hindesky

They have covered the rip rap with about 8-12" of soil.

I think the fact that they have placed all that plywood around the light pole may mean that they are going to demolish this building.

Work in progress.

It's a torn up mud hole after just a few weeks. I can't believe the city can let this developer get away with such a shoddy patch job to the very roads they tore up. Someone must be getting something under the table to let this shitty job slide.

The house near the project has changed their rant. I guess they may have gotten covid and it's no longer a scam but now "socialism is slavery". I wonder if they have refused to collect their Social Security?

Saw someone hook a bag of lunch for the operator near the crane block, he/she hoisted it up to their window so they could grab it at the Law Center. Med school.

Found a hawk at the north end of this.

Hanging iron, looks like this project won't get a tower crane. A second crawler crane is assembling the steel structure for the hospital.

Found the tower crane and crew setting the flooring supports to get ready for the next concrete pour.

Northwest corner.

Striping the parking lot.

Parking garage. I talked with some laborers and they said January start but all they've done so far was run some electrical conduit so far.

Digging down and removing dirt.

Adding some color to the Greentown Labs. Patio tables.

https://www.houstoniamag.com/home-and-real-estate/2021/02/kathleen-english-cohousing-houston-east-end#.YB2dulFaibE.reddit HOUSTON’S FIRST-EVER COHOUSING COMMUNITY IS UNDERWAY in the East End: Last spring, a group of like-minded livers selected a site at 115 Lennox Ave to construct Cohousing Houston, which puts connection and the environment ahead of just about everything else. Cohousing communities are intentional collections of private homes clustered around a communal living space. At Cohousing Houston, residents from up to 33 member homes must (get this!) make decisions about their community via consensus and will (gasp!) interact with their neighbors through shared spaces, like kitchens, meals, and greenspaces. Kathleen English, founder of English + Associates Architects, and her husband are one of 14 member households that are already onboard for the project that’s slated to wrap up in fall 2022. She and her firm also happen to be designing the property and homes there—which range from $330,000 to $780,000 for one to four bedrooms—with the help of Caddis Collaborative out of Boulder, Colorado.

Camden report shows difficulties in Houston apartment market R.A. Schuetz, Staff writer Feb. 5, 2021Updated: Feb. 5, 2021 2:28 p.m. Camden Property Trust’s annual earnings report reflected a number of setbacks the Houston apartment market has suffered in the past year. Camden’s 2020 net income fell 43 percent to $124 million ($1.24 per diluted share) from $220 million ($2.22) the year before as a result of increased maintenance costs and taxes and a drop of income from deferred compensation plans and property sales. Adjusting the lease of a retail tenant who has not been able to pay rent will likely cost Camden $3.5 million in rent from a retailer, which was reflected its released earnings. For the the quarter ended Dec. 31, the Houston-based multifamily real estate investment trust reported net income of $29.1 million (29 cents a share), down sharply from $95 million (95 cents) in the year-earlier period. The Houston market saw some of Camden's biggest hardships in 2020, with net operating income falling 8.3 percent from the year before and the weighted average monthly rental rate falling 0.4 percent. The apartment developer and operator blamed the energy slump and a high number of newly built units on the market's performance and said it planned to sell off Houston assets in the second half in the year. “We had 20,000 apartments delivered last year, and we’re in the process of delivering another 20,000 apartments this year,” Keith Oden, executive vice chairman of Camden’s board, said in a Friday earnings call. The influx of apartments came as the oil industry was struggling with profitability. Then COVID hit. Oden estimated 40,000 apartments would require a net increase of 200,000 Houston-area jobs to provide the population growth needed to fill them. “And that just hasn’t happened,” he said. “It’s just as simple as that. We’ve got way too much supply. It’s hand-to-hand combat on the stuff that’s either downtown or close-in assets, which makes up a decent part of Camden’s portfolio.” Camden officials believe the economy will begin to recover in the second half of 2021 as the vaccine allows more workers to return to offices. At that point, it plans to begin selling off its older properties, including properties in the Houston and Washington, D.C., markets, and acquiring newer properties, which will require less maintenance. “Our strategy this year is going to be very similar to what we did in the last cycle,” said Ric Campo, Camden’s chief executive. “Beginning in the last cycle, we disposed of roughly $3 billion of property with an average age of over 20 years and acquired properties that were on average at the time five or six years old.” Despite the challenges, Houston outshone the rest of Camden’s portfolio on one metric: rent collections. Although the occupancy of Camden properties in the Houston area have fallen to 93.8 percent in 2020 (the lowest of any of its markets) and rents have fallen by 0.4 percent (the only market where they have contracted), nearly all of its Houston residents are paying their rents. Only 0.4 percent of Camden residents in Houston have fallen behind on rent, compared to 6.4 percent in California. Campo blamed the high delinquencies in its California properties on politics. “Both the state and local governments have just put it into the brains of folks there that they just don’t have to pay,” he said. “And all of the various legislation and moratoriums and what have you, you just have a group of people that look at it like getting a free loan from Camden. Ultimately, they’ll have to pay or their credit will be destroyed, and it will be interesting to see how that all plays out and how the government responds to that moving forward.” The call also engaged the idea that markets such as New York and California may be exporting not only residents to lower-cost-of-living markets but also their attendant incomes. That may eventually push up aspects of the cost of living in cities such as Austin and Houston when they arrive. “Right now, the market is soft enough where you can’t push rents today no matter what people make,” Oden said. “But ultimately, as the market firms up, our resident base are higher income and can take rental increases once we have the pricing power to be able to do that.” rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/02-05-21-al-quick-stop-mediterranean-restaurant-new-location-the-heights-revive-development-moe-elsaadi/#slide=0 Montrose Mediterranean institution speeds into The Heights for new location A Montrose staple will open a new location in The Heights. AL Quick Stop will open in Re:vive Development’s property at 518 W. 11th St. Moe Elsaadi, who operates the restaurant and convenience store with his father Toufic, tells CultureMap that the family chose the Heights property after construction delays and the coronavirus pandemic delayed completion of Railway Heights, the food hall and market they had originally targeted for a second location. Instead, the restaurant will join Hando and The Bearded Bakerin the heart of The Heights. If all goes well, the new location will open in July. “I live in The Heights, off 15th street,” Elsaadi says. “The Mediterranean presence is very weak in the area . . . We’ve done so well in Montrose, and we’ve done well on delivery platforms. I figured moving north would extend our radius and get us out there to more people.” With just 700 square feet, The Heights location of AL Quick Stop will only operate as a restaurant without the convenience store and grocery items that are part of the Montrose original. In addition, the menu will drop burgers and tacos to focus on Mediterranean staples such as gyros, chicken shawarma, and felafel. Since joining the family business full time a few years ago, Elsaadi says he’s expanded the menu with fusion items such as a gyro burrito and shawarma fries. He’s also upgraded the preparation of a signature item by cooking the chicken shawarma on the same style of vertical roaster the restaurant uses for its gyros. “It’s juicier and has way better flavor,” he says. While many restaurants have struggled during the pandemic, AL Quick Stop has been able to grow its sales. Elsaadi credits that success to serving affordable, tasty food that travels well, which has made the restaurant popular for both to-go and on third party delivery apps. Using those platforms comes at a price, but Elsaadi thinks they’re worth utilizing for places like his than can push high volume. “At the end of the day, the fees do suck, but [the apps] are a valuable resource. We’ve got to take what we can from it.” Elsaadi also clarifies the restaurant’s name. Originally opened as “Al’s Quick Stop” in the early ’90s, his father changed the name to “AL” (no apostrophe), because it’s the Arabic word for “the.” Therefore, patrons may read its name as “The Quick Stop,” which accurately describes its purpose. Whether in Montrose or the new Heights location, the restaurant aspires to be “the” place a person goes for an inexpensive, quick, satisfying meal. “AL Quick Stop has been a Montrose institution for over 30 years,” Re:vive director of leasing and marketing Monica Danna tells CultureMap. “The Heights is lucky to be gaining a second outpost of this Mediterranean Houston gem.”