jmitch94

It looks set back far enough from Montrose that the trees might be kept. I really hope the trees are not cut down. 

29 minutes ago, staresatmaps said:

Affordable to me is like $20 or less per person for food, non alcoholic drinks, tax, and tip. Which would completely eliminate Taste Bar + Kitchen and like half the city. You are thinking of "comparable pricing" not "affordable pricing".

There are literally tons of places where you can eat for under $20 a person. They aren’t going to be some hip new concept in a high rent building but there are plenty. 

16 hours ago, august948 said:

Agreed.  Another piece of information that adds context is how the much population of the metro area outside of the loop has changed in the same time span.

Okay? The comment that spurred all this was someone saying that living in the core of the city isn’t desirable any more. It can be desirable to live both in the core and in the suburbs, they aren’t mutually exclusive. 

On 7/19/2022 at 3:17 PM, iah77 said:

I think taking out that street would really change the feeling and view of the Renzo Piano building in a negative way. It's designed perfectly to fit in its context as is. The Menil's vision was to integrate their projects into the existing neighborhood, not create a monumental campus. I do think the street could be made to look a lot nicer though...

Maybe redo it as a pedestrian only thoroughfare. No more cars, a space for events or farmers markets and still keeping the same framing for the Renzo building. 

So it’s a country club without the country basically, a private restaurant?

7 hours ago, 77002er said:

In a way it already is ..... the VALUE of the land are segregated out, and if the land values go up due to location desirability then the taxes go up.  Unfortunately, the desirability of being inside the loop has been dropping or stagnant for a decade or more compared to the Houston suburbs where most people look to buy for better schools and/or larger yards/houses for the same money.  Increasing land taxes inside the city will only make things worse as it will continue to drive people out.

What are you basing this on? Bing inside the loop is more desirable than its ever been. I saw recently that two thirds of Houston construction was inside the loop. 

6 hours ago, Avossos said:

Why is this a “trophy” building? I like the building and I like what it means for the area. I even like the campus vibe of the master plan… just not sure why everyone is so giddy about the architecture.

Yeah this is your standard beltway 8 suburban office. 

18 hours ago, Ross said:

Not providing parking will ignore the other 6 million people who live in the Houston area and may want or need to go to Ion. How is it innovative to completely ignore 80+ percent of the area population? There is no universal demand for walkability. That's a fallacy promulgated by people who think everyone should walk. I am not against walkability, but there's not as much demand as you might think.

Not driving does not equal only walking. No one is suggesting people would be walking from the Woodlands.

17 hours ago, Avossos said:

Way less cool than an old renovated house. IMO

Ahh okay. I don’t know if they had some horrible reputation or something. I’m definitely a fan of keeping as many old homes as well. Unfortunately they have not been cared for in a long time, though if they had they might have still gotten the axe anyway. 

Whats wrong with Sandcastle homes? 

On 7/20/2022 at 5:45 PM, iah77 said:

Investing that much in a garage is actually a very strong indicator that they plan to build everything.

This is a academic innovation district, not an urban planning nightmare experiment as you are describing. I would be much more inclined to support your vision if Houston was building heavy rail but without that I think destroying road capacity is a huge negative. Plus everything you mentioned is the City's responsibility and not Rice's. 

. only in Houston would someone describe a walkable and public transit friendly area as a “nightmare.” Building a giant garage is actually hurting the chances of more and or better public transportation for the area. 
 

I’m still optimistic about this project but the top floors of the Ion still sit empty. I could see future phases get delayed especially as we slide into a potential recession. 

4 hours ago, samagon said:

4.5 blocks of surface parking lots in this photo. I wonder how long they last, and what will go in their place?

Two are future phases in the Skanska project if I’m not mistaken. 

On 6/30/2022 at 10:44 PM, kennyc05 said:

Houston is what LAs population was in the 60s I wonder what Houston will look like in 60 years.

We'll be 90% freeway after all the “just add one more lane” projects are done on the freeways. One thousand people in the core and 20 million in the suburbs. 
 

By the way this is a joke people . 

On 6/21/2022 at 3:21 PM, crock said:

wow this is much bigger than I thought, surprised they're not bothering to incorporate any of the houses currently on that block.  also a bummer that the menil is just... ethically ok with the fact they'll have taken out like 100+ affordable apartments from the center of the city at this point?  those two small apartment complxes on the southwestern corner of this lot are the type that was the lifeblood of the Montrose, sad. 

but this will be incredible, possibly the first Hotel in the city that's not embarrassing to recommend to out of towners?! 

 Since when has the fine art community actually cared for the poor and working class? All their sympathy flys out the window when money is to be made. 

Very 80’s. 

On 6/15/2022 at 6:18 PM, H-Town Man said:

This almost seems like a parody of taking a post completely literally and totally missing the point. Which is, putting thought and planning into what you build (as in the case of Rice) produces a much better effect than just building a bunch of shiny buildings (most Houston development for the past 75 years or so).

 

Unless a single developer owns a whole neighborhood, this is unfortunately how things get built. Also most “great streets,” whatever that exactly means, are older and are occupied by buildings that have no need to get hundreds of people across a street to an exact destination on a regular basis. 

16 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

It's not that you'll inspire people to walk around by forcing them down to the street level (although maybe they'd be slightly more likely). It's that having a skybridge over a street hurts the streetscape for anyone else. It says "Special people up here - plebeians down there." Think of any great street that people like to walk around on. Lower Main Street. South Congress or 6th Street in Austin. Houston Street in San Antonio. McKinney Street in Dallas. The Strand in Galveston. Anywhere in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Now picture a skybridge - just one skybridge - going over that street. Terrible!

Plus, it sets a precedent. Think this will be the last medical building in the Museum District? And every medical building will have to have a skybridge for their patients so they don't die. Next thing you know, the Museum District is Medical Center North, and we will mourn the neighborhood that might have been.

I think you do have a point but I also think this is a case of correlation without causation. The Avenida De Las Americas is pretty damn pedestrian friendly especially when it’s shut down for events and it has 2, kind of three skybridges going over it. 
 

I don’t feel like some subhuman when I walk under them, in-fact I hardly notice them. Most of those places you mentioned don’t have buildings that would even need skybridges.

I understand that you don’t want a whole district with skybridges but if the people are really only going between these two buildings, what do you gain without the skybridge? If people want to go to other places near by they can still walk. Also I think people look too deep into why Houston has so many skybridges and tunnels, its f#@*ing hot here lol 

Just to be clear I am 100% for great streetscapes. In fact I get annoyed when people seem to only care how tall a building is and not how that building will add to its immediate community. In my opinion these two buildings could have just been one building. If you are traveling to use just these two buildings, is having you walk across that street really going to inspire you to walk around that area? 

Why all the hate for the Fed building? I don’t see them moving it anytime soon if really ever. That would cost a fortune. 

This has to be one of the biggest parking garages in town.

Issa joke guys lol 

Just what the city could use, less trees and more parking. 

40 minutes ago, trymahjong said:

I can see the value of all you have laid out in your arguments.

But in the same way I appreciate feeling safe as I walk around The Montrose Collective,knowing there is a security person there 24/7 to look out for me and I don’t have to depend on some poor waiter to defend me if something happens……..that is my desire if I should find myself sitting on the patio of the St Augustine hotel.

Just that simple, an un obtrusive security person 24/7.

it is unexplainable I guess, the  notion, that one can feel safe knowing some security guard is there ………somewhere. Lol

A security guard is nothing more than a dedicated 911 caller. You are more likely to have a waiter step in and protect you during an assault than 90% of security personnel. I’ve seen establishments get catalytic converters stolen and cars broken into while security was actually in the parking lot. 

13 hours ago, Ross said:

It's Houston. You pay the permit fee and get the lane closure. Looks like $134 per lane per block per week for a street like Montrose. Details here http://www.gims.houstontx.gov/traffic/PermitDetails/RoadwayObstructionPermitDetails.aspx

Realistically, the City has to allow this, or it would be difficult to build things.

In New York they usually don’t even close the side walk down. This is just another example of our city bending over backwards for big money interests at the cost of everyone else. 
 

Also $134 a week is criminally cheap. If they are going to charge that little they might as well not charge at all. 

They are open too.