wilcal
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Posts posted by wilcal
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31 minutes ago, samagon said:
overall, this has been my main concern regarding this project.
I wish there was a way that Polk could still connect.
Well, I also have the same concerns as Intencity77, unfunded means it isn't happening. At least, not until someone comes out and says it's funded.
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.
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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.
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3 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:
Very exciting! Thanks for the thorough report, wilcal. Whose open house was this?
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
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14 minutes ago, cspwal said:
Perhaps a park between Tuam and Elgin? There's already Baldwin park in midtown and Emancipation park in 3rd ward; having the cap park there would make the whole area feel like one large park type area with houses in the park. They could connect it with a redo of Tuam and Elgin with trees etc
21 minutes ago, pablog said:I was there too and the projects looked amazing! The only part I felt is forgotten is the Third Ward/Midtown area. I don’t feel that pretty bridges are enough to connect two neighborhoods. I suggested another cap park in that area.
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.
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15 minutes ago, pablog said:
Yes, I actually talked to the city planner for this poster, and he was telling me how that area is mainly industrial and that it floods a lot.
We talked about the possibility of creating a wildlife Island park similar to Stanley Park in Vancouver; which would help reduce flooding in the area.
Stanley Park is amazing. If there is any chance of anything like that then that would be incredible.
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I believe the north canal is shown in the newish renderings I saw at the NHHIP open house last night:
Specifically this rendering: https://i.imgur.com/VhbaXoJ.jpg
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39 minutes ago, Eastdwntwn said:
Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is the CBD exemption from parking minimums?
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.
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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
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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
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1 hour ago, H-Town Man said:
Is that land available? Somebody might be holding it and planning to build a highrise in three years. Or just letting it appreciate.
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.
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Wooooooooow. What a stunner!
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1 hour ago, clutchcity94 said:
How about the large empty lot at 4503 Montrose, just north of the 59 bridge? The lot is huge (26,000 sq ft) and isn't currently being utilized by anything other than the defunct African Art Center. If you combine it with the adjoining empty lot at 905 Woodrow, you get over 35,000 sq ft of space.
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.
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4 hours ago, Angostura said:
It just makes things a lot more expensive.
Also, this site is relatively compact, which makes garage layouts inefficient to begin with. The footprint is 86' x 144'. A parking bay is usually at least 60-ft wide, so that leaves just enough space for a two-way ramp. I'm guessing they'd be able to put around 30 spaces per floor. If they do two floors of retail, subtracting out the space for the ramp and pedestrian circulation, they may have around 16,000 sf of retail space, which requires at least 64 spots, more if there's a lot of space dedicated to restaurants. Which means if they do all the retail parking underground, it needs to go at least two levels deep.
For the residential parking, if it's 100-150 units, assuming they're all 1 and 2-BR units, it's anywhere from 133 to 250 spaces required. At the middle of that range, it's 6-7 levels of parking. Add the 2 levels required for the retail, and you get close to the 9 levels they talk about in the description.
4That 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?
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1 hour ago, Angostura said:
Splitting the parking between one underground level and nine additional levels ABOVE two levels of retail seems like a very inefficient configuration.
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?
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3 minutes ago, William said:
There's a giant empty lot on the northeast corner of West Dallas and Montrose that would give them ample space to build their project. I could probably name a few other places within a few blocks. 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. Take the El Tiempo development for example. They're building an 8 story apartment complex, but it's not being built on top of any of the homes in that areas. All of those homes are across the street.
"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?
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2 minutes ago, William said:
I live in one of the houses nearby. This concept is a great idea, but it's without a doubt in the wrong place. The lot is way too small for such a large building and it's surrounded on both sides by single-family homes and townhomes. There are a ton of places that would be better suited for this development within a 5 block radius. Is there anyone else who lives nearby who thinks this is a bad idea too?
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?
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Just now, H-Town Man said:
Are you sure it's not just those concept renderings that we saw on here awhile back? Different phases, kind of sketchy (in multiple ways)...
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.
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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.
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1 hour ago, samagon said:
wow, that's accelerated from the timeline they provided. I wonder if the rest of it will be accelerated (59 sb closure, and downtown exit opening)?
Is it that accelerated? I thought on-time opening was next month (August)? I could be wrong though.
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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
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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/
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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
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9 hours ago, Triton said:
I've checked the links. They all redirected me to Flickr.
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.
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On 6/18/2018 at 10:02 AM, j_cuevas713 said:
Usually when I see people do this, they're from outside of Houston, like Katy, Tomball, etc. And they have no idea what a bike lane is lol
Funny, when I see them do this they work for the city of Houston.
I-45 Rebuild (North Houston Highway Improvement Project)
in Traffic and Transportation
Posted
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.