cspwal

You can click "unread content" at both the top and the bottom, and you can select the "condensed view" and it acts the same as before

I'd pick The Star as number one - I like that building a lot, and even if it doesn't have the tower portion, it will still be a huge development.

Second choice is the cluster in south downtown, because it's making a nice residential neighborhood

Third - the two towers at market square (Aris > Market Square tower because pizza)

102 story federal office building...?

I'd bet a lot of the Energy corridor area apartment buildings will go south like that

Maybe they plan on double stacking cars - it is supposed to be a valet lot so theoretically they could do that.

Either way it seems really small for extra parking for them - and not to start building something there?  Not even have a plan out there - oh we'll demolish these buildings but don't worry it won't be a parking lot for long because we're building our new garage and ballroom there.  Nothing like that

That's an imposing structure

 

 

Family members said the tree was not expected to survive the leveling of the site.

They could have kept it if that was part of the goal...

Sam Houston High School

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston_Math,_Science,_and_Technology_Center

 

 

Until the 1950s the block bordered by Austin, Capitol, Caroline, and Rusk in Downtown Houston housed the institutions that make up what is now Sam Houston High School. Houston Academy was there in the 1850s. In 1894 Central High School was built. J.R. Gonzales of the Houston Chronicle said that the school was "[d]escribed as one of the finest high schools in this part of the country" and "also attracted negative attention for its incredible cost." The school had a price tag of $80,000, $1.9 million in 2010 dollars. In March 1919 the school burned down. A new Sam Houston opened two years later

 

 

In 1955, Houston High School moved from its Capitol Street location in Downtown to its current location.^[1] The previous Sam Houston High School became the Houston Independent School District administrative headquarters.^[2] In July 1970 the first Hattie Mae White Administration Building became the new HISD administrative offices.^[3] The Downtown Sam Houston building was demolished. As of 2011 a parking lot owned by HISD now occupies that site.

I'm pretty sure that's a weird art installation.  Either that or we're being colonized by aliens

This gives a good idea what the block face is going to look like - looks like a very complete block, and quite tall.  I was afraid the high rise would dwarf those buildings but at least the one on Preston looks right at home with it.

Move target's parking to roof parking, reuse the parking lot as more townhouses and a decent sized park

The best solution to that is to run for city council - then it will have one less crook and one more astros148

Yeah, no one can say for sure but I'm betting that the inner loop will have decent occupancy while the suburbs may suffer.

 

Marvy Finger once said in response to a question about the latest downturn that he will never build another complex that is not at "Main and Main".

 

"They became vacant overnight," Finger said of his projects in Bellaire, Webster and toward the Ship Channel. "It was a very difficult time generating enough revenue to pay for the debt service. I said 'Never again would I consider building on any tract of land that I didn't think was a Main and Main location.'"

 

He also said that while the projected income from his projects will fall, location will help keep occupancy high (but that may be at the expense of the outer loop apartments).

Breaking: Marvy Finger confirms apartment project in TMC

Well, looks like they waited too late for this project. New data is showing multi-family is absolutely plummeting in the Houston market, especially the higher-end category.

Has it spread to the downtown market yet?  Last I saw was downtown and midtown were still strong, though that was a few months ago

Explains why it isn't being used as a parking lot right now 

^^^^^ yes this please ^^^^^^^^^

Does HISD have to pay property taxes on that fenced in parking lot?

I'm having a really hard time understanding why they would put balconies two feet up from street level. There's a certain security factor that is hard to get over with an inner city street level patio. Why not just increase the interior square footage of the first floor units?

Because the other units have balconies :/

So that's what the southern downtown park is 

I say go the opposite direction - Houston annexes everything inside the grand parkway once it's completed.  Use the increased tax base to improve mass transit to the whole city

Could they at least put a facade up?  Maybe a drawing of the old buildings?

It's going to stay up - they figured having a tower crane permanently up next to GRB will make it look like Houston is always growing, even if nothing is happening 

There actually aren't that many sub $300K houses left on the market over there, and a reminder - these have a starting price under $200K!  For some people, $200K is stretching it to consider buying anything anytime soon.  Having the low starting price is important, and can lead to savings when you compare mortgage + HOA to renting.

The only thing they really have to do now is some finishing up on the corner of fannin and bell, and finish putting in the sidewalks.  They put in the sidewalk along Leeland and tore it up and put a new one in, but it leads to a pile of dirt at the corner