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Diaspora

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  1. Diaspora
    Rant away, I live and walk these streets and still want an activated pedestrian realm. The thing is, as you rant, recognize that nothing stays constant. The Greyhound station departure is imminent, Pour Behavior has broken ground, Surge homes is selling briskly, deep pockets are getting behind a refashioning of a decommissioned Pierce linear, and every developer recognizes the potential in the NE quadrant of Midtown. So why settle for a fortress?
  2. Diaspora
    Is it? How does it differ from the Pearl or the Windsor in the way it articulates with the pedestrian realm? I guess I don’t see it from the rendering; I see a typical residential fortress so common in Midtown. I agree it would be an advantage to have a built structure on lots that have “been undeveloped forever” but if we simply stop at that comparison we’ve set the bar too low IMHO. These built structures will also be around “forever” and it would be important to leverage what we can now for mixed use tomorrow.
  3. Diaspora
    The ATMA build on McGowen is slated to break ground in August. I’m not sure the reason for delay but they are just finishing a build just north of Pierce on Austin and have yet to complete their project at Elgin across Crawford from Baldwin Park. I also understand that financing on the McGowen project is through the EB5 visa program so I’m not sure how that has been impacted since November 2016. In discussions with the developer they are planning on placing a “we works” type space at ground level and have agreed to activate the ground floor face of the structure. I’d be interested in knowing if the above renderings of 2111 Austin off the sbc architects site is current. Pushing for GFR is a priority and perhaps there is some leverage or enticement that can be offered.
  4. Diaspora
    Will be an interesting to watch the transition from one of the last standing automotive repair hubs in Midtown to gamer mecca.
  5. Diaspora
    Demolishing the Pierce Elevated is not a foregone conclusion at this point, and shouldn't be as there are alternative opportunities worth discussing. It is certainly being decommissioned, and the latest economic study on the issue indicates an increase in investment in the area of the Pierce that would be 4 times greater if the Pierce were left in place as a linear space programmed (both below and on the elevated) for different activities and developments.
  6. Diaspora
    This is from a multi-voiced conversation among stakeholders, planners, and decision-makers focused on the many issues and opportunities that need resolving in that area as TxDOT will begin its trench-work there(confusedly labeled stage 3, I believe), as Metro looks to the lines and land it has to work with, as Rice starts to frame what it hopes to accomplish, and as the neighborhood management groups seek to responsibly revitalize.
  7. Diaspora
    Yes, that's the current conversation; that's the least ambitious (but probably most realistic) scenario for e/w public transit.
  8. Diaspora
    Edwin is talking about a Metro rail grade change, or at least that's the point of exploration. The Wheeler/Main intersection is already a clusterfk, add in the BRT running Richmond/Wheeler and it will be untenable. The question is, are we just kicking the can down the road by not doing a grade separation now, where we'll have to perform some expensive engineering feat tomorrow instead of today. The Sears building is merely the tip of the development being considered; when complete the impact will be exponential for the immediate area as well as the region.
  9. Diaspora
    Just be aware these are working boards done by Design Workshop and others for the MMD (in concert with funding from the MRA), the result of several series of public workshops and are not yet final. The third pdf in your list relates to current discussions and soon-to-be public workshops on the parameters of a series of public parks capped over 69 at Fannin, Caroline, and Almeda. very much still in the works.
  10. Diaspora
    Just to put a few more puzzle pieces on the table here, this effort is the first foray into reimagining the 9.4 Acres owned and managed by Rice Endowment. http://realtynewsreport.com/2018/04/12/rice-creating-innovation-district-in-midtown-houston-around-1939-vintage-sears-store/ Rice Endowment is working with HR&A Advisors (see, NYC High Line) to plan and develop. While this is pushing forward, TxDOT will be dropping that portion of 69 below grade. Couple that with stakeholders working to reinvision the public spaces (transit stations, cap parks, traffic engineering) and there will be a remarkable amount of churning over the next 36 months.
  11. Diaspora
    Sure, the Promenade Plantee in Paris is a repurposed viaduct. Most of the other repurposed transportation lines are elevated train platforms in Philadelphia and Chicago for instance, in Singapore and Toronto they are both elevated and ground level. Seoul and Helsinki have sunken pedestrian connectors that were formerly rail lines or freeways. Underway in D.C., at the funding stage is an effort to repurpose the 11th Street bridge over the Anacostia river. Each of these have had, (and have) different challenges depending on the urban spaces through which the former transportation lines have run.
  12. Diaspora
    So i'm apparently part of the 29% of respondents on this board who would like to see the PE kept and repurposed, serving as a destination, a connection, a park, a public space separate from the grid. Examples of similar projects in other cities have driven $ to the repurposing of elevated train tracks, viaducts and freeways in a manner that tearing down the PE cannot accomplish (not to mention the demolition cost). For those who see too many parks in Houston I suggest you view the concept as a conduit and connector instead, a means to collapse the distance between the area east of downtown and BB, a means for Midtown to access BB and points east without the use of a car. This span runs the entire border marking Midtown and Downtown. As a freeway it divides, but as a destination for Houstonians it brings Downtown and Midtown together.
  13. Diaspora
    The Midtown park is open to the public, set up as a conservancy (as is Discovery Green). Once it opens (second quarter is as specific as i know) there will be regular, varied and extensive programming for different audiences, much like you find at Discovery Green.
  14. Diaspora
    The proposed development with some changes will be presented to the Planning Commission this Thursday, January 5. The developer made some concessions by introducing office space on the first floor and opening the McGowen face of the building to pedestrian traffic. There will also be a bcycle station at this location on McGowen.
  15. Diaspora
    This Thursday at 4:00 pm in the Midtown Management Building at 410 Pierce, 3rd floor (doors on Bagby) the ATMA folks will be presenting their modified design for 1403 McGowen for public comment. Present for this discussion will be the architects (Humphreys), designers (Knudson), developer and owners. This forum is the monthly meeting of the Midtown Management District's Urban Planning Committee and is open to the public. If you have a general interest, have something you would like to contribute, are interested in development in Midtown, or are just curious about the process, please find your way to this meeting. As of yet, the developers of this parcel have not resubmitted their variance request to the City, so this is an effort to shop the modified design and gauge public reception.
  16. Diaspora
    ESPN not FOX
  17. Diaspora
    They modified their ground floor design slightly prior to withdrawal. The question is whether they come back with a different proposal or put the dirt back on the market. Can anyone recommend a marketing/surveying entity to build a profile of Midtown -- residents/owners/income/expenditures, whatever -- to help developers fit their projects into the urban field consonant with community strengths?
  18. Diaspora
    A number of residents will be speaking on 9/15 in opposition to the developers proposed design, deferring yesterday so as to follow the developer's presentation, and a number of residents who have been unable to attend these planning hearings have submitted their opposition to the project in writing to the Department of Planning. The purchasing entity for this project, ATMA at McGowen should have the resources to reconfigure and submit an acceptable design proposal, they have a number of ongoing and completed projects in the area, including the ATMA at Midtown townhouse project on Elgin between La Branch and Crawford, varianced in for 17 townhouses with 4 build and on the market. My understanding is that the 1403 McGowen project is fueled by EB5 investors. That the investors are in it for a return but also for a shot at a visa makes me wonder if they care what design form their investment takes, but then I'm not that familiar with the full panoply of the EB5 landscape.
  19. Diaspora
    ah yes, if only my mere yearning for a retail space in this development could force such an outcome. And if I don't open it myself I guess I'll just have to accept any development proposal. Suffice it to say, beyond this improperly imposed binary, that I want the variance requests denied for reasons of safety and future pedestrian considerations. We use the leverage we have.
  20. Diaspora
    The residents actually yearn for a retail presence, whether coffee shop, dry cleaner, or noodle house, we are asking the COH to deny the variances (both set back and visibility triangle) sought for establishing the current plans. The developers have put forward a "study" by Minich that encapsulates that they are designing for yesterday and not tomorrow. They have not taken into account the Surge Homes development a block away or the Caroline Street Redevelopment that will begin in 2017, all of which will take the pedestrian into account, unlike the current, foreboding three-story garage proposed to run the entire block along McGowen.
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