wilcal

Another story? Someone told them that highway is going to get knocked down, right?

12 hours ago, pm91 said:

 

Is it known that they’re keeping the existing building or is this a tear down and build up?

Revive agent said that they always keep the existing building.

1 hour ago, dart330 said:

There are not a lot of healthy options on this side of town. If it is going to be fast food, something like a Panera would be great so you could at least get a fresh salad when in the mood. Are there any bagel shops on this side of town?  More breakfast / brunch options are really needed.

Yeah, I mentioned to him that Slowpokes was going over in Concept Neighborhood, and honestly, something like that would have been perfect here. Coffee, all-day food, beer+wine in the evening. 

This place is not the best spot, but would love something like a Barnaby's. 

On 8/18/2023 at 12:41 PM, Amlaham said:

I don't necessarily have a problem with dollar tree, an affordable option is always nice. However, how in the hell are they able to afford rent for an entire city block in midtown? 

There is one in River Oaks. Maybe they're doing better than we thought. 

1 hour ago, 004n063 said:

Are you referring to the Goal Park or something else?

Yep! 

On 8/17/2023 at 1:32 PM, Sanjorade said:

Got confirmation from the previous owner that this will be a coffee shop. Guessing Slowpokes. 

A Slowpokes just got announced being part of Concert Neighborhood about a mile NE of here. I wonder if that would be too close. Hrmm.

17 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Is there any chance of taking some of the ROW from the car lanes on McKinney to improve the pedestrian realm? I don't think the traffic volumes mandate the 4 lanes (and they encourage the speeding problems this stretch regularly deals with), but a narrower roadway and better pedestrian realm could help accelerate the activation of the street here.

Yeah, I can definitely see that. There only needs to be one lane of through traffic each direction and then one lane of parking. Could easily pull 5-6' out of the road to add to the pedestrian ROW.

This is just a block from Columbia Tap, which might be getting a significant rebuild/improvement.

The developer reached out to me after I emailed their leasing email address and said that they plan on developing the space for a food and beverage concept and will embrace the Harrisburg Trail in their plans! 

They also asked what type of place we would like to be here. Any thoughts?

1 hour ago, steve1363 said:

Will Kim Son be demolished?

This is their location with the Segment 3 overlay. I can't imagine it is staying.

Additionally, I noticed a restaurant named Fork & Skewers at the site where Slowpokes is going, and they appear to be new.  Here is their website:

https://www.forkandskewers.com/

Looks like it might be a home for their food truck. Their Facebook says that they'll be there Thurs-Sat this week.

Very cool!

Quick and dirty map of those three locations:

On 7/8/2023 at 12:16 PM, phillip_white said:

The side facing San Jacinto will have no windows and be covered in "decorative tile." No clue what that means, but it's a bummer for interaction with the street. Probably trying to cut costs.

The Sacco entrance is moving to the parking lot. They plan to be moved back in within the next 2-3 months.

The suites at the corner of San Jacinto and McIlhenny are being roughed in for tenants, but no leases have been signed yet.

I wish I had seen this thread earlier. If they modify at least 50% of the facade facing a Walkable Places street then they have to meet the requirements of WP which would be 50% fenestration and at least one entrance.

I've sent an email so we'll see.

22 hours ago, I'm Not a Robot said:

I am curious if we will get an updated tenant list or if what we see is what there is. I have to say, from wanting a grocery store, a gym and a movie theater (which was originally in the plans) to getting another dentist in the area is pretty underwhelming. I would have thought Midway had a little more pull than this, but from what I've heard is there is a lot of apprehension to being an early adopter but that list of tenants is bleak. 

They did say that they expect it to take nearly 20 years to develop the entire site. Grocery has such tight margins, sites almost have to be perfect, and movie theater companies are not exactly doing well. I would like to think they'll start to pick up some momentum when more is open over the next few months. 

19 hours ago, J.A. said:

I'm wondering if Midway should aim for tenants that aren't quite as 'high end' as what we might expect to find at City Centre... More businesses local-ish to the East Side of town would probably be more appropriate for the area anyway? I have no idea what those might be as far as a gym or movie theater (1st inner loop Alamo Drafthouse?)... For a grocery store, maybe Foodtown, Fiesta or similar? Maybe Midway is looking for this tenant mix already... but from afar it seems like it's probably out of their comfort zone.

I think it is really a rent situation. Grocery leases last a long time, and I doubt a lower-end grocery could make that work without some type of subsidy. I think we all know it is HEB or bust. The population in the area is steadily increasing. It will happen eventually. 

12 minutes ago, J.A. said:

I agree 100% about businesses failing to see the opportunity at East River. I mean, HEB for example didn't even open in the Heights or on Washington Ave. until 2019!!! Ridiculous! That's probably 10yrs later than it should have happened. I dunno about Whole Paycheck being interested in East River given that their store in Midtown didn't exactly meet business projections... unless it is now? Grasping at straws tryna think outside the box: What about a Joe V's Smart Shop (Never been there but it's owned by HEB so maybe still too risk averse?) or 99 Ranch Market? I was thinking maybe Food Town or Fiesta could be convinced to up their game into something kitschy cool while maintaining brand identity and pricing the neighborhood is familiar with. Or maybe something else we probably wouldn't have thought of that may be looking up it's visibility in a different market of the city like Phoenicia did when they opened Downtown. Still not a grocery store, though (and too close). Anything from 'China Town' or 'Mahatma Gandhi' District? Too specialized?

I feel there was/is still a lot of inertia in Houston real estate development regarding mixed use buildings and centers until very recently. Then the pandemic hit... and now the inflation aftermath...

Also, we have to remember that it took a long time for retail at City Centre to fully lease up when it was the mixed use development pioneer in Houston. I recall a lot of empty space there too for a few years. Now with East River add in a financial market and inflated construction pricing where no one wants to build anything. Hopefully, Midway will ride this out too and stick to their vision. When the market figures itself out, this area will probably take off!

There was a Joe V's rumored for somewhere along Harrisburg, but it never materialized. I can't see an ethnic grocery working, really. And yeah, I don't think WF in Midtown is working well, still. Then again, the larger store is so much better and only 1.5 miles away. 

Really good point about City Centre. 

Basically, I think that East River needs at least another year before we can even start to be worried. 

It had a fence put up with a large dumpster either yesterday or day before yesterday. 

Very very excited that this is being reactivated. I would love to see some type of use that faces or integrated with the Harrisburg Trail.

I looked on their site and they have a bunch of cool sites in the Heights http://www.reviveco.com/#welcome-supplyingdemand

I emailed their leasing contact email address and asked if they had any renders or a tenant signed that they could share with me. 

I don't think there is any chance of them extending the HSR to downtown. They will be much more likely to come up with a solution to connect it to the BRT at NWTC.

Some talk on Twitter about how it wouldn't be that hard to move the existing Amtrak station to the HSR terminus.

4 hours ago, JBTX said:

Yup! I'm glad even though I miss that Detroit style pizza.

Worst food-related tragedy in recent memory. 

Vinny's survives 😍

21 hours ago, hindesky said:

They are going to choose between the 50' wide or the 60' wide plan. Says it will start summer '23.

I think that there is variable right of way width along this corridor, so there is really only one proposal. It just changes along the way. ROW is wonky on some of these blocks IIRC, but that may have been further east. 

They really need to get some quality electric service so that they can charge their cars directly. They've been hogging the Electrify America charger at Yale at Walmart. It has been closed for a few weeks and when I stopped at the EA station in Baytown, they were having to drive all of the way out there to charge. What a mess. 

I'm currently taking even odds if this will open before the heat death end of the universe.

3 hours ago, sapo2367 said:

What are the consequences of doing a demo/renovation without a permit? You can't put the building back the way it was. Do you just get a fine etc? 

I feel about 50% confidence in this, but I thought that the fine is based on the cost of the permit you didn't buy. I thought it was basically paying double the permit in some situations. 

On 6/28/2023 at 12:44 AM, IntheKnowHouston said:

I'd like to know too. Isn't this kind of work on a building supposed to be filed with the city? Aren't permits needed? There aren't any building permits on file for the demolition and construction/renovation.

Appears to now be red tagged.

Quote

Upon arrival I56 checked in ILMS. No active permits were observed. At the time of the visit I56 made contact with worker. Worker stated that they are picking up the trash. During the investigation I56 observed that two building were demo, fill and grade, and remodeling the main building. 1st notice posted. 126 hard hold place. Pictures are provided. Follow-up is schedule

4 hours ago, IntheKnowHouston said:

I don't know if this property will continue as a parking lot or if there are plans for something else.
 

They are proposing one unrestricted reserve, so it could be anything.

I can't imagine that they are going through the hassle of a replat with a public hearing to keep it as a parking lot. I imagine that they'll plan on building some form of structure here.