buildingunbuildingrebuilding Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 (edited) Yeah, but is that a real street or just a wide walkway designed to look like a street? I mean there isn't a car in any of those photos. And in one photo, people are walking in the "street". That's why I was thinking that it looked like Main Street at Disneyland. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it, it's pretty and practical, but I wouldn't be using this place as an example of anti-fake anti-wannabee architecture. Its an internal street. You can drive on it, but its not really connected to any city grid. Its mostly for look and feel, I think, but if you want to drive on it between the anchors you can. Edited August 8, 2007 by buildingunbuildingrebuilding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Its an internal street. You can drive on it, but its not really connected to any city grid. Its mostly for look and feel, I think, but if you want to drive on it between the anchors you can.The developer pledges to use the abandoned right of way for a pedestrian piazza connecting buildings on either side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buildingunbuildingrebuilding Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 The developer pledges to use the abandoned right of way for a pedestrian piazza connecting buildings on either side. Just to clarify, my comments were in regard to the Domain in Austin that was pictured above in the thread. I have no knowledge beyond what I have read here and elsewhere on what Randall plans for the Village. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 "Why Houston is $1M Richer" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deut28Thirteen Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 The city could have got just a little more money from this. He really wanted this built and with all the people who did not want it, he may have given up more cash for the street. A few post up it says he will get over 2mil for people who want first pick(if all 600 pay 4,000$) and it is not even under construction yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 The city could have got just a little more money from this.concur...i'm sure there will be some donations during election time as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 The city could have got just a little more money from this. He really wanted this built and with all the people who did not want it, he may have given up more cash for the street. A few post up it says he will get over 2mil for people who want first pick(if all 600 pay 4,000$) and it is not even under construction yet.You realize of course, that he's going to have to spend money on this pedestrian plaza to make it look nice enough to justify passing the costs back to his buyers, right? That takes money on top of the acquisition cost...an a fair bit of it. All for something that he might've just been able to spend a lesser amount on a skybridge to connect, as is typical of most other multi-block developments. What do you really think the marginal benefit of this plaza really was? And since when does revenue = profit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deut28Thirteen Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 You realize of course, that he's going to have to spend money on this pedestrian plaza to make it look nice enough to justify passing the costs back to his buyers, right? That takes money on top of the acquisition cost...an a fair bit of it. All for something that he might've just been able to spend a lesser amount on a skybridge to connect, as is typical of most other multi-block developments. What do you really think the marginal benefit of this plaza really was? And since when does revenue = profit?He is not building this to lose money or make a small profit. The units wont be cheap with or with out the plaza. Got to spend money to make money, and he would have payed a bit more for the street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 He is not building this to lose money or make a small profit. The units wont be cheap with or with out the plaza. Got to spend money to make money, and he would have payed a bit more for the street.How do you know? The question that needs to be asked is not what his bottom line is or what he can afford. It is whether the value added by the pedestrian plaza was worth the sum of the acquisition and construction costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 How do you know? The question that needs to be asked is not what his bottom line is or what he can afford. It is whether the value added by the pedestrian plaza was worth the sum of the acquisition and construction costs.I agree, I imagine that it would be as appealing as a cul-de-sac is in some neighborhoods, just on a different scale. After looking at the model, it just appeared more massave than I thought it was originally going to be. I was pleased to know that a significant amount of units have been purchased, but neglected to specify if that also included the retail portion of the project. Another thing about the design that caught my attention is a worry about noise pollution. While I don't THINK they're going to put in a club in there, but if a resturant gets VERY popular or noisy, the noice reverberation would definately a problem; particularly for the lower floors. I'm dying to see more detailed renderings to study more, though. But that's the geek in me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talltexan83 Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Having 121 of the 124 units reserved before construction even begins seems very impressive. Does this only represent the small non-refundable payments (~$4000)? What it the norm for pre-construction "reserves" in a project of this magnitude?I am still excited about the Sonoma project, but worry that the Village may be pricing itself out of it's core audience. For every West U mom shopping on the weekends, the Village continues to attract a wide variety of students from Rice and the Med Center. You just don't see that in Highland Village or Uptown Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talltexan83 Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 When does the demolition begin? Are there any more obstacles to consider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Juniper Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Sales office tells me that abatement has already begun on the building and that demolition should start in the next two weeks. Also, just because the City could have gouged LaMesa (not Davis by the way) on the sale of the street doesn't justify it doing so. City has to have an appraisal done and treat it as an arm's length transaction. The approach seemingly condoned above is called extortion. TNJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 (edited) Kelvin and Bolsover tenants were cleared for demolition about five days ago Edited September 10, 2007 by sevfiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 It's amazing that all of these projects are happening at the same time (Sonoma, West Ave, Pavillions, MainPlace, Mosaic, and a few others). Houston is going to be pretty different in 2010. I really like the fact that this is going to have retail and restaurants and be open the the public. I'm glad it's not going to be some traditional gated community type condo development. Since I moved here, that block has been mostly dead. I am looking forward to seeing more life in this part of the Village.How many stories is Sonoma going to be? Will it be taller than the old building they are tearing down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 (edited) Today at lunch I noticed that the ugly green building was getting the wrecking ball. I had never seen an actual wrecking ball in action before. It was actually pretty cool! Edited October 17, 2007 by Jax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Today at lunch I noticed that the ugly green building was getting the wrecking ball. I had never seen an actual wrecking ball in action before. It was actually pretty cool! aww man - i have a soft spot for that building...there aren't too many ugly green buildings around but yeah, i was at the Walgreens last week and noticed it was "ready." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 There's another ugly green building at Allen's Landing and I hear that one won't be torn down, so at least there will still be one ugly green building in town! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I happened by the site today, and there were a few other people out taking photos as well. Here's a look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Wow, very dramatic demolition shots. Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc281 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 awesome pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 yeah, there was a handful of folks standing around watching intently. it really wasn't all that interesting, but about as slow and painful as the William Penn... the numbers would have been a neat souvenir... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkjones98 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Awe, the Sport Sample Shop was in that building? I wonder where/if they moved. You could get things like athletic shorts for half-price. Oh well, bring on the Sonoma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talltexan83 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 It appears that the health clinic on the corner of Dunstan and Morningside is staying put. I guess they refused to sell. That 2-story brick building is going to look pretty out of place as this project goes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Here is a quick snapshot I took yesterday of the Sonoma project. seems like Demolition is underway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Ugly green-ness notwithstanding, I always sort of liked that building. I believe sevfiv posted this original rendering a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Ugh.that's all sorts of ugly! The architect was ahead of its time, unfortunately he designed it like he was in the 70's. The Decade good taste forgot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Haha!It kind of looks better in the rendering than in real life because it looks like there are balconies on each floor (I don't remember that), and I think the top floors were kind of unused and neglected, at least since I came to Houston. I think it's pretty cool that Sonoma will be the Village's first mixed use development. Maybe we'll see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Ugh.that's all sorts of ugly! The architect was ahead of its time, unfortunately he designed it like he was in the 70's. The Decade good taste forgot.Nah, I thought the building in the drawing is quite cool looking, in a mod kind of way. Much better than the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 (edited) I took my own photo of the demolition: Edited October 29, 2007 by Jax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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