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The Shoppes At Uptown Crossing At 5405 South Rice Ave.


Pleak

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  • 4 months later...

It was supposed to be the location of the soccer stadium. What it will be is a mutli-use development aimed at young professionals centered around the train station where the uptown and university lines intersect. Bellaire has just rezoned the area to allow for this.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Zone-OK-d-for-Bellaire-urban-village-2414937.php

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I also agree.

Those two lines should have crossed at the corner of Richmond and Post oak basically across the street from where that new Skanska 22 story is going up. That route was blocked by the small corner of River Oaks/Aften Oaks on Richmond just inside the loop. They did not want the train coming through their area to protect... I am not really sure what as that area is really very run down. The original plans called for the Univeristy Line to run all the way down Richmond to Hillcroft, making the string of bars and restaurants on that stretch accessible by pedestrian/rail.

This reroute is one of the most frustrating developments to me as I would have actually used that bit of train. It is my strong feeling that if people inside the loop do not want to live in the city they should move out of the city, they should not halt and or stop what would have been real progress.

If anyone has any ideas of how to get the train to run all the way down Richmond again I would certainly join in that effort.

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  • 2 years later...

Did somebody post the location that Micro Center is moving to already?

 

If not, they are currently looking to relocate to a brand new building across from Sam's Club at S Rice Ave and close to Westpark Dr. (Building doesn't exist yet, if that wasn't clear). There will be an announcement if that is the property actually bought. 

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  • 1 month later...

Did somebody post the location that Micro Center is moving to already?

 

If not, they are currently looking to relocate to a brand new building across from Sam's Club at S Rice Ave and close to Westpark Dr. (Building doesn't exist yet, if that wasn't clear). There will be an announcement if that is the property actually bought. 

 

Activity at this site.

14162170825_0350b30d6c_c.jpgIMG_0863 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr

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  • 2 months later...

Not happy to see that sack of s**t glaring at us from here to eternity.

 

A shame Wal Mart couldn't have done something a little better?  Guess City of Houston doesn't have any plans better for this area in the longer range forcast?  I'll bet Bellaire is fit to be tied?  Backs up approximately to the location of the proposed Transit Hub (which might make this more easy to chew in the long run).

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Not happy to see that sack of s**t glaring at us from here to eternity.

Backs up approximately to the location of the proposed Transit Hub (which might make this more easy to chew in the long run).

Seriously. Don't they have a more urban format with roof top parking or something? Ugh..

And does that really make it more easy to chew in the long run? If anything this land could of been a mixed use extension of the transit hub next door. Now a wal mart is going to have front row property to a transit hub at the prime intersection of the uptown and university light rail lines..

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I was very disappointed when I saw this, but you know something....I'm pretty optimistic about the future. It seems like a lot of these big box stores are really rushing in trying to grab whatever they can because they know this kind of attitude won't be tolerated in the next decade (this area of the galleria, Costco near greenway, redevelopment along heights and montrose). Let the last vestiges of a bye gone era of suburbanism have the moment in the twilight because maybe 5-10 years from now we will all have a good laugh when we drive the bulldozers ourselves demolishing a generations foolish ideals of city building to replace it with our own vision. Give it time. We are riding the edge of two different ideologies. I'm no longer getting pissed off by developments like these because I know they won't last and won't define the Houston of the future. I think all of us here should do the same. Yeah it's a bummer, but lets not lose sight of what possibilities a site like this could hold in the future.

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I suppose?  Costco's 5 Houston area stores are a far cry from the 35+ Super Walmarts in greater Houston.

 

There are big box stores, and then there are big box stores.  If say this was the location of a new Ikea rather than yet another Walmart, we probably wouldn't be complaining.

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I was very disappointed when I saw this, but you know something....I'm pretty optimistic about the future. It seems like a lot of these big box stores are really rushing in trying to grab whatever they can because they know this kind of attitude won't be tolerated in the next decade (this area of the galleria, Costco near greenway, redevelopment along heights and montrose). Let the last vestiges of a bye gone era of suburbanism have the moment in the twilight because maybe 5-10 years from now we will all have a good laugh when we drive the bulldozers ourselves demolishing a generations foolish ideals of city building to replace it with our own vision. Give it time. We are riding the edge of two different ideologies. I'm no longer getting pissed off by developments like these because I know they won't last and won't define the Houston of the future. I think all of us here should do the same. Yeah it's a bummer, but lets not lose sight of what possibilities a site like this could hold in the future.

 

Ah, the unbridled optimism of youth.  Sorry to burst your bubble, but that walmart will still be there in 50 years.  At best, in 5 to 10 years they'll be going through a normal remodeling cycle.  Paint and patch...that sort of thing.  It's not a last-gasp land grab that's going on here.  They're just looking for new markets.  There's a trend on of reverse flight of wealthier households from the suburbs to the city core, here and elsewhere.  Walmart, costco and others see that as an opportunity to grow sales.  Unfortunately, the reality is that it's dollars that drive development, not a wider cohesive vision.  A Haussmann won't be visiting us anytime soon, no matter how much you might wish for one.

 

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I really don't share in the disappointment over the project.  Isn't this an improvement over what is there now?  Lots of lower-income neighborhoods are poorly served by retail, and this will help remedy that for Gulfton.  Not every development is going to make sense as trendy and "upscale". 

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  • 1 month later...

I really don't share in the disappointment over the project.  Isn't this an improvement over what is there now?  Lots of lower-income neighborhoods are poorly served by retail, and this will help remedy that for Gulfton.  Not every development is going to make sense as trendy and "upscale". 

 

Low income doesn't have to mean "cheap". I don't even mean cheap as in costs I mean cheap as in looks, cheap in concept, cheap in its value of space and place. They continue to build dumb big box stores because we let them. You can build department stores that serve lower income and still make it worth while and designed (the new HEB's in urban markets especially here in Houston are examples). Hell I think it would actually be better for lower income if they didn't have to worry about car travel at all. Cars are one of the biggest hindrances for lower income. Make it more walk-able and more appealing and instantly you don't need to make that investment which frees income to be used in other areas of their lives. Then when they have the income and can support car travel then ok, but most lower income are almost forced to get a car because its the only way to get around.

 

Big box stores are fine btw, but not in this setting. It's lazy plain and simple and just because we don't have zoning or design commissions/committees in this town doesn't mean we can't demand more from developers whether it be for upscale or lower income. Design is not exclusive to upscale. Everything we make or produced is designed in some way. What's wrong is they choose the easy route and simply refuse to adapt to the surrounding environments or changing trends. Uniformity helps with brand but a better city it creates...it doesn't.

 

There will always be a place for bulky big box stores, but not in an urban context and even in suburbia it should only be relegated to near highways, but still be accessible through other means and I can assure you this isn't what will happen here.

 

However, you right we shouldn't be disappointed because in about 10-15 years we can build something way better because buildings like this have absolutely no value in terms of architecture any which makes it all the more easier to place architecture that is of real value. In the coming decades we will laugh at our ignorance when we thought it was actually sensible to plan developments around inanimate objects such as cars rather than the actual end users who its built for in the first place.

Edited by Luminare
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