downtownian

Just now, BeerNut said:

craigslist?

 

Yeah. Regular tickets are below face value on craigslist too

20 hours ago, swtsig said:

man oh man the weather forecast does not look pretty.... high of 44 and down to freezing on sunday with strong winds.

Was able to get a VIP ticket at 40% below face value yesterday.

14 hours ago, Texasota said:

 

For some reason I find this comment funny coming from someone with "Tuscany" in their name.

 

At least we seem to be mostly past the whole "Tuscan" phase...mostly...

I like how someone's first post is digging up a thread from 2011 to critique a relatively small building's design. 

29 minutes ago, Nate99 said:

I think they have one guy working the Texaco project now and he’s having to run up and down the crane all day, or something.  I’m actually getting nervous about that one as far as it has come, there is still a lot to do. If they ran out of money, it would be in nasty shape in the hole/parking garage area, though the building itself looks to be pretty much done on the exterior.

Have you seen the lobby of Texaco? It's beautiful. I'll try to get some pictures next time I walk by. They look pretty close on everything but the hole / parking garage.

8 hours ago, Avossos said:

 

 

Im now going with my roommate. Hope to meet y'all.

I'm going with my friend. Sounds like a fair amount of HAIF will be there.

1 hour ago, adr said:

Just so we're clear - this means that the following places are all within two blocks of each other:  Fusion Taco, El Big Bad, La Calle, Chupacabra, and Main Street Taco Concept.  You can also get tacos at Christians, Bovine and Barley, Live Sports bar and tamales at Pastry War.

Add Lone Star Taco Company to that list (a ripoff of Torchy's) and you can get tacos at El Burro and the Bull in Conservatory

44 minutes ago, terra002 said:

haha not a public city pool, but charge admissions, like pools in vegas. Houston needs more party pools. 

Agree. Although the ZaZa and Omni pools function like that. You can book a weekend room at the ZaZa for ~$180 and get 4 people into the pool. Also, the upcoming Aloft rooftop pool should be a good scene. 

55 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

In an older building like the Beaconsfield, the monthly maintenance probably includes all utilities.

I live in the Capitol Lofts (constructed in 1908, converted to lofts in early 2000's) and the monthly maintenance is ~$0.55 / sq ft. It covers very basic building upkeep and maintenance including an onsite porter Monday through Friday for 8 hours a day. It does not cover utilities. Amenities are basic - the rooftop deck and gym are bare bones. 

This listing is for a 564 sq foot 1-bedroom for $1,875/month. The listing states opening is November.

http://realestate.marthaturner.com/Sites/MTP/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=92314908#_self

Looks like they are offering two months free. Monthly rental rates are $2.25/sf before the incentive and $1.85/sf after the incentive.

http://realestate.marthaturner.com/Sites/MTP/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=69760124#_self

On 5/5/2016 at 0:45 PM, Triton said:

Does living real close count? 

 

It's amazing how much downtown has changed. I eat dinner in downtown every week now, something unheard of even a few years ago. There's just so much to do in downtown right now. By far my favorite joint is the Conservatory. There's also a cool new place that's opened up a few months back on the side of a tower that projects a giant screen onto the next tower... think it's called Live Sports Bar & Grill? Haven't gone there but it looks cool. The only place I kinda worry about is La Fisheria. Almost always looks dead during the critical lunch time crowd.

No, living real close does not count. Please move downtown with the rest of us. We are the inner-inner-loop. 

HAIF is really moving downtown. Believe there are two HAIFers moving to Market Square Tower and someone recently moved to Skyhouse. 

Submitting without comment: The Lancaster Hotel - Preserving our History

8 hours ago, lockmat said:

Here's a question for people living downtown: Do you want downtown to be more like Times Square or simply a busy neighborhood?Of course, it could be both, but I don't think I'd want to live closer than three of four blocks from Times Square.

TriBeCa is my ideal urban neighborhood - relaxed, mature and historic. Downtown Houston will never be like that given our commercial business focus. However, I could see us being like the Chicago loop or New York's financial district which I both love.  When I lived in New York, I would avoid Times Square at all costs. 

4 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

I am curious about this.  

Runners for dry cleaning?  I understand that some dry cleaners deliver to highrises around town.  I am surprised that these folks aren't simply arranging for pickup/delivery of dry cleaning.

groceries?  How would that work?  If all they are going to do is "pickup groceries", does that mean that are cutting a deal with Randal's, Pheonicia, or whole foods, or somewhere to have the employees of the grocer "shop", based on a website order or phone order,and then have the apartment's "runners" go get it?  Or are they saying that the apartment "runners" will also "shop" the order in the store?  Hard to imagine the later and very curious on the former.

Instacart / Favor / Uber Eats / etc. all offer grocer runners at this point for HEB / Whole Foods / Sam's Club / etc. Imagine it will be through a service like that. It's not that big of an amenity. I live in a non-doorman building and have my dry cleaning picked up and dropped off every week and am having my groceries delivered by Instacart today at 7pm.

58 minutes ago, Texasota said:

This is being funded by the Downtown District, NOT the city. Now, obviously that money is coming from somewhere, but it's likely coming from residents and businesses downtown, not anyone in Montrose or the Heights.

There is a small property tax on Downtown property owners to support the Downtown District. For my residential property, the 2015 rate was 0.12%. They're projecting assessments of $11.7mm in 2016.

http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/2016%20Operating_Capital%20Budgets.pdf

What is your favorite downtown hotel new development?

28 minutes ago, Urbannizer said:

Looks like Midway will redevelop the site after all.

 

I like the phrasing. "Houston historic riverfront"

Just now, monarch said:

That's not really residential but fair enough. Will create a lodging & other poll later.

What is your favorite downtown residential new development?

^^^ those two old edifices are quaint and charming.  however, they are both more suited for bourbon street in new orleans, louisiana.. as opposed to louisiana street in houston, tx.  i would suspect that the new parking garage shall be ultra modern, adorned with ground floor retail, and can generate a much needed source of revenue as per the hotel property owner.  just saying....

Beautiful buildings like these are well suited anywhere. They are heart of the theater district and across from Alley Theater and Wortham. This is very short sighted - it will be the next area to be developed after Market Square takes hold - only a few blocks from Market Square Tower and Aris.

In my ideal city, they would have a nice pub or restaurant on the first floor for before and after show drinks and a few studio apartments above them with character. A nice little bar district consisting of Birra Poretti's, the space currently housing the Steinway showroom (the roof is beautiful and not utilized by its current occupant).

Nice win for the Hotel Alessandra - Jose Hernandez confirmed as new chef for its yet to be named restaurant. Jose is the former chef of Radio Milano which received a three star review from Alison Cook.

The upscale dining scene is really developing downtown. New restaurants below:

-Main Kitchen (Erin Smith recently left however)

-Prohibition

-Pappas Bros Steakhouse

-New Hotel Alessandra Restaurant

-The upscale Italian restaurant at Finger's ballpark apartments

-La Fisheria

http://www.chron.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/article/Jose-Hernandez-to-helm-new-downtown-restaurant-6660268.php#photo-7024636

A few others within dt that are a short walk/taxi/uber/greenlink/rail ride/bike share away.

 

Christian's Tailgate

Flying Saucer (i cant be the only person that likes the food here)

Kramers build your own pizza coming to skyhouse

new restaurant coming to the Savoy Holiday Inn

Pappas BBQ

Jackson St. BBQ

I can't believe I forgot Jackson St BBQ - I ate there for lunch. The new Finger Apartments at the Ballpark are going to have an upscale Italian restaurant and upscale late-night diner that should be interesting.

Where are these people going to eat besides the hotel restaurant nearby? Will they have a hike to get stuff that is decent for lunch and dinner? I probably would Uber to the Galleria area if from out of town I guess.

 

Depends what they are in the mood for - list below, I'm sure I'm missing some. I would just go to Market Square park and walk around:

Bovine and Barley

Honeymoon Cafe

Prohibition

Main Kitchen

Vic and Anthony's

Fusion Taco

Batanga

Azuma Sushi

Bluefish Sushi

Artista

La Fisheria

MKT Bar

The Grove

Bombay Pizza

Bombay Grill

Perbacco

Springbok

Irma's

Line & Lariat

Hubcap Grill

Pappa's Steakhouse

Quattro

Moonshiners

Hearsay

Niko Niko's

Edit to Add the Below:

Frank's Pizza

Roma's Pizza

Morton's

Massa's

McCormick and Schmick's

Greek Myth Cafe

http://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/top-10-restaurants-in-downtown-houston-6417699