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UtterlyUrban

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Everything posted by UtterlyUrban

  1. UtterlyUrban
    Folks: Perhaps we are trying too hard. Why can't this office building just be an office building?
  2. UtterlyUrban
    Wow! Great ideas in that PDF! I have more to read! But, turning Caroline into a bike friendly street is a great idea!
  3. UtterlyUrban
    Or, it could be just $100 dollars from you and $100 from me and a million other houstonians who can equally afford to give $5 or $100 but don't. This isn't about the rich, per se, needing to "step up". It's about all of us stepping up. There are far too many folks who will suggest that they could never afford to make a $100 donation. Unfortunately, they will say it whilst slurping their daily $5.00 mocha-flippin-chino and carrying their Burberry breifcase.
  4. UtterlyUrban
    Yes, but think of the opportunity to play outdoors, elevated, racquetball! Outstanding!
  5. UtterlyUrban
    Wow! Thank you for this info. I appreciate it.
  6. UtterlyUrban
    Any public info sources on the project?
  7. UtterlyUrban
    Wow! That's great!
  8. UtterlyUrban
    I believe that those trailers are the construction office for the hotel. And, that likely means that the Hess site and the hotel construction are being jointly coordinated (scheduling wise).....
  9. UtterlyUrban
    BTW, three construction trailers remain on the Hess residential site. The other trailers have moved to places unknown.
  10. UtterlyUrban
    In the images directly above, the second design makes more sense to me. I like where the ramp is going. Two things: 1) what are the two towers and pool? A hotel? I thought that the city was building the parking garage with a pad for a potential hotel on top of it. Are they saying 3 hotels now? 2) what was that cute little chugga-bug red vehicle doing?
  11. UtterlyUrban
    I sure as heck hope that the city planners have put one and one together and figured out that they are going to need to pass some kind of ordinance/variance to allow liquor sales / bars downtown once this highschool is built. Otherwise, they can kiss their convention dreams and residential dreams goodbye. Does anyone know if the folks at City Hall have figured this one out yet?
  12. UtterlyUrban
    Personally, I think that the tenants of this newly occupied, luxury building will throw a cow when they are told that the same developer leasing them their unit for $4k/mo is going to hammering a tower together on an adjacent wall 12 hours per day for the next two years. I think that the developer should have started the tower first. Then the renovation and had them nearing completion at the same time......
  13. UtterlyUrban
    As of about 6pm this evening, they were moving several of the trailers off of the Hess lot to a destination unseen. There was three or four remaining as of 6pm-ish.
  14. UtterlyUrban
    Can someone educate me..... Why does this building not have a required setback from the surface parking lot? Are setbacks required in Houston? How big are they required to be?
  15. UtterlyUrban
    My interpretation of this that I posted in the convention center hotel thread a few weeks ago is that this shows me that the Hess folks are "coordinating construction" with the Marriott folks. The two projects are to be linked by a sky bridge. It seems to me that the schedules will be coordinated in such a way as to make this connection installed at the least overall cost. I would expect the trailers to move at some point (again, coordinated) when the Hess project starts. The "combined headquarters" will likely be moved onto the lot that will hold the convention center parking garage.
  16. UtterlyUrban
    Next question: For everyone who has posted or read the postings..... Let's describe the current downtown retail environment as "less than vibrant" (for the purpose of my next question). Now, tell me how MANY stores (individual stores, "large") and boutiques (individual stores, "small") are needed to make downtown retail "vibrant" and, please state how you define "vibrant"......
  17. UtterlyUrban
    They are paid over a 15 year period and after the project is complete.It is my opinion, others disagree, that the 15 year period is one significant factor driving downtown residential developers to develop apartments instead of condos.
  18. UtterlyUrban
    My guess??? So that they can "start" the project and thereby lock in the incentive. Since the project has "started" and the incentive has been approved (at least for the original proposal), this may ensure that they are able to lock in their credits.
  19. UtterlyUrban
    Yes, i believe that a number of the buyers may be "absentee" owners for much of the year. I can absolutely see a foreign national oil executive in a private business owning a condo here (or other complex). When he comes to town, he brings the family and they stay 2 months. They conduct business, shop, etc. Then head home or to yet another location. OPP is 90%+ leased according to the newspapers. Yet, the parking garage does seem to be much less than 90% full. Maybe a number of tenants don't have vehicles.... That is certainly possible. But, my bet is on the fact that a significant number of tenants are not full time occupants. They split their time between Houston and somewhere(s) else.
  20. UtterlyUrban
    Has anyone come across any description (or renderings) of what the inside of the finished units and common areas will look like?. I am personally hoping that these will be built to a "higher" spec than what I saw over at commerce towers. I am hopeful that they rival a property like One Park Place. Anyone seen any renderings?
  21. UtterlyUrban
    I laughed when I read this. Funny!But, you are likely making a point here too. I see this as "very similar" to a near neighbor but, are you seeing something more?
  22. UtterlyUrban
    Without looking at a map, wouldn't this parcel be adjacent to the Greyhound station? If so, unless Greyhound moves, I am unsure how well received this project would be in the market. Yes, I know that the City wants Greyhound to move but the Mayor is on record that NIMBY issues are problematic.......
  23. UtterlyUrban
    I understand the reason to be a construction cost (due to the clay soils and the related techniques needed to build underground foundations in them) and maintenance issues for the home owner over the long term. Others will know more!
  24. UtterlyUrban
    I am uncertain if the city would have looked much different had these restrictions not been in place. Sharpstown was already 15-20 years old at that point and had set the model for suburban sprawl. I guess one could argue that the woodlands (started in the early 70's) and Kingwood (1970) might not have been established. But, I don't agree. IMO, Sprawl would have happened anyway. Many Families wanted to live in "master planned" communities (and many still do), these huge "towns" would have happened regardless of Houston's sewer issues.
  25. UtterlyUrban
    Wow! Thank you! 33-blocks? Wow! I wonder what the envisioned development duration of the original 1970 plan would have been? 25 years? If so, that would have meant one or two new buildings every year for a generation...... Wow!
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