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Found 10 results

  1. Beautify the `superblock' and watch the Midtown area's tax base grow By DAVID CROSSLEY Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle News Services Often we hear in Houston that it's "too late" to do something that would have great positive impact on quality of life. We are approaching one of those moments. Two years ago, I proposed that a new urban park be created on the Midtown "superblock" on Main Street abutting the McGowen rail stop. This four-block long property with no streets crossing it has been the subject of a hunt for the right development project. I felt that no urban development really needed that kind of configuration, and indeed that much space with no pedestrian ways across it so close to a rail station would be terribly counterproductive. The only thing that really makes sense there is a great public park. Many creative people put a lot of energy into the idea, which we tentatively called McGowen Green. The proposal, which was accompanied by exciting drawings from Kevin Shanley and SWA Group, McGowen Green would be urban amenity, tax revenue source seemed to catch fire for a while. But a Chronicle article last week (``Ideas filling vacant block / Some see park, others see urban oasis in Midtown, Aug. 31'') indicated that the board of the Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA) is acting to convey its interest in the property to Camden Property Trust, which already owns about half of it. Camden apparently intends a large apartment project there, probably with some retail or artist space on the ground floor. This is a real shame for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is loss of significant future tax revenue for the city. Parks are the greatest of urban amenities, and properties adjacent to them tend to rise in value faster than other properties. With a lush river garden ambience surrounding a formal boat pond and promenade, McGowen Green would produce the highest value center in the Midtown district, and in time one of the most important in our city. To my knowledge, the MRA board hasn't expended any energy exploring the benefits of a park or the creative means to finance it. A lot of the important work to determine how parks affect real estate has been done by Dr. John L. Crompton, a Texas A&M professor knowledgeable in the economics of park development. Crompton's studies reveal that people will pay more for property close to parks than for property that does not offer this amenity. This means they pay higher property taxes. In effect, Crompton says, this represents a capitalization of park land into increased property values of proximate land owners. Crompton calls this the ``proximate principle.'' If the incremental amount of taxes paid by each property attributable to the presence of a nearby park is aggregated, he argues, it will be sufficient to pay the annual debt charges required to retire the bonds used to acquire and develop the park. As it happens, the board of the MRA is the same board as the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ. One of the purposes of a TIRZ is to increase property values during its lifetime (in this case 30 years) so that the city receives greater revenues from the district once it begins to pay full taxes. Most people who do projections on land values would say that the increase in taxes coming from the four-block Camden project would be dwarfed by the taxes of developing - at a much higher value - the 14 blocks surrounding a park on that property, not to mention the second tier of properties in the next ring of 22 properties. The public interest clearly will not be reasonably served by encouraging the Camden project, which should be developed on several of the blocks surrounding the park. And why does an apartment project in an urban place need to have continuous land without cross streets? A four-block long apartment project would create a horrible pedestrian environment, and one of the goals for Midtown has been walkability. In his ground-breaking book Cities in Full, Steve Belmont says that neighborhoods deprived of natural features are severely handicapped in the competition for middle-class households. He cites examples showing that a well designed and maintained park can substitute for natural features as the heart of a thriving neighborhood. He also claims that for a neighborhood on the path to revitalization, [a park] represents a prudent investment with the power to attract affluence, and he notes that it takes relatively few affluent newcomers to reverse the negative image of a derelict neighborhood. Last spring, my organization, the Gulf Coast Institute, distributed hundreds of postcards urging Mayor Bill White to pursue the development of McGowen Green. These were signed by nearly 500 people and mailed. Surely, before it is too late, the mayor and City Council (the property is in Councilmember Carol Alvarado's district) should have a look and determine whether the long-term interests of the city are best served by a great urban park or by another apartment project. Midtown needs an important park that people will actually use and that will draw tourists to the area. The park would be a gift to future generations that cannot be given later. Link
  2. Camden Property Trust will build on two blocks in downtown. Phase one begins in Spring 2015 which will include a 12-story high-rise. Phase two begins in Spring 2017. Total of 518 units. #31 on the new development map. http://downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-12-19/131218_Current_Projects_11x17.pdf
  3. I found this Midtown map on the Page Partners site and I was looking at information for this midtown retail development that was mentioned earlier on this forum: The map stresses where this development will be located but shows the different uses of the area. Does anyone have information on the residential project at the very top of the map named Camden Central City? Has anyone heard of it. The one thing that scares me about Camden is, if it is not mixed use, you usually get the stuff that exsist in Midtown now that Camden owns.
  4. From today's Chronicle. More residential development in Midtown....getting closer to the Red Line. No word on retail. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/busine...ff/5546743.html Midtown makeover Apartment developer Camden Property Trust is planning to demolish a rundown Asian shopping center in Midtown to develop a $45 million multifamily complex in its place. Construction on the four-story, 253-unit project, to be called Camden Travis, will start by the third quarter of the year, said Camden Chief Executive Richard Campo. The site is at the corner of Travis and Dennis, just behind the restaurant Reef. The largest tenant in the shopping center, at 2830 Travis, was the Hoa Binh Supermarket. Campo said rents will be competitive with existing units in the area, which are currently between $1.40 and $1.60 per square foot per month. Although overall apartment occupancy began slipping toward the end of last year, developers have been raising rental rates and building new projects in anticipation of stronger demand from the single-family housing slowdown. There are at least 18,000 units under construction in the Houston area, with even more proposed, Bruce McClenny of Apartment Data Services said recently at an industry event held by the Houston Apartment Association. McClenny expects occupancy to remain in the mid-80-percent range this year. Despite the construction boom, still-healthy job growth and continued turmoil in the subprime lending industry "give me a good feeling going into this market," McClenny said. Camden's Midtown project is not to be confused with another deal the company has been talking about for years on the superblock, a multiblock parcel uninterrupted by cross streets between Main and Travis and south of McGowen. Campo's still mum on the project.
  5. Right now on the norteast corner od Richmond and Edloe there's a building being torn down. It was a pretty nondescript late modern office building. I've hear the site will become residential. Anyone know anything? This would be a phenomenal site for high-density, non-townhome housing.
  6. It is clear by now that many developers are focusing rennovating the strip of Post Oak from Westheimer to San Felipe. What about the areas between San Felipe and 610 (towards uptown Park?) The only building that fits the neighborhood is 1200 Post Oak Blvd. (apt. complex across from the McDonalds.) Everything else is old (i.e., Inverness and Winhall condos and dreadful 111 Post Oak Apts.). Those developments stick out like a sore thumb when looking at the beuaty and architecture of Uptown Park, Montebello, Villa D'este, and 1200 Post Oak, etc). Are there any plans to do massive reconstruction for those areas to better align with the rest of the proposed projects on Post Oak Blvd? Lastly, what is the "Great Room"? (the "tent" building by the Bently dealership)
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