Ion District In Midtown

[004n063]

Never thought I'd say these words, but...this is gonna be one fine lookin parking garage.

[Twinsanity02]

12 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Never thought I'd say these words, but...this is gonna be one fine lookin parking garage.

There is hope when one can turn a parking garage into something beside an eyesore. The one by the Wortham is also not bad looking.

[hindesky]

On 4/24/2023 at 12:45 PM, clutchcity94 said:

Do we know who the new tenants are?

[j_cuevas713]

The diamond keeps shining 

[004n063]

Benches! Streetscape!

[004n063]

I wonder if the Midtown TIRZ would be willing to consider a Fannin redesign à la Caroline or Bagby. The Ion vision for Eagle is great, and it was definitely wise of them to choose to focus on a side street, rather than a major street, but Fannin can be quite loud, and we've seen a lot businesses struggle to come to life because (or, rather, presumably partly because) of this.

 

Obviously, Fannin serves a key decongestive function for Downtown car commuters, but I think the Midtown section of Bagby has been a good demonstration of how efficient traffic flow can be on a (reasonably) well-designed two-lane one-way street. 

I have no expertise whatsoever, but think you could see similarly effective overall traffic flow while reducing the number of cars exceeding 40mph.

Edited April 29 by 004n063

[MrFubbles]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:09 AM, 004n063 said:

I wonder if the Midtown TIRZ would be willing to consider a Fannin redesign à la Caroline or Bagby. The Ion vision for Eagle is great, and it was definitely wise of them to choose to focus on a side street, rather than a major street, but Fannin can be quite loud, and we've seen a lot businesses struggle to come to life because (or, rather, presumably partly because) of this.

 

Obviously, Fannin serves a key decongestive function for Downtown car commuters, but I think the Midtown section of Bagby has been a good demonstration of how efficient traffic flow can be on a (reasonably) well-designed two-lane one-way street. 

I have no expertise whatsoever, but think you could see similarly effective overall traffic flow while reducing the number of cars exceeding 40mph.

If we need empirical evidence for improved traffic flow with a reduction in speed limits, I have a few cities skylines worlds to prove this

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[X.R.]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:09 AM, 004n063 said:

I wonder if the Midtown TIRZ would be willing to consider a Fannin redesign à la Caroline or Bagby. The Ion vision for Eagle is great, and it was definitely wise of them to choose to focus on a side street, rather than a major street, but Fannin can be quite loud, and we've seen a lot businesses struggle to come to life because (or, rather, presumably partly because) of this.

 

Obviously, Fannin serves a key decongestive function for Downtown car commuters, but I think the Midtown section of Bagby has been a good demonstration of how efficient traffic flow can be on a (reasonably) well-designed two-lane one-way street. 

I have no expertise whatsoever, but think you could see similarly effective overall traffic flow while reducing the number of cars exceeding 40mph.

Fanin is currently two-lanes at certain sections because of the construction and its not creating crazy traffic. I've taken it in the morning, the mid afternoon, and 5-6pm, and even with the construction its not bad. They could easily eliminate a lane. Doing a combo pedestrian/biking lane with ample trees along Fanin would do a lot for the area. People hit 45mph pretty easily on the street and its wide, feels almost like a feeder road at times. They don't even need a bike lane, but just taking some street away would do a lot for the feel of that part of Midtown. Its no surprise that once you pass 59, the street slows drastically. So if the Museum district can do it, so can Midtown!

[phillip_white]

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

Looks like they're about to start striping.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[77002er]

Nice to see a lot of seating for the homeless to set up house.

[monarch]

1 hour ago, 77002er said:

Nice to see a lot of seating for the homeless to set up house.

^^^ actually, "the homeless" are not only human beings, they are citizens of our fair city.  please BE BETTER!

[004n063]

12 hours ago, 77002er said:

Nice to see a lot of seating for the homeless to set up house.

Nice to see a lot of seating for like, ya know, sitting. Sometimes it's really nice to be able to sit down when you've been walking for a while.

[phillip_white]

18 hours ago, hindesky said:

I drove by the garage recently and was extremely impressed with the level of detail and expense Rice has put into it. I can only imagine how good the future phases are going to look.

[Big E]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:40 AM, 004n063 said:

Nice to see a lot of seating for like, ya know, sitting. Sometimes it's really nice to be able to sit down when you've been walking for a while.

There are in fact outdoor seats specifically designed to discourage people doing things like sitting on them for long periods of time or laying down on them, to discourage the homeless for congregating. Japan uses them all the time. These seats may not be designed with that in mind, though they probably should be, to encourage people to sit while not encouraging vagrants to congregate.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[77002er]

On 5/6/2023 at 10:03 PM, monarch said:

^^^ actually, "the homeless" are not only human beings, they are citizens of our fair city.  please BE BETTER!

I will when they stop harassing me on a daily basis

[hindesky]

[editor]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:43 PM, Big E said:

There are in fact outdoor seats specifically designed to discourage people doing things like sitting on them for long periods of time or laying down on them, to discourage the homeless for congregating. Japan uses them all the time. These seats may not be designed with that in mind, though they probably should be, to encourage people to sit while not encouraging vagrants to congregate.

That design also discourages skateboarders from using them as launching and sliding pads.

[monarch]

^^^ @hindesky superb illustrations!

[hindesky]

As certain heavy industry sectors make plans to decarbonize their activities, a Greentown Labs Houston member looking to serve those potential clients landed significant funding.

New York-based Ambient Fuels, which has a coworking space at Greentown Labs' San Jacinto Street location, landed up to $250 million from San Francisco-based Generate Capital for planned green hydrogen projects.

[bobruss]

I've heard from reliable sources that this whole project is going to slow down. With Rice's new administration, and reorganization of Rices direction they are rethinking their future plans for Ion, and a hoped for master plan for  Rice's property in the Village.  They have released their real estate team and reorganizing their priorities. They have dropped RDA which has been an important community compass helping to guide the city in the right direction. Apparently this project doesnt fit in with the new direction Rice plans to go. I hope this isn't true but I do trust my source.

[Houston19514]

https://www.ricedesignalliance.org/about/faq#:~:text=RDA discontinued all fundraising activities,fundraising as a standalone entity.

"This evolution is a shift away from a fundraising-dependent, membership-based model—which it became over the course of 50 years—back to RDA’s original mission, which is focused on urban and design advocacy in Houston and beyond with more direct community engagement."

Edited May 21 by Houston19514

[BEES?!]

I wonder what “new direction” they want to go in? That’s so disappointing! This is one of the most exciting and promising developments in the city :(

[texan]

To confound matters more, this post from a director at the Ion says the Ion District is growing from 300k sqf to 3M.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joeysanchez_ionaf-ionhouston-iondistrict-activity-7064970171894935555-SVp0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

[Dewey]

19 hours ago, bobruss said:

I've heard from reliable sources that this whole project is going to slow down. With Rice's new administration, and reorganization of Rices direction they are rethinking their future plans for Ion, and a hoped for master plan for  Rice's property in the Village.  They have released their real estate team and reorganizing their priorities. They have dropped RDA which has been an important community compass helping to guide the city in the right direction. Apparently this project doesnt fit in with the new direction Rice plans to go. I hope this isn't true but I do trust my source.

At least we now have that parking garage to compliment the existing surface parking lots. I was worried we wouldn't have enough in Midtown. 

[Houston19514]

On 5/21/2023 at 1:12 PM, bobruss said:

I've heard from reliable sources that this whole project is going to slow down. With Rice's new administration, and reorganization of Rices direction they are rethinking their future plans for Ion, and a hoped for master plan for  Rice's property in the Village.  They have released their real estate team and reorganizing their priorities. They have dropped RDA which has been an important community compass helping to guide the city in the right direction. Apparently this project doesnt fit in with the new direction Rice plans to go. I hope this isn't true but I do trust my source.

I'm curious if there have been any actions taken or even statements made by Rice's new administration that show they are reorganizing Rice's direction?

This sounds like typical campus rumor mill that spins like crazy when a university gets a new President.

I also note that in January they launched a "Building Rice's Future" planning process, so it's unlikely any major changes in direction regarding The Ion would have been decided before the planning process is completed (and the process is planned to take all year).

Somewhat related; the new President has pretty cool video  on this page:

https://president.rice.edu/

 

Edited May 22 by Houston19514

[clutchcity94]

14 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

I'm curious if there have been any actions taken or even statements made by Rice's new administration that show they are reorganizing Rice's direction?

This sounds like typical campus rumor mill that spins like crazy when a university gets a new President.

Somewhat related; the new President has pretty cool video  on this page:

https://president.rice.edu/

 

He looks very much like former Rocket Mario Elie!

#UserNameChecksOut

[bobruss]

This wasn't from a student rumor mill. This came from an architect who I trust would know.

[Houston19514]

1 minute ago, bobruss said:

This wasn't from a student rumor mill. This came from an architect who I trust would know.

It's not only students who engage in rumor mills . . .  especially when it comes to academia.  😉

Edited May 22 by Houston19514

[bobruss]

19514 This architect has no relationship to Rice except for his firms work. He does have insight into the changers that are happening from within. 

[Houston19514]

6 minutes ago, bobruss said:

19514 This architect has no relationship to Rice except for his firms work. He does have insight into the changers that are happening from within. 

Okay.  We'll see what the future holds.

[mkultra25]

5 hours ago, clutchcity94 said:

He looks very much like former Rocket Mario Elie!

Could be cause for concern if someone spots him doing this.

[clutchcity94]

1 hour ago, mkultra25 said:

Could be cause for concern if someone spots him doing this.

Kiss of death for the Ion??

[CREguy13]

On 5/21/2023 at 11:35 PM, texan said:

To confound matters more, this post from a director at the Ion says the Ion District is growing from 300k sqf to 3M.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joeysanchez_ionaf-ionhouston-iondistrict-activity-7064970171894935555-SVp0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

HBJ released an interview this morning with Jan Odergard, Executive Director at the Ion.  Maybe the above architect source was referring to Rice walking away from having a lead role in future development of the District? Jan mentioned they were going to JV and essentially get out of the way on the development side.  Pretty clear from the article they are extremely bullish on the area's growth potential in the near to long term. This has been my experience of working in the building, the energy is palpable and constantly buzzing with activity.

Lot of talk on Multifamily in the interview... I'm guessing this is next.

[ChannelTwoNews]

2 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

HBJ released an interview this morning with Jan Odergard, Executive Director at the Ion.  Maybe the above architect source was referring to Rice walking away from having a lead role in future development of the District? Jan mentioned they were going to JV and essentially get out of the way on the development side.  Pretty clear from the article they are extremely bullish on the area's growth potential in the near to long term. This has been my experience of working in the building, the energy is palpable and constantly buzzing with activity.

Lot of talk on Multifamily in the interview... I'm guessing this is next.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/05/24/ion-district-houston-jan-odegard.html

[houstontexasjack]

7 hours ago, ChannelTwoNews said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/05/24/ion-district-houston-jan-odegard.html

@ChannelTwoNews or @CREguy13 - would either of y’all be able to quote snippets from the article?  It’s paywalled.

[79ta]

Quote

Face to Face: The Ion's executive director has big plans for the new district

The Ion stands in Houston’s Midtown as a symbol of the future and a reference to the city’s past. The sleek building opened in 2021 after an expansive $100 million renovation to bring the 1939 Sears department store into this century.

The innovation hub plays host to several technology giants, such as Chevron, Microsoft and Transwestern, but the vision is to be more than the landlord of innovators. The Ion District will eventually stretch across the 16 acres controlled by Rice Management Co. to become a destination for entrepreneurs and collaborators to gather for work and play, with retail, restaurants and, potentially, multifamily living.

The building is already 86% leased, with the recent addition of 10 tenants including Rice University’s Office of Innovation. The opening of the highly anticipated Late August restaurant by "Top Chef" alumna chef Dawn Burrell is set for this June, which promises to draw even more attention and visitors to the Ion.

Executive Director Jan Odegard has been involved with the Ion since it opened its doors, first as senior director for industry and academic partnerships. Odegard spent more than 18 years at Rice University, with his last position as the executive director of Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology.

What is the thought process behind the Ion’s development and tenants?

When we started thinking about building our innovation hub, it was like, “Well, what is that and what ingredients does it need to have,” and it became very clear very quickly that you have to create a place where people want to be. It needs to be mixed-use because you need to have different stakeholders feel like this is a home for them. So, we have restaurants and food and beverages.

We have programs and open spaces with our partners and for our partners. We also needed to figure out flexible office access, so there’s a place for that, and we have coworking spaces in the building. And then we wanted to have corporations in the building that was part of that full value chain — for entrepreneurs with ideas that want to get into the tech ecosystem to collide with people that are looking for a talent pipeline and looking for new companies and startups.

We wanted to build the entire ecosystem and then repeat it across the district and actually add even more dimensionality to it so that it truly becomes a place where you want to never leave. You want to come here, be here, live here, work here, play here, so that’s an important part of what we do.

The initial build-up was done as a strategic investment by Rice’s endowment. Future ones will be done more as a joint venture with developers where we’re looking that they will invest in most of the vertical while we kind of do land leases and some ground plane activation

 

Why do you think multifamily living options need to be included in the Ion District?

I think this is what people are looking for. You’re looking for that place where your office is next door and you have access to things that you wouldn’t have access to otherwise. I think all of these spaces are amenities that actually create value even for residential spaces. If I think about myself, I want to live in a place where I have access to restaurants and people that are changing the world and whatnot, and I don’t want to get in my car. I’d rather leave my car in the garage. I may be biased because I’m European.

We’re already making significant investments. We’re continuing to make those investments in the city. We’re going to be announcing a couple of other things and strategic investments in that portfolio very soon. There’s more coming and we’re one year in with that report, we’ve just started year two deployment. So there’s a lot more to come there, but we are seeing that traction, we’re seeing the engagement.

1 hour ago, houstontexasjack said:

@ChannelTwoNews or @CREguy13 - would either of y’all be able to quote snippets from the article?  It’s paywalled.

Here are a couple of snippets that jumped out to me

Edited May 25 by 79ta

[Houston19514]

21 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

HBJ released an interview this morning with Jan Odergard, Executive Director at the Ion.  Maybe the above architect source was referring to Rice walking away from having a lead role in future development of the District? Jan mentioned they were going to JV and essentially get out of the way on the development side.  Pretty clear from the article they are extremely bullish on the area's growth potential in the near to long term. This has been my experience of working in the building, the energy is palpable and constantly buzzing with activity.

Lot of talk on Multifamily in the interview... I'm guessing this is next.

I think joint venturing the development of the district has always been the plan.

[CREguy13]

2 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

I think joint venturing the development of the district has always been the plan.

Definitely, just wasn't sure if that may have been where a possible disconnect was on Rice's course correction/reorg as it relates to their involvement in the District going forward.

[bobruss]

I hope that's the case.

[toxtethogrady]

On 5/25/2023 at 9:56 AM, CREguy13 said:

Definitely, just wasn't sure if that may have been where a possible disconnect was on Rice's course correction/reorg as it relates to their involvement in the District going forward.

Given the news I've seen of new participants, the Ion itself is nearly fully subscribed, Oxy's come on board as a partner and the Greentown Labs are acquiring new tenants. It seems like 3 million sf is an achievable number. 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[004n063]

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

"Welcoming" - unless you want to sit on a bench at 9AM on a Sunday...

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://perscholas.org/news/per-scholas-expands-tech-training-to-houston/

"National tech training nonprofit Per Scholas today announced its expansion to Houston, joining Ion District, Houston’s 16-acre innovation district developed by Rice University. Through an innovative relationship with Ion, Per Scholas Houston will offer its tuition-free technology skills training from its newest campus located at 4201 Main Street."