mattyt36

I heard that this involved some announcement of an MoU between the City, County, and State to allow the NHHIP to proceed. Unfortunately, we don't have great news organizations that can write up a brief summary in an hour (or the Mayor's Office to issue a press release concurrently)--maybe they'll get to it by the end of the week. https://twitter.com/SylvesterTurner/status/1604891838074290177?s=20&t=hqhJJSIAAsBBZTY_IqeaIA

Just so we're all clear on what you mean by this . . . can you, er, tell us exactly what you what mean by this?

Cruise ship meets UFO

Thanks, I thought the adjacent building (former Battlestein's) was sold, not the actual hotel, so it wasn't owned by the hotel anymore. But, then again, maybe I dreamt it.

I could've sworn I read on here that the building (former Battlestein's) was sold by whoever owns the JW Marriott, but I can't seem to find the thread, so maybe I dreamt it.

Is it fair to characterize Whitmire as the traditional "consensus" candidate for 2023 and Hollins as more aligned with the Hidalgo/more "progressive" style of politics, sort of like Boykins and Lovell represented more "liberal" choices in the 2019 general election? I didn't realize Amanda Edwards launched her campaign back in March, and I assume she'd be in the latter bucket, too: Amanda Edwards for Houston Mayor

C'mon, buddy, if anything all of my observations point to the fact that we're probably pretty similar, with the likely exception of politics and that you seem a pretty black-and-white kind of guy (with all the attendant traits). A little more "type A," if you will (similar to our buddy editor)!!! In fact, I believe you at one time even intimated to me as much! Regardless, I shall always love your passion and high standards! Germane to this topic, how about we move the Dome to the Theater District or downtown where it should've been in the first place?! That's "man on the moon" kind of thinking right there!

Yet, we were talking about the Dome. The referendum was contemporaneous. Look, you may have way more faith in the electorate than I do. My best guess says no more than 25% know what the County Judge does, nevertheless the nuances of public finance and how revenue bonds get paid back. (And may I be the one to point out you're still talking about while in quite the tizzy?)

You have a really strange way of presenting things. x2 There was indeed plenty of wailing and gnashing going on, even at the County and the Sports Authority, which in the end helped keep them from defaulting. It's not like it was a foregone conclusion.

Just because people from out of town are paying shouldn't mean that you can just go and plop on more financial obligations on them--IMO that's not good policy, especially if you're trying to develop an inbound tourism and convention market. Our hotel tax rates are (or were, at one time) among the highest in the country. This is from 2014, but you get the point--as the subtitle says "Who'd have thought Honolulu would be cheaper than Houston?": Booking a Hotel? These Cities Have the Highest Hotel Taxes -- Consumer Reports (And also to remind you and everyone . . . the Sports Authority (like a lot of issuers) had a pretty rough time at it for a good while with all the variable rate debt post financial crisis.)

Indeed. Or else it would really be a strange thing to say in such a presentation. Again, I'm not complaining or questioning the wisdom of such support--I'm just wondering to what degree. Maybe it was peanuts, but the video highlights were presumably about things Central Houston, etc. did in 2022, and POST officially opened in 2021. This to me would imply some sort of operating subsidy/grant/tax abatement.

I hear you and am entirely with you, but let's not forget a redevelopment proposal went to voters in 2013 and it failed 53%-47%. Granted, it's up to the County (or someone!) to propose something else, and incorporate as much private funding as possible, but public funding will still be critical and I'm not sure it's the guaranteed political winner you think it is given other funding needs. The referendum was for $217 million, and it was within a decade of building 3 new stadia--MMP (in 2000) for $250 million, NRG (in 2002) for $350 million, and Toyota (in 2003) for $235 million. When the bonds are paid off for MMP, Toyota, and NRG, there should theoretically be more financial capacity that should make taxpayers indifferent from a financial perspective. That should be coming in the next 10 years, so the planning should be happening in earnest now (along with whatever reinvestment is needed for the other stadia).

What else would you infer from "financially supported"?

And here I thought it was where Discovery Green was, in front of the GRB. OH WELL. I do know it was run by HAS, or at least was at one time, and was called the Houston CBD Heliport. Google is of no help! (Incidentally, was the MMP area still a railyard even in the 1980s?)

Well, obviously it is a matter of preference and it's not like the high rises elsewhere are empty. I just stated I don't know who would want to live in one as a primary residence (especially as a condo, not a rental as the high-rise condos definitely aren't cheap, and I'd think that whoever can afford one of those in a building with the amenities you describe probably doesn't have any problem getting a burning dishwasher repaired in a house) and still have to drive everywhere. But that's ME and my personal opinion, and I'll be the first to tell you that I fully acknowledge not everyone is like me. (For instance, I have never set fire to a single dishwasher.)

In re the living in a high rise that doesn't have a lot of walking options, I am talking more about the high rises located outside of downtown. Living in downtown Houston is of course nothing like living in River North, Chicago, but there are objectively a lot of things to walk to--certainly could be better, but one could spend the weekend, no issue, without a need to get into one's vehicle (assuming they grocery shop during the week, but even then there is at least a CVS and a Phoenicia). But Marathon Tower and other residential high rises (I mean, even the Allen), not anywhere near the same level of options.

2:08 into the video ”Financially supported the largest rooftop garden in America” I’d love to know specifically what that means.

From the recent “State of Downtown” presentation, there was a reference that seemed to imply that the Skylawn was being publicly funded … can anyone confirm if indeed it is the entire Skylawn and by which specific organization? (Not a criticism, just the first I had heard of it.)

Well Mr Dogs, they say silence is complicity. Hell, I knew all I needed to know the moment I opened this thread (it’s all pretty transparent after all), but may this serve as a good reference for posterity.

Going back to the last wave of the DLI, is there any consensus amongst people in the industry as to which projects have been the most and least successful? Granted it’s a multi-faceted question, but seems like it would be determined by final product, GFR integration, contribution to the spaces around it, and occupancy, but at an attractive (i.e., not discounted) price point. Are there any properties downtown where it is difficult to “get into,” even if price weren’t an issue? More germane to this discussion, have there been any historical conversions that have been successful? I mean the Rice is still around and I assume still a nice address, but the GFR has always seemed to struggle and I’m not sure how it compares with the new properties. The Commerce Towers seem to have been a dud. The Star doesn’t seem all that great, either. Are the multiple loft conversions desirable addresses? (The above is not based on anything specific, just my perception, which, admittedly, is probably not worth much on this particular topic.) I for one do not understand the idea of living in a high rise when one cannot walk to much around it, but, hey I realize that describes most of the City’s high rises, and it’s not like you can walk to a “real” grocery store downtown from the Brava. At least you have Market Square, the Theater District, MMP, the Toyota Center, and a decent amount of dining options.

Well, thanks to Wikipedia, I have found out Safeway entered the Houston market on its own in 1969 before buying out Weingarten's stores in 1983. I do remember the short-lived AppleTree, for whatever reason I had it in my head that they advertised themselves as employee-owned, but my memory could be wrong. What I also learned from Wikipedia is that AppleTree moved HQ to Bryan in 1997 and there was one location operating there until 2010 (!). H-E-B is fine, but I never shopped there until the MacGregor location opened due to the parking situation (which someone mentioned above)--I tried the Montrose location but gave up after a couple of times, and parking in a garage is just needlessly complicated. I know their business model is volume, but it'd sure be nice if they opened more locations in the City. I am not a fan of Kroger, but that is mainly as a former shopper of the West Gray location, which I just find absolutely tired and depressing--you'd think it'd be a true "flagship" location for the market. Maybe they don't have a long enough lease to justify reinvestment given the other developments going on around there. Am interested to see what happens with the Midtown Randall's most of all if the merger goes through.

At the end of the day, that is a decision based on one's individual judgment of character as defined by one's actions, not one's actions relative to their "pledges." Often one can make decisions about one's character based on what one says, or how one says it. And the instances in which the choice are as explicitly cut-and-dried as the above are few and far between. And I am sure you agree that it is entirely possible that an individual can have a good character, but also be bad (or inferior) at a job. All the above is stated simply as an example that the choice is not as black-and-white as originally presented. But it remains a great cliché. (Such is the definition of clichés, I suppose.)

I suppose as a logical follow-on, @Blue Dogs, we've got the dining with Nazis thing, now we've got the suspend the Constitution thing all in the matter of a week! I'd say one's reaction to such--to put it politely--uncommon events says a lot about one's character and true motivations. (Others disagree, I know, as is evidenced by all the mealy-mouthed GOP appearances on the Sunday shows.) What was your take, as one who professes to be a "rule-of-law" kind of guy? What exactly is the "rule-of-law" if the Constitution is tossed out the window? Whatever Trump says it is at the time? Let me wager a more generous guess perchance--the Bible?

Well in fairness, I can't really see that what has been presented as his "pledges" are his actual pledges (which adds a whole other layer about voting for people based on how others represent their pledges), but are rather someone's paraphrasing, but maybe they exist somewhere other than the guy's actual campaign website. Why I am running - John Whitmire for Mayor Which, quite honestly, is rather silly in the context of the other dime store wisdom (pedantry?) ("I don't vote for politicians based on what they say they're going to do, but rather based on what they actually do," i.e., "I judge people based on their actions, not based on their words," so said everyone ever, all while thinking they were actually saying something of substance--it's not by definition a truism, but might as well be one based on human nature, regardless it's so well-worn it is hollowed out and now empty). In any case, holding the office of Texas State Senator and Mayor of Houston are two entirely different positions. I don't think it is illogical to think that somebody could make a great senator, for example, but not a great governor and vice-versa. How could you, for example, evaluate Mealer as a prospective candidate for County Judge by this standard when she had never held government office? On the other hand, you could evaluate Hidalgo. So who do you choose if you think Hidalgo has done a flurfty job and judge her by her actions, yet you have nothing to judge whether or not Mealer can do a thing to decrease crime as she literally has no track record and therefore is all talk? The truth of the matter is such decisions are not so cut-and-dried, but boy do we like to self-rationalize (self-deceive?) that they are.

Looks like one of those garages it takes 20 minutes to get out of.