cspwal

Drone footage and construction photos

http://swamplot.com/flying-over-the-typhoon-currently-under-construction-next-to-katy-mills-mall/2015-12-09/

Lazy river currently in drought conditions, is a lazy gulch

  So long neat looking building

That, plus good lighting and tenants that have a vested interest in what is their front lawn.  I think the staff and Niko Nikos does the heavy lifting keeping Market Square nice

Maybe they just ran out of window panes :/

This building looks amazing in person - the garage and the tower look seperate at street level because the tower is all curves while the garage has the big blocky presence of a mid-rise, but with an inviting looking entrance on main

I'm sure if someone else was willing to foot the bill, TCR would agree to an extension to Galveston.

It sounds like the Gulf Coast Rail district wants the station downtown.  I don't know if they can do much though - what do they currently do?  There's no commuter rail right now, and I don't know of any plans to make any except for Metro's deal with Culberson

http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2015/12/08/130355/study-would-look-at-new-options-for-high-speed-rail-in-houston/

It is a shame that it won't look at the downtown skyline

I was curious about what it will look like and found the most recent article about it, from the groundbreaking in May

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2015/05/officials-midtown-superblock-to-be-completed-in-time-for-super-bowl/

The beautiful skyline view

I can't tell very much from the plan they have on there (does anyone have a hires version?) but it looks like there will at least be a plaza on the downtown side.

I suspect that it means that it is for people who are willing to look past how little space they are getting to try a different kind of living in a apartment with super efficient use of space.

My big question is how much of the built in stuff is included in the quoted prices we've heard.  $150k for a fully furnished efficient home is a lot different than an empty box that has 300 square feet of space

That explains why they always get mad when I give them McDonald's gift cards

I'm sure if Houston came up with money for a station downtown, TCR would magically change their mind and route all the way downtown.

And if pigs had sufficient wing area, there would be no reason they couldn't fly

I got an answer about Salvation Army charging:

For those men experiencing homelessness and looking for a place to eat, shower and sleep, our emergency shelter called Red Shield Lodge at the Harbor Light Center is open to receive them. During their stay a the emergency shelter, men have the opportunity to meet with case managers and are encouraged to transition to the Harbor Light program where they will work on the underlying issue that causes their homelessness. 

Men who choose to stay at the Red Shield Lodge longer than two weeks without entering Harbor Light's rehabilitation program are charged a nominal fee. The purpose of the fee is not to generate revenue, rather it is intended to be an incentive toward rehabilitation and stabilization. Men who participate in the Harbor Light Center rehabilitation program are not charged a fee to participate.

Sigh.  At least now we know.  So if anyone comes up to you asking for money to keep staying at the Salvation army you know they aren't telling the whole truth

A train year in review

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2015/12/08/year-in-review-high-speed-rail-builds-leadership.html?s=print

 

 

In 2016, the high-speed rail project will continue to raise capital, lock down their route and depot locations, and finalize the project ahead of a 2017 ground breaking.

Amphibious car?  This would have/would still sell well in Houston, especially in the weeks after a flood (when everyone is preparing for the next flood)

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/12/this-weirdo-car-could-have-driven-on-water/419217/

I wonder how many truly homeless people know about all these shelters?

Underground apartments...a concept

The windows in my apartment look like they might open, but they also look like they may just unscrew and fall out onto the street - I haven't gotten drunk brave enough to try to open one.

I do leave my balcony door open a lot, even in the summer.  A nice breeze will carry off the smell of my cooking 

I'm not saying this is correct, but Google Maps has the area extend all the way west up to River Oaks with Shepherd as the boundary line.

 

Edit: Then again.. those boundaries have Montrose taking up a significant portion of Fourth Ward and a little bit of Downtown even, so that has to be wrong.

I didn't know Montrose had an Amtrak station AND an aquarium!

As much as I'd like to see that, the other big problem with the Post Oak Road partial redevelopment into 610 is the fact that Post Oak Road merges back into 610 S. Would be nice to see that become one big road again from Bellaire to Northwest Mall, really.

That would probably help a little with traffic congestion - add a true north south alternative 

Noooooooooo! That building was one of my favorites in downtown. Why did they bring it down? I had always hoped they would turn it into lofts. 

It had structural issues, and no one wanted to save it enough to spend dump trucks full of cash to fix it

Thread:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/29510-hogan-allnoch-building-texas-and-austin/

Does anyone know the actual terms for staying at the salvation army?  I've had a few people approach me asking for money saying that only the first night is free and they need $5/night after that

That McDonald's better have a good McCafe team once this starts leasing

Looks like they're bringing the crane down today

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scollay_Square

 

 

Eventually over 1000 buildings were demolished and 20,000 residents were displaced.

This is going to tower over the other two buildings on this block... it's only 1/8 complete right now and it's halfway up the Citizen's bank building

I suspect the original bricks were handmade per the story, but over time bricks were replaced as they were broken, and at a certain point they were probably just replaced through normal municipal channels, which tend to source pavers from established companies.  There are probably some of the handmade bricks still there, but they might not be common