The Great Hizzy!

^^^ NO county funds? I have my doubts but even so... the developer, private that is, either feels really confident about the project in order to finance it 100% or something else is in play here.

Drew Bledsoe is to running what the Yugo was to luxury cars.

Carr still shows that he's a bit unsettled at times in the pocket and doesn't recognize blitzes as well as he should (this is his fifth year). On the one blitz where he was almost sacked, every blocker picked up his blitz responsibility and the free man who came through was David's read, and it took him too long to recognize it. I liked that he settled down, however, in the second quarter and made a string of quality passes to both Putzier and AJ, but I'm hoping that he'll eventually develop a bit more confidence in his line and bit more composure when a blitz is coming, because teams are certainly going to blitz the Texans' offense until proves that it can handle them consistently. As for David, not only does his recognition of blitzes need to improve but so do some of his throws under pressure. He had two very makeable completions in the first half that he missed because he wasn't settled under pressure. It happens, sure, but the rate still needs to go down as far as David's concerned. As a QB, you're gonna take a hit while throwing from time-to-time. You need to stand in there and follow through else you've basically gotten hit for nothing.

Anyway, other than that and our bad secondary play in the second half last night, lots to be excited about. The running game looks great. The first team defense looks great (Mario Williams was in the backfield two or three times in the second quarter), the linebackers have been very impressive (Greenwood is definitely a better 4-3 backer than a 3-4 one) and the wide receivers and tight ends look like real weapons. I don't see how you don't keep Lewis as your #4 or #5 receiver at this point.

Also good to see that Rosenfels will be at least as good of a backup QB as was Tony Banks. Hopefully, he won't be needed, but even so... he looks capable of running the offense competently.

Given the current level of development at this intersection, this project would seem to be fairly isolated. Granted, Sienna Plantation is about two or three miles to the west and you do have the older subdivisions in Missouri City about two miles to the north, but there isn't much around right now.

Then again, this type of development often leads to thousands of new homes being built by a handful of homebuilders. Choice and Pulte are probably already licking their fingers...

Red's probably got too much time on his hands.

Even without any significant annexation, Pearland's 2010 population is expected to be between 65K-70K. Lots of home construction there within the existing city limits. League City is expected to gain a significant amount in population without significant annexation as well. League City's already estimated to have about 66,000 residents.

Don't panic just yet. Much easier to get the big name stuff signed up than the niche stuff. HOB and Lucky Strike are big name tenants to start with. The stuff that many of you are coveting is likely to be hit or miss until the thing actually gets built.

I'm surprised to hear about Mia Bella, though. Would this be a second location? Their current one is basically el primo, as far as location goes.

For housing? Because it's a slightly different animal than retail. You have to identify the market and learn what type of residents are easiest to bring into the fray. Then you have to wrestle with financing and the like. That takes a little time. Just look at Midtown.

I'm certainly not saying that HP's going to take 3-5 years. I expect that to be up and going in full within the next couple of years provided that groundbreaking is this fall.

Sorry if I didn't make the distinction. I was just more talking about the longterm impact on residential. Tends to take longer than it does for retail, especially in a market like Houston (or Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, etc).

^^^ Agreed. Unfortunately, even if HP takes off and the park is developed as expected, it looks to be another 3-5 years off.

That'd be cool if true. That would allow the Pavillions to develop a bit of a connection with Toyota Center, which is what the planners eventually want anyway, to connect eastern downtown with the rest of downtown.

I've also heard that the Yao restaurant in Westchase has been very successful so far, so a second location, if this is all true, wouldn't seem like a particularly risky move.

LOL

^^^ I agree. A permanent group of residents builds more of a longterm neighborhood. You transcend mere fad and grow into some substantial and sustainable.

The key to HP is the long range planning and its long range effect on three primary DT areas: north on Main, east on Dallas and south on Main.

My vision is for HP to affect retail on Main from Dallas to the Historic District, to affect hotel and housing on Dallas from Main to the new downtown park/convention center/Toyota Center and to affect the empty lots south on Main with new residential construction. We'll see, though. A lot is riding on HP's placement and management.

It's going to be a ceremonious event once groundbreaking commences.

=3.14

::Takes small bow::

It seems Houston developers have made quite a living doing things unconventionally. The Spires, the Huntington, etc... all highrise residentials that sort of came out of nowhere. I'm not disagree with HD, though. The scope of this project might change eventually, going to rental to condo conversion rather than rental 1 and condo 1, as is the current plan.

League City has been moving towards Sugarland in terms of development and niche for about ten years now. Pearland is now where League City was five years ago and League City is where Sugarland was in the early 90s.

And so it goes...

After Pearland, I expect Manvel and Arcola to start "booming" as well. Tomball's already starting to see Pearland-type activity.

And so it goes...

I think it should be called "Bill's Hangout" after Mayor Bill White.

What they are running with is a study that I read about a few years back that said that since Houston Metro area goes so far west that in reality the center of the city is 10 miles west of downtown at the Beltway and I10. They said most of the time cities grow equally in all directions from the downtown. I remember thinking to myself when reading that at the time that I can think of several cities that do not match that. Mostly cities that sit on the water like Chicago, but also Dallas. Sorry I do not have a link to the article, but it was in the Chronicle or the Houston Business Journal. For those with time might be able to locate it.

The Atlanta Metropolitan area is urbanizing to the north (northeast and northwest) at a much faster rate than in any other major direction. The west and east sides are seeing some growth but at not nearly the rate as is the north. The southern sector is seeing sporadic growth but it would probably be akin to the development that's taking place on the northern half of the east Sam Houston Parkway here in Houston.

* Seattle's growth seems to be heading north and west rather than south.

* Detroit's growth is mostly to the north. Some growth is occuring to the west but almost none to the south.

* Denver's growth is mostly to the west and north. The eastern edge of the city, much like Houston, is growing at a much slower rate.

In other words, I, like you, see great contradictions to the notion that cities all growth radially from a central point. Growth follows corridors of economic growth. It's not a coincidence that Houston's recent growth is following the same direction as the Energy Corridor nor is it a coincidence that Dallas' growth is following the Platinum Corridor.

Semipro doesn't believe you.

I've been aware of the overall project but not aware of the detail involved. Pretty impressive in scale.

Actually, Houston is fine as an amusement park town. The problem more lies with Six Flags. If you have an LA-area park that you think you need to shut down then that tells you all you need to know about how your park is run.

I think Six Flags overextended itself and should've focused on their original seven or eight parks (Mid-America, Magic Mountain, Georgia, Texas, Astroworld, etc), which would've allowed them an opportunity to better manage and maintain them.

Even Six Flags Over Georgia is starting to look shabby, and it used to be one of their cleanest parks.

LOL! What a great post.

::picturing LargeTexas shaking and sweating as he tries to decide if he should spill the beans, his index finger aching from indecision as it hovers over his "enter" key.

I don't know why I thought the Cosmopolitan was only 15 floors. Even if it's only 21, it will stand higher than what I was thinking.

I heard that on KTRH this morning. Apparently, Six Flags has overextended itself and is looking to unload property to raise revenue. I didn't even know that they owned Splashtown.

Technically, it's in the city. Certainly not in the center but oh well. Frankly, the western end of the "interior" Beltway doesn't look much different from the western stretch of the inner-Loop, so...