The RO: Mixed-Use Development At West Alabama And Buffalo Spdwy.

[Guest danax]

The investor is Club America of Mexico City.

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It will be interesting to see if the Mexican nationals get behind a team from Mexico City, which might be a rival team for a lot of them, since I don't think too many are from Mexico City. I could be wrong on that. Regardless of whether or not they are fans, those games should be sellouts.

[Subdude]

It might depend on how the team markets itself. Attendance at the teams in LA might be an example.

I'm surprised about the San Antonio announcement. MLS has already had to contract once, so it's odd they're adding expansion teams so fast.

[houstonsemipro]

More news on soccer in Houston. Check out the link below.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3185000

[tigereye]

And as for Houston's proposed SSS in the NW side of town.....root for it to happen as it will tie into plans to redevlope the old Northwest Mall into one massive sports and entertainment year round complex.

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Remember when I said this......its now falling into place......that is if they dont use the Astrodome and build at Delmar

NW Mall redevelopment thread

[DJ V Lawrence]

Remember when I said this......its now falling into place......that is if they dont use the Astrodome and build at Delmar

NW Mall redevelopment thread

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Personally, I prefer the Astrodome over Delmar or NW Mall. Soccer in the Dome would kill two birds with one stone for Harris County, Soccer, and the City of Houston, since we ARE trying to decide what to do with the Dome.

And besides, Delmar stadium is a HIGH SCHOOL stadium. I don't see the Rockets, Astros, or Texans playing in High School stadiums for home games. If we really think that lowly of soccer in Houston, we shouldn't have a team in the first place.

[Subdude]

New soccer stadiums generally have seating of about 20,000. The Dome is way too big, and it wasn't designed around being able to hide seating sections as at the Alamo Dome. A smaller high school stadium seems like it would be a better place to start for soccer facility.

[tigereye]

New soccer stadiums generally have seating of about 20,000.  The Dome is way too big, and it wasn't designed around being able to hide seating sections as at the Alamo Dome.  A smaller high school stadium seems like it would be a better place to start for soccer facility.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, form an engineering standpoint, the Dome would work for serving as a shell for an intimate 25,000 seat soccer stadium.

Back in its hey day, the Dome used to seat 42,000 when one end of the stadium was left open which made room for the scorebaord spectacular. If you subtract the other endzone, you easily shrink capacity to the nieghborhood of 30,000 or less. Open ended soccer stadiums are the popular designs for the MLS anyways. To further shrink capacity, the interior would need to be gutted and the concourses would need to be enlargerd, which would push the seating deck closer to the pitch. Overall, this would eliminate sections in the seating bowls design which could get you to the 25,000 mark.

What I would like to see done is for the the entire reliant campus be sectioned off into three rectulangular blocks. One for Reliant Center, the middle for stadiums, and the last one for parking. the Astrohall needs to be replaced by a Parking garage structure to serve soccer.

The parking lot east of the Dome needs to be raised for in favor of a retractable soccer pitch that could move in and out of the Dome to make it more multipurpose. The Dome's seating bowl needs to be as multipurpose as the Saitima Super Arena in Japan, which can change form a 40,000 seat soccer stadium to a 5,000 seat concert venue in the blink of an eye.

And last but not least...on the North end of the Dome that faces Reliant center, an air conditioned, sheltered walk way with moveable pathways like you find in airports needs to be built to connect Reliant Stadium and the Dome to the light rail line to make it more attractable to use for commuters. No one likes trudging across barron parking lots in the middle of the night to catch a train....wake up Metro.

This needs to be done.....nuff said.

[DJ V Lawrence]

Actually, form an engineering standpoint, the Dome would work for serving as a shell for an intimate 25,000 seat soccer stadium.

Back in its hey day, the Dome used to seat 42,000 when one end of the stadium was left open which made room for the scorebaord spectacular. If you subtract the other endzone, you easily shrink capacity to the nieghborhood of 30,000 or less. Open ended soccer stadiums are the popular designs for the MLS anyways. To further shrink capacity, the interior would need to be gutted and the concourses would need to be enlargerd, which would push the seating deck closer to the pitch. Overall, this would eliminate sections in the seating bowls design which could get you to the 25,000 mark.

What I would like to see done is for the the entire reliant campus be sectioned off into three rectulangular blocks. One for Reliant Center, the middle for stadiums, and the last one for parking. the Astrohall needs to be replaced by a Parking garage structure to serve soccer.

The parking lot east of the Dome needs to be raised for in favor of a retractable soccer pitch that could move in and out of the Dome to make it more multipurpose. The Dome's seating bowl needs to be as multipurpose as the Saitima Super Arena in Japan, which can change form a 40,000 seat soccer stadium to a 5,000 seat concert venue in the blink of an eye.

And last but not least...on the North end of the Dome that faces Reliant center, an air conditioned, sheltered walk way with moveable pathways like you find in airports needs to be built to connect Reliant Stadium and the Dome to the light rail line to make it more attractable to use for commuters. No one likes trudging across barron parking lots in the middle of the night to catch a train....wake up Metro.

This needs to be done.....nuff said.

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I'm TOTALLY against the thought of us submitting to a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer in Houston. The New Orleans Saints are hurting because they have sold ONLY 25,000 season tickets. Soccer's the biggest sport in the world, and if Houstonians can't fill a stadium of 40,000 seats for a soccer team, we should just forget about trying to have a team at all.

And I'm all against this High School stadium thing. If it's a PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE, play in a PROFESSIONAL LOCATION with PROFESSIONAL MONEY and PROFESSIONAL SPONSORSHIP. 20,000 seat stadiums are what they use for BASKETBALL and HOCKEY ARENAS. 20,000 is NOT an exceptable baseball or football attendance, and it shouldn't be for a marketable league like the MLS. Screw trying to have sell-out games. Get MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

Either Houstonian love soccer, or they don't. Fill up a 40,000+ soccer stadium nightly in Houston, or just don't have a team if you think 40,000 Houstonians are not interested. End of story.

Last question. If we get a soccer team for Houston, will you (the person reading this) support that team passionately like we have for the Texans, Astros, Comets, and Rockets, and would you buy season tickets and actually go to the games, or are you only hoping to have a team to have one, and are banking on OTHER Houstonians to go to the game instead of you ? Answer soon, yo...

[N Judah]

Depends on the team. A regular MLS franchise, no. A minor league franchise of a storied team from a mediocre league (i.e. the deal with the Mexico City team) - maybe. A minor league franchise of a European team? Definitely.

[LTAWACS]

Im not a big soccer fan...

[Subdude]

I'm TOTALLY against the thought of us submitting to a 20,000 seat stadium for soccer in Houston. The New Orleans Saints are hurting because they have sold ONLY 25,000 season tickets. Soccer's the biggest sport in the world, and if Houstonians can't fill a stadium of 40,000 seats for a soccer team, we should just forget about trying to have a team at all.

And I'm all against this High School stadium thing. If it's a PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE, play in a PROFESSIONAL LOCATION with PROFESSIONAL MONEY and PROFESSIONAL SPONSORSHIP. 20,000 seat stadiums are what they use for BASKETBALL and HOCKEY ARENAS. 20,000 is NOT an exceptable baseball or football attendance, and it shouldn't be for a marketable league like the MLS. Screw trying to have sell-out games. Get MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

Either Houstonian love soccer, or they don't. Fill up a 40,000+ soccer stadium nightly in Houston, or just don't have a team if you think 40,000 Houstonians are not interested. End of story.

Last question. If we get a soccer team for Houston, will you (the person reading this) support that team passionately like we have for the Texans, Astros, Comets, and Rockets, and would you buy season tickets and actually go to the games, or are you only hoping to have a team to have one, and are banking on OTHER Houstonians to go to the game instead of you  ? Answer soon, yo...

I don't quite see the logic of benchmarking MLS attendance against baseball or football attendance. They're different animals. MLS simply isn't as popular, so if 20,000 is an appropriate size, then so be it. If it fits well in a high school stadium, then use the high school stadium. Why would we want to spend the money constructing a sporting facility that seats more than its expected usage would require? As I said, I really don't see the logic. Building stadiums that make economic sense isn't "submitting", it's just common sense. Also, remember that a couple of MLS teams have already had to fold. We don't want to overspend on facilities on an unproved product.

[DJ V Lawrence]

I don't quite see the logic of benchmarking MLS attendance against baseball or football attendance.  They're different animals.  MLS simply isn't as popular, so if 20,000 is an appropriate size, then so be it.  If it fits well in a high school stadium, then use the high school stadium.  Why would we want to spend the money constructing a sporting facility that seats more than its expected usage would require?  As I said, I really don't see the logic.  Building stadiums that make economic sense isn't "submitting", it's just common sense.  Also, remember that a couple of MLS teams have already had to fold.  We don't want to overspend on facilities on an unproved product.

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...but also remember that some MLS games have filled NFL stadiums to capacity (70,000+), but for some reason, they are talking about building 20,000-seat stadiums for those same teams. Where's the logic?

Subdude, I understand completely where you're coming from. It truly does make sense. My point is this: if you're gonna do something, do it right. You're right, two teams have folded. You know why? Because the league automatically assumed that because those cities had a large Hispanic population, it would just automatically survive. That doesn't work. What the league needs to do is stop living in the taboo that only one ethnic background love soccer, and they have to come up with ways to cater to ALL races. Create a soccer interest that doesn't exist in corporate America and Urban America instead of assuming that because you're of certain background, you will attend games.

That ideology will NOT work in Houston. I heard they're talking about building a soccer venue for MLS at Delmar Stadium. For what reason? You tell me. You mean to tell me that because I'm not Hispanic, I'm not allowed to have the MLS advertise their team to me? If you won't advertise soccer to me now, when will you? And what if, just if, the East End didn't attend games. Who would fill the seats then? 5th Ward? River Oaks? Bellaire? Katy? Sugarland? Who ELSE are you teaching the art of soccer to?

Push for the ENTIRE city of Houston to go to games the way Bob McNair did when the Texans did their inagural season. After watching what he did, I think there's NOTHING Houston can't do in terms of marketability and enthusiasm.

[el-tri]

I think the Astrodome would be perfect for soccer, and if the Harris Sports authority allows it to, the city could add a moving pitch for grass to be natural and for it to grow faster, like the Sapporo Dome in Japan.Plus the Astrodome could be used for other events too. I rather leave the Astrodome as a sports venue than a hotel.

[ricco67]

Something occured to me while on vacation...

Why not offer it as a Sports venue AND a hotel for those enthusiasts that LIVE for a particular sport or event?

I've recently had clients that flew in all the way From Germany for the Billy Idol Concert (of all artists!) and would leave the next morning back to germany.

The same thing happened with the Kelly Clarkston concert (they flew from Ireland!) and were gone the next day.

The same ting can be done with the for not only soccor, but other events.

Just update it a tad, improve the sound system, and boom! a new venue. It could "counter" program whatever is at the Stadium. Say that there is a Motocross thingie at the stadium, then there could be a concert at the dome, or vica versa...

Ricco

[HeightsGuy]

I've changed my mind on this a few times, but now I'm in favor of retro-fitting Delmar:

1. Much cheaper than retro-fitting Astrodome

2. 20,000 sounds just right to start with

3. Reliant has proved itself to be a wonderful venue for soccer when 70k seats are needed, it's there whenever you need it

4. If MLS explodes here and 20,000 isn't enough, it can always be moved to Reliant

[DJ V Lawrence]

Something occured to me while on vacation...

Why not offer it as a Sports venue AND a hotel for those enthusiasts that LIVE for a particular sport or event?

I've recently had clients that flew in all the way From Germany for the Billy Idol Concert (of all artists!) and would leave the next morning back to germany.

The same thing happened with the Kelly Clarkston concert (they flew from Ireland!) and were gone the next day.

The same ting can be done with the for not only soccor, but other events.

Just update it a tad, improve the sound system, and boom! a new venue.  It could "counter" program whatever is at the Stadium.  Say that there is a Motocross thingie at the stadium, then there could be a concert at the dome, or vica versa...

Ricco

Ricco

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I'm 100% for this idea

[GovernorAggie]

Well if San Antonio's new mayor has anything to do with it, Houston is back in the driver's seat for the next MLS franchise in Texas.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3217558

In short, the mayor-elect says, "San Antonio is not ready for MLS".

[DJ V Lawrence]

Well if San Antonio's new mayor has anything to do with it, Houston is back in the driver's seat for the next MLS franchise in Texas.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3217558

In short, the mayor-elect says, "San Antonio is not ready for MLS".

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...and this guy got elected HOW??

Can you imagine if someone running for the mayor of Houston said the city was not ready for an NFL franchise? How would the citizens of H-town respond?!

I wonder if this mayor-elect even mentioned anything that said San Antonio was lacking in sports interest when he was running in the first place!!!!

[citykid09]

San Antonio is growing pretty fast, I never saw it coming though.

I think San Antonio Should focus more on the football team, then let Houston have the scoccer. I atleast hope they get one of them.

[DJ V Lawrence]

San Antonio is growing pretty fast, I never saw it coming though.

I think San Antonio Should focus more on the football team, then let Houston have the scoccer. I atleast hope they get one of them.

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I think because of L.A., it's much more easy at this time to attract an MLS team than an NFL team, though I think they should try to get both.

[citykid09]

I think two NFL teams are up for grabs.

[DJ V Lawrence]

I think two NFL teams are up for grabs.

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What, Kansas City and New Orleans?

You know what? If San Antonio were able to lure Lamar Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs to San Antonio, Hunt would probably bring with him the Kansas City Wizards, yo. It'd be like a double victory for S.A. NFL AND MLS at the same time, yo!

[citykid09]

^Isn't he from San Antonio?

Where are you from? New York,

Yo! Yo! Yo!

[DJ V Lawrence]

^Isn't he from San Antonio?

Where are you from? New York,

Yo! Yo! Yo!

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HELL NAH!! H-Town by blood, not relation!!! Got my yo yo's from Toy-R-Us, but I got my oye oye oye's from, ....um..., that one seafood restaurant over there by Kemah Boardwalk. RECOGNIZE!!

Mad wicked props to da Citykid for the valid point. Hunt IS from San Antonio!

By the way, I need to answer a question that I've been getting for the past few weeks about my thinking on soccer making it big in America. As U may know, I've currently living in Korea. Two nights ago, the Korea national team played Kuwait in, um, Kuwait. Due to the time difference, the game was shown live here in Korea around 3am in the morning. Guess what? Thousands of people still partied together as if the Rocket won the world championship all over again.

Now, believe it or not, even though soccer's fairly big here and all over the rest of the world, it has nothing to do with the game itself. It has to do with pride over their country. The ONLY way to prove you're the greatest country in the world (according to the rest of the world) is to win the World Cup.

Though I think we live in a GREAT nation, the way to prove it is to show that we love our national team. It's one thing to claim to be patriotic and have a flag waving outside your house, or to say you love America. It's another thing to actually SHOW it and watch the National Soccer team play, cheer them on, and party your ass off when they win (which our team has been doing a lot of recently).

I think media coverage of the National team is a joke for now, but it can change. I rarely ever even hear it mentioned on the local news or the Today Show, or GMA, or anything when they win OR lose. Compare that to the coverage the Rockets had in Houston when we won those championships in 1994 and '95. The EXACT same amount of coverage is what the other countries of the world have for their national teams for QUALIFYING matches! And the World Cup ain't 'till NEXT year.

So in the meantime, I would like to ask EVERYONE on this thread to not worry aboot the media, about the popular thing to do, or even about making soccer popular. I'd like to ask that everyone here make an effort to have patriotism for the USA and show it the proper way...cheer of the U.S. team that we have no other, and party TEXAS style when we win! Even in a bar or something.

Oye, and I WILL be in Germany next year cheering for da US, yo

[RedScare]

Lamar Hunt is from Dallas...part of the uber wealthy Hunt clan. Tom Benson (New Orleans) is from San Antonio.

[skwatra]

does anyone know what the expected attendance level is for the upcoming Gold cup games at reliant?

doesn't seem like it has been advertized well by the media, i hope there's a good turnout.

[Nothing but me and my Cadillac]

I've been searching the web for a few hours, and found a nice community, River Oaks. It seems low in crime, and close to the inner loop. What do homes go for here? Well, I guess I'm going to keep searching.

[sevfiv]

one billion dollars

[Nothing but me and my Cadillac]

I just found out!! Ouch, the cheapest I found was $500,000 and it was TINY! I guess I'll keep looking...

[VicMan]

River Oaks is a very expensive neighborhood. It is the Beverly Hills of Texas. The houses are large and many celebrities and oil businessmen live in River Oaks or have houses there.

Next to River Oaks are very trendy eateries and grocery stores (a Kroger Signature and a Whole Foods).

The public (River Oaks Elem, Lanier Middle in Montrose, Lamar High in Upper Kirby) and private schools (Annunication Orthodox, St. John's in Upper Kirby, River Oaks Baptist, etc) in and around River Oaks are well-renowned.

Too bad you can't afford it

What is your budget? (What price house are you looking for?) - There are less-expensive neighborhoods nearby that are 300K, and going a bit further out or going to the East End will reveal even less-expensive houses.

[crunchtastic]

Just curious if anyone knows if HPD has an event or big announcement today....

About an hour ago I was on an errand and the Montrose and Waugh bridges over Allen Pkwy were closed, figured maybe a motorcade was on the way. A while later coming back down Kirby, lots of officers were at a residence on Kirby and Del Monte. Easily a couple dozen motocycles parked in formation and as many cruisers. No sign of media. Looked like a rally, except cops instead of bikers!

[MidtownCoog]

The President is here for a Cornyn fundraiser.

I was caught up in it this morning when they dispatched the police from GRB.

[lockmat]

Guessing from the clues again, I think this could be more multi-family. it's listed on the 4/14 Planning Commission Agenda as well. It's in the 77027

Developer and Company both are Jones & Carter http://www.jonescarter.com/

This requires the Parks and Open Space thingy and also says, "The building lines established along non-major thoroughfares for non-single residential properties shall have a 10-foot building line unless otherwise noted.

Just b/c it's not single-family doesn't mean it's multi-family. But the park requirement leads me to believe so.

[lockmat]

keymap for this location is 491v, which is just east of Post Oak, south of San Felipe, just west of the railroad tracks, and just north of Richmond. More or less right here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=houston,+tx&safe=strict&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&gl=us&ll=29.739861,-95.454948&spn=0.009763,0.021136&t=h&z=16

I'm betting it's on Westheimer. Maybe they are taking over High Street?

[cloud713]

the title says it all.. im curious whats going on along the train tracks between Richmond and San Felipe? ive heard rumors that back in the day they planned for it to be a toll road/alternative to the west loop, though of course if it were true thats definitely not happening now. 
i had an awesome idea of commuter rail along these particular train tracks from where it intersects the hempstead rail road north of i10, down to the 90A rail road line in southwest Houston. it would make a great spur to connect the southwest side of Houston with the northwest side of town (they have proposed eventual commuter rail lines down 90A and hempstead railroad as im sure you all know), connecting 90A to hempstead/290, so that riders from southwest houston dont have to take the train into the city, transfer over to the main st line, then university line, then uptown line, to get to the northwest side of town (which would take FOREVER).
unfortunately with this construction it doesnt look like anything of that nature will ever be able to happen now..?

Edited January 3, 2014 by cloud713

[august948]

Could  it be some rail-related maintenance?  Railroads replace rails and ties from time to time as they start to wear from the rail traffic load.  Or is the work on the roads and not on the ROW?

[cloud713]

It's on the ROW along the tracjs

[Houston19514]

Pretty sure it's a storm sewer/drainage project.

[rsb320]

Pretty sure it's a storm sewer/drainage project.

Right.  Isn't that why they're replacing the bridge on San Felipe?

[ArchFan]

Yes, it's project by the Harris County Flood Control District that replaces an open ditch with buried box culverts.  For more, look here:  www.hcfcd.org/w129

 

My guess is that the buried culverts aren't designed to withstand a load as heavy as another rail line.  But ... I'm intrigued by the idea of a hike & bike trail connecting Memorial Park with points south.

 

[august948]

Yes, it's project by the Harris County Flood Control District that replaces an open ditch with buried box culverts.  For more, look here:  www.hcfcd.org/w129

 

My guess is that the buried culverts aren't designed to withstand a load as heavy as another rail line.  But ... I'm intrigued by the idea of a hike & bike trail connecting Memorial Park with points south.

 

That would be a great idea.

 

[cloud713]

Yes, it's project by the Harris County Flood Control District that replaces an open ditch with buried box culverts. For more, look here: www.hcfcd.org/w129

My guess is that the buried culverts aren't designed to withstand a load as heavy as another rail line. But ... I'm intrigued by the idea of a hike & bike trail connecting Memorial Park with points south.

Ah I figured it was probably something to do with utilities.

Bummer if that's true that it's a sewer and that it's not able to support the load of another rail line (or two).. A western north/south commuter rail spur would benefit the 290, Westpark, and 90A rail lines for quicker mobility across the west side. Maybe if it couldn't support rail it could support a BRT line connecting the 3 commuter rail lines.

[Dakota79]

I figured the days were numbered on this. Too bad St Johns grabbed all the land across the street. It could've been a great new dense development.

http://m.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2014/07/exxon-mobil-corp-puts-two-of-its-houston.html

[Luminare]

I hope someone keeps it and puts it to good use. It's a very nice mid-century modern building. The addition by Page Southerland Page isn't that bad either.

[TexasGeneral]

This site, combined with the vacant building and parking lot at the NW corner of Buffalo Speedway and Richmond, have the potential to be developed into something really great.  He is right when he says this tract is one of the largest and most desirable in-fill locations left in Houston.   

[ChannelTwoNews]

Saw this rendering of what could be developed in bisnow's coverage of this story. Purely for show, of course, but wouldn't mind seeing better versions of it if possible...  

 

 

[Ross]

I hope someone keeps it and puts it to good use. It's a very nice mid-century modern building. The addition by Page Southerland Page isn't that bad either.

 

The dad of a kid on my son's baseball team last year works in that building. He said it's pretty grim on the inside. No light, because the windows are high on the walls, which also means there's no view, and the typical 50's layout that's a real pain these days.

 

[toxtethogrady]

Too bad St Johns grabbed all the land across the street. It could've been a great new dense development.

It will be dense development, depending on what "dense" is. St. John's currently has some major expansion going on at its campus.

 

The disappearance of this building and the Shell lab in Bellaire mark the passing of an era. Kind of like the closure of the HAL-PC club.

[plumber2]

A family member once witnessed the Exxon maintenance folks clearing out a space, so it could be remodeled. One the executives was walking by the dumpster on the way out, stopped and peered inside, then joked to another saying "Well, there goes another load of research!".

[toxtethogrady]

We could never do that; the TSA would be all over us in an instant.