phillip_white

9 hours ago, Big E said:

I don't think any "culture war nonsense", whatever that means, will matter much here. It will mainly be political support, and, more importantly, tax breaks, that will win the day here. Texas isn't opposing the bid, and the free federal investment and prestige that would come from landing it would be too good to pass up. Houston, overall, is probably the most logical location for this to be built.

The state just replaced the HISD superintendent/board of directors and passed a law enabling the Secretary of State to investigate Harris County elections, so state level interference is not out of the question.

44 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Curious what this might be, a trolley car?

There was a street car in a food truck type configuration in the original renderings.

4 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

I thought it had been fenced for years.

They're installing a fence at the curb. The other fence will come down to allow access for construction.

9 hours ago, wilcal said:

It was one of the projects that TIRZ 15 was considering funding. There was a station proposed for here originally, so a significant amount of groundwork has already been done. 

That's good to hear. This is a logical location for a stop and with all of the development planned within 4-5 blocks on McKinney it would be well-used.

5 hours ago, pablog said:

Has this new light rail station been confirmed elsewhere or is this being proposed by the Goal Park group?

Major excavation underway just west of the Starbucks site. I think the previously posted plat showed it being a strip of retail surrounded by parking. 

Floor plans are now listed on their website. A pop-up states June opening.

https://www.carolineloftsapts.com/floorplans/#a1-995

Couldn't find a thread for the blocks around Advantage BMW, but the parking lot between this apartment complex and Pierce Elevated had a core drilling rig collecting soil samples this afternoon. It's currently used by Advantage BMW for employee parking, but I'm not sure who owns it.

Edit: since there's a new apartment building proposed, I will specify the lot as being bounded by Austin/Gray/LaBranch/45

Hopefully this will motivate the group that bought/demolished House of Dereon to develop that block.

10 hours ago, hindesky said:

I drove by this today and it's looking really good. I guess I assumed it would have a budgeted appearance, but there's a lot brickwork in progress that gives it an almost historic feel. It's going to blend in well.

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

So this may finally be starting. Spotted a Bobcat skid steer. I can't remember if the silt screen netting has always been here but there is some now.

Google Streetview shows it wasn't there 7 months ago.

I saw some new sidewalks and entry/exit ramps in @hindesky's photo on another thread. Three worker vehicles, so hopefully they get this sucker open soon.

On 5/27/2021 at 8:27 AM, phillip_white said:

Eleven Eleven Nightclub is opening on Saturday at 2402 Austin St.:

https://www.instagram.com/elevenelevennightclubhou/

This club had their TABC license canceled. A new application is pending for Green Tree, which is a possible hint at Lebanon (probably a hookah lounge, and possibly a restaurant component based on the FB application). The LLC applicant is controlled by Maroun Sawma who is affiliated with Taiga, another midtown club.

1 hour ago, 004n063 said:

That is quite a lot of surface parking, considering the fact that there is a garage. At least the big lot is mostly hidden, but still. Bit disappointing. The buildings look pretty cool, though.

I agree about the surface lots, but I think they struck a good balance. The parking garage would be mainly for residents, the back lot for the office building, and the small lot for the retail. They can also build on the back lot if demand ever justifies it.

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

Looks like they're about to start striping.

6 minutes ago, hindesky said:

They patched the roof.

I walked by here earlier today. The entire left side of the building fronting San Jacinto has been removed. You can see the notch in this photo. Wonder if they're re-doing the whole facade or just the portion that was damaged by the fire.

1 hour ago, Ross said:

Hmmm, the address on the permit is not exactly inspiring Street view

That's the address for the company that filed the permits: J.R. Permits (aka Jasmine Rios). They show up on quite a few of the permits that I've seen.

13 hours ago, 004n063 said:

The designs seem quite preliminary right now, but the mere fact that they are suggesting closing those street crossings to vehicular traffic is  pretty awesome. The time to traffic-calm East Downtown is now.

I don't think that's the plan. My interpretation was that road humps would be installed where the street meets the trail, which paired with the curb extensions would effectively slow traffic.

1 minute ago, wilcal said:

What kind of buses? Tour? METRO? Other?

Greyhound????

20 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Right now they act as physical barriers to pedestrians more than anything,. 

I think that's the point. The one along Bagby is designed to keep people from walking across an off-ramp and pushes them toward a protected intersection. I'm glad they're not planning any pedestrian improvements at this location because it's one distracted driver away from plowing through the upgrades and any people who might be using them. Though I'm not sure who would want to sit between two lanes of speeding traffic.