mollusk

Dog whistles.  I guess it's progress when even bigots realize that saying (insert your favorite slur here) is wrong.

Nothing like seeing this while closing in from the north with a passenger who is among the I Never Drive Downtown It Scares Me people (who calmly navigates Woodway just outside the Loop daily), who then suddenly points at exits two lanes directly abeam and hollers "get off here - everybody's stopped" when it's just the usual Dallas Dip slowdown. 🤠

3 hours ago, ekdrm2d1 said:

 

The hoonage urge is strong with this one... 

I have worked downtown for essentially my entire adult life, and I've been out and about a couple of times a week in the evening for pretty much that entire time.  Yes, there are a number of mentally ill people and those with substance problems who don't have anywhere else to go - I'll defer to whoever is doing some actual counting about whether it's more or less than some other point in time.  However, unlike during the 80s and early 90s, I generally feel safe walking at pretty much any time.  Redoing the Texaco building took out the last of the public pissoirs (the Rice was even worse when it was vacant).  In my experience, a dose of situation awareness coupled with following Miss Manners' advice and responding to panhandlers with a shake of the head and a quiet "sorry" without breaking stride generally works pretty well.

The problem with Center Street is that it's very narrow, and has a lot of things built right up to it.

This is where a monorail would come in handy, since they don't take up much in the way of real estate.

Can someone with sharper eyes pick out where the ground level access to the underground parking is?

2 hours ago, nate4l1f3 said:

Lol @ 609 Main. Seriously just turn them off. 

609 Main's crown lighting looks unfinished, and it's usually so dim that it also looks a bit borked.  The white vertical stripe does OK, though.

34 minutes ago, SMU1213 said:

You would think the neighboring properties would be able to kill this by refusing to sign a crane swing easement or a tie back agreement if they really wanted to. 

 

Having said that, that letter is a joke and will do nothing to sway the developer from constructing on this site if the deal makes sense financially/legally. 

I've seen more persuasive letters.  The lawsuit does a much better job of laying out the issues that matter.

2 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Do you really think they just weren't paying attention and The Hawthorne slipped under radar?  🤣    There is little doubt that the site of The Hawthorne is not covered by the Tanglewood deed restrictions.

The Hawthorne isn't in Tanglewood - it's in a reserve of Briarcroft according to HCAD.

1 hour ago, cspwal said:

So do those trees have to rely on the light filtering through the windows from ground level, or are they putting in some grow lights into the atrium?

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).

2 hours ago, brijonmang said:

A closer shot from an Instagram buddy

It's really striking coming in on 45 from the north.

3 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

Much appreciated. I'm guessing that all these apply to this situation which is why they are even considering a large development here. Again at this point the suit is merely a gesture or posturing by THA. Your example though was quite amusing to read haha.

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).

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. 

4 hours ago, crock said:

 

 

I don't understand where you would be coming from that you would need to use this?  Maybe the 4 square blocks south of white oak? Or if you were at Stude Park and wanted to go? 

I share @rechlins frustration that the northern trail just deadends literally within view of the southern trail, when i've tried to make a loop around, but from an actual pedestrian friendly walkablity standpoint, the heights bike trail has been incredible for us living in the first ward.  

 

 

 

 

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).

On 5/10/2019 at 10:36 AM, Nate99 said:

They're really closing in on completion here, they have furniture in the lobby already. 

And today the sidewalks are open to mere mortals such as us.

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.

In this context, is "REMUV" really graffiti?

5 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

 

Any feng shui experts wanna weigh in on the ceiling feature?  😱
 

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?

Downtown's bigger than a square mile - but not by much.  

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 minutes ago, 102IAHexpress said:

The most interesting thing I saw was the picture of a commuter bus with bicycle access. You learn something new everyday. Two decades of riding Metro buses, and I didn't know that the tall commuter buses had a bicycle rack in the luggage compartment in the belly of the bus. 

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.  

This block is one of the first places to flood, so any development is going to have to somehow accommodate that.

Looks like the tunnel level will have some headroom

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.

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.