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Sparrow

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    Spring, TX

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  1. This location would make for fantastic visuals from the freeways though, no? Perhaps we get a nice one here?
  2. Jointly owned Chevron Phillips Chemical is already headquartered in The Woodlands down the street from Anadarko. The two towers up in Town Center are recently built and I believe Anadarko also owns additional land in Town Center. If anything, The Woodlands has much to gain from this acquisition. Surely if Chevron ever wanted to move HQ from California, The Woodlands' golf course-suburb feel would appeal more to the corporate types than a bustling-urban-Downtown location. The Woodlands is similar to San Ramon, just missing the topography.
  3. It sure would be something to get the Battleship Texas moved here. Hasn't it been in the works for a good number of years to potentially get it dry docked? Having it closer to Downtown would be much more of a tourist draw as opposed to out East amongst all of Houston's industrial uses. Aside from the financial expense of getting it to this location, could it even be physically done with its condition?
  4. If building a garage on one property means getting rid of a parking lot or two on others, I can get behind it. Frankly, I almost wish the next Downtown initiative would be just that--build about a dozen large parking garages Downtown to reduce the "it's too expensive to park Downtown" barrier. If the empty lots keep making heaps of money by being a surface parking lot, where's the incentive to improve the land?
  5. How long is the freeway construction project around Downtown supposed to take? Considering this property will be directly next to that several years long construction project, the fact that anything is being built at this time is rather amazing. A suburban style apartment complex won't last very long--look at the Buffalo Heights property on Washington. Those apartments weren't very old before beginning the process of upgrading to a higher use.
  6. What would the length of the new park loop around Downtown be, about 5 miles or so? I have to tell you, I'm not a jogger, but the prospects of being able to take a 5 mile jog encircling Downtown Houston makes me want to start. The views from so many vantage points would be absolutely amazing!
  7. Will the multiple smaller caps in Midtown have an effect on driver visibility? I'd hypothesize that going from darkness to blinding sun several times in quick succession may cause some degree of visual challenge that may result in an elevated accident risk, especially when the sun is at a certain angle. Why not just have a single cap for Midtown instead of three caps and four independent bridges? A single transition zone would provide more safety for drivers and a single cap would provide even more recreational space.
  8. Transit streets and "type A" street changes to Chapter 42 amendments went in place in 2009 that should, over time, result in positive results. You can't forcibly change that which already exists, but future development--which no doubt will be forthcoming en masse once the transit line is up and running--will change the streetscape in a pedestrian friendly way. All of that surface parking on Post Oak Blvd should be looked upon as a blank canvas patiently awaiting an artist's brush strokes.
  9. I couldn't seem to find a post for this one, but it's on the planning agenda for 08/30/2018 requesting a set-back variance of 5'. Montrose Garden. NEC Montrose and West Clay. 20 stories. 9 floors of residential above 9 floors of parking. Two floors of retail with one level of underground parking for the retail. 2019 start date listed. Owners: Supo Corporation, 1209 Montrose Blvd. Sorry if this one is already around here somewhere.
  10. Wouldn't it be great to create Lake Barker and Lake Addicks. We would end up having a much more controlled Buffalo Bayou much along the lines of what Austin has with it's river. Imagine how much more could be done if you didn't have to worry about flooding. Our reservoirs are actually larger in land area than Lake Travis (26k vs 19k), but only hold about a third as much water (~400,000 acre feet vs ~1.1M acre feet). We'd be much more prepared for the next Harvey. Sure we don't have the topography that accompanies Lake Travis, but who cares. Get digging.
  11. Request was deferred. They want more info on the Fulton Street bridge as well as elevation drawings.
  12. Whoa, whoa, whoa y'all. Move Amtrak to the NW Mall site?? No. Y'all are missing the easy solution that is beneficial to many folks at the least possible cost. Move the Amtrak station a few hundred yards east to the Post HTX site. It'd be great for Post HTX because they'd charge Amtrak rent, they'd have more customers are their shops and restaurants, and they'd have a train station at their development so surely they could increase retail rents. It'd be great for Amtrak because, hey, they'd have bathrooms now... They also wouldn't have to spend very much to move the station--just make a new waiting area in Post HTX. If they own the land the current station is on perhaps they could even sell that. Let someone buy it to make a parking garage. The thing is, there already will be transit buses going from the new NW Mall high speed rail station to Downtown via the HOV lane. It's quick. It's easy. It's already a sunk cost--NW transit center/NW Mall HSR station to Downtown. So what if Amtrak customers have to hop on a bus for a 10 minute drive--if you're taking Amtrak already anyway, what's 10 more minutes? And of course they're bound to be the nice park-and-ride buses anyway. Spend a little extra to make a pedestrian connection to the UHD light rail station. Put some moving sidewalks on it too. Maybe even get the Post HTX folks to chip in for the walkway that will surely be to their benefit. Suddenly Post HTX is a multimodal transit center--Amtrak, park-and-ride, light rail, and high speed rail connections all at one place. Perhaps the folks at Texas Central could even do a little PR magic and have a Post HTX High Speed Rail station (****that you happen to have to take a 10 minute bus ride first). Get enough interest after a while, if the economics make sense, just put in a people mover like AirTrain to the NW Mall station.
  13. For all of the why-not-downtown folks, I'd offer encouragement in that slight angle the track takes into the NW Mall station. Extrapolate that out and guess where you end up--north Downtown. If the HSR is met with a high degree of success, perhaps TCP is already setting up the possibility of extending to a second Houston station located Downtown. (You might also want to buy one of Mr. Musk's Boring hats to help the cause).
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