wilcal

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Pearl-Marketplace-opens-in-Midtown-Whole-Foods-13968634.php?utm_campaign=CMS Sharing Tools (Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral It appears it did open today.

I know this is ultra trivial, but it's just 787-8, not -800. Like mini nails on a chalkboard for me (for no real reason). Also, I want to fly on that Ethiopian flight REAL BAD

Interesting appraisal history on this property At current appraisal, that's $2,400/month for property tax. Have to feel that with Cafe Bustelo was able to make some of that back for them. That would be a great spot for a food truck park if they weren't effectively against the law here if vehicles aren't mobile.

Pretty sure TxDOT highway funding is under 40% from gas tax/registrations. I did research on it awhile back but can't find it.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/WhyHotels-to-open-pop-up-location-in-Camden-s-13914727.php Looks like you'll get the opportunity to stay there for a night without having to rely on AirBNB WhyHotel, a temporary housing company that partners with residential developers to offer short-term stays in vacant units of newly developed buildings, has struck a deal with Camden Property Trust to turn 100 apartments in a new downtown tower into essentially hotel suites. The Washington D.C.-based company will lease the units from Camden in its new 21-story, 271-unit apartment building now under construction near the Toyota Center and the George R. Brown Convention Center at 1515 Austin. The company refers to it new location as a pop-up hotel, since it will operate for a limited time. It will begin accepting its first guests late this year, with the local operation running through late 2020. (more in link)

Houston @ White Oak got green paint and armadillos Saturday morning, completing the project right there. Looks great!

Houston BCycle just announced an ebike pilot program for June and July. Only 4 bikes though 😕

No low hanging fruit. Airfares are very low, so there has to be high biz class demand, and a lot of that from Houston is very localized due to O&G only going certain places. You'd think we could see UA start IAH-HKG on a 789, but UA won't even bring back IAH-CDG which supposedly has a way bigger market.

Wooooow! That looks great! A 1 block Columbia Tap connector was put in on Bastrop St from BBVA Compass Stadium (behind me in this pic) to the start of the trail.

I would imagine it would be both. Not sure I see a benefit to one stopping and not continuing.

Just went and looked at the bars and restaurants along Washington which would be affected: (I'm assuming that the stop at Heights will stop just short of the intersection) Star Pizza Urban Eats Sonic Hughes Manor Shell Shack Catalina Coffee Liberty Station Henderson Heights Pub Julep Kubo's Sushi Tacodeli Platypus Brewing Gus' Fried Chicken B&B Butchers BB Lemon I mean, that's not that many IMHO. And several of those are destination places that people are making a trip for.

Not sure if serious. Maybe Metro strategically left this out of the plan until this final revision so that they only have one month to rally the troops. Edit: really most of the clubs/bars are west of where the proposed line would end. There's only a small handful that would be affected.

Memorial is a thing, too, of course. My gut says the rush hour traffic on Westheimer is not for people living in Wesheimer corridor, but people going to the Heights from downtown or people just avoiding traffic on I-10. Washington itself is way under utilized outside of rush hour. They talked about it at the Patterson bike lane meeting. Many locals wanted a light at Patterson@Washington, but they said that while traffic needs justified it just at peak rush hour, the rest of the day wasn't close. Washington should have been steered to something closer to lower Westheimer reconstruction plans, anyway. One lane of traffic each way and street parking/pull-in bus stops. I think with light rail, there likely isn't any room for street parking. I guess what I'm up on my soap box for on this post is that Washington Ave shouldn't be a commuter street, it should be a street to support the Washington neighborhood. I don't think the extra driving lanes will benefit them more than LRT. Also, just saw that the last stop would be 2ish blocks from a Walmart. I'm kind of here for the big/weird stuff that people will start carrying on the train.

Dug Begley reporting that at the Metro Board Meeting today that the Green/Purple line would be extended west to Washington@Heights Blvd Hell, at this point, just continue it up some combo of Shepherd/Durham into the Heights. They need to be redesigned anyway and be suject to a road diet.

I believe this was a project presented to HGAC by Houston TxDOT and it received funding for the FY2022. Link to full PDF of projects: http://www.h-gac.com/2018-call-for-projects/documents/2018-call-for-project-tpc-rankings.pdf It was ranked #13.

He reported that the Lime rep rode it from the Galleria area to downtown (on twitter, not in his article)

http://www.ourtribune.com/headlines/21985-controversial-high-rise-project-in-kingwood-may-die.html “The Army Corps of Engineers pulled and withdrew the permit of Romerica. They [Romerica] could not answer all of the questions that were posed by various groups within the 30-day time frame they had to reply within the statutes,” he said. Romerica requested an extension and suspension of the terms of the permit application process, Rehak said, but the Corps denied the request and pulled the application. He noted that Romerica can reapply at some future date when they work out all the details and submit all the information they are supposed to provide. The application was withdrawn without prejudice.

Talked with the Downtown District's Director of Planning and she said that they are still working through 90% documents to get to the city and have no determined a first start date or construction length 😕 The original presentation from December started a June start date, and this article says fall. She said a few issues with infrastructure upgrades and phasing sequence with the city. Their original timeline was: Feb 2019 90% plan submission. April 2019 100% plan submission May 2019 Contractor Procurement June 2019-21 Construction So if they are still working on 90% plan submission, then that's at least 2 months behind which does lean towards a fall start as reported in March.

Managed to talk to someone who talked to the rep. Lime is just waiting on "the city to get their $!#@ together". Evidently they want to do painted boxes in the city ROW for scooter parking.

Anyone talk to the Lime rep(s) at the Houston Bike Summit this weekend? Evidently they were showing off their newest scooter with 10" wheels and a front suspension. No official announcement of course or we would have seen it.

The "Mystic Forest Maze" hahahahaha May also be referred to as "that time I got drunk and got lost in a porta potty"

Was curious so had to look it up. HCAD just has 5 years of values... but OUCH. 2019 is almost $4,000/day in property taxes. So how much property tax has been "squandered" since 2007? $10 million?

No Alamo Drafthouse anymore: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Regent-Square-moving-forward-but-with-no-Alamo-13851493.php?utm_campaign=CMS Sharing Tools (Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral The owner of a 24-acre parcel across Allen Parkway from Buffalo Bayou Park announced plans Thursday to build a 600-unit apartment complex and 50,000 square feet of retail space on the site, the latest development phase within a larger project known as Regent Square. Boston-based GID Development Group said it intends to start construction this fall on the buildings, which will occupy eight acres at West Dallas and Dunlavy streets. GID announced plans to develop Regent Square in 2007. At that time, the property housed the Allen House Apartments, which GID had owned for decades. Most of the apartments were demolished, but the project stalled until a 21-story apartment tower was developed on part of the site at 3233 W. Dallas. That building, called the Sovereign, was completed in 2015. "Our goal for Regent Square is the creation of an exemplary, urban mixed-use district in the heart of Houston. Phase 2, the core of the masterplan, is poised to establish the project as a dynamic, walkable place as it weaves high quality restaurants, retail and residential into the fabric of the surrounding neighborhoods," James Linsley, GID Development Group's president. Several years ago, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, an entertainment concept that combines a movie theater and dining, said it was planning a location in Regent Square. A GID spokesperson said those plans were off. Boston architecture firm CBT is designing the new buildings. Apartment floorplans will range from studios with separate sleeping alcoves to large two-bedroom units. The shops will ring a central plaza designed by Houston-based OJB Landscape Architecture. JLL has been tapped to oversee retail leasing for the entire mixed-use district, which will eventually span 24 acres along West Dallas Street between College Memorial Park Cemetery and Waugh Drive, GID said.

Is "mixed-use" tenants not residential+commercial?

A second CityCentre right next door? Who tf would want to live at the mall? "Hun, pick me up a cinnabon on your way up from the parking lot"