Texas Central Project

[arche_757]

No need to be a d-bag, especially when it's from information derived from a meeting that you and a couple of others were privy to, and not previously released to the public. And yes, how dare I try to find the closest examples of comparison, because the HSR will blow my stupid peasant mind wide open.

Honestly It'll blow all our minds when/if it comes to be!  Peasant or not.  Which seems to be most of us on this forum... peasants that is.

 

Odd to think of it as something that's 5-7 years away.  So much can happen in that time its not even funny.

[Witch King]

   How much you want to bet that absolutely none of this will never happen?

I wouldn't hold me breath.

[IronTiger]

Honestly It'll blow all our minds when/if it comes to be!  Peasant or not.  Which seems to be most of us on this forum... peasants that is.

 

Odd to think of it as something that's 5-7 years away.  So much can happen in that time its not even funny.

Well, unless there's some major disaster/scientific breakthrough, I suspect that 5-7 years won't be all that different. I can remember my 2008 trip to Houston pretty well, and there are many, many things that simply didn't change. Heck, some various buildings and projects have been discussed pretty much since the current iteration of the HAIF, which has been almost a decade now. Have we re-developed the Astroworld site yet? Are they doing anything with the old Holiday/Days/Heaven on Earth Inn yet? Nope. That's not to say there are no changes, after all, the Katy Freeway wasn't completed yet.

I was in Houston yesterday, and I noticed the utility lines where the line would go over 290, and frankly, it wasn't that hard to visualize...just another overpass structure.

[arche_757]

I meant globally.  And I wasn't attacking you - your post seems a *tad* defensive?

 

And yes, Houston's changed A LOT since 2008.  There are more people, we have walk-able development, 2 new light rail lines, UH has 10,000 students living on campus now, Exxon's move has nearly created an entire new town out in the woods of north Houston, The Woodlands has exploded, Buffalo Bayou has been turned into a usable park, Discovery Green... has created a neighborhood.  Upper Kirby is actually a neighborhood maybe just a little bit of one - but its growing.

 

Yeah, we've not changed so much that Houston isn't recognizable, but then again its much different than it was just 7 years ago.  The needle is moving in the direction it needs to, yet it can still certainly move further.

 

Next time you're in town open your eyes!  And if you weren't privy to this forum these buildings (when you went by them) would seem far different.

[BigFootsSocks]

How much you want to bet that absolutely none of this will never happen?

I wouldn't hold me breath.

$1 million dollars right now let's go.

[mkultra25]

It's actually quite sad because you can mentally picture this guy (who probably hasn't ventured much outside Texas in his life) doing the math in his head!

 

High Speed Rail = Something I don't understand and is foreign to my way of life....that must mean it's dangerous!

 

Trains = Public Transit = Where are there public transit = Blue states = Big government + Eminent Domain + higher taxes + liberals + environmentalism (which of course environmentalism = they must want to take away our cars).

 

 

 

"Socialism! Booga booga!"

[mkultra25]

$1 million dollars right now let's go.

 

[BigFootsSocks]

Best long-term investment I've ever made.

[IronTiger]

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of The Waller Times at the Buc-ee's on my way back from Houston (yes, I drove to Houston for a job interview!), and there was an article about the citizens being against the HSR (link). At first glance, it seemed to be an uninformed piece, but I thought it was interest.

- It mentioned it will "utilize tax [subsidies]", which I don't know how true it is. Even if they don't grant tax breaks to use the land, it will essentially delete taxable land, which is an argument against widening roads (even smaller residential roads with shoulders).

- "Texans Against HSR" was formed by a Grimes County judge (conflict of interest there?) and they outline four points about the HSR. They do know that it is privately funded and operated, but these are their four points (not mine).

• The TCR cost estimates are way too low.

• Texas State Officials have concluded that it is not feasible to construct and operate HSR solely with private funding

• TCR ridership estimates are way too high.

• HSR projects end up being paid by taxpayers.

- The article also mentions that the train "will actually be a 50-year-old Japanese model, which runs on steel tracks, almost an obsolete technology" and that it would require overhead wires with adequate power supply stations along the whole route.

Assuming that bit is true, it not only brings up that scene in The Simpsons where the fancy monorail sticker peels away to read "1964 World's Fair", but also blows out any existing noise estimates, because those were done with modern HSR systems. Secondly, if the cost estimates really are too high/ridership is too low (I was guessing that they were ridiculously overdoing the ridership estimates), what is the backup plan? Would they expect the government to bail them out or just leave it half-done/shut down until they can scrape up more funding?

I just don't think it's fair to accuse any opposition as "fearmongering", because unless their side is composed of solely making things up (which they aren't, there's some very legitimate concerns there), you just suck at debating. Now, before the circle-jerking starts back up again, I want to say that I want to believe in the idea of a privately funded and operated HSR, but there are so many obstacles to that.

[BigFootsSocks]

Hahahahaha wait wait wait, they article you mention DOESN'T make crap up?

1) TCR Cost Estimates too low

Literally NO ONE except the people from TCR have ANY knowledge about the cost, and the $10 billion remark was a very wide estimate to give a sense of scale early on.

2)Texas State Officials have concluded it's not feasible

Really? Which officials, exactly? The way I see it, a private enterprise building a significant transportation project as thus, would be a Texas politicians wet dream.

3) Riderships are too high

TCR has spent millions on market studies and readership, and this point has become null and moot ever since it started.

4) HSR projects end up as a tax payer burden

Well since this is touted as a PRIVATE a rail line, this will not be paid by taxpayers, unless the citizens of our great state decide they want more rail to be built.

5) 50-year old model

Really dude? This project is being overseen by the worlds oldest and best HSR company. The Shinkansen model has just come out with a new update/model, and by the time this is completed, will probably have another specific model.

You say you don't want to accuse either side as fear-mongering, but the points you bring up are not valid and are the same misinformed drivel we've been seeing these past few weeks from small, local newspapers.

You do raise a great point tho, but not necessarily on purpose; I have seen so much ignorant and blatantly false accusations towards this project and TCR, that it's almost too much time trying to debate these rumors against the people that have already made up their mind. TCR really needs to step up their social media game and try to reach as many Texans as possible, a la a Reddit AMA? In the Houston and Dallas subs? ....

[IronTiger]

Hahahahaha wait wait wait, they article you mention DOESN'T make crap up?

1) TCR Cost Estimates too low

Literally NO ONE except the people from TCR have ANY knowledge about the cost, and the $10 billion remark was a very wide estimate to give a sense of scale early on.

2)Texas State Officials have concluded it's not feasible

Really? Which officials, exactly? The way I see it, a private enterprise building a significant transportation project as thus, would be a Texas politicians wet dream.

3) Riderships are too high

TCR has spent millions on market studies and readership, and this point has become null and moot ever since it started.

4) HSR projects end up as a tax payer burden

Well since this is touted as a PRIVATE a rail line, this will not be paid by taxpayers, unless the citizens of our great state decide they want more rail to be built.

5) 50-year old model

Really dude? This project is being overseen by the worlds oldest and best HSR company. The Shinkansen model has just come out with a new update/model, and by the time this is completed, will probably have another specific model.

You say you don't want to accuse either side as fear-mongering, but the points you bring up are not valid and are the same misinformed drivel we've been seeing these past few weeks from small, local newspapers.

You do raise a great point tho, but not necessarily on purpose; I have seen so much ignorant and blatantly false accusations towards this project and TCR, that it's almost too much time trying to debate these rumors against the people that have already made up their mind. TCR really needs to step up their social media game and try to reach as many Texans as possible, a la a Reddit AMA? In the Houston and Dallas subs? ....

I think that a lot of their arguments do rely on guesswork/predictions and not cold facts. For example, it IS a private rail line, but the thought is that they'll require government bailouts at some point if/when it loses money hand over fist. You could argue that they don't know that it will, but hell, neither do we.

The cost estimates no one knows either. The California project is much longer than the Texas project (about twice as long), and currently still at a $67 billion price tag. Even if we cut that in a quarter (a route half as long and needless government bureaucracy), thats still over $16 billion. And that's assuming all those numbers are actually correct. It's easy to dismiss the opposition on how much they don't know, but do we really know that much more?

Edited March 4, 2015 by IronTiger

[Luminare]

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of The Waller Times at the Buc-ee's on my way back from Houston (yes, I drove to Houston for a job interview!), and there was an article about the citizens being against the HSR (link). At first glance, it seemed to be an uninformed piece, but I thought it was interest.

- It mentioned it will "utilize tax [subsidies]", which I don't know how true it is. Even if they don't grant tax breaks to use the land, it will essentially delete taxable land, which is an argument against widening roads (even smaller residential roads with shoulders).

- "Texans Against HSR" was formed by a Grimes County judge (conflict of interest there?) and they outline four points about the HSR. They do know that it is privately funded and operated, but these are their four points (not mine).

• The TCR cost estimates are way too low.

• Texas State Officials have concluded that it is not feasible to construct and operate HSR solely with private funding

• TCR ridership estimates are way too high.

• HSR projects end up being paid by taxpayers.

- The article also mentions that the train "will actually be a 50-year-old Japanese model, which runs on steel tracks, almost an obsolete technology" and that it would require overhead wires with adequate power supply stations along the whole route.

Assuming that bit is true, it not only brings up that scene in The Simpsons where the fancy monorail sticker peels away to read "1964 World's Fair", but also blows out any existing noise estimates, because those were done with modern HSR systems. Secondly, if the cost estimates really are too high/ridership is too low (I was guessing that they were ridiculously overdoing the ridership estimates), what is the backup plan? Would they expect the government to bail them out or just leave it half-done/shut down until they can scrape up more funding?

I just don't think it's fair to accuse any opposition as "fearmongering", because unless their side is composed of solely making things up (which they aren't, there's some very legitimate concerns there), you just suck at debating. Now, before the circle-jerking starts back up again, I want to say that I want to believe in the idea of a privately funded and operated HSR, but there are so many obstacles to that.

 

Link is broken, but from the points that you have shown from the article.....it sounds like the guy is just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

btw anything i point out in this isn't directed at you IronTiger, but at the article in question.

 

1. "utilize tax [subsidies]". From the meeting last week we were told they wouldn't be using any tax subsidies at all. Now since the link is broken and I can't get to the article. What subsidies does he layout that TCR will be using (or so he claims). What was the source that told him they would use subsidies? What prior HSR or even passenger rail project within the last several decades does it give a precendent that HSR or even passenger would use "tax [subsidies]. Just from the quotation that you left I'm going to assume that "tax subsidies" was used as a generality.

 

2. "Texans Against HSR", yes, was formed by a former Grimes County Judge. It's funny because this was a long topic of discussion at our meeting last week. From what I remember at the meeting, it most certainly is a conflict of interest. The group was formed very early before there was more information about the project. In fact as of late the former Grimes County Judge has been increasingly less vocal as more information has come out from the project. One of the Judge's main opposition points was public safety. Now this is something that I haven't talked about because it hasn't been brought up. Probably the only real opposition to this project that is actually of legitimate concern was by firefighters, first respondents, medical, etc.... Their main argument is that of course since they are in small towns they wouldn't have the proper equipment, training, or facilities to be able to take on an accident if one were too arise. From what we were told TCR after meeting with various departments that have brought up this question immediately silenced themselves when they were given TCRs solution to that problem. What TCR will do is that they will not only provide brand new equipment, but will help train all the people along the route! Eckels made an interesting point that one thing to come out of 9/11 was a greater degree of cooperation between firefighting branches and stations who would do drills and work together to train in case another event like that happened again, and the same principle would be used here where HSR could be a catalyst to improve these kinds of services not only in upgrades to equipment, but in training as well not just in the local areas, but between towns so in case something does happen (which remember that this train has had ZERO accidents).

 

3. What was the journalist estimates on TCRs costs? Did he create his own study and looked into every single estimate and did this over 6-7 years spending millions of dollars? I don't think he did. Unless he did then it's merely an 'educated guess' from a guy who probably maybe had one economics class and that was when he went to college years ago. The japanese company that is backing this project has spent millions MILLIONS of dollars researching the viability of the route and this also comes from previous research even before TCR came to them where they analyzed potential markets in the US and the only route that was feasible and best to invest in was guess which route.....Houston to Dallas. TCR has also gotten assistance from TXDOT (which they paid them to help them so no tax payer money btw) to look at estimates and from the very beginning told TXDOT to look at the worst possible scenarios. Needless to say, a lot of money has gone into the research of all this and has been ongoing for a number of years prior to a single journalist googling 'cost estimates' for an article he would write that night to put on the front page the very next day.

 

4. I'm going to assume when he says Texas State officials he doesn't name any names, but just says Texas State officials. As for feasibility I would go back to what I said in #3. Here is the thing though.....it's a private companies money! Who cares. If they fail then they fail, and guess what if they complete the line and then a few years later they go out of business (doubtful since they will literally be the only train competition in town) then guess what TXDOT just got a free train! Talk about a publicity win for them. TCR would do all the work and if they failed then TXDOT looks like the shining knight that saves it.

 

5. Again back to #3. They asked TXDOT and others to do the same kind of worst case scenarios and they still saw they could make money. Once again they will be the only train in town meaning they are the only train solution if people want to use the alternative. Also again...did this guy formulate this opinion over a weekend or over many years of research.

 

6. What are his examples of private HSR projects that have failed and were taken over buy public entities....the answer is zero! There are two fully private HSR routes in the world which are entirely funded private with no gov intervention. One I believe is in France, and the other is....you guessed it in Japan. Lets also remember that countries where train networks that were once public owned are now becoming private entities such as Deutschebahn in Germany, Network Rail in the UK, etc...

 

7. People drive cars that are 20-30 years old. You buy houses that are older. Everyday as an architect I use tools that have been around for forever, but are just contemporary versions of them. This guy clearly has no idea how this technology works or even knows the model that TCR will be using (which was shown to us and I'm sure plenty of others before). TCR will be using the most latest and greatest japanese model (now we were told that within the next year the japanese company will be update their fleet to a new model, but we will still have the the most updated train possible!) TCR has also been collaborating with Federal and state code officials to make sure that every requirement is met (even ADA requirements). The tech has been around for 50 years, but that doesn't mean we are getting tech that is 50 years old. Another example I just thought of, our own US military uses equipment that is 50 years old! You know the B-52 Stratofortress? Yes that same bomber that began service almost 50 years ago is still in service and recently got an extension!

 

Btw I'm sorry if I came off as rude in my post responding to your comments a few days ago. I'm not picking on you, but the argument itself which at the end of the day....sure there are things that can be worked around or made better to make sure that HSR is a good fit here, but I have yet hear any real arguments against HSR other than the fact that someone simply doesn't like it, understand it, or can't comprehend transportation where everything isn't always about themselves.

[IronTiger]

Link is broken, but from the points that you have shown from the article.....it sounds like the guy is just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

btw anything i point out in this isn't directed at you IronTiger, but at the article in question.

 

1. "utilize tax [subsidies]". From the meeting last week we were told they wouldn't be using any tax subsidies at all. Now since the link is broken and I can't get to the article. What subsidies does he layout that TCR will be using (or so he claims). What was the source that told him they would use subsidies? What prior HSR or even passenger rail project within the last several decades does it give a precendent that HSR or even passenger would use "tax [subsidies]. Just from the quotation that you left I'm going to assume that "tax subsidies" was used as a generality.

 

2. "Texans Against HSR", yes, was formed by a former Grimes County Judge. It's funny because this was a long topic of discussion at our meeting last week. From what I remember at the meeting, it most certainly is a conflict of interest. The group was formed very early before there was more information about the project. In fact as of late the former Grimes County Judge has been increasingly less vocal as more information has come out from the project. One of the Judge's main opposition points was public safety. Now this is something that I haven't talked about because it hasn't been brought up. Probably the only real opposition to this project that is actually of legitimate concern was by firefighters, first respondents, medical, etc.... Their main argument is that of course since they are in small towns they wouldn't have the proper equipment, training, or facilities to be able to take on an accident if one were too arise. From what we were told TCR after meeting with various departments that have brought up this question immediately silenced themselves when they were given TCRs solution to that problem. What TCR will do is that they will not only provide brand new equipment, but will help train all the people along the route! Eckels made an interesting point that one thing to come out of 9/11 was a greater degree of cooperation between firefighting branches and stations who would do drills and work together to train in case another event like that happened again, and the same principle would be used here where HSR could be a catalyst to improve these kinds of services not only in upgrades to equipment, but in training as well not just in the local areas, but between towns so in case something does happen (which remember that this train has had ZERO accidents).

 

3. What was the journalist estimates on TCRs costs? Did he create his own study and looked into every single estimate and did this over 6-7 years spending millions of dollars? I don't think he did. Unless he did then it's merely an 'educated guess' from a guy who probably maybe had one economics class and that was when he went to college years ago. The japanese company that is backing this project has spent millions MILLIONS of dollars researching the viability of the route and this also comes from previous research even before TCR came to them where they analyzed potential markets in the US and the only route that was feasible and best to invest in was guess which route.....Houston to Dallas. TCR has also gotten assistance from TXDOT (which they paid them to help them so no tax payer money btw) to look at estimates and from the very beginning told TXDOT to look at the worst possible scenarios. Needless to say, a lot of money has gone into the research of all this and has been ongoing for a number of years prior to a single journalist googling 'cost estimates' for an article he would write that night to put on the front page the very next day.

 

4. I'm going to assume when he says Texas State officials he doesn't name any names, but just says Texas State officials. As for feasibility I would go back to what I said in #3. Here is the thing though.....it's a private companies money! Who cares. If they fail then they fail, and guess what if they complete the line and then a few years later they go out of business (doubtful since they will literally be the only train competition in town) then guess what TXDOT just got a free train! Talk about a publicity win for them. TCR would do all the work and if they failed then TXDOT looks like the shining knight that saves it.

 

5. Again back to #3. They asked TXDOT and others to do the same kind of worst case scenarios and they still saw they could make money. Once again they will be the only train in town meaning they are the only train solution if people want to use the alternative. Also again...did this guy formulate this opinion over a weekend or over many years of research.

 

6. What are his examples of private HSR projects that have failed and were taken over buy public entities....the answer is zero! There are two fully private HSR routes in the world which are entirely funded private with no gov intervention. One I believe is in France, and the other is....you guessed it in Japan. Lets also remember that countries where train networks that were once public owned are now becoming private entities such as Deutschebahn in Germany, Network Rail in the UK, etc...

 

7. People drive cars that are 20-30 years old. You buy houses that are older. Everyday as an architect I use tools that have been around for forever, but are just contemporary versions of them. This guy clearly has no idea how this technology works or even knows the model that TCR will be using (which was shown to us and I'm sure plenty of others before). TCR will be using the most latest and greatest japanese model (now we were told that within the next year the japanese company will be update their fleet to a new model, but we will still have the the most updated train possible!) TCR has also been collaborating with Federal and state code officials to make sure that every requirement is met (even ADA requirements). The tech has been around for 50 years, but that doesn't mean we are getting tech that is 50 years old. Another example I just thought of, our own US military uses equipment that is 50 years old! You know the B-52 Stratofortress? Yes that same bomber that began service almost 50 years ago is still in service and recently got an extension!

 

Btw I'm sorry if I came off as rude in my post responding to your comments a few days ago. I'm not picking on you, but the argument itself which at the end of the day....sure there are things that can be worked around or made better to make sure that HSR is a good fit here, but I have yet hear any real arguments against HSR other than the fact that someone simply doesn't like it, understand it, or can't comprehend transportation where everything isn't always about themselves.

Here is a link that should work. For what it's worth, I was more interested in reading about the Harlan's/Arlan's changeover than the HSR, as that was at the top of the page (and that's why I picked it up). Also, the reason I did [subsidies] was the article misspelled it as "subsides" (typos happen).

Thank you for apologizing to the last comment, although I will say that I found it odd that you dismissed other railroad viaduct projects/overpasses as irrelevant, yet you brought up Greenway Plaza a bit earlier, which is even more irrelevant to the discussion at hand (Greenway Plaza was able to get away with the buyout was almost entirely due to the Houston lack of zoning...when the deeds expired at Lamar Weslayan, the area could "go commercial", and the developers were able to use that as leverage to buy out the 'hood).

Edited March 4, 2015 by IronTiger

[Luminare]

The plot thickens

 

http://swamplot.com/usps-moving-p-o-boxes-to-midtown-ahead-of-sale-and-demolition-of-downtown-post-office/2015-03-05/

[mollusk]

Not to pile on (OK, I'm piling on...), but - from a tax base standpoint this will be better for the rural counties than what's currently going on.  Practically all of the land that will be used currently has an ag exemption on taxes, meaning that they pay very little.  That exemption won't apply to the rail line.  I don't know just how it will end up being appraised for tax purposes, but even if it keeps the same value per acre (actually, it's likely to go up IMHO since it will be used for production of income), there will be more net taxes to the county, etc. from losing the ag exemption alone.

[Triton]

The plot thickens

 

http://swamplot.com/usps-moving-p-o-boxes-to-midtown-ahead-of-sale-and-demolition-of-downtown-post-office/2015-03-05/

Ahhh, so I guess the high speed rail won't be going here after all if someone has been selected already. It is HIGHLY unlikely TCR would spend millions on the property if they weren't guaranteed a route to this property.

[Luminare]

Ahhh, so I guess the high speed rail won't be going here after all if someone has been selected already. It is HIGHLY unlikely TCR would spend millions on the property if they weren't guaranteed a route to this property.

 

What? I actually posted it for the exact opposite reason.....

 

Currently they are working with the Rail District, TXDOT, the City of Houston, and the Mayor's office on how the route would get downtown. That is still going through evaluations. Their main goal is the Post Office site. So I don't understand how you came to this conclusion.

 

It also says in the article that is up for sale. It didn't say that it had been sold! The Post Office though knows that there will be a purchase of the property soon and so they are quickly making their move to a new location.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Luminare

[MaxConcrete]

The plot thickens

 

http://swamplot.com/usps-moving-p-o-boxes-to-midtown-ahead-of-sale-and-demolition-of-downtown-post-office/2015-03-05/

 

That is interesting, but the reason for this is still open to speculation, in my opinion.

 

The Post Office is obviously in a hurry to vacate - within the next four months. That is not consistent with simply putting up the property for sale, since the property has been known to be potentially available for years. So (in my opinion) something is in the works, or a sale is well into the negotiation phase.

 

The chance that the planned use is residential or office seems quite low to me. With the collapse of oil prices, it is unlikely developers will get financing. There is already a lot of office and and some residential under construction downtown, which could glut the market when those projects are completed. This is also a non-prime location for office or residential. Retail is more plausible.

 

So that suggests to me that THSR could be involved.

 

On the other hand, news reports list the earliest possible opening of the railway project is 2021, so the start of construction is at least 2 years away and probably more like 3 years in the future (especially considering that environmental clearance usually takes longer than expected). So that makes me wonder why the Post Office is in a hurry to vacate. THSR could feel some urgency to acquire the property, but there would be no urgency for the Post Office to leave. If THSR acquired it, they would probably want to lease it to the Post Office to get some revenue and allow the Post Office to plan an orderly departure. Then they would want to start clearing it in about 2 years.

 

On a related issue, I just noticed that the web site for the environmental study is now redirecting users to a federal web site

http://dallashoustonhsr.com/

Seems strange since highway projects are never on a federal site, but I don't think it means anything. The http://texascentral.com/ web site remains up and active.

Edited March 6, 2015 by MaxConcrete

[Triton]

What? I actually posted it for the exact opposite reason.....

 

Currently they are working with the Rail District, TXDOT, the City of Houston, and the Mayor's office on how the route would get downtown. That is still going through evaluations. Their main goal is the Post Office site. So I don't understand how you came to this conclusion.

 

It also says in the article that is up for sale. It didn't say that it had been sold! The Post Office though knows that there will be a purchase of the property soon and so they are quickly making their move to a new location.

I know you meant it for the exact opposite reason. I'm playing devil's advocate here.

 

I hope they get this spot but it seems too early. I almost feel like they are hinting that this has already been bought by some developer but are just not publicly disclosing it yet. And if it's bought, I can tell you that TCR wouldn't have spent capital this early. Doesn't matter if they have been working with all of those entities. This rail line isn't a federal project. There is no guarantee they will get this location, let alone get the route exactly here.... that's just the hope at this point. They haven't started buying land anywhere... MaxConcrete makes some very good points.

[BigFootsSocks]

I know you meant it for the exact opposite reason. I'm playing devil's advocate here.

 

I hope they get this spot but it seems too early. I almost feel like they are hinting that this has already been bought by some developer but are just not publicly disclosing it yet. And if it's bought, I can tell you that TCR wouldn't have spent capital this early. Doesn't matter if they have been working with all of those entities. This rail line isn't a federal project. There is no guarantee they will get this location, let alone get the route exactly here.... that's just the hope at this point. They haven't started buying land anywhere... MaxConcrete makes some very good points.

idk, I have a feeling that TCR has spent a quite a lot of capital already...not on physical things but let's just say these guys are screwing around.

[Triton]

idk, I have a feeling that TCR has spent a quite a lot of capital already...not on physical things but let's just say these guys are screwing around.

Right. Money towards.... Analysis. Feasibility. Possibly design.

 

It's way too early to be buying physical property when they haven't determined the exact route closer into town, plus they haven't gotten approval from anyone yet... 

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

i asked the city attorney tonight at a Avondale Meeting and she smiled and said you are in the know. I said B HAIF ALL DAY!

[BigFootsSocks]

Right. Money towards.... Analysis. Feasibility. Possibly design.

It's way too early to be buying physical property when they haven't determined the exact route closer into town, plus they haven't gotten approval from anyone yet...

Yeah that's what I meant, "not physical things."

[samagon]

- It mentioned it will "utilize tax [subsidies]", which I don't know how true it is.

 

I know someone in California once argued that use of eminent domain was essentially a tax subsidy. I assume that at some point along the HSR that someone will have to sell their land for rail use, and that eminent domain would be used to do so. So from a certain perspective, they would "utilize tax subsidies".

 

2)Texas State Officials have concluded it's not feasible

Really? Which officials, exactly? The way I see it, a private enterprise building a significant transportation project as thus, would be a Texas politicians wet dream.

 

What do you classify as state officials? This is what I'm picturing went down...

 

Setting:

cocktail party

3 state officials are out on a patio drinking Dewars and smoking cigars

 

state official #1 asks state official #2 to relay his thoughts on HSR

state official #2 says this: "I think HSR is a great idea, but I don't see how it is going to work"

state official #3 looks up from his tumbler of Dewars and nods his head in agreement. 

 

Therefore, state officials have concluded that it is not feasible.

[mkultra25]

The Post Office is obviously in a hurry to vacate - within the next four months. That is not consistent with simply putting up the property for sale, since the property has been known to be potentially available for years. So (in my opinion) something is in the works, or a sale is well into the negotiation phase.

 

The chance that the planned use is residential or office seems quite low to me. With the collapse of oil prices, it is unlikely developers will get financing. There is already a lot of office and and some residential under construction downtown, which could glut the market when those projects are completed. This is also a non-prime location for office or residential. Retail is more plausible.

 

So that suggests to me that THSR could be involved.

 

On the other hand, news reports list the earliest possible opening of the railway project is 2021, so the start of construction is at least 2 years away and probably more like 3 years in the future (especially considering that environmental clearance usually takes longer than expected). So that makes me wonder why the Post Office is in a hurry to vacate. THSR could feel some urgency to acquire the property, but there would be no urgency for the Post Office to leave. If THSR acquired it, they would probably want to lease it to the Post Office to get some revenue and allow the Post Office to plan an orderly departure. Then they would want to start clearing it in about 2 years.

 

The USPS has been planning to deactivate the downtown post office (Houston Processing & Distribution Center) and consolidate all of its operations into the North Houston Processing & Distribution Center on Aldine Bender for quite some time as part of their network rationalization plan. I wouldn't characterize this as "being in a hurry to vacate". They've already shifted processing of most originating mail (letters & flats) to the N. Houston P&DC, and will have completed shifting all originating & destinating mail there by May 31. While this may or may not be a convenient timetable for THSR, it's really being driven by the execution of the USPS' previously-existing plan.

 

This is all laid out at https://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm - click on Network Rationalization Consolidations 2015 to download a spreadsheet listing all of the planned P&DC consolidations and the associated timetables. 

[mollusk]

but conspiracy theories are always so much more fun.  

[Triton]

Midway most likely bought this property.

[fkp5]

Are there any other good spots in downtown that could work for the HSR station?

[IronTiger]

Maybe if they go through with the downtown highway rework, the Pierce Elevated? It's next to the bus station, could reuse infrastructure...I mean, it's probably not what will end up happening, but it's an idea.

[Houston19514]

Midway most likely bought this property.

 

It seems likely Texas Central Railway will with a development partner for the station site, just as they are doing with Matthews Southwest in Dallas...  I can't think of anyone better than Midway for the job.