Dakota79

Say good-bye to all these one story box stores with huge lots in front. Next up, Randall's , Kroger, etc will have apartments above them. Not sure when, but it will happen.

cloud713, on 06 Feb 2014 - 2:48 PM, said:

that railroad crossing seriously needs to be trenched into an underpass below Westheimer.

They talked about that 20 or so years ago and guess what... Aston Oaks was against it. Therefore it didn't go anywhere.

This is such an exciting time to be in Houston. Still, I would love to have a signature/trophy building added downtown. In the 80's we got Rebublic Bank, Texas Commerce, Heritage, Transco - etc (of course all the names have changed)

SkylineView - I didn't realize it would be jammed in there like that.  What street is that?  And do you have a helicopter for all your great shots?

SkylineView -  Thanks for those great shots!  I guess the Randall Davis Metropolitan will be losing some views on that one side.  That photo also shows there is still a lot of opportunity on Post Oak for more high rises.

You are right on the money Ricco!

Not much to this story as far as details, but I am hoping it means consolidation - not just relocating them. I sure midrises will go in their place.

http://m.click2houston.com/news/5-houston-post-offices-will-get-new-locations/-/16714936/24565554/-/9l67joz/-/index.html

That's great news. All along Post Oak, the one story retail centers are doomed. That land is just too expensive for low density.

Grace's has been open for several days now. They are doing a soft opening to work out the kinks. I have heard good things about it but haven't had a chance to try it out.

I wish Johnny would've buried the power lines in front of Grace's. I think I counted 4 poles at the entrance. Messes up an otherwise detailed look.

I haven't been (and am not an expert) and not wanting to get all technical about the rail to airports.  My point was "most major cities" and it looks like to me that even Love Field has it:  

http://www.dart.org/riding/stations/inwoodlovefieldstation.asp

You may not agree, and that doesn't bother me.  I just think that rail to the airports is a huge deal, especially for visitors coming from other major cities in the US and abroad.

Houston19514 -  actually LA is working on it.  Here is the latest.  

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/23/local/la-me-lax-rail-link-20140124

That's been my point all along. I heard the cab lobby has been against the rail to the airports thinking less people would ride cabs when the opposite is true. People could take a cab to the rail or from it. That's what we do in Chicago, DC, NYC etc. Houston needs to step up to the plate.

I wonder who our next Mayor will be. Maybe they will be "for" rail solutions.

How do they get the cranes out after they build?

All things considered, just the very fact that Dallas has rail to both airports (soon) and it isn't even on our horizon should be enough to get Houstonians power brokers and politicians off center on it. I think it will be used against us in tourism, conventions and future sports events. Imagine how great it would be to always know that it would take 40 minutes (guestimate) to get to IAH.

Those cities have also had their rail systems longer than we've had ours. I assume you're talking cities like Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, SFO.

Seriously. It's inexcuseable that we don't have a train to the airports. If we want to move up to a world class city, it is a must. What top cities don't have a train to the airport?!

I would say virtually any Randall Davis building.

We aren't saying Sears is doing well. But they must make changes to survive. They should either sell the land or renovate to survive. It looks like it should be on the side of I-30 in El Paso at this point. Tired, and resigned to crumble.

It looks like a Chevette and a few Chryslers in the photo! No BMW's or Audi's. Might be 1992.

If ever there was a place for Sears to reinvent itself, midtown Houston would be it. Let's start an email campaign to them!

What is the scoop on this. I haven't heard a thing since the judgement against the developer. Anyone have an update?

To Pragmatist: Thank you for sharing those great photos. I haven't seen them before. Someone (even Sears) could do something great with that building.

I never said I liked townhomes with front loader garages. Nor do I like Randall Davis' Renoir, Meteopolis, etc. However, many of the buildings such as the mid rises and highrises today will be ok as the city in-fills. I've walked DC, Chicago, NYC etc and they have a lot of ugly (IMHO) buildings and row houses that you don't notice as much since there are so many buildings. Look, I love Houston, and wish builders could understand that people will pay for quality. Still, Perry Homes made Bob Perry a gazillionaire, so not everyone cares about aesthetics like you or I. Some people just want location and square footage.

If you or I don't like what people are building, we either have to pony up the money and build it ourselves, or quit griping about it.

All the "bland" (per so many comments) townhomes, apartments and office buildings in general will disappear into the ciry fabric as a whole once Houston is completely in-filled. And in 150 years that should done. Of course, it's highly unlikely I will be around to see it!

Are you suggesting that in 150 years we'll look at streets lined with garage entrances as nostalgically as we look at these?