Ryanbergeron83

Except that you can't - if you are just starting out in the world and can only afford in the $120k range to buy.  There is nothing in River Oaks or Montrose that small.  I think that one of the angles on these micro-lofts that we seem to all be overlooking is that while they cost more on a per-square-foot basis than in many markets, they are small enough so that single-income people early in their career can actually afford to buy them.  

Odd, according to the recent City Agenda a winning bid has been accepted for construction to begin late August or beginning of November on the actual Residences at the Hardy Yards portion. This construction phase is estimated to take up to 18 months to complete. 

 

Also here is an update on the Hernandez tunnel that was posted last week on District H Councilman Ed Gonzalez's website. Looks like the tunnel itself will be reopening in the next few weeks. I haven't driven by here in a while so I haven't gotten to see the portion of Burnett that opened July 17th.

Thanks IamHouston.  Would you mind pointing us in the direction of those City Agenda Minutes?  Thanks!

What was being planned off Conti St over a year ago?

I didn't realize there was any residential being planned on the south side of the yards other than maybe a small area off Conti St that I thought had fallen through well over a year ago but I haven't gone by back there in a while. Otherwise I don't see it affecting the area very much at all and if anything maybe giving it additional visibility. If anything I think redesigning the clock tower they're putting into the residences should be elevated even higher to make it easily visible to those driving by to see the time. Could be our own Watchtower clock like the one in NYC when you're leaving Manhattan and driving to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge. Obviously that one is digital and pretty much an american landmark. But it would be cool none the less.

This is Texas doggone it! Make it bigger or we can't be better. 

Who is Building this ? and where?  There hasn't been any work done on that site

That's what I've been saying all along, Avossos.  It fits in other contexts, too; not all old buildings are worth saving.  Places like Europe have lots of cool old buildings because all the worst ones were eventually replaced in later times, but now all that is left in some cities is hundreds of years worth of very cool buildings.  Houston is still a relatively young city and hasn't had enough of these "30/70" (or even 10/90, long term) situations to weed out all the bad stuff.

 

Until the 1990s, pretty much all apartments in central Houston were the 2-story garden style.  Then you started seeing 3-story garden apartments.  In the late 1990s, the "wrap" started showing up -- for a while, I lived in a ~1998 apartment complex that had a 4-story wrap, along with 3-story garden-style outer buildings, with a mix of garage and surface parking.  Then in the early 2000s, so 10-15 years ago, the typical construction was the 4 story wrap.  Then in the last decade we started seeing more 5-6 story wraps.  And now, the new trend is the 7-9 story pedestal, with parking at the base.  It's all about getting denser.  The high-rises generally are just extensions of these pedestals, though unfortunately the ubiquitous Skyhouses still insist on an ugly separate garage (but presumably the Skyhouses will be shorter-lived buildings, fitting in the "30%" category).

 

It sounds like this project is probably likely to have the pedestal-style buildings, just based on trends.  Those seem to be well-suited for ground-floor retail, too, because the garage bases can easily handle commercial units, so this may end up being a walkable, livable neighborhood unlike what some fear.

Great observation and explanation.  I've noticed that these 4 story wrap projects built in the early 2000's are now turning into somewhat of an eyesore.  I don't mean the structure themselves, but the siding seams seem to collect dirt and bleed all over the stucco siding.  Not very pleasant . I suspect there will be a lot more of this as developers shy away from expensive bricks and stones.