Sparrow

If you had the money right now, where would you buy land in Houston?

Greenspoint. I'd play the long game. How long can an area really stay down?

This is an interesting (and somewhat depressing to me) article on skyscrapers in the current environment. I do think we will have another supertall at some point, but it'll take someone with a lot of ego and bucks. Where is a billionaire when we need one?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wilshire-grand-is-las-newest-skyscraper/

Tilman Fertitta. How long before he sees the vast sums of money he could make with overpriced rooftop restaurants, a swanky skyline hotel, and a tourist magnet observation deck?

(Perhaps we'll need gambling to be legalized first.)

Sad stuff from yesterday's run, Mattress Firm location coming to this corner. Has there ever been an audit into how exactly they make money? How many mattresses can one city need?!?

Why all the mattress store hate? Is it a case people would rather see a more upscale Sleep Number store than a lowly Mattress Firm?

Wraps for the Hardy Yards are like car dealerships along freeways or public storage on major thoroughfares--they are just a mid-length income generating placeholder until a higher and better use for the land comes along.  Wraps are a hedge.

Wraps are a fantastic development for this large tract of land. It would be a shame for the land to be subdivided into townhomes or developed piecemeal by separate builders. Building wraps (with retail) gives the neighborhood a nudge in the right direction. The increase in density will help its own future redevelopment prospects as surrounding land will developed, likely increasing demand for the neighborhood. The "low" cost estimate of this development we have been hearing lately is just as encouraging as to the long term redevelopment prospects. If over a billion dollars were to be invested now it would take much longer to recoup the investment, and it would be much less likely future economically advantageous development opportunities would arise.

I'll gladly take a half dozen TOD wraps at this location instead of a huge tract of vacant land for the next decade.

No.  This train, meaning the TCR train, will have one station in DFW, apparently just outside of the southwest corner of downtown Dallas.  Anything beyond that is little more than fantasy.

 

"...three (with the help of others)..." i.e. DFW Core Express. There are other HSR studies going on in Texas other than TCR's.

Perhaps TCR sees the value of reaching different areas of such a huge region and since TxDOT is not currently doing separate studies here as it is for the Metroplex, they would do it themselves to ensure their own profitability. What good is it to build a station Downtown or at 290/610 if you're missing out on the majority of potential The Woodlands customers? What good is it to build in the Willowbrook Mall/Tomball area if Clear Lake residents rather take a plane at Hobby instead of driving across town in rush hour traffic?

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/spring/news/high-speed-rail-coming-to-texas/article_b193c0a4-a8dd-5da6-a3d7-8c52248838cc.html

Eckels: "To let you know how fast this train is: it's about the same distance from here (Tomball) to downtown Houston as it is from Dallas to Fort Worth. That would take about 12 minutes."

Very interesting comment--just last week mind you. Perhaps they are rethinking the one station only in Houston concept? DFW will have three (with the help of others) right? Why else would he mention how quickly one could get from Tomball to Downtown?

Huge. 2,006 units.

Northside by marclongoria, on Flickr

 

Based on Urbannizer's list, there is something big coming to this site. I'll try to take pictures this weekend but like I said, a lot of the site has markers/flags all over it that were placed there very recently. From the north to the south, east to west. This is along side Residences at Hardy Yards. Didn't Midway say they had another project to announce in the next few months?

The list was about multi-family developments too--so it's not 2,006 town houses. 2,006 is a rather specific number. Can't wait to see the plans!

I know it was an Academy store at one time then became one of the area's first Pantry stores. It will be interesting to see what they build there. Not a whole lot of room to expand without taking up precious parking spaces. Makes me wonder if they will close off 5th street or Spruce to allow expansion. 

It would make sense to close both Spruce and Cedar west of 5th as they create intersection spacing issues and serve little circulation purpose. This will be quite interesting to see unfold as Bellaire will be looking for quality pedestrian friendly and "green" development--especially if a street segment or two is closed. Couldn't imagine HEB not creating a store at least twice the existing size. This must entail more than just the existing HEB store and parking lot footprint. 

Wow, really didn't expect to get station locations until the DEIS came out. Bravo TCR.

The best indicator of cost cutting value engineering is the statement that the hotel will lose 4 floors but still have the same number of rooms. Smaller rooms, obviously; the customer experience is going to suffer.

What are the chances that Midway caught wind of info that some other very high end hotel--as of yet unannounced but in the development pipeline--will build Downtown, and decided to aim just a bit lower than before because they know they won't be the most luxurious anyway? Speculating, but cutting your losses makes sense when you know you can't compete.

Cloud's end of line station idea makes a lot of sense. Not to mention just a short extension northwestward onto Lubbock would provide superior access to the city's property as well (which would bode well no matter what happens with that property long term). At the same time though, there are likely many interests in play for this area be it the future 45 construction/tunnel/realignment question, westward LRT extension routing, and future of the city's property here. Too many questions perhaps to invest any significant amount of funding yet.

As far as the underground Central station connection goes, just because there are buildings above doesn't mean an underground station can't be built below without disturbing the surface. Of course it's not the cheap way to go, or perhaps the concourse would need to be deeper than our typical tunnel, but if connected via escalator it doesn't really matter how deep the station is. It would be pure gold to have a station connection directly with the tunnel system--no argument of having to compete with the weather if you ride mass transit (at least not on the Downtown side of things if your building is on the tunnel system--can't speak to the other end of your LRT journey). Frankly, if not initiated by METRO directly to guide the development of an underground connection here between stations, it's rather likely eventually some sort of connection will be created because of so many developments in the area and the high desire to be connected to the tunnel system--it just won't be a memorable space, but rather just another part of the tunnel system.

Low oil prices were correlated with record housing starts in the mid '00s. Why wouldn't this drop in oil be correlated the same way? Fundamentals are favorable for housing to continue growth.

Let's cross our fingers that all the red lights will be phased out after testing is completed. Thought I read somewhere that there will be no train preemption for the Green and Purple lines. How well are the lights timed on Capital and Rusk once you get a green light currently? Forget cars crashing into trains, what a joke we would be to have a multi-million dollar train Downtown that pedestrians can keep pace with.

 

The other thing we're not talking about is what happens to the 18 acres off Houston Ave. after the city is gone??? :-O

The thinking by Central Houston, Inc. back in 2004 with their Framework for the Future was to reconstruct 45 further west under this property.

http://www.centralhouston.org/Home/DowntownHouston/Frameworkforthefuture/

Great illustrations and maps. Worth perusing.

Central Station Main is technically part of the East End line which involved no federal money. The leftovers can only be spent on the line they came from, i.e., North or Southeast and can only be spent on items within the Full Funding Grant Agreement.

Both the Red Line and the Purple Line would utilize such a station, I would think they have a fairly strong argument that improved transfer station design will increase ridership on both federally funded segments. I mean if they are proposing bus shelters, park and rides, and even an additional Purple Line station, surely a transfer station used by both lines would fall under the same thinking. 

The city is looking into moving in:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/In-surprise-move-Parker-now-looks-to-lease-6047196.php

Ah, some new news. The French enter the Texas HSR mix:

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article8202234.html

It looks like they're looking to build Downtown

What's is this "Texas transportation system" that the city is partnering with? Would you please provide some more info on where this text is from?

Are there any plans to connect Greenstreet to the tunnel system? Not connecting a large retail development to the tunnels in our Downtown just seems like a huge miss. 

A couple of thoughts occurred to me thinking about a potential station and route location today:

1) Using the Hardy corridor up towards The Woodlands was likely vetoed by the HCTRA rather than the railroad because quite such a route with a terminus downtown would be highly likely to result in a commuter route piggy backing, and frankly who logically would pay $3.50 to drive their own car taking upwards of an hour one-way (plus gas and parking potentially too) when you can take the HSR commuter rail and be there in 10-15 minutes for say $10 or so.

2) While a Downtown station would ensure our CBD's supremacy over outlying districts for decades to come, a station in the area of NW Mall would have great opportunity for redevelopment (displacement) of the surrounding warehouses.

3) The further out the station is, the sooner HSR will begin service with less track to build.

4) A station in the area of NW Mall will no doubt force METRO's hand to build more rail lines. Uptown BRT extension is a no brainer (though conversion to LRT would make more sense). A Washington Ave line (BRT/LRT) would have to be constructed to facilitate travel to Downtown.

5) TCR isn't looking for government funding on this project, but if the city of Houston desired a certain location themselves in terms of planning, this would be the time to put together a 380 agreement to show "support" of a certain location/route.

6) Wherever they do build the station, hopefully they go big on the design creating an iconic landmark.

7) While obviously the Japanese folks want to sell us their existing technology, how embarrassing would it be to build a train that "only" goes 205 mph, if Elon Musk's Hyperloop experiment plays out and travels 700+ mph. Since the test track will "likely" be built in Texas, could we also utilize this HSR route if the technology comes to fruition?   

How much money could a developer save on construction by breaking ground with the price of oil as low as it is? (labor, materials, etc.)

It would be rather foolish to think oil will remain so low for the next 5-10 years. I would think the absolute best time to begin a spec building such as this would be at the bottom of the cycle so it comes online on the uptick before the peak hits.

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Plan-calls-for-tax-dollars-to-help-create-4810595.php?cmpid=atfpm

Going way, way back here, but the very first glimpse of this building seems to be exactly what we ended up with.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/Metro-considers-how-to-use-39-9-million-in-6033574.php#/0

Well what'd'ya know. Nearly $40M in unspent funds. Perhaps this will get a second look? They could do way, way more than these proposals with $40M. Still think an underground plaza "central station" linking the lines is a better option, but not holding my breath. Let's wait and see what METRO does with their "fun" money.

A couple of shots of the train turning from Main Street to Rusk. Sorry for the poor quality, I was in my car.

This turn won't be made often once daily service starts, no? I would assume only to move trains from one line to another.

Why can't GOOF residents be excited like this when it comes to the prospects of HSR?