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East Downtown, Warehouse, Dynamo District Development


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…or whatever they are calling now.

With the majority of development occurring on the west side of the city these days, the news of the Dynamo breaking ground on their new stadium (on the east side of downtown) was a wonderful delight. I would hope that the new stadium along with its proposed six block promenade entrance will spur more development in the area and hopefully beyond towards the University of Houston.

I was thinking that the area could use another anchor towards the south. An entertainment venue, perhaps an extreme sports or X games Theme Park may be an idea or another skate park to lesser extent. I think they both would be excellent additions to the area. I think which ever park could be positioned between Leeland and Bell, just south of the proposed promenade.

Also, I may be Johnny come lately but East Downtown and the surrounding area has lots of obscure concert venues and the theme park seems to fit well with the area. I would like to hear other ideas for the area or about the chances of new development in the area? Thanks, just curious.

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I agree that the area is interesting and has a lot of potential, but seems to lack basic amenities that would attract residential development, like hike/bike trails (although I did see one sign nearby while attending the Dynamo event), parks and well paved roadways. The city should focus on those things to pave the way for additional rooftops.

3rd Ward to the south seems to have not changed from the last time I was over there many years ago. Not sure why. I would say that the Dynamo/Eado area will catch fire from here on out and spread east, not south, as there seems to be nothing but decaying warehouses for miles.

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They said the area was gonna revitalize when they built Minute Maid Park too; and again with the Toyota Center, the Hyatt hotel and the George R. Brown Convention Center. The truth is, the only thing that has successfully revitalized the area has been Discovery Green. I'm all for a skate park, but this mentioning of a theme park; I think that would take up too much space and destroy the feel of the area. Maybe wider sidewalks, improved roads would help that area. I think the ultimate direction and goal for that area would be for high-density residential development, it's a good neighborhood for that.

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They said the area was gonna revitalize when they built Minute Maid Park too; and again with the Toyota Center, the Hyatt hotel and the George R. Brown Convention Center. The truth is, the only thing that has successfully revitalized the area has been Discovery Green.

Elevated freeways are a powerful divider of neighborhoods. Anyone who seriously thought that stadiums and hotels built on one side would have an appreciable effect on the other side wasn't thinking clearly, or was eager to believe what the developers were selling.

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Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center could have spawned development around their respective areas on their side of the highway, but didn't. Discovery Green did, and Discovery Green was not able to cause development on the other side of the highway. Like Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center, the Dynamo Stadium will not spawn development outside of what is being built on the promenade.

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IMO, the development has been happening slowly over the past few years. think back to when MMP was called Enron field (maybe even a few years before that), what was there on the other side of 59? a bunch of busted warehouses and Booker T's wrestling academy?

Today east to west between Velasco and and 59, north to south between 45 and Texas you can't go 50 yards without seeing townhomes of varying quality.

Not to mention those condos near McKinny, the apartments at the ballpark, or whatever they're called.

there's Lucky's, Warehouse Live, and just recently a Little Woodrows.

and there are other places that are diving deeper into the east end than that, the moon tower.

The biggest thing though, used to when I heard people talking about the east end, it was always in tones of, wow, be careful, you may as well be going to Juarez, you are going to die.

Now though, people are asking questions about it, maybe it's cause I'm living here now, and I'm hearing more of the good that people are talking about the area, but I see people noticing it more.

Granted that comes with the good and bad, I imagine it's only a matter of time before I have to worry about irresponsible historic preservation in my neighborhood.

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Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center could have spawned development around their respective areas on their side of the highway, but didn't. Discovery Green did, and Discovery Green was not able to cause development on the other side of the highway. Like Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center, the Dynamo Stadium will not spawn development outside of what is being built on the promenade.

I know what you are talking about. But just think about all the places you mentioned:

The GRB

Toyota Center

Minute Maid Park

Discovery Green

Dynamo Stadium

I remember when there was NOTHING AT ALL in that part of town. Now there are at least 5 MAJOR draws (and rail coming soon), all within a few blocks of each other. Now that's what I call development.

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I agree that the area is interesting and has a lot of potential, but seems to lack basic amenities that would attract residential development, like hike/bike trails (although I did see one sign nearby while attending the Dynamo event), parks and well paved roadways. The city should focus on those things to pave the way for additional rooftops.

3rd Ward to the south seems to have not changed from the last time I was over there many years ago. Not sure why. I would say that the Dynamo/Eado area will catch fire from here on out and spread east, not south, as there seems to be nothing but decaying warehouses for miles.

Yea I was thinking more like east rather than south also, in particular along Leeland Avenue. I was thinking the combination of high density apartments and UH finally kicking it's commuter reputation that Leeland Ave. could be an economical Washington Ave type strip. Just dreamscaping. However I too think the skate park would be a better option for the area, not sure about it's redundancy. By the way, the area seems to scream for large sidewalks and some front end parking for whatever is planned.

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There is certainly a lot of potential for commercial along Leeland to the west of Cullen, but there's Oak Farms Dairy that I see throwing a big wrench with a lot of 18 wheeler traffic at all hours of the day.

There's a lot of empty lots, and vacant buildings along Leeland though for sure.

Down on Telephone there isn't as much vacant, with convenience stores, bus terminals, and laundromats, but there are already some gems mixed in.

I think most of us in the area are hoping for Kroger to step their game up and make Combat Kroger less dirty, and more updated.

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I would really love an indoor gun range. I bet some of those old warehouses would retrofit really well for that. Just add a bunch of soundproofing and reinforcement to the building shell. Or is that too easy? Niche, this could be your next east end RE venture!

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7918690 some information on the new park

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Niche, this could be your next east end RE venture!

No. I'm tired of having less than a percent of my total assets being liquid assets. I'm done with that ____.

Nobody whose job entails them providing real estate services should invest extensively in real estate.

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It was just a matter of time before developers, retailers, artists, and homebuyers took notice. I decided to stay/buy in the East End for this very reason....it's potential. I paid a hefty "price" for buying here (not going into details). IMO, development will continue to spread further east. Leeland is a great street, but I think Harrisburg has a greater chance for commercial/mixed-use. Polk has great potential. Canal/Navigation are wide streets, a magnet for retail/bars/restaurants. I often wondered why the huge empty land between the townhomes and Dodson Elementary isn't developed. If I only had the money.

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It was just a matter of time before developers, retailers, artists, and homebuyers took notice. I decided to stay/buy in the East End for this very reason....it's potential. I paid a hefty "price" for buying here (not going into details). IMO, development will continue to spread further east. Leeland is a great street, but I think Harrisburg has a greater chance for commercial/mixed-use. Polk has great potential. Canal/Navigation are wide streets, a magnet for retail/bars/restaurants. I often wondered why the huge empty land between the townhomes and Dodson Elementary isn't developed. If I only had the money.

I agree that Navigation is wider and offer a lot of opportunities also I have not been down Canal Street in years but I do recall the street possess a lot of character thus has potential as well. I would think that Polk and Leeland are very close on potential. However, the other streets offer so much more I can see where you are coming from. I was really trying to tie UH and kicking its commuter reputation in this somehow.

Back to my original idea, I really like the skate park idea. I also was thinking that an amphitheatre would be good also. The open air venue could be added to the park to host free Dynamo pre-game pep rallies, some live performances be it music or fine art and other events.

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I agree that Navigation is wider and offer a lot of opportunities also I have not been down Canal Street in years but I do recall the street possess a lot of character thus has potential as well. I would think that Polk and Leeland are very close on potential. However, the other streets offer so much more I can see where you are coming from. I was really trying to tie UH and kicking its commuter reputation in this somehow.

Back to my original idea, I really like the skate park idea. I also was thinking that an amphitheatre would be good also. The open air venue could be added to the park to host free Dynamo pre-game pep rallies, some live performances be it music or fine art and other events.

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It was just a matter of time before developers, retailers, artists, and homebuyers took notice. I decided to stay/buy in the East End for this very reason....it's potential. I paid a hefty "price" for buying here (not going into details). IMO, development will continue to spread further east. Leeland is a great street, but I think Harrisburg has a greater chance for commercial/mixed-use. Polk has great potential. Canal/Navigation are wide streets, a magnet for retail/bars/restaurants. I often wondered why the huge empty land between the townhomes and Dodson Elementary isn't developed. If I only had the money.

Good point. Not many years ago Washington Avenue was a forgotten street. Conventional wisdom understood that no one wanted to live (or open a business) in an ugly, failed industrial quarter near the railroad tracks. How quickly things change.

Deja vu all over again.

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Good point. Not many years ago Washington Avenue was a forgotten street. Conventional wisdom understood that no one wanted to live (or open a business) in an ugly, failed industrial quarter near the railroad tracks. How quickly things change.

Deja vu all over again.

it really is hard to believe that a short time ago, I was going to the garden in the heights. Now it's just a bunch of townhomes. When my parents first started dragging me there, no one lived in the area, when I started going on my own it was surprising how much the area around it had changed. And finally the last event I remember going to before they closed, it was a crazy juxtaposition.

once upon a time, the garden was well maintained and very nice, the area around it was run down. the last time I was there, the garden was a dilapidated old structure that was one loose nail away from falling out from under someone, and the area around it was all clean and new again.

Part of progress though, the ale house is another great example (and actually, now that I think about it, it was my search on the internet for some old memories of it that brought me to this place!).

There's new places that are unique and are great examples of why I still love Houston, I suppose some day those will go their way, and be replaced by new!

Then there's places that are still here and still part of the storied Houston lore, and hopefully will be for years to come...

wow, sorry about that ramble, thinking about washington ave got me remembering the garden, and it spiraled out of control from there!

to get on subject...

I think it is awesome to not only get to view snapshots from time to time when I go through an area, but to live as part of the changes.

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Good point. Not many years ago Washington Avenue was a forgotten street. Conventional wisdom understood that no one wanted to live (or open a business) in an ugly, failed industrial quarter near the railroad tracks. How quickly things change.

Deja vu all over again.

Right. I remember 10 years ago a real estate agent friend telling me that Washington Ave. was going to be hot. Made some sense but who wants to be the first to take the leap?

A friend bought farther east a couple of years ago in an neighborhood close to Mason Park, a park I didn't even know existed, although I've lived in the Houston area for over 20 years. A 1940s home that really has potential and the price was very reasonable, relative to the west side of town. I admit to feeling at first that the area was a tad far and possibly a poor investment although I wasn't familiar with it. Once I ventured over there a couple of times, I was struck by how close it was and how "undiscovered" it seemed too. How can such cheap housing near a nice park close to town be lying fallow? Of course, it's not really lying fallow as real people actually live there... :rolleyes:. So now, thanks to her and this forum, my perception has changed and I see my friend's strategy, and also her happiness, as valid , although the home needs perhaps more work than she anticipated.

So perceptions about areas change gradually at first, then the big wave of people come when they feel that there's enough of "their type" to make the area reach a certain level of familiarity and comfort. This area might be on the cusp of that wave. And another area goes "hip"..

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  • 2 weeks later...

I remember looking at a rent house over in Broadmoor while I was a student at UH, back around '94 or so. The landlord was just certain that the 2nd Ward area was the "next Montrose".

Here we are almost 20 years later, and we're still talking about the "potential" of the area. Interesting.

My wife and I used to talk about all the "potential" of our neighborhood. Over the years we realize how much we like things they way they are. We sure won't complain about the slow and steady improvements, but I'm not antsy for any big development plans any time soon.

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I remember looking at a rent house over in Broadmoor while I was a student at UH, back around '94 or so. The landlord was just certain that the 2nd Ward area was the "next Montrose".

Here we are almost 20 years later, and we're still talking about the "potential" of the area. Interesting.

My wife and I used to talk about all the "potential" of our neighborhood. Over the years we realize how much we like things they way they are. We sure won't complain about the slow and steady improvements, but I'm not antsy for any big development plans any time soon.

Yea, when I bought this place, I also inherited a stack of newspaper clippings (featuring this very house) going back to the late 90s talking about how Eastwood was the new inner loop neighborhood. Don't get me wrong: there is a lot of blight to be cleaned up yet. But I love it here, and would hate to see Canal, or any street in the vicinity, turned into the next Washington Ave. The "EaDO" plans are mostly silly to me. An ampitheatre? For what, exactly???

Some BudLight/Lucky's Pub themed sponsorship of some lame-ass faux event? This is more than just a playground for the those who want to live urban for a couple of years. It already IS a neighborhood. Bring in some non-trend, solid retail/grocery/restaurants, and start from there. These mixed-use pedestrian-friendly bread and circuses renderings, jesus.

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The "EaDO" plans are mostly silly to me. An ampitheatre? For what, exactly???

Some BudLight/Lucky's Pub themed sponsorship of some lame-ass faux event? This is more than just a playground for the those who want to live urban for a couple of years. It already IS a neighborhood. Bring in some non-trend, solid retail/grocery/restaurants, and start from there. These mixed-use pedestrian-friendly bread and circuses renderings, jesus.

$7 gasoline and overall inflation in the near term will force people to to try live cheaply and near to work and might seek the cheaper inner loop areas where there are still a lot of small, old and forgotten wood frame houses where people can simply live simply without trying to be trendy. And rather than trendy boom/bust boulevard businesses, there will probably be just the chains and big boxes added to the landscape, as small businesses are too risky during economic upheavals, like forum faves such as CVS and WalMart... :rolleyes:

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$7 gasoline and overall inflation in the near term will force people to to try live cheaply and near to work and might seek the cheaper inner loop areas where there are still a lot of small, old and forgotten wood frame houses where people can simply live simply without trying to be trendy. And rather than trendy boom/bust boulevard businesses, there will probably be just the chains and big boxes added to the landscape, as small businesses are too risky during economic upheavals, like forum faves such as CVS and WalMart... :rolleyes:

What happens to all the people already living cheaply and near to work in those inexpensive wood frame houses you mention?

Or are they not entire, 100% people, if they don't have law degrees and their skin isn't on the spectrum of white and off-white color swatches at Lowe's? Are they 90% people? 80%? 60%, as the U.S. Constitution orginally specified?

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What happens to all the people already living cheaply and near to work in those inexpensive wood frame houses you mention?

Or are they not entire, 100% people, if they don't have law degrees and their skin isn't on the spectrum of white and off-white color swatches at Lowe's? Are they 90% people? 80%? 60%, as the U.S. Constitution orginally specified?

:mellow: Whaaat?

So, don't you own Inner Loop East End? Are you a white shade too? What happened to the 100% people that owned the home prior to you? Did you burn a cross or two in their yard and run them off or did you simply respond to a real estate listing, or don't those "people" sell their homes, or maybe they don't even own homes? B)

Were you drunk, frustrated or both when you wrote this? This racist/elitist insinuations are semi-offense but I have a thick skin and a soft heart so no hard feelings. Besides, I've been drunk and frustrated more than once myself.. :P

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:mellow: Whaaat?

So, don't you own Inner Loop East End? Are you a white shade too? What happened to the 100% people that owned the home prior to you? Did you burn a cross or two in their yard and run them off or did you simply respond to a real estate listing, or don't those "people" sell their homes, or maybe they don't even own homes? B)

Were you drunk, frustrated or both when you wrote this? This racist/elitist insinuations are semi-offense but I have a thick skin and a soft heart so no hard feelings. Besides, I've been drunk and frustrated more than once myself.. :P

You made a mathematical error due to a social bias involving socioeconomic class and--whether directly or indirectly--race. The wood-frame houses that you characterize as "forgotten" aren't. It is the people within them that you have forgotten from your post.

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