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Advice For Midtown Developers


Subdude

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If I ever saw that guy on the street, I swear, I'd point, and start laughing!

I mean, seriously...WTH? Is there any logical explaination for this? He has puzzled scientists!

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When I first moved in to Oakwood (it was called something else at the time) it was pretty upscale. Most of the people who lived there were young lawyers, and they even had young lawyer events around the pool.

Then it changed hands. The new managers were less picky about who they let in. The lawyers left. Then Tropical Storm Allison hit, and the place was flooded with refugees from the ghetto who didn't know how to behave in a respectable place. The managers were just happy to fill apartments. But the place got very bad, very quick.

I had a problem with my ceiling fan, and the head of maintenance told me the only thing he could do for me was to switch it with another broken fan from another apartment because the maintenance fund was cut off for the rest of the year. This was in July, 2002.

In September my lease was up, and they wanted to raise my rent from $850 to $1,350 for a one-bedroom 820 square foot apartment. I said "enough" and I left, too. I don't know what the place is like now. But the last thing I saw when I moved out was someone doing drugs on one of the stairwells. I never looked back.

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I think the original post in this thread is great. Midown is at a critical point in its development right now and both the city and the Midtown TIRZ could wise up and look to design standards/development solutions that have worked in other cities to truly realize the potential of this important area.

On a very recent trip to Portland, OR, I snapped these photos of that city's Pearl District... a wonderful example of urban redevelopment and a true mixed-use neighborhood. Take note on how its done, Houston....

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Warehouse Redevelopment

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New condos

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Residential over retail

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Notice the street trees, nice lighting, generous sidewalks

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New Whole Foods store and new condos

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New midrises around the city's famous Powell's Books

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The pictures of Portland are great. I used to work there and it is a great downtown model.

I am very pessimistic that the Midtown Mgmt District and the City of Houston will be able to pull this off.

It is amazing to me that this city and its planners have so little vision.

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I wish I had a camera when I was in DC last week. There is a new area near the Pentagon called "Pentagon Row"...and it embodies exactly what mixed use should be imho.

goto http://www.pentagonrow.com and check out the website

I wish midtown and downtown could pick up some ideas from here...of course, development that is affordable by the average joe working in downtown would be helpful....

while at PR...I got an overwhelming feeling of "houston ain't gonna get it right on this one'....and i'm not quite sure why not.

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Portland is fantastic. They have a whole series of laws, though, designed to promote the urban core. There is an urban development boundary to curb sprawl, and limits on parking spaces downtown so that whole blocks aren't given up to parking, and requirements for street-level retail. As a result, the kind of buildings in those pictures make a lot of sense.

I guess my point is that kind of development doesn't just happen on the whim of a developer. It requires some kind of cohesive vision which Houston just seems to be lacking. As for Midtown, it may be too late, at least west of Main St.

Also Portland does have Powell's, the best used bookstore in the world! :D

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Yep, that cohesive vision is really lacking - which is unfortunate because the Midtown TIRZ was created by the city and the state. Ultimately, one would think that both the city planning department and the TIRZ leadership would require developers to meet certain urban design guidelines. These developers are getting tax breaks and incentives - yet there seems to be relatively few standards for them to meet. There are so many suburban type retail centers and apartment complexes that have descended into the area. How disappointing.

Here are some more examples in Portland that I think would be wonderful in Midtown. Notice the different residential developments around the recently created park in the Pearl District... the buildings are all different (and had different developers), yet they really work together. Here is proof of what a "cohesive vision" will do for a district...

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i really appreciate the posts and pictures that firstngoal has placed in this thread comparing portland's pearl district to midtown houston. i was in portland last month and spent one afternoon in the pearl district all i could think about was midtown houston. i could see the potential of midtown but felt a real sadness that houston and midtown leaders just don't get it. portland has closed down little half streets between these mid-rises and created little park spaces that lead to bigger park spaces, it was very nice. midtown just closes the streets down and give them to the developers like camden and post and midtown becomes less pedestrian friendly. the friday afternoon i was in portland the park with the water feature was packed with kids and familes, no bums.

thanks for posting the pictures, i can't wait to go back to portland.

dream

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Those are fantastic pictures. Thanks for the post. We all complain about the lack of direction for Midtown, and if the management district is working in total isolation. Well, I've sent them an e-mail referencing this site. Maybe if we all start bugging them, they might try harder in preventing another CVS fiasco.

For those that didn't know, below is a link to their website.

http://www.houstonmidtown.com/

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  • 3 years later...
  • 11 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Actually, Post and Amli are considered two of the most upscale and luxurious apartment companies in the country. AMLI is traded on the NYSE. You think they're going to let their bldgs crumble?

Its only been 4 years but for some reason I cant find the stock ticker on the NYSE for AMLI, nor can I find the AMLI Midtown apartment complex when driving down Bagby. Odd.

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