UtterlyUrban

It’s interesting that there appears to be few balconies.  I’m sure the design will evolve..... exciting!

5 hours ago, lockmat said:

 

 

Its a lot of space, buts all by itself and barely connected to downtown. Hopefully there’s more synergy they can create than seems to be there. If it can a kind of “bookend” to downtown that the GRB is becoming that’d be great. 

A “bookend” would be great.  I fear a “dead end”.

hopefully the vision that the commentators above mention is real and this property is integrated into downtown and functions as an amazing urban development rivaling all others on a world class scale.  This property has that potential.  It has the potential to be written about and studied generations from now by students and urban planners..... it’s a once in a lifetime chance for the Houston and the Developers.

I am concerned about this property.  To me it represents a “once in a lifetime” development opportunity for a firm with vision.  I am not really seeing the vision.   Had a firm like Hines bought it, the vision would likely be clear and it would be spectacular.  Unfortunately, this feels “GreenStreet-ish” to me right now.  I really hope that I am wrong.

It will be wonderful to see Downtown cross the 10,000 residents line at some point in the not too distant future.  I read that downtown crossed 8,000 in April.

9 hours ago, LBC2HTX said:

Well, yeah.. they got Vinson and Elkins to sign on as an anchor tenant (+200,000 sqft of 1 million) and their current lease is up in 2021.  

Oh, i remember that now....  I forgot which tenants were moving to what buildings......hard to keep up!

I am very surprised that Hines spent all that money on paving this lot, what?, six months ago?  Only to dig it up now.  It seems that something important must have popped to change the speed of this development.  Perhaps they got a great loan, or a specific tenant commitment, or they were concerned about interest rates or.... or..... or......  but, to me, something happened to jump start this project.

17 hours ago, Nate99 said:

Looks like we are going to need about three dozen chefs downtown to drive their concepts, we've got a hell of a food hall backlog building up. 

Agreed.

”Food Halls” are the current fad.  They will fade over time IMO, like other concepts that wax and wane.  Other than the fact that the current “food hall” concept is “chef driven”, there is little difference between a “food hall” a “food court” or a “lunch counter”.........

Every time I come to this thread and look at the renderings of what Greenstreet was proposed to be vs. what it is, makes me sad.

This developer is an Aussie.  If he is reading this, please note:  I am offering to buy you the beer of your choice at the spot of your choice the next time you are in town.

This is Houston.  They need to cut those trees down so we can see the sign!  

5 minutes ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Any idea if this will open for the fall semester?  I think that it was scheduled to open in January.  Will it open early?  Or do we think that there is still much to do that would disrupt classes?

 

 

Never mind...... their website clearly says “January”........   

Any idea if this will open for the fall semester?  I think that it was scheduled to open in January.  Will it open early?  Or do we think that there is still much to do that would disrupt classes?

8 hours ago, wxman said:

I read on wikipedia (such a reliable source, I know) says that as of August 2018, Emirates will add another flight (?) to Houston that will continue on to Caracas, Venezuela. Is this big news? If so, I'm sort of underwhelmed. 

 

I'm surprised at the lack of new flights/carriers at IAH this year. Does anybody else feel that way?

Venezuela?  I was there many decades ago.  It was good then (not great but good).  But, thanks to the socialist kleptocracy it is now essentially a failed state that is no longer safe for foreigners or locals.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/venezuela-travel-advisory.html

i wish the airline good luck selling tickets.

This developer, unlike too many in Houston:  1) announces, 2) quickly flattens, 3) quickly digs, and 4) immediately builds.

its nice to see a developer who doesn’t announce, flatten, then wait 3 years or 5 years or more to build.

i hope that they are wildly successful!

Gerald Hines (and the company that bears his name) = the best developer of the last 50 years (and possibly the next 50.

17 hours ago, ekdrm2d1 said:

Robert Clay — who leads Houston-based Clay Development & Construction Inc. — and his wife, Emily Clay, have committed $10 million to the Memorial Park Conservancy.

 

The gift will go toward the transformation of Memorial Park, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take more than a decade to complete.

 

The Clays pledged the gift on May 30, less than a month after the Houston City Council approved a new public-private funding model for the park's master plan project.

Memorial Park.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/07/09/houston-developer-wife-commit-10m-to-memorial-park.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2018-07-14&u=jSeE2P%2FRXYfPh4xmwVlkRLtnHXT&t=1531760913&j=82697601

Once again, the wealthy step up to make the city better for all of us.

well done, Mr. Clay.

Rise, Baby.  Rise!

I really like this idea.  Kudos to the new owners for proposing this.

I like this project.  It will be great.

although I am repeatedly surprised that renders for this project (and other projects), in a town as diverse as Houston, continue to show (in this case) one women of color among all the dozens of “people” pictured.  Utterly tone deaf, in my opinion.

1 hour ago, Houstonacl said:

Looking for some advice from this community as a resident of The Star Apartments (Texaco Building). Within the past few weeks The Star has started renting out apartments (40 units currently) for short term rentals essentially turning our home into a hotel. This has deeply upset many of the residents and impacts our safety among many other items that I will not bother getting into here. The property management company is Lincoln Property Company and the owner is Provident Realty Advisors. A national third party company specializing in short term rentals, Stay Alfred, is managing all aspects of the short term rentals. The rooms are available via many normal booking sites (hotels.com, expedia, AirBnB, etc) at an extremely low rate attracting a unique clientele. 

 

Questions:

• Does this community have any insight into if any of the parties involved are violating any rules or regulations by offering short term rentals in this space? 
• Building registered for long term rentals vs short term rentals?
• Owners loan type being incorrectly used?
• Historic building codes?

The residents would like to see this building kept as a long term apartment and not a mixed apartment/hotel. 

 

Thank you for your time.

 

 

I am saddened to hear this news.  

i Wish the new owners much success.  Hopefully they have a use in mind for the building that will be a great attraction when dry and not too challenging to restore on the few times it might flood over the next 20 years.

The Astros must have a very good deal now (relative to other teams around the league).  Otherwise, why extend so early and lose the optionality in the future?

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Based off of this building you get a good sense of the size of what's going on in Midtown. 

I don’t understand your post here.  How does this building relate to midtown?

1 hour ago, KinkaidAlum said:

Was there really a need to pave four lanes off of Memorial Drive into the Glades? It looks like an entrance to a newly built park in some far-flung master planned community. 

I am assuming that it is for visual appeal on the graphic.  I didnt assume that it would be that wide.

Two decades from now memorial park and the connections to it (walk/bike paths from downtown/eado/med center, other bayou path access, and galleria) will define this city in a way in which it has never previously been defined.

the folks who will be responsible for this transformation will be Gen X and Gen Y.  Others may legitimately disagree with me but,  It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that these two generations (broadly speaking) are becoming, potentially, the most visionary American generations of the last 3.