barracuda

Maybe because they're two independent businesses?

I'm still baffled by these decisions. The ordinance clearly states that HAHC shall issue a certificate of appropriateness for additions taller than the existing roof structure so long as:

There are other requirements regarding materials, etc., but nowhere does it state a 67% or 75% setback from the front. It's as if the HAHC is imagining new rules on the fly rather than following their own rulebook. If they want to change the ordinance, they should put it to a real vote. It's not as if drawing up architectural plans is cheap; people need to know exactly what to expect to ensure a smooth and quick approval process. Otherwise, let's nullify this ordinance and disband the HAHC.

I am not saying that the skyline is ugly or that a skyline view in Houston is a bad thing.  I am just saying that it isn't desirable enough to be worth the view of the cruddy condo complex.  It is a wash.  For 1.6 mil, you can do much better if you want a skyline view.

 

Skyline views just do not move expensive properties in Houston.  Look at this view:  http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=71469752&v=s

Way better view than on Ridge.  But this has been sitting on the market since January.  If Houston had such a spectacular skyline, people would be lining up for this.  But, they are not. 

The skyline view is clearly a selling feature of the house on Dart. That said, that area is very transitional, and most of the new neighbors are moderately-priced town homes that are nowhere near the $1.5M range. You said that ground-level views are very important. Well, the house on Dart house overlooks a parking lot surrounded by a barbed wire fence. That and the high price relative to the neighborhood are probably the reasons it is still on the market. 

No one needed a Walmart in the Heights.  There were already two within a short drive of the Heights. 

The only problem with that line of argument is that it can be applied across pretty much any establishment. The Heights is in the middle of a large city filled with redundant businesses. No one needs more retailers or restaurants, but many people will be happy to have them close by. 

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit.  I said: "The view from Ridge is mostly the wall of the condo complex across the street."  Most people understand that Ridge is a street, and not the third or fourth floor of a house.  The view from street level matters for most people as they want to see nice houses across the street from them when the go out for a walk or sit outside.  A city view is nice, but it is at the expense of looking in on a very dull and a bit shabby condo complex.  The view from Ridge, the street, is exactly what I said it is.  I never said there was no city view.  But, it is never what I actually say that is the subject of your posts.  It is what you need for me to say but did not say.

The street view matters in the case of bungalows with front porches facing the street. However, 515 Ridge street is walled off from Ridge street like a fortress. As such, I doubt the view at ground level makes much difference for those interested in this house. 

Some of the design guidelines actually encourage renovators to increase the total size of the house.  By requiring that additions start close to the back of the existing structure, and original materials be preserved to the extent possible, there is very little flexibility to how to lay out the house.

 

Here are two examples of more modest-sized homes that in my opinion look great:

 

http://www.har.com/homevalue/337-W-22nd-St-Houston-77008-M43760434.htm

http://www.har.com/homevalue/344-W-22nd-St-Houston-77008-M97582416.htm

 

 

Both sold in the high 600's if I'm not mistaken, despite being less than 3000 s.f.

 

However, neither would pass muster in the HD's, since both projects retained only a fraction of the original structures (about the front 1/3 or so). I suspect a high proportion of HD residents would be happy to live next door to these, as they retain the character of the original if not that much of the material. 

These are great examples of how additions should be done. From my perspective, the exterior physical materials are less relevant to making the house "historic" than the style and proportion of the house. The biggest problem with the historic ordinance is that it forces additions to take on strange and ridiculous camelback proportions that would never have been built when the homes were originally constructed. On the other hand, these additions are far less noticeable and don't stick out like a sore thumb. Even better, they provide a house with better flow and allow the homeowners to preserve more yard space by centering the house rather than pushing most of the addition awkwardly to the back yard. 

Reprint from Hotair

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/09/sigh-d-c-council-poised-to-chase-off-900-jobs-because-they-dont-like-wal-mart-so-there/

Sigh: D.C. Council poised to chase off 900 jobs because they don’t like Wal-Mart, so there

POSTED AT 10:01 PM ON JULY 9, 2013 BY MARY KATHARINE HAM

A couple lessons, here. First, businesses are not obligated to open in your city or your neighborhood, particularly when you incentivize them to locate elsewhere. Washington, D.C. is particularly susceptible to losing potential jobs (particularly in entry-level and working class retail positions, as opposed to lobbyist slots) to nearby jurisdictions because it doesn’t take much to simply cross the bridge to friendlier climes in, say, Virginia.

Second, as Sonny Bunch reminds us of a lesson from Econ 101, hiking the minimum wage kills jobs.

...

On the surface, it doesn't look like they are singling out Walmart, but then there is a grandfather period for existing big-box stores whereas the Walmarts would be new.  

Living wages for larger employers is an interesting idea, particularly if it helps shift the burden for social safety nets from taxpayers back to corporations like Walmart that have plenty of profit to share with their employees. I'm certainly not a fan of subsidizing the tax system so corporations can eke out more profits while putting their employees on food stamps. On the other hand, this kind of law puts the enforcing municipality at a disadvantage to neighbors with no living wage policy.

It may just be an illusion, but the far side of the grove (north-west side) appears to go slightly higher than the other side in the rendering. 

Just going by the rendering, the floor count of the tower maybe 50 stories. But it looks like it is sitting on top of a 7 story garage or lobby and the top floor looks twice as high as the other floors. This tower might actually look like a 59-60 floor building.

It looks like the base levels may also contain the urban campus..."dining facilities, a fitness center, training and conference facilities, and additional parking." I wonder if they will build a tunnel connection to get between this and the other two buildings. 

I wouldn't get upset about this. Interfaith Meals-on-Wheels delivers meals to homebound seniors over 60 (and their pets), as well as services to refugees setting in America. They provide a valuable service to the community, and as a bonus it looks like they will be cleaning up this vacant overgrown lot. 

I don't know if too much money is the right terminology...more like, "people with the amount of money I wish I had."

Well, if one resents people "with too much money", at least this project would provide a mechanism to take some of that money and circulate it through other peoples hands :-)

Apparently I offended a few folks who are insecure about their financial wealth. My point is that retailers like Hermès, Christian Dior, Tom Ford and John Lobb are boutiques catering primarily to a wealthy few trying to impress others. There is no other reason to buy their products, unless perhaps you just happen love high-end fashion. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

A chef even if business owner is not the same as a typical business owner.  There is a level of micromanagement that can only be achieved in certain scales as a chef...  I would place that as the exception to the rule, you are trying to say it is the normal way of things. 

 

So no... we don't see higher end boutique restaurants break off into chains very often...

I completely agree when it comes to restaurants. Economies of scale and good food are not usually related.

There are very few chain restaurants in Houston that I go to since there are so many wonderful local restaurants run by local chefs or families. If I do go to a chain, it's usually out of convenience when I'm traveling. 

Where I would differentiate this is with commodity products, where you can almost certainly find a better price for the same item at a chain store vs. a local one. The only reason for going local in this case is if there is some added service or convenience provided. 

Looks like the tenants are mostly boutique stores for people with too much money. 

This is great to see. I'm equally excited about the Alliance Residential building in the photo on Main/Leeland. Even though it's not a high-rise and not terribly exciting architecture, it's displacing a surface lot and should be a great location adjacent to a light rail stop. Hopefully it'll encourage more residential buildings in SE downtown. 

Looking at Google maps, there are four lots on that block.  The Swamplot article says three are part of the deal, so I'll speculate that the one in the picture is not part of the package (the others don't appear to be as desireable), it is the most photogenic.

The other three lots that may be part of the deal include a garden apartment dating back to 1923 appraised at $1.29M (SE corner), a residential duplex from 1923 appraised at half a million, and a converted commercial building from 1919 appraised at $875K. The newer 1996 house in the photo is appraised at $743K.

Hines must really see a lot of value in this specific block - maybe it's the proximity to the light rail? It is currently one of the prettier blocks in that part of town...I do kind of wish they could find a vacant lot or demolish a block of town homes instead.  

Building the Walmart prevents something better being built there.  A grassy field is better than a Walmart, in my opinion.  I wouldn't buy a house next to a Walmart.  You might. 

 

Regardless of whether or not Walmart is great to live next to or not, the 380 was a waste of $6M of our taxpayer money, since Parker and Ainbinder both say they would have built it with our without the 380. 

Keep in mind this was built on a brownfield, not a pristine wilderness site. If this were the Katy Prairie instead of a former industrial site, I would agree with you. 

Didn't realize someone tried to go "Ashby" on this one and get a movement against the project going. Even has it's own little "evil structure looming over neighborhood" art as well, even if it does look make it look like the Brave Little Toaster had 'roid rage or something.

 

http://stopparcbinz.org/

 

Probably speaks to how well it went since I only found this after the crane's up and work has begun...

Interesting that someone would fight this 6-story building when there's a 35-story condominium a block away. 

Walmart's business model is built on being lean and efficient, and eschewing things architecture flourishes makes sense for them in areas where price is the main competitive factor. This doesn't necessarily mean they sell items for less, but they may have more flexibility in pricing out competitors or increasing their profit. 

But I personally like the idea of businesses building for the long term rather than employing bare-minium strip mall architecture that will be tired in ten years. It would be a depressingly ugly world if everyone built to the lowest-common denominator. In a competitive environment like Houston, and in a generally affluent area like this particular location, putting a little extra effort into attractive architecture (for a strip mall) and accessible sidewalks should help with customer loyalty and attract and maintain more customers over time. 

Ok, so I was bored on a long call and I tried to make a list of the stores on 19th using a map search, starting at Yale and ending at Ashland. There are at least 7 stores selling trinkets, 6 thrift stores, and 4 antique stores. I could be off, but that is at least a rough estimate. The vast majority close at 5 or 6pm on weekdays. The lone standouts are Studio Fitness, which closes at 9pm on weekdays, and Shade, which closes at 10 or 10:30 depending on the night. 

Trinket stores: 7

Elegant notions - jewelry and trinkets

Casa Ramirez - trinkets

Occasions - trinkets

Erica DelGaedo - trinkets, close at 6pm

Dramatika Custom Framing, cards, chachkies, close at 6pm

Coda - trinkets 

Grace Hart & Co. 

Thrift stores/clothing: 6

Sand Dollar - thrift store

Retropolis - thrift store

Jubilee - thrift store, close at 6pm

Thread - close at 5pm

Replay - thrift store

Langford Market - womens clothes

Food/Lounge: 5

Juice in the Sky - juices and smoothies  

Heights Cigar Lounge

Shade restaurant

Cricket's Creamery & Caffe - close at 6pm

Carter & Cooley Company Deli - close at 3:30pm

Antiques and Furniture: 4

Bliss on 19th - random home decor (candles, etc.)

Chippendale Antiques

Aon Antiques

Eclectic Home - home decor, close at 6pm

Record store/Studio: 2

226 Recordings - full service recording studio

Vinal Edge Records - record shop, open until 7pm

Art gallery: 2

18 Hands Gallery - ceramic art gallery

Gallery M Squared - art gallery, close at 6pm

Services: 7

BBVA Compass - bank

Southern Dental

Studio Fitness - gym, close at 9pm

Edward Jones 

Venus Hair

Ping Pokka Dot - party facility for girls

Boot and Shoe Repair

I know it's still getting a paint job, but I've gotta say that garage is really ugly. Too bad it will be the most prominent feature most people will see. I guess there aren't many ways to dress up seven stories of concrete that look like a sloping gash in the side of a building, but perhaps some more trees would eventually help.

Many people think the best part of 19th street is the lack of nightlife.  Many are not happy with how the bar scene on White Oak has created a little Washington Ave in the Heights.  I would like to see a few more restaurants on 19th and maybe another low key bar like Down House.  But a live music venue or big bar like Christian's would not be a good thing for 19th st. 

 

Repurposing the church buildings would be very difficult.  It is such an odd configuration of buildings due to the ad hoc nature of the growth and expansion of that church.  The 1912 building actually has a first floor that is a few feet under the street level.  Getting it to be ADA compliant would be a major undertaking.  I would love to see someone take a shot at it, but it would take more money than a local private investor is going to want to put up. 

I patronize businesses on White Oak regularly, yet I never visit those on 19th. I think 19th looks cool due to the old storefronts, but the businesses mostly cater to women and elderly. I think it would be great to have a few neighborhood bars along the strip to give it some life after 5pm, but I won't hold my breath that it will ever happen. 

Has it really only been vacant for 13 years? I thought it'd been much longer. 

I just learned of a new requirement. You must present at least a pound of termite frass to the commission in order to get approval for wood window replacement.

I agree with the others....congratulations! I'm really confounded as to why HAHC tried to change the rules mid-game regarding the second-story setback, rather than adhering to the stated ordinance. It's great to have opinions and all, but their ruling seemed to had no basis and defied any common sense. Good luck with your home!