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shasta

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  1. shasta
    "The traffic's insane, it is everywhere in our city, and it's not going to get any better, and the city keeps approving things that are not going to get any better," Mays said. I took this from the article, which is ironic, since the voters of Houston don't seem to give a crap about mass transit options and the most obnoxious opponents like to call it a "toy train". Plus they have, on multiple occasions voted DOWN zoning and any attempt at city planning. Do people even follow the elections and what they are agreeing to? The reality is that these trains move people and are specially effective in the densifying parts of the inner loop and Uptown.
  2. shasta
    What a shame if it is strictly office with token retail and the bottom. This site is perfect for a mixed use residential building. After all, its front yard would be Market Square (Mini-Discovery Green), it is close proximity to the historic buildings that also front Market Square, and is close to Main Street and the Theater District. I could see a really nice residential building fitting in here. You've seen the design?
  3. shasta
    The problem with the City of Houston is that they have no checks and balances regarding projects that fall under the city's incentive programs. They hand out incentives for developers, based on an initial scheme, and then the developer pulls out a portion of the project, or cheapens the design, and they still get the same incentive. This has already happened twice, that I know of: 1) Houston Pavilions.....The developer promised a residential component and then pulled back...they still received the incentives 2) Embassy Suites....The developer took advantage of the downtown Hotel incentive plan and then substantially altered (cheapened) the design Let's hope the same fate doesn't happen to this high profile project but if developers have found a way around the system it just might be happening again.
  4. shasta
    Why don't the people who are worried about Ashby actually use their energy to get Zoning on the ballots again. Zoning has been voted down multiple time. It's not the developers fault.
  5. shasta
    Something with a touch of variety to the exterior, like this new one going up in Los Angeles. http://brighamyen.com/2013/02/07/renderings-revealed-new-1100-foot-wilshire-grand-tower-in-downtown-los-angeles/#more-9536
  6. shasta
    wouldn't the new apartment building on the rail line in the museum district qualify?
  7. shasta
    Can you tell us more about this project...I am not familiar with it unless it was one of those towers that were floated out a few years back. Is Chevron running the design of this building instead of it being a pure Spec building? This has a HUGE implication on it being a trophy tower instead of a 'safe' building hoping to attract tenants.
  8. shasta
    Why not brong a Target to downtown? Perhabs they can fit one onto the now vacated book store space.
  9. shasta
    Red Scare, The voters already approved the framework for 5 additional rail lines, including the University and Uptown Lines in what................ 2003? The Uptown Management District needs to focus on their previous commitments BEFORE they propose adding additionakl costs for a plan that doesn't accomplish what the voters approved. If it is addition too...fine but it looks like they are preparing the pro-transit detarctors or a soft landing.
  10. shasta
    http://www.chron.com/memorial/news/article/Metro-supports-Post-Oak-transit-proposal-3974878.php
  11. shasta
    I wonder if this will only highlight the historical sites of the region or also focus on some of the cultural centers as well. I'm thinking they have the chance to make tourists aware of the museums, or theaters, and then send them on the light rail to these destinations. There is great potential to highlight many of the city's features if the all work together. Hopefully it is not just the historical markers.
  12. shasta
    That is great news! Does anyone have a list of the total 'on-campus' housing buildings and # of beds. I found some but not all. I wonder what the total count is so we can finally end this "commuter school" thing.
  13. shasta
    Here's a link to the Downtown Management Districts 2011-2015 Service Plan dated November 2010: http://www.downtowndistrict.org/Home/AboutUs/ServicePlan/2011-2015DraftServiceP/2011-2015%20Service%20Plan.PDF On page 18 they detail their Goal #4 of (making downtown) a Vibrant Sustainable Mixed use Place with (4b) Exciting neighborhoods to live in. They continue; Action: Consistent with newly prepared neighborhood plans for downtown, work to attract more residential development at various price points including finding ways to bridge economic and physical challenges. This includes required market research and analyses. Operating: $30,000/ $150,000 Action: In collaboration with other entities, work to expand open space, park & recreational offerings for downtown residents as well as addressing the current functionality of existing spaces. Operating: $20,000/ $100,000 Action: Working with others, pursue school/ educational opportunities in or immediately adjacent to downtown to meet the needs of a younger residential population. Operating: $10,000/ $50,000 Whatever the case....its a win win because the city WANTS residential so it can further develop a mixed-use environment. before you bash understand that this is a process and compared to what this portion of downtown looked like 15 years ago (almost ALL surface parking lots) I'd say they are making progress. Let them continue to build a customer base that will make downtown attractive for outside investors and developers.
  14. shasta
    Part of the reason why the Houston Pavilions underperformed is because the developers decided to pull the residential component from the project, at the last minute. They also pulled the hotel component. The city was NOT pleased with this at all. The residential component would have included a customer base and possibly would have changed the type of tenant in the complex. This Finger's project, is in response to an initiative created by the city. They are focusing on increasing the residential presence in the city, which will lead to more residential supporting needs: http://www.chron.com/business/article/City-plans-incentives-for-downtown-homes-3791742.php In fact, in the last 10-15 years the city has been the major figure in charge of downtown development. They have built 3 stadiums/arenas, convention center expansions, 2 hotels (one in the works), 2 parks for its residents (DG and Market Sq.), 2 rail lines branching out, and have worked with a number other entities to improve the downtown district from a n attraction/ quality of life standpoint. No one is expecting this thing to turn around overnight but it reassuring to see that the city has identified what ingredient is missing from downtown and are focused on how to fix it. They are focused... So far One developer has taken the bait......let's see if other developers follow and build more residential structures in the sea of empty lots downtown. If you know a multi-family housing developer, please make them aware of this credit. According to my calculations, Fingers could receive $5.7 if they build this project. AS far as spending city money. the city has to make intelligent decisions on what investment would lead to further returns. Building Discovery Green created development opportunities (residential, hotel, office) bordering the park which the city can now recoup additional tax revenue form those property. they probably have already calculated how long it will take for that decision, Discovery Green, the pay for itself, while benefiting the city in return.
  15. shasta
    I am thinking that something similar to the scale and density of West Avenue would work great in this site. That would look great downtown, especially next to the ballpark and all that is going around it. Do we have any renders yet?
  16. shasta
    I think it is safe to say that this project, in the form we saw a few years back, is dead. It seems as if the developer is going to proceed with an independent condo/apartment tower and I've seen nothing to suggest that it is part of a bigger plan at this point. It has been ghosltly quiet despite the fact that many projects have broken inside the inner loop including a number of large scale apartment complexes. The retail component was such a small percentage of the majority of the building's floor print (ground level only) that they could have built the apartments and sustained until the retail was leased out. Ironically, The apartment demand is really HIGH right now and Regent Square would be doing really well if they had built it as per the original time frame a couple years back. Unfortunately, the developer may have missed their opportunity as we are set to get a number of new apartment complexes int he near future and I have little confidence that the developer will move on this project, as we know it, anytime soon.
  17. shasta
    Who is the developer of this project?
  18. shasta
    I agree Kirby Drive/ Allen Parkway has the potential to be THE premiere back bone of the city of Houston. Imagine it in 20 years, starting from Downtown, snaking around the buffalo bayou park improvements, a dense vibrant Regent Square, through picturesque river oaks, into a dense upper Kirby, up to the Rice Village and on to Reliant. Kirby will be our Broadway...how do we want it to look?
  19. shasta
    When is this renovation expeced to be completed?
  20. shasta
    I definitely agree citykid09. The problem with a city that expands and annexes to capture a tax base is purely short term thinking. They are thinking what is in it for them now and are totally ignoring the fact that they are going to have to go in an maintain the infrastructure and possibly even replace it in 50 years or so. Houston is entering that stage where they are going to have to allocate a large chunk of their budget to replace aging infrastructure. To add insult to industry, the lack of zoning, city plan, and pro 'sprawl' mentality may actually force that expected tax base to be located outside of the city limits. Where are they going to get money to repair aging infrastructure. The federal government? We all know Texas and Houston is not as aggressive in hunting out federal funds but the Kirby infrastructure project is a great example of a federal/local project. We have to continue to do these and possibly shrink the city limits to maintain. I sure hope our city leaders is preparing for this future.
  21. shasta
    I wonder if the rendering will be drastically different than the previous rendering we saw a few years back for a Hines building on this site. that one was pretty bland and generic so hopefully the city's new direction will force Hines to make this building more dynamic. I'm not sure how the magnolia is doing but a mixed-use Office, Hotel (maybe a few end condos at the top), Retail building on this lot would be perfect. I know Hines has done these type of projects in other cities. Couple that with the fact that the city is BEGGING developers to add hotel space, even to the point where they are offering attractive incentives for those who do. Unfortunately, they are not getting a whole lot of takers and had to develop the Hilton on their own and are now looking to develop a second hotel on the other side of Discovery Green, which was another city of Houston development. Like the old saying goes :If you want things done right, do it yourself" and the city of Houston is all in on this philosophy.
  22. shasta
    This probably means very little at this point. Various architecture firms were commisioned as 'design architects' to give the buildings differenct architectural styles with Schwarz acting as the 'Master Plan Architect'. For the most part, those firms did what they were commissioned to do already. Morris Architects was the production architect, or architect of record, and was commissioned to put the buildings and the CD's toegteher and then see it to construction. The questionshould be- Is Morris Architects still involved in this project as the production architect and how much, if any, did the master plan change? It may actually be a good sign that Hartman-Cox had not been workign on this because their orginal design will stay the same. This is assuming the project is back online.
  23. shasta
    According to the article, the timeline is 5-7 years and they (MFAH) aren't exactly sure what they want the museum to be so we may be waiting for a little while.
  24. shasta
    http://www.chron.com...ign-2972381.php
  25. shasta
    Baylor's funding includes one prominent ex Houston Major Leauge Babseball owner who just made a killing on the sale of his team. Too bad Houston money will be used to help a University in Waco. Also, this in NOT the final design. It is a marketing design study used to generate funding and to market the project. They have only recently issued RFQ's to begin the actual design of the stadium.
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