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Mid Main: Mixed-Use Development For Midtown


Urbannizer

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6 hours ago, HoustonIsHome said:

Stopped outside this on Friday . It really had a presence.  Totally transformed the area.  Love the brick.

 

This area will have new life once this opens.  I wonder how this is going to affect HCC

 

I had mentioned in a thread in the midtown forum that places like Natachee's, Double Trouble, Continental are probably going to end up getting squeezed out. This (3600) and the other people aquarium (3800) are either going to bring more bros to the area that like the Washington vibe and will never go to these places (but watch rents increase), or I could be wrong and it's going to bring people that like the current atmosphere of the direct surrounding area. I suspect like you though, this is going to transform the area. I'm going to miss the continental club if that happens. It's one of those places that, in my mind, make Houston.

 

One thing this will absolutely do is create more pressure southward on the area centered around Richmond/Main. I suspect it won't actually do anything to that direct area, it will be similar to the area around the greyhound station and people will just avoid the area.

Edited by samagon
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The Main Corridor is kind of developing like a less extreme version of LV  BLVD in that one block in either direction and you feel like you fell off the surface of the Earth.  

 

I don't know how any politician and traverse Main and not see the benefits of the Red Line.

 

Anyway, I am more of a fan of filling in and expanding out. There has been so much growth and yet so much room for development between Bell and Alabama.

 

As Disco Green and Market Square have encouraged development,  I do hope that the Super Park will continue this trend. The Super Park has the advantage of being already in an area that is booming, and it is right on a metrorail stop. 

 

I know we have been complaining a lot about the size and placement of the park and apartment,  but I am starting to believe that you can't lose nowadays with a modern park. 

 

The lengths of these blocks (super block and to a lesser extent Midmain) lend themselves well to creating interesting pedestrian oriented developments. Since Berry does not cut through Mid Main, the entire Ensemble station is accessible to pedestrians without traffic cutting off the stations. 

It will be interesting to see what they do with the sidewalks and if a livelier version of Main Street Square Plaza develops at that location. 

 

So many possibilities

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As mentioned upthread, this development is owned by the same developer that owns the existing neighboring retail, and he has made it clear that he wants to support local businesses, particularly of the sort that's already there. Also, my understanding is that these apartments will be relatively inexpensive and small.

 

Not a guarantee by any means, but good signs.

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I travel the area every night for work and can tell you the new development is not a threat to the existing business quite the opposite,  I remember the ghost town this area was after 5 pm ..now it does decent foot traffic on weekdays and actually looks live on the weekends. ..the increase in residential is benefiting the business there as people like the vibe and how it doesn't feel like another massed product  hip spot created in some Corp board room...that has allowed it to have a natural urban vibe tjat I think people are responding to..I'm glad the developer reconized that and incorporated it into the building design 

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The gentlemen who came here to open the Continental Club approximately 16 years ago is from Austin. He wanted to create an area that would have a walkable Austin type feel with restaurants, bars, clubs, retail and eventually a residential community. He owns quite a bit of the property around The Continental Club and has no intentions of destroying that weird Austin vibe. I commend him for following through and making the Ensemble station probably the most urban cool space in Houston and once there are  residents living in the Mid Main it will generate much needed revenues for the retail development in that area  and those that will be drawn to the area. It now boasts The Ensemble Theater and Match which is home to at least 13 different arts related groups that bring a wide variety of visitors into the neighborhood all of the time.

Now if they could only figure out what to do with Julia's.

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I've been excited about this project since it was first announced. This will be a great place to live, work and play, and  with so much at your doorstep.

This area of Midtown up to Camden's super block, is going to be a very walkable neighborhood. The rail makes it a no brainer. If they'd only reconsider the University Line , linking pretty much anywhere I would want a light rail line to take me. I can't wait to visit this, once there leasing .

 

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One of the most informative apartment websites I've seen.  Floor plans with unique identifiers, located on a map of the area showing of the amenities that are in the complex (which a sky dog park is a good idea that high rises need to copy)

There's even prices, though not with the individual floor plans.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok, I'll say it. This project is kind of a disappointment for me. It was one of my most anticipated projects since it tried to be all the right things and present a visionary model for Midtown, what with the GFR and preserving the existing buildings. But there is something jarring about the mixture of red brick, which says to me "traditional," and the trying-too-hard-to-be-contemporary feel of the Tetris-y design. Some of the white façade surfaces on the non-street-facing sides remind me of a few of those lesser 50's-60's modern buildings, the ones from the more local architecture firms, where you look at them and think, "Didn't they know this would be ugly?" The randomly oriented windows and exposed cinder block in the second to last picture in Urb's post above just seem desperate to check off every postmodern box (are the exposed plywood panels in the first photo the finished product? would not be too surprised...). Oh, and how about a freaking cornice, and maybe some lintels, or does that hearken too much to the imperialist/colonizing past? I'm sure the Cite people and the Rice Design Alliance will love this; I however do not.

Edited by H-Town Man
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  • The title was changed to Mid Main: Mixed-Use Development For Midtown

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