ssullivan

Ummm...can we NOT use "main@dallas" as the address please?  How' bout main@polk?  Yea, main@polk.  That's better.

Haha. Well you know a block of Dallas had it's name changed during the construction of the Hilton Americas so that the new hotel wouldn't have a Dallas address. But that wasn't really such a big deal; Dallas and McKinney kind of merged together in that block anyway. So the Hilton actually has a McKinney address even though it's technically on Dallas.

You want a big spark for downtown?

Bill Denton and Geoff Jones just closed on the three blocks at Main and Dallas and are planning a project like they did in Denver (over a million sf of mixed - use space).  it will be sad if this project goes up before shamrock.

YAY! I'm glad they actually closed on the deal to buy that land. I would love to see their proposed development come to fruition in that location and this is a sign that it might just happen.

Parking wouldn't be an issue for that building if people were willing to stop being lazy and walk a block or two. There's only a few thousand parking spaces within four blocks of that building.

Even though May owns Foley's and is based in St. Louis, May operates each department store brand under its umbrella pretty independently. Almost all of the buyers, HR, finanical, and promotions work for Foley's comes out of their office, which is above the store downtown.

But wait, what's going to happen too Eatzi's, I can't survive without my Eatzi's! I won't make it if they tear it down and I have to wait until they build something new!

Ditto on that. But with the booming business EatZi's seems to be doing I doubt they'll leave the Uptown Houston market. One way or another I'm sure they'll still be around.

The only work on Elgin in the last four years has been construction on the streets crossing Elgin as part of the MetroRail and Metro Transit Streets projects. Elgin between those intersections had not really been redone in many years and badly needed this repaving work.

I am always amazed at the people who complain about temporary construction projects that last a few weeks or months that result in a nice, smooth, rebuilt street. Sure the construction is a hassle, but please don't tell me you'd rather have a bumpy, crumbling street that will damage your car if you drive over it faster than 20 MPH. And Elgin was in about that shape in several of the blocks currently being worked on.

That's prety funny. And the voiceover is pretty bad -- who was this Beverlee McKinsey and why was she the only one who was "starring" in the show? And was she still around in season two, or had the "new generation" completely taken over because the first was so bad?

Given that the show only lasted a couple of seasons it must have been pretty awful.

That picture is of a standard suburban Hilton Garden Inn. However, their properties in more urban areas are often larger. I'd expect this one to be over six floors given its location.

It may have something to do with feeling alienated from conventional forms of religion and spiritualism.  The arts offer kind of an "alternative" spirituality.  People who create things artistically are usually people who feel "different" and want to discover something new.  I find that not only gays, but people who feel excluded from society for almost any reason, are more likely to have interest in the arts (this is why artists are more liberal, and liberals are more artistic).

There's actually been some psychological research that supports this statement. It's also theorized that the alienation from peers as children and teenagers that many, not all, gay youth experience may be a contributing factor here as well. Some research has indicated that some gay youth who feel this alienation turn to creative endeavors as a way of coping. However, this is not universal by any means. And trust me, I have some gay friends who definitely don't have the artistic streak in any form or fashion and will readily admit so.

Of course being highly artistic and creative is not really directly related to sexual orientation. Yes gay men have the stereotype of being highly developed in these areas; however, we don't have a monopoly here. For every Philip Johnson that's gay there's probably two equally admired architects that are heterosexual. And I can assure you that not having a wife or kids has NOTHING to do with it. Same sex relationships can be just as intense, serious, and committed as heterosexual marriages, and many gay singles and couples have children. The stresses of relationships, raising a family, paying a mortgage, managing a career, and living life in general are not the exclusive domain of heterosexuals.

He also designed many of the buildings on the University of St. Thomas campus, as well as several smaller projects in Houston. And several of his students have also influenced local architecture with styles that are greatly inspired by Johnson. He will definitely be greatly missed in the design world

Oh yeah almost forgot. What is that Ventara @ Midtown over at 4001 Fannin. Damn thats ugly. Are they going to paint the top of that thing or leave it that nasty yellow color? Rental, I'm assuming. Its like 8 stories high.. what a behemoth. It takes up the whole block between San jac and Fannin. *shudder*

Ventana is a rental property and has been open for several years. The yellow is the color it was built with and will probably have for a few more years until it's time to repaint.

The place is built out of concrete. One of their big selling points is how soundproof the units are. My apartment locator's take on it was that if we ever get hit with a nuclear bomb it will probably be the only thing still standing in the area. The units are pretty nice and well finished, and the property has fully enclosed and climate controlled corridors. But I'm not a big fan of the yellow and the blocks surrounding the property still leave a lot to be desired.

Well, was the existing Camden built before the midtown craze?

Yes - and it predates the Post property.

The proposal Camden initially released for the superblock said the property would be mixed use with space for offices and retail. I haven't seen anything that indicates that plan has changed.

Sorry for the off-topic but you guys got me going down memory lane.

I also caught the second plane crash. Was very surreal. I lost both my uncle, Battalion Chief Matty Ryan, FDNY Manhattan, Battalion 1

and my High School roomate, Mark Bingham, in flight 93.

Messed up.

I was still in shock when a month later we lost that fire captain here in Houston at the Four Leaf fire.

That's tough. They were both heroes in their own way on that day. I had a client at work two years ago that lost both of her parents on Flight 93 also.

Last February I made my first trip to the World Trade Center site and it was quite an emotional experience. The most stunning thing was the absolute silence for blocks around, and the number of buildings that still bear the scars of that day.

I don't think Bayou Place is a total failure. The Verizon Theater packs people in all the time, and some of the other businesses seem to be doing well. Saturday night I saw a film at the Angelika (which I frequent about once a month) and the cafe was packed. The movie I saw was about 50% full, which wasn't great, but wasn't horrible either. Sake Lounge also seems to do fairly well.

As for Bayou Place being difficult to get to, I hear this from people all the time who I think really have no clue about the facility. There's ample parking, which I've never seen cost more than $5. And, if you go to the Angelika, they will take $5 off your movie ticket if you show your parking ticket, so parking is free. It's no more than a five minute walk down Texas Ave. from Main St., which I've done many times and never felt unsafe.

The Bayou Place tenants that have not done well have usually been ones that weren't "destination" venues -- they were too similar to many other bars and restaurants all over the city, so many people saw no point in going out of their way to visit them. In other cases, service or food has been poor, driving away customers. I don't think Cordish has been entirely to blame, and they have a good track record in other cities. It just seems to me that Bayou Place has struggled for a real identity, isn't well marketed to the public, and business owners have been reluctant to open new concepts there to attract people.

Most big conventions are booked several years in advance. Conventions being held now may have been scheduled in 2002 or 2003. As the study mentioned, it's not unusual for it to take several years after construction of a new or expanded facility is completed before business really ramps up. I still say give the GRB time. There are conventions that haven't been to Houston in over 10 years because the GRB was too small that will likely come back.

The article totally ignores Camden's proposed development near the McGowen station that is supposed to be breaking ground sometime this year.

Smart man.

Glen

I do occassionally give a little financial assistance, but it's rare and takes a LOT of convincing for me to do so. There have been a few times where I've given someone 50

From what I've heard and seen (to a small degree) panhandlers in San Francisco are the most aggressive.

They are pretty agressive but I've never had major problems with them. My worst experience was actually on Michigan Ave. in Chicago where one stalked me for three blocks because I refused to give him any money.

There are a couple of them in SF that I see every trip there -- like one guy at Market and Powell who preaches about the sins of all sex outside of a heterosexual marriage and any sex within a marriage that's not for the purpose of procreation. He reminds me a little of the guy who stands at the Houston Chronicle vending machine outside the downtown Foley's here and holds church every day right across from the southbound Main St. Square MetroRail platform. And there's another who hides behind a little fake bush prop he's made at Fisherman's Warf. He's usually on The Embarcadero between his little bush and a mailbox or trashcan and waits for tourists who aren't paying attention to walk by. Then he yells "boo!" and tries to lightly brush his hand across the person's foot or ankle to spook them. People stand on the opposite side of the street to watch his show. I've been victim to him twice but still found it funny. Neither of these guys has gotten a cent from me in my six trips there since 1999.

Yay! I'm so glad it's back downtown -- I didn't go last year specifically because it was at Reliant. I'm already looking forward to going back to the festival this year.

If you try apartmentguide.com or forrent.com, they are probably on one or both sites.  You can also check out apartmentratings.com.  It is a site where people can post WHATEVER they want about the apartments they live(d) in.

Of course you have to take some comments with a grain of salt.

Apartmentratings.com could be a great site but I really don't like it that much. As with many other review sites, the people who are perfectly happy don't even seek out such a place to tell everyone they love where they live. Those who are pissed off for whatever reason write pages and pages of reviews, making every property listed look like a dump. I checked it out when looking for a new place and found very little positive. However I really liked a couple of the properties I visited that had negative reviews. Only one property (Estates at Memorial Heights) did I see real evidence on the property that supported the negative reviews. The complex I ended up choosing has no reviews on that site; quite possibly that's because I've found very little to complain about here. It's extremely quiet -- that's the benefit of having lots of doctors and med students around -- safe, there's more than ample parking, and management does an excellent job of maintaining the property. If people aren't given lots of reasons to yell and complain, they typically don't post a lot on review sites like that one.

Houston's homeless problem is no better or worse than any other major city's. I've seen homeless people camped out at night in parks, and under overpasses in Chicago, New York, DC, San Francisco, Boston, LA, Portland, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. And that's probably not a full list. Yes these people do need rehabilitation and shelter. And those services do exist. Many homeless people choose, for whatever reason, not to take advantage of the services that are there. Granted those services could be better, but they do exist.

If anything, I've had more problems with aggressive panhandlers in some of the other cities I mentioned above than here.

Does anybody know how much the Calais at Courtland Square go for?

They were on my list of properties my locator provided me this summer when I was apartment hunting. I never did visit them though because they were on the higher end of my list price wise. I seem to remember one bedroom, one bath units starting for around $1000-1100, but don't hold me to those numbers.

No, these are off Beechnut/Braeswood off the bayou.  I can see how these new homes are built to make for better flood protection though.

There are some others off N. Braeswood in the area I mentioned, inside the loop that are very similar in style.

All of the new homes in my section of the Braeswood area are being elevated quite a bit to get them above the Allison flood level.

While I'm at it I might as well toss in my opinion about Fry's. Like any other store, including the evil Wal-Mart, they are not and will never be the cheapest on everything they sell. But as another poster mentioned, part of being a shop smarter is recognizing when you're getting a good deal and when you're being taken to the cleaners.

I've only been in the North Freeway Fry's about four or five times since it opened. Every time I've gone there to get computer parts that no Best Buy or Circuit City stocks. I've always been pleased with the store's service and enormous selection of computer components. And every time I've made a purchase, I've waited in a fairly long line (which fortunately moved quickly due to the large number of cashiers working), so people are making a lot of purchases there. I think if the North Freeway store was doing poorly after over three years in the Houston market that they would have just opened two new stores here. If they weren't making money they would have probably closed shop and left Houston already.

That said, I do question the location of the Southwest Freeway store. I do so only based on the history of the retail establishments in that section of the freeway, which have historically had a high turnover rate. However, that seems to have stabilized somehwat since the Fountains opened on the opposite side of the freeway a few years ago. I'm not saying that Fry's is in a bad location, but I do think there are locations along the Southwest Freeway outside the beltway that are somewhat better.

As for Sugar Land people not driving north, that is a legitimate issue. I've know some people that lived in Sugar Land who acted like there was nothing on the Southwest Freeway north of US 90A worth going to. However Fry's is a destination type of store. It's not like Circuit City or Best Buy which will build 15-20 stores in a Metro area. Fry's usually only has a handful of stores in the markets they enter, and those stores usually draw people from miles around. My sister in League City and some of her engineer friends were thrilled they got a Fry's down there because they had been making the long trip all the way up 45 to the North Freeway store. So while I don't think the Southwest Freeway Fry's is in absolutely the best place along that freeway, it's probably going to do fine given that there are probably a lot of people within a 15 minute drive of it who've been driving a long way to go to the existing store on 45.

On another topic, I ventured into the Randall's on Bellfort at S. Post Oak, and I was actually pretty pleased.  I previously shopped at the Kroger on the other (west) side of Post Oak, and it seems the Randall's is much nicer.  In fact, I think the Randall's is nicer than the old Randall's Flagship on W Holcombe and Buffalo Speedway.

That Randall's was renovated this past summer. That's why it's so nice. I agree that it's nicer than the Flagship store on Holcombe at Buffalo Speedway. I've been in a couple of other Randall's stores that were renovated in the last twelve months and they all have the same look as the West Bellfort/S. Post Oak store. Interestingly, Safeway is using that same design in other states as well. This summer I was in Anchorage and shopped in a recently renovated Carr's store that was almost identical to the Randall's you referred to.

While the Holcombe Flagship store is a lot closer, I usually make the drive down to the West Bellfort store becuase I find it more pleasant to shop in.