Sparrow

where are y'all seeing that? i don't even see the mention of the 54 story segment Urb quoted? is my Safari not loading all of the text under Marko's profile?

i wonder what hotel flag could be doing the hotel/lifestyle center. and are we sure that portion will be the short buildings, not the tower? i saw that mentioned on SSP.

#20's link to a Google search, first result click the green down arrow for cached. Middle of third paragraph.

The Hardy Toll Road is in the process of being widened to three lanes each way from FM 1960 northward to the under construction Grand Parkway.

Also of significance, all toll booths will be removed by the summer of 2016 to make the HTR an all-electronic toll facility.

http://communityimpact.com/2015/08/24/hctra-begins-work-on-170-million-hardy-toll-road-overhaul/

This came up via google search:

Don't forget the rest of the cached quote that says with a "200 room hotel and retail lifestyle center on 3 full city blocks".

Complete speculation here, but if I were a betting man, I'd say Hines was the force behind this.

When should we expect solid data on how this is doing?

People like rail over buses. There have been many studies conducted. There is indeed a general bias. So meet the people half-way. Make the buses more like trains so they can't tell the difference.

http://www.wsj.com/news/interactive/BUSES0927

Adjacent to the NW Transit Center would be more suitable than the NW Mall location.

Does anyone else think the Fed raising interest rates (or the widely held belief that they are finally going to raise rates) would provide the impetus for a boost in building short-term?

For anyone that would be financing, it seems to me an outlook of higher interest rates going forward would be a great incentive to doing the deal now rather than a year or two later when your cost to borrow that money would be higher. We're at the bottom as far as interest rates go, surely many folks hope to capitalize on that. 

I'd argue that downtown is not the center of the Houston area. This is based on my perspective of the majority of the population living west, south and north of the city. Sure there are loops that DT is the center of, but there is far less east of Houston.

Also, HSR in other countries does not typically enter metro centers but terminates outside city centers and uses local rail to connect. For example the Tokyo station is roughly 7 miles from downtown.

Wrong. The Shinkansen cuts right thru the heart of Tokyo.

There's a couple of 3-ish story office buildings just south of the Kuykendahl and Cypress Creek Parkway (i.e. FM 1960) intersection named Kuykendahl Place. You may be quite disappointed. 

Max does have a good point that car access will be more important (at least at first) than transit. It does seem to make sense that a 290/10/610 area station would be faster and far cheaper to bring the HSR online and for a Downtown extension to be built once the concept is proven and profitable. A two or three station finished product for Houston would be desirable for the region.

As far as the 290/10/610 station location, let's not oversell the NW Mall plot of land. Why not use the land along Old Katy Road just north of the NW Transit Center along 610? The State already owns about 16 acres associated with ongoing construction and would likely be had by TCR for quite a fair deal. Such a location would also still preserve a future route to Downtown via the I-10 corridor. Freeway access would be phenomenal along Old Katy Road. A skywalk could provide pedestrian access to the transit center. There are many potential locations in the area, I don't think we should hang our hat on just one.

If they're going to remove this section of Preston Street, they may as well also remove the section up until Smith Street--it wouldn't really serve a purpose. 

Even better, don't remove the Preston Street bridge itself, keep the bridge structure, make modifications and dress it up to create the pedestrian bridge that is in the Theater District master plan between Preston and Prairie and save a few dollars.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/8/21/north-texas-inches-closer-to-getting-high-speed-rail-lines/

One small step closer to a Fort Worth to Houston HSR line.

"Texas Central has proposed station locations that would facilitate further connectivity, ultimately allowing for Fort Worth/Arlington to Houston high speed rail travel if both projects move through funding and construction."

The only way I could see the jails being moved is for a new stadium proposal. They seem to be able to move heaven and earth for those. It could be like AT&T park in San Francisco, but instead of building it along San Francisco Bay, it would be built along Buffalo Bayou. They could incorporate some of the building in the design, maybe nickname it something like "the Big House." Kayakers could float around the bayou waiting for Carlos Correa to hit one our of the park. 

 

 

 

Brilliant.

Only thing going against this would be the westward field orientation. As it is now, MMP is the only stadium in MLB that has even a slight westward bias. IIRC the long term aim (aside from flood management) is to create a touristy area, similar to San Antonio's Riverwalk, along the North and/or South canal projects. What better way to push that goal along than to build a stadium along the waterfront? Just two short decades from now MMP will be as old as the Astrodome was when we stopped using it.

Well, obviously its not on an island, so that doesnt hold any water.

Well, actually... when they get around to building the North Canal it kinda will be surrounded by water on all sides and kinda will be an island...

Any reason to make this a transit center? I guess not but why not?

 

1. Houston-Dallas Bullet train

2. Park and Ride Buses

3. Metro Rail hub

If one desired to make this a Mega Transit Center I would suppose it wouldn't be so far fetched. Run a light rail extension up Bagby for either/both the Green or Purple lines. Connect to the Red Line via a skywalk extension to the UH Downtown station. Amtrak could easily be integrated along with the high-speed rail to Dallas. Highway access is on the doorstep. Every downtown Park and Ride bus could stop here with only slight route modifications.

I just hope they go BIG on this one. Central transit hub. Residential condo. Office high-rise. Bayou promenade. Mall. Theatre. Washington Ave extension and Franklin closure. Light rail connection. Do it all. It's as someone else already said, you'd need to build something significant to recoup your investment.

What sort of dining/entertainment option would be most interested in a full downtown block ground lease for as little as 5 years? I would expect they are giving one hell of a deal as a concession for such a short term ground lease. No doubt Houston First Corp is more interested in creating the image of a vibrant urban environment around the GRB than seeking maximum ROI--especially for the Final Four and Super Bowl. Anyone willing to build anything in the realm of dining/entertainment at this site would be preferable to a surface parking lot.

Perhaps the best use of such a ground lease would be a parking garage with GFR? Maybe the folks behind the now canceled Nau Center would be interested in such a short term lease?

New 184-room Crowne Plaza Hotel planned for SEC of I-45 and Robinson Road/Woodlands Parkway.

http://communityimpact.com/2015/08/04/new-hotel-conference-center-in-the-works-for-oak-ridge-north/

A new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is going in at Cypresswood and Aldine Westfield.

Trees were all clear cut this week. Very sad to see them gone.

Would TxDOT construct this reroute in segments around Downtown, or would they attack it all at once?

What I mean is, would they for instance simply close 59/69 between I-10 and 45 and route everyone to the west of Downtown (and highly suggest using 610 for thru traffic), or would they shift and reduce the number of lanes while doing construction along the same segment? It seems to me we would get to completion more quickly with a complete shutdown of each segment (59, 10, and then Pierce) while under construction. Sure traffic would be a pain for a few years, but wouldn't it be a few years less if TxDOT could do construction of that segment without concern for the traffic in that corridor?

Why not do 45N in a similar manner when the time comes? TxDOT could come to some agreement with HCTRA to make the HTR free from the Beltway to Downtown during the construction years and simply shutdown the 45 main lanes for reconstruction. Perhaps in exchange for years of no toll collection HCTRA gets their tolled 45N lanes at no cost to them?

I hadn't heard about that...source?

Texas Central's website. "Dallas Station Locations".

Did we already know the TCP/TCR has reached an agreement with Matthews Southwest to serve as the development partner of their Dallas station?

What effect should driverless cars have upon TxDOT's thinking for this massive rebuild? Why for instance would we need to reconsider more than 2 lanes for 45 around Downtown if driverless cars are going to potentially radically reduce congestion with their efficient spacing and speed? Driverless cars will in all likelihood be quite mainstream by the time this project would come online. Why build for the future using models reflecting today's technology?

Wow! That's it? Its like $4.50 to get on going outbound on 59 entering the lane off of Milam. I've never used it since I have a jaunt from downtown to bellaire-ish area, but that amount seems absurd. Some of my coworkers say its worth it, but sheesh. 

Just $1 on weekends all day long. Taking the HTR from The Woodlands/Spring to Downtown costs $2.90 for the same weekend trip without direct Downtown access. And of course the Express lane (HOV/HOT) is free for 2+ people whereas the HTR still cost you $2.90 even if you're driving with a car full.

Long term if the plan is to put toll lanes in the middle of 45, it would be nice to just have a 45 W and 45 E using the HTR. Take away some free lanes on 45 and add free lanes on the HTR--win, win for everyone.

Apparently HEB may be headed here--much like they did at Gulfgate I suppose.