shasta

Apparently, according to the rumors on here, they have 11 months to "move dirt".

2 hours ago, tigereye said:

Reminder: Astros have agreement with city council to begin development within 4 years of May 2020. 

We should probably see news/renderings on this sometime this year or by 2024 FanFest. 

Does anyone even know which Developer the Astros are working with?

I haven't heard anything about this project other than rumors here.

17 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

With spring training right around the corner I imagine this won’t start until next off season. Any news that hasn’t been posted? 

I thought they were going to release the renderings at LAST year's Fan Fest!

Who is the developer on this project?

On 12/9/2022 at 11:51 AM, shasta said:

How long before we hear the Kroger lot will be completely redeveloped?

 

The infill Gods have been very kind to the area bordered by Shepherd/ Allen Parkway/ Waugh/ W. Gray.

 

This shows the projects that are "On The Boards", called out as the "next" Future phase or are prime lots for a major urban development.

 

I officially declare this the All-Wau-Gray District!

On 2/1/2022 at 8:58 AM, midtowndweller said:

Still....not open.

In fact, Georgia James and The Flight Club were the only tenants they have open after starting this project in 2006, if not earlier...ok!

Even the Ground Level Retail in the Regent Square- Soverign Tower is empty- What are the Regent Square Developers doing over there?? Not their job of finding tenants in their Mixed-Use development.

How long before we hear the Kroger lot will be completely redeveloped?

The infill Gods have been very kind to the area bordered by Shepherd/ Allen Parkway/ Waugh/ W. Gray.

This shows the projects that are "On The Boards", called out as the "next" Future phase or are prime lots for a major urban development.

On 10/31/2022 at 4:29 PM, shasta said:

This may have been a crazy take a decade or two ago but Houston is actually starting to develop like London. the are adding mid/high rises, or clusters of mid/high rises, in the middle of infill.

I'm sure there are other non-American examples.

reading comprehension...mattyt36

2 hours ago, Ross said:

The UK doesn't really have zoning as such, and that includes London. 

I am assuming this is sarcasm, since London has any number of high rise buildings outside what passes for "Downtown", which isn't really the same as a US downtown, ie the City of London.

100% Sarcasm to troll mattyt36

1 hour ago, mattyt36 said:

@shasta, buddy, no need to be so sensitive.

This began with you and your claim that Houston was "developing like London."  There was no clarification that such a statement was "aspirational," or "perhaps a bit of an exaggeration," or you were "half-kidding."  Quite the contrary, you dug in!

After a lot of back and forth, I think it's accurate to say that the only reason you think that is because London has tall buildings in scattered places.  I mean, OK . . . but, man.  How absolutely vacuous of an observation.  You might as well say Houston is like London because we have multiple airports, too.  Seriously, brother, what major cities can you not make a similar observation about?  I mean if you want to go on and on about loose land use restrictions, why not pick any major city in Latin America?  London?!

Let's talk some more . . . I've obviously got lots to learn.

It may not have US-style zoning, per se, but if you don't think the permitting process is wayyyyyyyyyyy more complex than Houston, I'd say you and Shasta probably have a good deal in common.

only talking about the high rises in random places and I did mention there are multiple "non 'American cities" that are more similar to HOW Housron is developing.

Please take your blood pressure medicine now.

In A Robotic voice to appease mattyt36:

LONDON IS A PERFECT CENTRAL NODE CITY WITH A DEFINED DOWNTOWN DISTRICT IN THE CENTER...THERE ARE ZERO SKYSCRAPERS OUTSIDE OF THAT NODE.

IT IS IN NO WAY SIMILAR TO THE ORGANIC WAY HOUSTON IS DEVELOPING WHICH SPROUTS SKYSCRAPERS ANYWHERE.

ANYONE WHO COMPARES THE TWO CITIES IS DELUSIONAL

47 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

Ah, then, my mistake!  Makes total sense now . . . how could I not see something so clear?  Houston is indeed just like London, especially when it comes to areas outside of downtown.  I have zero doubt that if you ask any of the nearly 20K native born Brits who live here now, they'll say, yep, they're developing so similarly, it's almost like they didn't leave home!  Maybe we can get the AIA Houston Chapter to jointly sponsor an exhibition with the British Consulate exploring the vastly similar urban fabric of these twin cities.  We can put aerial photos side by side and people will see, "Look, there's a tall building over there!  And there's one over there!  And another group over there!  It's like they're the same!  There certainly aren't any other cities in the world that can lay claim to this wildly unique development feature."

(It's always fascinating to see what hills people will die on.  I never would've guessed it would be claiming that Houston was developing like London, but this site never disappoints.  At least I did learn GreenStreet was downtown and therefore was not like Piccadilly Circus, had been admittedly confused about that one.)

Maybe if you are posting on a Houston City forum, you should focus on understanding Houston better.

And don't be dramatic, no one is saying Houston IS London.

They are saying the non zoning, no master plan approach leads to more of a London style city (with random clusters of high rises)  than a rigid zoned American City with a definite boundary between a  high rise district and lower height districts...or even another European example like Paris with a defined Business District (la Defense).

Houston AND London..do NOT follow those planning rules but nice trying to  project your comprehension of what you want us to think.

22 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Must have been quite the, er, "trip" if you were walking around Piccadilly Circus and seeing, um, GreenStreet.  That 17th century street design, no grid and all . . . WOWZA!!!!!  I definitely DO eagerly await a trip report from Toronto!

I specifically mentioned in  "the areas OUTSIDE of downtown, Med Center, Uptown".

FYI- GreenStreet is in downtown Houston

14 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

OK buddy.  Have you even been to LA?

You're describing a lot of cities there, including LA.

Name any city of size without multiple activity centers.  If your only distinction is our buildings are taller as if that's the distinguishing development characteristic, I suppose that's possible, but I think even that's a stretch.  Take a look at the urban infrastructure (the "inital design" you're referring to, if you will)--spoler alert--it's still LA!  Large developments popping up in multiple locations within a 5-mile radius, in particular at the intersection of large arterials (it ain't "random"!!!!!), doesn't change that . . . in fact it makes it more like LA!

Houston is just now getting these large-scale mixed-use development.  We are probably a good 10 years behind other comparable cities in this regard.  And thus far, the results seem decidedly, er, mixed (pun!) . . . take a look at the vacant commercial space in the Regent Square and Autry Park developments.

To say Houston is developing like London is beyond absurd.  What is Seattle developing like then?  How about Atlanta?  Austin?  Maybe, maybe, maybe I will give you Houston is developing like Toronto, albeit probably 20 years behind.

Yes, I've been to both Los Angeles and London as well as many other cities, including Austin, Atlanta, & Seattle mentioned in your diatribe. Haven't made it to Toronto yet so I'll send you a report when I do.

3 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

😆 By London, surely you must be thinking LA.

If by Asian city, you mean city with a lot of Asian neighborhoods, OK.  LA yet again!

We were initially designed to copy a LA type of a city but the recent development of clusters a tall buildings outside of Downtown, Med Center, Uptown, Greenway, etc. is similar to a London type of city where they pop up randomly. This is happening on Allen Parkway (the 3 West Streets), Upper Kirby,  and Montrose.

West Dallas, West Clay, & West Gray are going to have quite the 10 year transformation, in terms of High rises and urban infill.

Autry Park and Regent Square recently completed their early phases and still have many tall buildings to add.

The Driscoll was recently completed with GLR.

This project caps the end of West Clay @ Waugh plus TONS of potential with the shopping center site fronting West Gray.

The end of West Dallas @ Waugh is getting a  new multi Family project.

I would think the Kroger on West Gray site also prime for another high profile urban project.

I've often thought about how Houston is developing and which cities are comparable.

It is not like the typical American City that focuses on one center business district, instead it is developing more like International cities.

This may have been a crazy take a decade or two ago but Houston is actually starting to develop like London. the are adding mid/high rises, or clusters of mid/high rises, in the middle of infill.

I'm sure there are other non-American examples.

2 hours ago, ChannelTwoNews said:

Retail Pavilion fully leased, Condos 70% Sold

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2022/10/20/dc-partners-texans-fit.html

Great news! Hopefully that will lead to ground breaking of Phase II, sooner than later.

5 minutes ago, 79ta said:

From this Nov. 5, 2021 article - Astros owner Jim Crane said Friday that construction on a ballpark entertainment district surrounding Minute Maid Park is set to begin “probably within 12 months.”

 

Perhaps it's more likely they're waiting for progress on 59/69 construction?

With construction so soon...have we seen any renderings of this district?

1 hour ago, mfastx said:

Really wish some of those lots around MMP would be developed by Crane. Just embarrassing seeing the overhead shots. 

yes, what is he waiting on? I though the renderings for the "Astros Village" were going to be released at the start of the season.

Any updates?

28 minutes ago, Texasota said:

My standards are irrelevant - what's relevant is the standards of the developers that build in this city.

If you think this, a mixed-use project with no surface parking, a garage completely hidden from Dallas, Dunlavy, *and* Clay, and a pleasant streetscape with street-facing ground floor windows, outdoor dining, and a retail plaza is "below average" for a local project (even just in central Houston) then you must be, consciously or not, ignoring most projects. 

Yes, I'm comparing it to Comparable mixed used projects:

City Centre

River Oaks Distict

Autry Park (next door!)

Those are all far superior in design, layout, and execution.

Why people defend this isn't a "cheap" project is beyond me.

We all saw what is was supposed to be.

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

honestly, given how much people are complaining about a perfectly fine (at least above average!) project just because its worse than what was originally proposed, I kind of hope this just ends up a stripmall or a drive through carwash

you must have incredibly low standards in what you deem  "above average projects".

Where to begin.

-None of the retail spaces are leased and they are struggling to get the likes of "Nail Saloons"

-All of the rooftop condenser units are clearly visible from every angle. Increasing the parapet height would have solved that had anyone cared enough to think about it.

-They went cheap on exterior  building materials. fake stone?? really?

-The orientation of the  "anchor restaurant" is incredibly awkward. There is very little street interaction and the roof top balcony looks like an afterthought.

_ I drive by this project every single day and I se how it is used.

- I could go on and on why it is "below Average" for a site of this importance , in this location.

I am hard on this project because we all saw the project that they scrapped. That project had architectural diversity, paid attention to the details , and was integrated. These developers knew how to put together a quality project

I'm hoping the next phase is a start improvement. If not, sell this project to a developer who cares and can make improvements because it is clear this is a value engineered "get i to market and sell it " type of project.

Maybe Skanska will build a building to hide this project....

Let's hope this 16 story building and the rest of the design/quality of this block fronting Allen Parkway is a significant improvement form the bock just completed.

That side is the same side as Autry Park so it would be nice to have a continuous High Quality district along Allen Parkway.

4 hours ago, Luminare said:

My guess is none of these blocks get developed until the NHHIP gets moving, and we get further along with details and construction of the cap park. Once that triggers then that will trigger development along that. Until then we should leave this block dead. Rather wait for something better than revive a dead project that honestly aesthetically is okay.

NHHIP? Cap Park?

Can you catch me up to speed on this project?

That building is now the best on campus!

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

I'm sure I qualify as a "Regent Square apologist", but this is pretty unimpressive. It wouldn't take *that* much to make this space look a lot more inviting, but the fact that the restaurant owners didn't bother (along with the loss of the original team) really makes this look poorly managed.

I drive by it everyday and other then the sign they placed, I still can't tell it is a restaurant. Just a total hatchet job with the redesign of this project and the original design DID think about these details.

On 9/16/2022 at 11:24 PM, Texasota said:

Maybe a plant somewhere? Even just one?

The jokes about the quality, and lack of details,  of this project write themselves.

Que the Regent Square apologists.....in 3, 2, 1...