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mollusk

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Everything posted by mollusk

  1. mollusk
    The Hawthorne isn't in Tanglewood - it's in a reserve of Briarcroft according to HCAD.
  2. mollusk
    Don't know what species these trees are, but different trees have differing light requirements. One would expect that the landscape company took this into consideration - it's not your next door neighbor trying to figure out why the roses aren't growing in deep shade while the baby understory tree (Japanese red maple IIRC) is being burned to a crisp beside the driveway (true story). It's really striking coming in on 45 from the north.
  3. mollusk
    OK, challenge accepted - I've now read the petition at the link Urb posted earlier today in this thread. I haven't dug up the restrictions themselves, nor do I intend to; however, it's a Really Bad Idea to misrepresent the contents of recorded documents in a lawsuit filing so I'm going to accept the quotes and representations about them in the petition at face value. I think the suit has merit. IDK about being able to exclude all "commercial use" since the lot in question has been used as a business office (albeit for the developer) for decades, but the architectural control and lot division provisions (with which the Tanglewood office appears to comply) probably still govern; hence, no 20 story building or condo. Edit: Two other reasons to have a lawsuit such as this one. First, deed restrictions are a "use it or lose it" tool, so the HOA kinda has to file suit to maintain its pattern of enforcement (which is substantially more than just posturing). Second, if the restrictions are ambiguous, this type of suit ought to clear up the ambiguity (which is one of the things this suit asks for).
  4. mollusk
    I haven't drilled down to read the entire thing, however, as a general rule all the property owners in a development have to abide by the deed restrictions unless either: 1) they've expired by their own terms, 2) the violation has been waived by non conforming use existing without objection for an extended time,* or 3) the restrictions are amended (using either the mechanism in the restrictions or a supermajority of property owners under statute) to allow the non conforming use. Being the original developer (or its corporate successor) is irrelevant, unless there's a specific provision in the restrictions exempting the developer. This is why many subdivisions have one or more "unrestricted reserves" (typically on the perimeter). The reserves allow uses that don't comply with the general scheme within the boundaries of the reserves. *Example: My sister once lived in a late 70s development that required all the houses to be painted in "earth tones." The HOA eventually decided that if the color could be found on Earth then it was an earth tone, effectively knocking that provision out, and people could add blues and greens to their palettes without fear.
  5. mollusk
    Or how about anywhere up Studewood (and adjacent streets) north of White Oak??? If you're north of the bayou, the easternmost access to the MKT trail is at Oxford - which is almost as far west of Studewood as Watson/Taylor is east (not that Watson's any picnic on foot or bike, either).
  6. mollusk
    And today the sidewalks are open to mere mortals such as us.
  7. mollusk
    Actually, Sears was open in late 64 - early 65, before the rest of the mall was built. Since helicopter parents didn't exist at the time, 3rd grade me would ride my bicycle over there from the other side of what is now BW 8.
  8. mollusk
    In this context, is "REMUV" really graffiti?
  9. mollusk
  10. mollusk
    Since this is literally on top of the bayou, it seems that doing the foundation for anything of any size is going to be pretty challenging. Sure, it's doable - but what's the cost delta between that and a more conventional location? Any engineers care to weigh in?
  11. mollusk
    Downtown's bigger than a square mile - but not by much.
  12. mollusk
    Bellaire's code calls for 3 spaces per 1000 sf for commercial uses. Houston's code is more detailed, and requires 3.5 spaces per 1000 sf for medical clinics. Still, the aesthetics on that garage aren't anywhere near what the office component has... they could have done better.
  13. mollusk
    uh... they've been there pretty much all along. I have a friend who does a reverse commute and uses his bicycle for the last several miles. He's been stashing it down below the whole time.
  14. mollusk
    This block is one of the first places to flood, so any development is going to have to somehow accommodate that.
  15. mollusk
    Looks like the tunnel level will have some headroom
  16. mollusk
    Actually, in Houston there's one rolling bin for trash and another rolling bin for recycling, both of which are considerably larger than a typical trash can. Regarding alleys - yeah, they'd be nice. I don't see how on earth you could retrofit them without massive condemnations of chunks of people's back yards, garages, garage apartments, swimming pools, and sometimes even houses.
  17. mollusk
    Tandem garages would also work with a narrower driveway. Lots of us already play Musical Cars in our single lane driveways - it'd be nice to have more than one under cover.
  18. mollusk
    That fraction that lives inside the loop has the same population as a medium sized city - think Tulsa, Albuquerque, Baton Rouge... Beyond that, we have a bunch of freeway segments that don't need a stall or wreck to come to a near halt in the middle of the flippin' afternoon - mostly inside the loop, but not entirely.
  19. mollusk
    It will be like driving in Portland.
  20. mollusk
    Walked by at lunch time today (blissfully ignoring the BoA sign in the lobby on my way out the door - prolly mentally registered as likely having to do with home loans or some such)... they're setting the sidewalk trees, and the ground floor lobby suddenly looks a whole lot more finished than it did even last week.
  21. mollusk
    👺 Dang authoritarian freedom hating building codes.
  22. mollusk
    Last time I looked, the sign on the easels on the tunnel level in Pennzoil and Esperson said 2Q this year - which certainly looks doable, if a bit tight.
  23. mollusk
    Key word: inefficient. As in, single pane glass, old school 1 or 2 zones a floor HVAC, dark roofs, etc., etc. - like an office I had a few years ago in an early 80s building in which we alternately baked or froze, depending on the season. We were on the top floor (21); you could see the uninsulated underside of the concrete roof deck above the ceiling tiles.
  24. mollusk
    Looking at that link, it's amazing how much that building improves when the facade color is adjusted to something that wouldn't belong better on a 1962 Thunderbird.
  25. mollusk
    I couldn't get a decent picture, but the rebar is now above the street level.
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