wilcal

I had heard talk of Kinder Foundation being on board. The first speaker said that they wouldn't ask for any money until plans are finalized. The downtown district are the ones currently paying for these renderings, so I'd imagine they have a good idea what is feasible. They did say that the entire green loop/everything on the map could feasibly take 20 years though.

Polk will still connect. Elevated bike/pedestrian only bridge has been added to the proposal. It'll be clear when the new renderings are on the planning site.

I'll probably be able to go to the West/South one if any HAIFers want to say hi. There was a pretty good crowd last night of about 100 people. Most were supportive and excited. I was standing next to one guy when he found out that TXDOT would need his property though and he was bummed. They did a 10-minute intro, 20-minute overview of the entire project, and then you could wander around and talk to experts/give feedback on different portions. Everyone was very knowledgable.

City of Houston Planning Department. They have two more scheduled. This one focused on the EaDo portion. North side is next Tuesday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-open-house-nhhip-vision-opportunities-for-the-north-side-tickets-49158298795?aff=erelexpmlt West/South side is Thurs after next: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-open-house-nhhip-vision-opportunities-for-the-west-side-tickets-49158359978?aff=erelexpmlt

Ooo, a cap park between Tuam and Elgin would be great. My concerns are that the bike lanes on the 3rd ward bridges look great, but what are they going to connect to? I think the bike plan doesn't provide for any serious connectiviy (which is crap). I also didn't like the extreme focus on biking but only within the green loop. I feel that there's no easy way to go east/west into downtown. Anybody that is in the third or eado and wants to go to MMP/Market Square Park/etc is gonna have to deal with some awkwardness. The proposal evidently means sharrows on Capital/Texas where the light rail runs. Just a death trap dealing with traffic in that area on a bike with suburbanites trying to handle being in downtown.

Stanley Park is amazing. If there is any chance of anything like that then that would be incredible.

I believe the north canal is shown in the newish renderings I saw at the NHHIP open house last night: https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/28553-the-pierce-elevatedi-59-redesign-thread/?page=52&tab=comments#comment-576090 Specifically this rendering: https://i.imgur.com/VhbaXoJ.jpg

Not sure how familiar you are, so I'll give a broad explanation. When you build a house/business/etc, the city of Houston says you have to build so many parking spaces depending on how large whatever you are building is. The Central Business District has an exemption from (some of) these rules, presumably because there are people that don't need to park to enjoy your establishment. The city is looking at expanding those loosened rules to the surrounding areas.

Evidently, the city had an RFP process this summer for dockless bike share and will act sometime this fall? Hopefully, scooters will be included! I saw that they are banned from Buffalo Bayou Park via city ordinance

Some new renderings were presented at the open house last night. They said that they would be up on the Houston Planning website by the end of the week. Updated timelines: Initial concept development through summer '19. There's a TxDOT deadline then where they have to know about trees on bridges, etc. Design work begins then and has a deadline of Dec 19. Construction from TxDOT begins 2020 or 2021. Big question is keeping/demoing the Pierce Elevated. They are still unsure, but the renderings today showed it in place. Talked with one of the presenter's associates and they said that they have had some engineering work done to determine the feasibility and it looks very good. Land swap between the city and TxDOT looks good. He said they've even looked at the possibility of using the concrete barriers to hold in soil to plant trees/grass and engineering said it was workable. Would likely need "stakeholders" to help with the development. Meaning commercial spaces below and on top to help develop their portion. He made it sound like the city may be up for renting or selling part of the land that they receive for further development to hug the elevated park. I somehow forgot to take a picture, but the Pierce would dump into a large park underneath 45 where Hutchins is approximate. They had some decent renderings of this. They're now planning a pedestrian/bike only bridge to connect Polk into downtown. I think we knew this, but full Montrosification of the 3 Third Ward bridges: https://i.imgur.com/tBwGZnU.jpg As you can see on the renderings, adding separated bike/pedestrian lanes and they want to integrate trees and/or grass on the bridge. New render of the EaDo Cap. Pretty spectacular imho even though BBVA gets the shaft on how big it is (it's the same length as MMP). Elevated walkways to GRB built as hotels are built and needed them. Some type of outdoor concert venue towards the south end of the cap. https://i.imgur.com/F1ll4Oq.jpg "Program Areas" of the cap: https://i.imgur.com/IMtlgqc.jpg Train-themed park area on the cap. Speaker talked about the history of trains in that area, wants to integrate that into that portion of the cap. https://i.imgur.com/5s2nAyn.jpg "Trailhead Overlook Hill" is a key entry into the parks system. Rent a bike and explore, etc. Several blocks of elevated pedestrian/bike highway. Big part of the green loop initiative. I talked with the associate about how the goal is to have as few as 10 road crossings for bikes/pedestrians for an entire loop of downtown. https://i.imgur.com/70H1eKe.jpg The latest image of the NE corner: https://i.imgur.com/VhbaXoJ.jpg Those are detention ponds in the center. Think we knew pretty much all of this. Frostown Crossing portion utilizes existing historical railway as part of the elevated bikeway. https://i.imgur.com/tUtb9ju.jpg

Not sure if the sign is still up, but there's a large for information sign for a broker group from Feb. 2017 which is well after those plans for the office building were released.

Wooooooooow. What a stunner!

Totally forgot about this spot! This could be quite the site for something cool. I wonder if it's still for sale. HCAD says no change of ownership since 07.

That makes sense. Was just thinking that they might have a shot at 60ish spaces on a single level, but I guess they still would need a ramp in and out. Edit: just noticed on the rendering that there will be 10 spots at ground level, so maybe they can get away with those 10 plus a bike rack plus 45-50 underground?

That doesn't sound too crazy to me if you want to have public parking for the retail be separate. Maybe the second story is split a la West Ave?

"Northeast corner of West Dallas and Montrose that would give them ample space to build their project." Pretty sure that one is also under development. "My point is that you'd be hard pressed to name a major development in Montrose in the past 10 years that shares a block with a bunch of single-family homes." Isn't the place across the street from you like that? https://i.imgur.com/UNL72sc.png

I live across Montrose, but I don't think it's that out of place. Montrose Boulevard is continuing to densify, and there are already several large apartments within a few blocks. Plus the El Tiempo across the cross is going to get redeveloped at any moment. The lot at Fairview/Montrose is a bit bigger I think, but it's being redeveloped too. Where were you thinking that would be more appropriate? I'm guessing you think more towards Allen Parkway?

It's possible. If someone is connected though, it would be them. They have several projects in town and have worked for a large Houston developer (although not the one on this porject) so they are likely very well connected.

A little birdy has told me that they had seen the renderings of this project and that they were "next level". I mentioned about the low planned renovation cost mentioned here and they said that he didn't think it was close to possible with the renderings they saw. Don't want to stoke the fires with non-info, but I'm excited about the possibilities.

Is it that accelerated? I thought on-time opening was next month (August)? I could be wrong though.

BMW section for the 2020 championships now under construction: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2054475891253351&id=964639113570373 https://i.imgur.com/46G3tvk.jpg https://i.imgur.com/W6rhVI2.jpg https://i.imgur.com/bm8TjEg.png https://i.imgur.com/tp6bsvE.png

Swamplot post on the demo starting with a few more pics: http://swamplot.com/the-breakdown-of-the-river-oaks-shopping-centers-cafe-ginger-and-neighboring-portions/2018-07-19/

The thread is a few from the top. It was updated yesterday with the info: https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/31361-sunrise-montrose-8-stories-240-units-w-retail/?page=4

Yeah, it's flickr's website saying that they are adult links and you must be logged in to view them. Try opening in an incognito window.

Funny, when I see them do this they work for the city of Houston.