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Big Tex Storage At 4503 Montrose Blvd.


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It's not about whether they'll be just fine. It's that they could do better.

You're the expert... Do you actually think that location would be detrimental to leasing?

Say the bldg moved 1 mile west to Shepherd... Better freeway access in exchange for worse freeway visibility and less walkable location. And this isn't I-10 past 8 where 99% of the traffic comes by freeway... its the heart of the city where people can come from every direction.

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The Campanile collection of office buildings on Montrose near Richmond have been fairly successful. If this gets buit, it will have several things going for it. It'll have great visibility. With only 74,000 square feet but within close proximity to UST, Rice, the museums, Park Plaza Hospital, and the TMC, they could very well just fill the space with smaller local firms. Additionally, within about .5 miles, you can get on the Spur, US 59 at Shepherd or onto 288.

The building is going to be super slender too. If all floors are the same, floor plates will only be around 12,150 sq feet per floor.

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Since when was immediate, fall-over-and-you're-there freeway access the be all and end all of development? This is as far from most of the Medical Center to a freeway and that seems to have done reasonably well.

Maybe office workers want a walkable environment just as much. Sooner or later you have to take a breath and start building, y'know, further away from the freeway.

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You're the expert... Do you actually think that location would be detrimental to leasing?

Say the bldg moved 1 mile west to Shepherd... Better freeway access in exchange for worse freeway visibility and less walkable location. And this isn't I-10 past 8 where 99% of the traffic comes by freeway... its the heart of the city where people can come from every direction.

If at Montrose & 59, a driver would exit Main Street or Fannin Street from 59 and then drive nearly a mile via Richmond...with auto traffic interacting awkwardly with light rail the whole way. Alternately, they could traverse neighborhood streets with stop signs and cut down the mileage...and maybe a few seconds. That's a hassle.

I'd argue that the stretch of Shepherd between 59 and Richmond is far more walkable (if not as pretty) than the same section of Montrose. There's much more to do, light rail access will be just the same (and will provide access to Montrose, if someone wants to go walk around there), and more importantly than anything... there's better freeway access and visibility. I know many of us on HAIF don't care, but the out-of-state institutional investors that will likely rubber-stamp the financing of this project will absolutely care.

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If at Montrose & 59, a driver would exit Main Street or Fannin Street from 59 and then drive nearly a mile via Richmond...with auto traffic interacting awkwardly with light rail the whole way. Alternately, they could traverse neighborhood streets with stop signs and cut down the mileage...and maybe a few seconds. That's a hassle.

I'd argue that the stretch of Shepherd between 59 and Richmond is far more walkable (if not as pretty) than the same section of Montrose. There's much more to do, light rail access will be just the same (and will provide access to Montrose, if someone wants to go walk around there), and more importantly than anything... there's better freeway access and visibility. I know many of us on HAIF don't care, but the out-of-state institutional investors that will likely rubber-stamp the financing of this project will absolutely care.

It's walkable, sure, but that part of Montrose has more tree cover and more pedestrian-oriented businesses

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There used to be a southbound exit at Blodgett & Garrott and a southbound entrance as well, but I don't think they're there anymore. Who knows what the configuration will be when they sink the rest of the 59 to 288.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=houston,+tx&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.626896,112.851562&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ll=29.732621,-95.385484&spn=0.001442,0.003444&t=h&z=19

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There used to be a southbound exit at Blodgett & Garrott and a southbound entrance as well, but I don't think they're there anymore. Who knows what the configuration will be when they sink the rest of the 59 to 288.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=houston,+tx&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.626896,112.851562&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ll=29.732621,-95.385484&spn=0.001442,0.003444&t=h&z=19

I remember the entrance ramp, it's still there but has a barrier blocking access to all except emergency vehicles. I just don't remember the exit ramp at Blodgett.

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If at Montrose & 59, a driver would exit Main Street or Fannin Street from 59 and then drive nearly a mile via Richmond...with auto traffic interacting awkwardly with light rail the whole way. Alternately, they could traverse neighborhood streets with stop signs and cut down the mileage...and maybe a few seconds. That's a hassle.

I'd argue that the stretch of Shepherd between 59 and Richmond is far more walkable (if not as pretty) than the same section of Montrose. There's much more to do, light rail access will be just the same (and will provide access to Montrose, if someone wants to go walk around there), and more importantly than anything... there's better freeway access and visibility. I know many of us on HAIF don't care, but the out-of-state institutional investors that will likely rubber-stamp the financing of this project will absolutely care.

I think this location has an advanatage over Shepherd because of everything that is also to the south, and every bit as walkable (thanks in no small part to being accessed by a bridge and not walking under the freeway) as what lies to the North. For an office worker, I guess it's about lunch and maybe something after work. But in 3 blocks north, you get Nippon, Kam's, Nelore, Zimms, Thai Sticks, Brasserie Max & Julie, and a CV, bank, optical store, etc.. A a block or two more and you are in Black Lab country. Walk south over the freeway and within a few blocks you have Chelsea Market, Danton's, Ernie's on Banks and that park right there. Walk another few and you hit the Art Museums and Hermann Park.

At the end of the day, I'm not really sure how relevant either location is to the average office worker -- it's not like most of them are going to walk to Soundwaves or Cactus on their lunch break. But if you think about what a 10 minute walk in any direction gets you from 59 and Montrose, it's kind of staggering. Given my choice of working in a building at this spot, or the one that currently resides ant the NE corner of 59 and Shepherd, I think this one offers more appealing reasons to step outside.

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This is Houston. Companies will care much more about freeway access than walkability.

The only tenants that would lease this building are small companies whose CEOs live in that neighborhood. That won't fill up the whole building, so they would need some boutique architecture or advertising firm or something along those lines to take 1-2 floors before this thing is even considered to get off the ground.

I may be skeptical, but I just don't see this thing happening. There is a much better chance of that Galleria building being built, in my opinion.

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I think this location has an advanatage over Shepherd because of everything that is also to the south, and every bit as walkable (thanks in no small part to being accessed by a bridge and not walking under the freeway) as what lies to the North. For an office worker, I guess it's about lunch and maybe something after work. But in 3 blocks north, you get Nippon, Kam's, Nelore, Zimms, Thai Sticks, Brasserie Max & Julie, and a CV, bank, optical store, etc.. A a block or two more and you are in Black Lab country. Walk south over the freeway and within a few blocks you have Chelsea Market, Danton's, Ernie's on Banks and that park right there. Walk another few and you hit the Art Museums and Hermann Park.

At the end of the day, I'm not really sure how relevant either location is to the average office worker -- it's not like most of them are going to walk to Soundwaves or Cactus on their lunch break. But if you think about what a 10 minute walk in any direction gets you from 59 and Montrose, it's kind of staggering. Given my choice of working in a building at this spot, or the one that currently resides ant the NE corner of 59 and Shepherd, I think this one offers more appealing reasons to step outside.

Shepherd has more, closer. I shall enumerate the options within a quarter-mile and without even crossing a freeway:

Whataburger, 59 Diner, Lexington Grille, Saffron Moroccan Cuisine, Mia Bella Trattoria, Star Pizza, Le Peep, James Coney Island, Ale House, Doubledave's Pizzaworks, Don Lito's Mexican Restaurant, Starbucks, Freebirds World Burrito, Pot Pie Pizzeria, Bush's Delicatessen, Zoe's Kitchen, Amy's, Azteca's Bar & Grill, Jime's Sports Bar, Mezzanine Lounge, McElroy's Pub, Davenport, FedEx/Kinko's, Frost Bank, Joel's Classical (music) Shop, Academy, Quarter Price Books, and...if I'm not mistaken, plenty of other establishments that Google Earth doesn't pick up.

The sight lines are clearer; the businesses more visible, accessible, and known. And that's important. You have to understand...most people are lazy, unadventurous, and uninquisitive. Other people won't walk, ever. A fair number of the remainder are cheapskates, myself among them. Montrose is not the place for me. Whataburger is far and away superior to anything available there at a fraction of the price.

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Shepherd has more, closer. I shall enumerate the options within a quarter-mile and without even crossing a freeway:

Whataburger, 59 Diner, Lexington Grille, Saffron Moroccan Cuisine, Mia Bella Trattoria, Star Pizza, Le Peep, James Coney Island, Ale House, Doubledave's Pizzaworks, Don Lito's Mexican Restaurant, Starbucks, Freebirds World Burrito, Pot Pie Pizzeria, Bush's Delicatessen, Zoe's Kitchen, Amy's, Azteca's Bar & Grill, Jime's Sports Bar, Mezzanine Lounge, McElroy's Pub, Davenport, FedEx/Kinko's, Frost Bank, Joel's Classical (music) Shop, Academy, Quarter Price Books, and...if I'm not mistaken, plenty of other establishments that Google Earth doesn't pick up.

The sight lines are clearer; the businesses more visible, accessible, and known. And that's important. You have to understand...most people are lazy, unadventurous, and uninquisitive. Other people won't walk, ever. A fair number of the remainder are cheapskates, myself among them. Montrose is not the place for me. Whataburger is far and away superior to anything available there at a fraction of the price.

Personal taste also enters the equation. Montrose has a feel to it that that strip of Shepherd with the hulking, roaring, whining highway towering over everything, will never have. The sinking of 59 was one of the best things to happen to Montrose, I used to cringe walking or biking under the freeway there. Montrose wins - by a street, if you will...;-P

Edited by sidegate
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Personal taste also enters the equation. Montrose has a feel to it that that strip of Shepherd with the hulking, roaring, whining highway towering over everything, will never have. The sinking of 59 was one of the best things to happen to Montrose, I used to cringe walking or biking under the freeway there. Montrose wins - by a street, if you will...;-P

I am with you on this. I have walked all around the Shepherd Plaza Area a million times and there are so many curb cuts in the sidewalk that you have to walk with your head on a swivel to avoid people backing out of the strip centers and pulling into the same. There is already an office building at Shepherd and 59 and when I visualize walking from there to JCI or God Forbid Freebirds, I just think hot, sunny, loud, exhaust, trying not to get hit. Don't forget there is also a Subway, Joel's Classical Shop, a camera store, and a number of modeling spas which make it an ideal area for an office worker who wants to take a walk on his lunch hour and get a hummer while he gets is violin and camera fixed. I don't know, maybe Shepherd has it after all.

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All they are trying to do is lease 64,000 square feet of office space. The rest of the building will have a restaurant space and an art gallery.

This isn't a huge building. That space could easily be gobbled up just like the series of buildings in the Campanile (about 6 office buildings on both sides of Montrose @ Richmond). A small law firm, doctor's offices, spillover from UST or any number of museums, architectural firms, medical supply firms, etc... might all be attracted to that area.

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All they are trying to do is lease 64,000 square feet of office space. The rest of the building will have a restaurant space and an art gallery.

This isn't a huge building. That space could easily be gobbled up just like the series of buildings in the Campanile (about 6 office buildings on both sides of Montrose @ Richmond). A small law firm, doctor's offices, spillover from UST or any number of museums, architectural firms, medical supply firms, etc... might all be attracted to that area.

then again, they might get the same people that might be running away from 3400 Montrose. Scott Gertner isn't the only one that ran out of the building at the first opportunity.

I'm sure there would be a few business in there that might stick it out until this building is finished to move in.

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All they are trying to do is lease 64,000 square feet of office space. The rest of the building will have a restaurant space and an art gallery.

This isn't a huge building. That space could easily be gobbled up just like the series of buildings in the Campanile (about 6 office buildings on both sides of Montrose @ Richmond). A small law firm, doctor's offices, spillover from UST or any number of museums, architectural firms, medical supply firms, etc... might all be attracted to that area.

Several years ago, you'd have been absolutely right (except for the medical bent on account of that doctors' offices, which perform poorly when the building is not affiliated with a hospital, and medical supply places tend to like having lower rent and more flex space). Nothing has changed on the medical side, and meanwhile, the number of out-of-work architects is staggering.

The bigger problem, though, is that a willing investor in new office buildings is a rare bird. That person has their pick of some awesome sites. Is this really the best there is? I don't think so. I think Shepherd and 59 beats Montrose handily because it has broader appeal. Why risk a narrower appeal, even if it isn't very large? There are stronger sites to be had. Skanska's was mentioned earlier, but I also think that several investments in smaller office buildings in the urban core would be a better idea than this plan. An idea better still would be picking up new-ish commercial foreclosures. Plenty of those to go around, and at a fraction of the cost of a new-build. This project just seems strategically unsound from a contemporary investment perspective.

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You confuse my observations with my ways. And you know nothing of my ways.

Not sure if this is worth replying to further, but you know what i mean. Conventionality is boring. I like to see people do things differently. I'd like to see them build an office building with street level retail half a mile from the nearest highway onramp, and I'd like to see it succeed. What Houston needs is more unconventional development like this, not more of the same. They can put another boring box up on an access road somewhere without retail and I'm sure it will do fine, but Montrose needs something like this.

If it was located at Shepherd and 59 it could work as well, but I like the way the street level retail will compliment the retail already on Montrose which is already more pedestrian friendly than Shepherd (ie: less parking lots in front, better shade, more tree cover, better access to the light rail etc). Park of the key to a successful urban neighborhood in my opinion is a critical mass of businesses that people feel comfortable walking between. The businesses don't just need to be close, they need to be planned in a way that makes people want to walk. Tree cover, shade, and a lack of large parking lots all help. Since we don't have planning here, we have to rely on developers to make an effort to do that, which seems to happen so rarely. I like the idea of adding onto what Montrose already has rather than putting it up on Shepheard which is not likely to become as nice of a place to walk around any time soon.

Plus, I live in Montrose! :)

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Plus, I live in Montrose! :)

Me too.

Seriously, who would want to live around that Shepherd/59 mess in a midrise? Retail may do better over there, but it's not a neighborhood atmosphere. It's a cluster of businesses and traffic.

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You can tell I wrote that last post in a rush.. it's full of grammar error and I don't think I can edit it anymore :(! please forgive my errors. I meant to say I live near Montrose. I live close to the corner of Montrose and Main so I feel like I can say I live in Montrose and/or the Museum District, but I spend a lot of my time in and around the Montrose area and I'd like to see something like this built there.

Edited by Jax
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They can put another boring box up on an access road somewhere without retail and I'm sure it will do fine, but Montrose needs something like this.

But as you pointed out, this isn't just a conventional box...and (you think that) Montrose is already more pedestrian-friendly. Putting this near Shepherd would help that area come into its own.

Why should one area that is already nice be made nicer while neighborhoods not as nice get snubbed? Perhaps you's also favor tax cuts exclusively for the rich to encourage them to spend more money on nicer homes, while the rest of us must make do with what we have. Clearly this is the conventional line of thought on this thread. You all should think more unconventionally. Like me.

Edited by TheNiche
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M59.JPG

Midway is also developing M Fifty Nine (rendered above), a Class A office building in the Museum District. It’ll be 13 floors with 74k SF of office space and 7k SF of ground-level retail. Once construction starts in 1Q11, look for it at the intersection of Montrose and 59 — it'll be easy to spot off the highway. The property is designed by Munoz Albin and will have great views of downtown; a GC hasn't been selected. Midway is working with Stream on preleasing and is ramping up the possibility of building another hotel in the Med Center.

http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=9684

I like it... :)

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But as you pointed out, this isn't just a conventional box...and (you think that) Montrose is already more pedestrian-friendly. Putting this near Shepherd would help that area come into its own.

Why should one area that is already nice be made nicer while neighborhoods not as nice get snubbed? Perhaps you's also favor tax cuts exclusively for the rich to encourage them to spend more money on nicer homes, while the rest of us must make do with what we have. Clearly this is the conventional line of thought on this thread. You all should think more unconventionally. Like me.

Because adding more pedestrian Fridley retail to Montrose will make more of an impact than adding one pedestrian friendly development to Shepherd. I like the idea of getting a critical mass of walkable stuff on one street rather than spreading it all around. That's sort of the idea of urban planning and zoning. Since we don't have zoning here, we just have to hope that developers will make the right decisions to build great neighborhoods, and I think putting this place on Montrose is the right idea. I also think West Ave would have been way better at Montrose and Westhiemer than Kirby and Westhimer for the same reason but c'est la vie.

No, I don't favor excessive tax cuts to the rich. Why is that relevant here? Don't even answer that because it would be off topic.

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Because adding more pedestrian Fridley retail to Montrose will make more of an impact than adding one pedestrian friendly development to Shepherd.

I happen to agree, but only because Montrose lacks the critical mass that Shepherd already has. Shepherd already makes so much more sense for a development aimed at pedestrian-friendliness that it would achieve only diminishing returns and also comprise an inequitable distribution of new pedestrian-friendly developments.

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I also think West Ave would have been way better at Montrose and Westhiemer than Kirby and Westhimer for the same reason but c'est la vie.

Montrose tenants won't pay Kirby rents. Anything like West Ave. was never really an option at Montrose and Westheimer. And thank goodness, because Kirby tenants would completely ruin the appeal of Montrose.

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Montrose tenants won't pay Kirby rents. Anything like West Ave. was never really an option at Montrose and Westheimer. And thank goodness, because Kirby tenants would completely ruin the appeal of Montrose.

ditto!

does anyone know if the montrose blvd conservancy is still kicking? the walkable montrose plan would certainly solidify this area as "walkable".

i like this location for this building; however, i'd like it even more if the montrose blvd improvements were progressing. i do not see any activity on the conservancy website since '08.

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ditto!

does anyone know if the montrose blvd conservancy is still kicking? the walkable montrose plan would certainly solidify this area as "walkable".

i like this location for this building; however, i'd like it even more if the montrose blvd improvements were progressing. i do not see any activity on the conservancy website since '08.

My guess would be that that, like many other things, is a victim of the recession?

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Me too.

Seriously, who would want to live around that Shepherd/59 mess in a midrise? Retail may do better over there, but it's not a neighborhood atmosphere. It's a cluster of businesses and traffic.

I think I got confused at some point. This is to be office/retail, not residential/retail. At any rate, I think it'll look cool there.

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