace," with 182 apartment units. http://www.davisbros.net/citiplace_apartments.html and here is a link to the other thread http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/index.php?showtopic=21925&view=&hl=Baldwin&fromsearch=1
  3. I wish I knew. We live very close to this block, and at 7:30am this morning (Saturday, Oct 3) the heavy trucks were out there "beep" "beep" "beeping" when backing up. 7:30am seems a little early for a Saturday morning. You think they're getting OT? This entire block is being dug up, and there is a cell tower smack dab in the middle of it. I can't find any info on this contruction anywhere.
  4. New article in todays Chronicle. I've been trying to scan this whole thread, but it's huge! Doesn't look good. Save me some time? What is the latest published plan for the sections that they have already demolished? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5121222.html As demolition work continues nearby, the River Oaks Theater remains open. Preservationists hope to save the 1939 vintage movie house, whose lease is up in 2010, and the Alabama Theater on Shepherd. Jessica Kourkounis: For the Chronicle Sept. 10, 2007, 8:37AM River Oaks theaters' drama playing behind the scenes By MATT STILES and MIKE SNYDER For months before bulldozers began pounding the historic River Oaks Shopping Center last week, city officials and preservationists vented their frustrations, plotted strategy and reluctantly acknowledged that the distinctive, crescent-shaped building appeared doomed. Some officials favored a conciliatory approach, while others wanted to ensure that destruction of the building was as inconvenient as possible for its owner, Weingarten Realty Investors, according to e-mails obtained by the Houston Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act. Now, as Weingarten proceeds with its plans to redevelop the northwest section of the shopping center, local and national preservationists are focusing their attention on how to save Weingarten's two historic, Art Deco-style theater buildings in Houston: The River Oaks Theater across West Gray from the demolished shopping center, and the Alabama Theater building on Shepherd that now houses a Bookstop. .... Jill Jewett, Mayor Bill White's cultural affairs adviser, argued in an April 2 e-mail that the designation would cost Weingarten money and create ill will that might complicate future efforts to save the historic theaters. .... In the end, Weingarten executives seemed rigidly focused on the company's bottom line and unswayed by appeals to sentiment or nostalgia, preservation leaders said. mike.snyder@chron.com matt.stiles@chron.com
  5. Done, Downtowner. Far too many times I've TRIED to shop at the Whole Foods on Kirby/W. Alabama only to be unable to find a parking spot, even along the adjacent street! Another one in Midtown/Downtown would help take some pressure off that one. And, have you noticed that the shoppers in that Kirby store just seem so unhappy and surly? Hardly anyone ever smiles at anyone else, and everyone is kind of, well, rude. Maybe they're unhappy about the prices??
  6. found this in the Houston Chronicle today. Can't help but wonder if the homeless will just move a block or two over... Homeless leave Pierce Elevated Metro fences in land for parking after 172 people take deal to move By MIKE SNYDER To downtown and Midtown leaders, it's the perfect spot for a scenic gateway linking their two communities. To Metro officials and residents of a nearby high-rise, it's essential space for parking. And until Monday, it was a home of sorts for more than 200 people with nowhere else to go. The dark, damp strip of concrete beneath a section of Interstate 45 known as the Pierce Elevated is suddenly an alluring piece of real estate. While residents of 2016 Main tussle with the Metropolitan Transit Authority over parking spaces and discussions continue on the gateway concept, the relocated homeless people are settling into rooms in motels or rehabilitation centers. The week's events began Monday, when outreach workers voluntarily relocated 172 homeless people who had been living under the freeway for months, putting them up in motels or other facilities while social service agencies try to help them stabilize their lives. Another 56 people went on a waiting list. On the same day, in a courtroom about a mile away, state District Judge Tony Lindsay refused to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Metro from fencing off two blocks of the property for parking for its new headquarters at 1900 Main. The chain-link fence went up Monday afternoon, to be replaced later with a permanent iron fence. "They (Metro officials) are taking that public parking and turning it into private parking," said Howard Bookstaff, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the owner of a planned restaurant in the 2016 Main building. He said residents of 2016 Main rely on the area for parking and may join the suit, which he said will continue with a hearing April 4. Deal called 'power grab' Last month, the city and Metro signed an agreement giving the transit agency permission to use two blocks of the space, from Fannin to Travis, for parking. In exchange, the transit agency agreed to install lighting, clean up litter, paint concrete columns and make other improvements to a six-block area between Caroline and Louisiana. A lawsuit claims the agreement violates a 1968 contract between the city and the Texas Department of Transportation, which owns the property. The contract calls for the land under the freeway to be used for public parking. Noel Cowart, the president of the condominium association at 2016 Main, said the metered spaces under the Pierce Elevated provide the only convenient parking for visitors or patrons of the building's retailers. Metro's deal with the city is a "power grab" necessitated by the agency's failure to plan for adequate parking when it built its new headquarters building, Cowart said. Space for fleet vehicles Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said the agency intends to use the Pierce Elevated space primarily for its fleet vehicles and senior staff. Most employees park in pay lots near the building, he said. The transit agency left about 20 metered spaces outside the fence available for public parking, Connaughton said. Bookstaff said this is "sorely insufficient." Before it could fence off its new parking area, Metro had to find a humane way to remove the homeless encampment that had developed under the Pierce Elevated over the past year. The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County Inc. obtained $100,000 from the city and $90,000 from other donors to pay for rooms in motels or other facilities for a month. The coalition's president, Anthony Love, said the homeless people readily accepted the offer when outreach workers approached them Monday morning. During their motel stays, the homeless people will be offered job training and placement assistance, substance abuse treatment and other services to help them stabilize their lives and find permanent housing, Love said. "The philosophy is, after we meet their basic needs for food and shelter, we look at their long-term needs," Love said. Giving it a try Charles Williams, 26, said he knew nothing about the plan to relocate the homeless people until he woke up at his spot under the freeway Monday morning. "I saw people lining up and I didn't know what was going on," Williams said. When someone explained the motel offer, "I said, 'That's cool, I'll give it a try,' " he said. Williams said he'd been sleeping under the Pierce Elevated off and on for three years after his release from prison on a felony drug possession charge. He spoke Wednesday from his room at the Lieutenant's House, a residential drug treatment facility. He said he hopes the program there will help him get off the streets and find a job. The relocation of the homeless people may also make it easier for downtown and Midtown leaders to move forward with their own gateway plans, which are still in the conceptual stage despite several years of intermittent discussions. "We think there's an opportunity to beautify that concrete structure, but we haven't settled on an approach," said Ed Wulfe, the chairman of the Main Street Coalition. Dan Barnum, a member of the Midtown Management District board, said the gateway might include signs, landscaping or "maybe doing some artistic stuff on the columns." "It would be a way to experience the transition between downtown and Midtown," Barnum said. "We've been looking for a Texas artist to provide an artistic image" to provide a theme for the gateway. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3089357
  7. Was on the train today from Wheeler to Main St Square and noticed the artists rendition of the proposed Camden development for the Super Block. Looks fantastic (passing by on the train), but, judging from some of the posts here, this rendition has been up there since, what? November of '04? Granted, it's only been five months, but no ground has been broken. There are so many abandoned and underutilized properties all along Main Street in Midtown, it's sad. But the potential is awesome. If we were 20 years younger ... we might grab some property and open up a cafe/coffeehouse/bookstore. Now, we're looking towards retirement on South Padre... You know, the 1900 block of Main, Travis, Fannin, Milam, San Jacinto, etc, has got to be cleaned up ... there's got to be a better way ...
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