houstontexasjack Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 In addition to the transit possibilities for this development, there’s also the potential to abut park space with the planned trenching of 59/69 next door and the potential for a cap over the future below-grade freeway. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 The article below contains images of the art deco structure under the panels. I have no idea how faithful the images are to what's actually underneath the panels these days. I'd like to see Rice evaluate a potential way to utilize the art-deco structure if it has been somewhat well-preserved, but, given the lack of windows on it, I am not optimistic it could be turned into marketable office space without substantial structural alteration. It has an odd layout--one floor of below grade space with a couple up above. It might be configured into a boutique movie theater (thinking something along the lines of iPic or the AMC Dine-In cinemas) where the lack of windows is a plus. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/The-Sears-That-Was-6198716.php 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Per Nextdoor: Police Officer Tasharra Brown, Houston Police AGENCY Sears!!! Good morning Everyone, We are starting this new week off on a good foot! We are excited to report to you that South Central DRT officers have teamed up with the management company of the Sears, located between Main St and Fannin St., just off of Wheeler; to have the building and the offset parking lot all fenced in at this time. It is all cleaned up and ready for planning and development actions. It is definitely a start to making our communities a better and safer place to reside and do business! We are excited about what the area will become. Please be patient with us as we are working around the clock to address all the issues you may have; including, but not limited to: clean-up, homeless population, crime rates, etc. All of these issues are being addressed through the proper channels and procedures...we prefer to get it right the first time so there's no repeat necessary. Remember all we do is for you guys to be safe and live comfortable, so please cooperate with us to make it great for you.Have a great week! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 4 hours ago, houstontexasjack said: In addition to the transit possibilities for this development, there’s also the potential to abut park space with the planned trenching of 59/69 next door and the potential for a cap over the future below-grade freeway. Thanks to the planned trenching and inevitable 5 plus years of construction that will come with that I suspect that the location will be flattened and leased to the state as a place where construction equipment can be staged as part of the project. and that no serious projects occur until after 59 is redone through the area. If memory serves, trenching 59 through here is planned to be the first part of the whole project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxConcrete Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 30 minutes ago, samagon said: If memory serves, trenching 59 through here is planned to be the first part of the whole project? You are correct, the first planned construction of the overall downtown and IH 45 project is the section of IH 69 in Midtown. My perception (based on speaking to representatives at public meetings) is that they are proceeding full speed with design and will be ready for immediate work on right-of-way acquisition when the Record of Decision is received, which is expected this year. But I also heard that there is a last-ditch effort by northside interests to derail the entire project, which could delay the ROD, perhaps substantially. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 (edited) As I understand it, construction on the trenching is scheduled to commence third quarter 2020. The diagram found in the link below indicates where greenspace might be placed: http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs8/04-20170428_NHHIP_Seg3_I-69_RollPlot_PH_1-2.pdf Edit: This Houston Chronicle article references a "late 2020" start time: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/State-accelerates-start-time-for-major-I-45-10958185.php Edited February 19, 2018 by houstontexasjack 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specwriter Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 I rode past the now closed Sears on Main about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. There was a truck in the parking lot on the north side of the building taking core samples. That can only mean someone is thinking of erecting a structure on the site and needs to know the soil conditions to design the foundation. Exciting! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 (edited) To which side of the existing 69 roadway will the trenching occur and is there a plan that shows where it is proposed? North or south of existing roadway?I I have friends who live pretty close to both sides. Edited February 28, 2018 by bobruss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 From the Midtown/Museum District perspective, it looks like the proposed ROW of the trenching is not much different from the existing ROW, just going a little farther out than they have it now. From IH-45 North and More: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 (edited) Thanks Rechlin! I didn't even contemplate this and so now every major north south street in midtown and Wheeler from Main to Almedawill be torn out and replaced with bridges. Thats going to screw things up just a wee bit in Montrose Midtown and the med center. Traffic will be gridlocked all of the time with the Wheeler rail station. Years of head aches. What are they going to do about rail on San Jacinto since it looks like it will be torn up too? Just curious. How do they dig below these elevated freeways and keep traffic moving on 69 above while they tear out each intersection and trench below. Seems like a disaster movie in the making, or the biggest cluster fk ever. Thats whats nice about 288. Thy already had the right of way secured and fairly clear for all of these years. Edited February 28, 2018 by bobruss 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Wheeler and Caroline looks like a pretty significant intersection that is suspended above the freeway... logistics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Bob, It will be a mess for a long time coming. But, this is very similar a process that was done with 59, through Montrose/Museum Districts, where the arched bridges are now. This stretch was elevated before being placed below grade. This was done by feeding all traffic (both ways) to one side of the elevated structure, demolishing the abandoned structure, dig the new ROW, where the demolish structure stood. Redirect all traffic to new , depressed ROW. Repeat. It's something to watch. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Except now there's one of the most heavily traveled light rail lines in the country going over where they're going to trench 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 (edited) That makes sense, but I think I'll stay clear. The difference as far as scale of project is much different however except for the Montrose bridges. All of those other streets Hazard, Woodhead, Dunlavy, and Mandell, were fairly quiet with little traffic compared to Main, Fannin, San Jacinto with the rail line, Almeda and Wheeler. Edited February 28, 2018 by bobruss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 ^^ You are right about the amount of traffic on the Montrose streets, as opposed to most of these streets through midtown. And as I recall, all of the bridged streets in Montrose were closed as they built the arched bridges one by one. A major concern, at the time, was that alternate fire routes (and/or stations) , had to be created for emergency vehicles, south of 59. The Arched bridge design approach was taken so that there would be no columns on the new roadbed on 59, to keep the highway as narrow as possible and still accommodate the HOV lane. I doubt that this same requirement will be taken, or even possible, through the midtown section. The LR line will probably be rerouted by a little bit...but, certainly it will have to be closed to some time. Will be really interesting to see how it's all done. It's the most (if not only) fun of watching these big highway projects unfold. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 (edited) Well I wish I could snap my fingers and it would be all done because with all of this going on can you imagine the traffic nightmare on 69. It already backs up to Kirby just about every afternoon due to the pierce elevated bottleneck. I't will be backed up to Fondren when this is going on. Edited March 2, 2018 by bobruss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, bobruss said: Well I wish I could snap my fingers and it would be all done because with all of this going on can you imagine the traffic nightmare on 69. It already backs up to Kirby just about every afternoon due to the pierce elevated bottleneck. I't will be backed up to Fonder when this is going on. or 610 traffic will be even worse from people trying to go around the area... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 On 2/28/2018 at 2:43 PM, Naviguessor said: The LR line will probably be rerouted by a little bit...but, certainly it will have to be closed to some time I was thinking about it and thought "hey they could just run it as a single track" but nope - the red line goes under 59 now as a single pair of tracks, and only splits after 59. If I were TxDot, I would start the trenching by digging out either side under 59 for the train, close it one weekend and put in a pre-made support underneath it that would hold until they finish trenching the whole thing. I'd also do as much excavation work before closing the freeway as possible, but the traffic volume on the roads is high, especially Almeda and Fannin. Montrose would be the detour - and a parking lot 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 I brought this up for the green/purple lines awhile ago but forgot about the red line too. I’m curious what their plan is; probably close it to one track while they excavate and move on to the other after that’s finished. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 (edited) On 2/28/2018 at 1:49 PM, Avossos said: Wheeler and Caroline looks like a pretty significant intersection that is suspended above the freeway... logistics? The Downtown Connector in Atlanta has a few intersections above it. They just construct a very wide bridge to accommodate the intersection https://goo.gl/maps/iU7kGxtXMby On 2/28/2018 at 3:07 PM, bobruss said: Well I wish I could snap my fingers and it would be all done because with all of this going on can you imagine the traffic nightmare on 69. It already backs up to Kirby just about every afternoon due to the pierce elevated bottleneck. I't will be backed up to Fondren when this is going on. Another contributor to the traffic is the two left lanes branching away to become Spur 527. You have people weaving to get over to 527 and people weaving from the left lanes to stay on 59/69. This would be a good opportunity for them to relocate the 527 exit to the right lanes. I went to one of the neighborhood meetings and suggested it, but one of the workers said they thought it couldn't be done. I think it could be done. There's enough space since there'll be the same number of lanes. The only difference which side the exit is on. It'd just be a shifting of lanes and structures in the same space. Since the freeway will be depressed, there won't be a need for a high flying flyover. I guess they also might want to keep the Spur 527 exit ramp and HOV ramp on one structure, and having a Spur 527 exit from the right side would mean two separate structures. Edited March 2, 2018 by JLWM8609 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonMan Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 21 hours ago, JLWM8609 said: The Downtown Connector in Atlanta has a few intersections above it. They just construct a very wide bridge to accommodate the intersection https://goo.gl/maps/iU7kGxtXMby Another contributor to the traffic is the two left lanes branching away to become Spur 527. You have people weaving to get over to 527 and people weaving from the left lanes to stay on 59/69. This would be a good opportunity for them to relocate the 527 exit to the right lanes. I went to one of the neighborhood meetings and suggested it, but one of the workers said they thought it couldn't be done. I think it could be done. There's enough space since there'll be the same number of lanes. The only difference which side the exit is on. It'd just be a shifting of lanes and structures in the same space. Since the freeway will be depressed, there won't be a need for a high flying flyover. I guess they also might want to keep the Spur 527 exit ramp and HOV ramp on one structure, and having a Spur 527 exit from the right side would mean two separate structures. I don’t think it’s people jockeying for lane position that slows 59 down here. 59 inbound gets stacked up past Kirby every day because two lanes become dedicated to the Spur 527 exit, effectively bottlenecking the “through lanes” on 59, a major freeway, from five lanes to three at the spur. It’s the most insanely stupid design of a freeway I’ve ever seen! It looks like they address the issue in the redesign. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Although the spur cause some problems, the source of the backup goes to the split of 45 at the Pierce to Galveston and north to Dallas. Where you have to merge to one lane to get on the Pierce elevated. That is the bigger problem. It backs up 288 and 59 every day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbs315 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Fiesta Mart is being sold. Any idea as to whether this may influence keeping the one on San Jacinto open? https://www.chron.com/business/article/Houston-based-Fiesta-Mart-to-be-acquired-by-El-12780585.php 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 5 minutes ago, corbs315 said: Fiesta Mart is being sold. Any idea as to whether this may influence keeping the one on San Jacinto open? https://www.chron.com/business/article/Houston-based-Fiesta-Mart-to-be-acquired-by-El-12780585.php Probably not. The lease is still up in a couple of years, and the landlord wants to do something else with the property. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 4 hours ago, Ross said: Probably not. The lease is still up in a couple of years, and the landlord wants to do something else with the property. Have they said that? (That they want something else with the grocery portion of property?) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 8 hours ago, wilcal said: Have they said that? (That they want something else with the grocery portion of property?) Rice University bought that property when they bought out the rest of the Sears lease. I would not bet anything important that Fiesta will be there after their lease is up, since it would interfere with any big redevelopment plans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/04/04/exclusive-houstons-tech-innovation-district-slated.html?ana=twt New private and public deal to turn Sears into the heart of the innovation corridor. "The campus will be built over the next two years and is expected to act as the heart of what will serve as Houston's innovation corridor." 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted April 4, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 4, 2018 37 minutes ago, wilcal said: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/04/04/exclusive-houstons-tech-innovation-district-slated.html?ana=twt New private and public deal to turn Sears into the heart of the innovation corridor. "The campus will be built over the next two years and is expected to act as the heart of what will serve as Houston's innovation corridor." Houston's long-awaited startup hub, which proponents say will help Houston's burgeoning tech scene compete on a national scale, is coming to fruition. Private and public officials are closing in on a deal to develop the main campus of Houston's innovation district at 4201 Main St. — the site of the former Sears location in Midtown, sources close to the deal told to the Houston Business Journal. Rice University owns the land and will be involved in the innovation district's development, sources said. Sears Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD) had a storefront at 4201 Main St. for 73 years before closing in January 2018. Rice Management bought out the remaining 28 years of Sears’ 99-year ground lease and acquired another 3 acres from Sears. The former Sears store property sits on 6 acres of land, and the parcel contains an additional 3.4 acres of land for development. The campus will be built over the next two years and is expected to act as the heart of what will serve as Houston's innovation corridor. The innovation district is modeled after similar developments across the U.S. such as 1871, a digital startup incubator in Chicago. The Greater Houston Partnership and Rice University declined to comment. Houston Exponential, a nonprofit that aims to make Houston one of the top innovation ecosystems in the U.S., could not be reached for comment. John Reale, downtown incubator Station Houston's CEO and head of Houston Exponential's committee to create the innovation district, could not be reached for comment. A city of Houston spokesperson didn’t deny the innovation district is headed for Midtown in an emailed statement. The city has publicly embraced the creation of an innovation district. “With Houston’s submission for consideration by Amazon for its second US headquarters, the city broached the idea of an Innovation Corridor stretching from downtown to the Texas Medical Center and including UH-D, Rice University and HCC,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “With or without Amazon, the Corridor concept is among the key 'blueprints' for the dynamic Houston future that Mayor (Sylvester) Turner is facilitating. In time, the city will discuss development details as they ripen.” The 9.4-acre site is located between the Texas Medical Center and Midtown. The land isn't within the bounds of the Texas Medical Center, though, meaning that for-profit developments can be built on the land. Private entities including WeWork and The Cannon are expected to be involved in the innovation district. Lawson Gow, founder and CEO of co-working space The Cannon, said the innovation district is a turning point for Houston’s entrepreneurial scene. He said Houston’s sprawl creates the need for multiple innovation hubs such as The Cannon and the innovation district. “We’re going to collaborate increasingly,” Gow said. Andres Reiner, president and CEO at Houston-based Pros Holdings Inc., can see the future site of the innovation district from his ninth floor Midtown office at 3100 S. Main St. Pros (NYSE: PRO), one of the Bayou City’s largest publicly traded technology companies, expects to collaborate with the innovation district in the future. Reiner said there are many positives with the innovation district being located in Midtown due to the area's retail opportunities, access to parks and major freeways and growth in residential development. “This is a great area,” Reiner said. “We’ve been here for a long time — multiple decades. We love it. And we think it’s only getting better.” Before the former Sears site was selected, city officials were considering sites across the city, including the purchase of the former Surge Ventures LLC building at 177 West Gray St. in Midtown. The 5,370-square-foot office building was later bought by Weston Legal PLLC, a law firm. Then, officials considered making Midway's GreenStreet the site of the campus. Midway couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Plans for Houston's innovation corridor first surfaced when the city was submitting its bidto Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) for the company's proposed second headquarters. When Houston was passed over by Amazon, Bob Harvey, president of the GHP, called the rejection "a wake up call." “While there has been growing momentum in the innovation space over the last couple of years, this is a clear indication that we have much more work to do as a region to grow our digital economy," Harvey told the HBJ in January. “While we are the No. 1 market in the country for STEM talent, we need to bolster our pipeline of digital tech talent that is relevant to tomorrow’s digital economy. This means working with our higher education partners across the region to develop and invest in programs that will produce the talent we need to succeed.” 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Interesting. A lot of people don't know this but there are actually a good amount of incubators in the downtown and eastside... as a web developer, I frequent a lot of them. Wonder if they'll be setting up shop in this district. (Some incubators right now have their own buildings while some have taken over former gas business floors in downtown). Here's a picture of Station Houston in downtown: Quote The innovation district is modeled after similar developments across the U.S. such as 1871, a digital startup incubator in Chicago. Here's that Gensler project in Chicago: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Clean19 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I worry about Houston's ability to Innovate. We are very good with production and profit making enterprises. Taking ideas from other locations and making them profitable. People will point to O&G innovation but a lot of that is driven from Licensors located in Chicago, Germany, Italy and other overseas locations. I dont know enough about medical to say if this is really the location for innovation or if there are other places in the country that do more. We should never stop encouraging innovation but I dont think a high priced innovation coordinator is the answer. The more natural progression that is happening on the East End seems like the better option. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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