IntheKnowHouston

Thanks, Editor. The site does load faster now when I click on a topic. I've tested this on my home computer, a relative's laptop (which I encountered the same slow loading prior on their internet connection), my and other's cell phone, and with and without a VPN. The load time is noticeably faster with the implemented change. Thank you.

Whatever you say, Ross...

You're right. I could have sent Editor a direct message about this. So could everyone else who has commented about an issue they've had/have with the site in this subforum. But as this subforum states, which, I suppose you overlooked based off your comment to me, this subform is "for discussions of the web site and suggestions for improvements." In that regards, my request is within the scope of what this subforum is about: suggestions for improvements on this forum. It's no different than all the other suggestions or issues other members have posted in this very subforum. If you have a problem with me posting about an issue other members have also commented about in the last year or so in other posts, then it seems strange to say I have an agenda. It's as if what I'm requesting or the fact that I'm making a suggestion others have also mentioned is somehow wrong. Or that is against the forum rules to do so. Based on your post history, you don't seem to have a problem with other members who have also made public posts or comments in this very subforum (HAIF on HAIF) or in other parts of this message board. I'm referring to other members who have publicly requested changes based off ongoing problems they've encountered while using this forum. None of your posts are directed to other members who have done the same. So, yes, I'm going to take your response personally.

Below is the project description for a restaurant or bar & grill concept planned for 402 E 20th St. This is from a certificate of appropriateness application submitted by Gage Architecture. It was submitted in December to the Houston Archaeological & Historical Commission on behalf of The Creek Group. https://cohweb.houstontx.gov/hpt/ViewApp_Public.aspx?AppID=USvGKLcNAVI%3d https://cohweb.houstontx.gov/hpt/ShowDoc.aspx?src=Fz2MxIvY98wbwXrosnsKUA%3d%3d&DocID=tcjrU7yI6Ps%3d Property: 402 E 20th St The property includes a 2,784 sf commercial property situated on a 11,220 SF (132' x 85') corner lot. Significance: Non-contributing cinderblock commercial property constructed circa 1950, located in the Houston Heights East Historic District. • Proposal: Alteration – Doors, Windows Replace the two front overhead doors on north elevation with two 8’-8” x 7’-4” storefront black steel frame insulated glass windows and a new 3’x7’ egress door with landing flush at existing opening, with two 2’-2” x 8’-4” black steel frame insulated glass windows sidelights Install of three windows on east elevation: one 2’-2” x 7’-4” black steel frame storefront insulated glass window, one 4’-4” x 7’-4” storefront black steel frame insulated glass window, and one 8’-8” x 7’-4” storefront black steel frame insulated glass window Install of one 8’-8” x 7’-4” storefront black steel frame insulated glass window and two 4’-0” x 7’-0” insulated hollow metal doors on west elevation

I agree. Thanks for snapping a photo and sharing it with all of us.

Recent photos of 402 E 20th St are below. The photos were included in an application to the Houston Archaeological & Historical Commission in December. As previously mentioned, The Creak Group have plans for either a restaurant or bar & grill concept on the property. https://cohweb.houstontx.gov/hpt/ViewApp_Public.aspx?AppID=USvGKLcNAVI%3d

Thanks for chiming in. If I'm recalling accurately, you are one of the members who have spoken out about the pages loading slow too. You have also mentioned of the increase of posts shown on each page may be a factor. As I noted previously, others have made this same observation in various topics over the last year. Also, I've seen others complain about this outside of this forum. In other online communities, including Facebook groups, there are similar complaints. Some of those complaints also extend to the search, which is a topic for another day.

One of the reasons people frequent this site is for the construction update photos. The posts are popular. I think that is evident by the number of likes those kind of posts receive. A lot of people like knowing and seeing what's going up (or being renovated) in their city. Just look at Instagram and Tik Tok. Accounts like Walking Houston receive lots of engagement when posting local construction updates. And besides, this forum is all about buildings: from their conception, design stage, construction stage, and completion. Including visuals of these stages are helpful. if not vital. Maybe back in this forum's infancy images weren't a big deal. But nowadays, it is. Back in the 2000's not everyone had a cell phone with a camera. There weren't a lot of people buying drones. And social media wasn't what it is now. But this forum offered a space where people could post updates without photos. It was helpful. But times change. Visuals, be it photos or videos, are driving forces for today's online communities and social media. On a forum like this one, photos are extremely useful and needed. It helps many of us get an idea of an area. It helps many of us see a different perspective of a building we may not have seen before. It also helps to see a building's progress from start to finish. Still, on other forums that are image-heavy, the page loading time is not slow as it is on this forum. I think it helps that a lot of those forums don't have their boards set to 40 to 50+ posts a page.

@Ross @danielsonr my inclusion of Google Maps, Google Earth Views, and Street View images have zero to do with slow loading times. I mostly add those to the topics I create which load fine. Why? For starters, my topics aren't filled with 40+ posts per each page, therefore the page loads faster. And the few that are more than one page, there aren't a ton of photos posted throughout. Again, following Editor increasing posts per page to 40+ a year or so ago, the pages load slowly. This isn't something only affecting me. Others have mentioned this too in various topics. The load time is also slow on subforums where there are 50 topics to a page. That too was changed in the last year or so. Unlike the topics, the subforums don't have photos. Still, even the subforums load slower than they use to. Editor increasing the number or topics shown to 50 affected the loading speed. I frequent other forums that use the same software this forum uses. Many of those forums are image heavy (users post a lot of hot-linked and Imgur-hosted images on nearly every single page). And many of those forums, using the same software as this one, have much more traffic and members. However, the load time for those forums are much faster. It's possible there could be other factors as to why those forums load faster than this one. However, from my observation, those forums usually have their forums set to show about 20 posts per page in a topic. Also, the number of topics shown in subforums are about the same. And those forums have more ads than this one. Still, they load much faster than this one that's set to 50 topics and posts per page. On a different note, it's fine that you two don't care for what I choose to add to my posts. Guess what? I don't care for either of your posts or the posts you give likes to. So what? But there are other members and visitors who find the inclusion of maps, Google Earth images, Street View images, and parcel outlines helpful. That's what matters. It's great that you know Houston so well that a single map (or maybe no map) is useful to you. But not everyone who visits this site is from Houston. Or if they do live in the city or nearby, it's possible there are neighborhoods that are unfamiliar to them. I'm a lifelong Houstonian. There are many parts of this city, suburbs included, I'm unfamiliar with. Seeing a zoomed in map view, while helpful, doesn't always give me an idea where a property or building is. But other views help. At the end of the day, that's one of the main driving forces of this site: helping others. That help comes by sharing information, offering insight, answering questions, or posting visuals (be it maps, real estate listings, buildings, or construction updates). And I find it interesting that you, @Ross, have this weird issue with only me posting images hosted on Imgur. This is your second time mentioning this in a month. It's also interesting that nowhere - in what I assume was your snide diss towards me - did you mention anyone's use of Imgur, especially your fanboy Highrise Tower. Even more interesting is you didn't make it a point to call out Hindesky or Cityliving. Unlike Hindesky, I don't constantly repost the same Imgur-hosted images of renderings and maps (which have different views or zoom levels) posted over and over again from the city's planning commission agenda. Yet, somehow my one-time inclusion of similar maps in each topic I create seems to grinds your gears. If my inclusion of different views of Google Maps and other maps irk you so much as it appears to do, then surely, Hindesky's constant posting of the same maps and renderings over and over again in the same topic must bother you? I suspect it doesn't for one reason: you don't like me. Your comments (and likes you give to others what a comment is made about me) make clear you some kind of problem with me for whatever reason.

Thanks for your input. Ads could be the issue. Then again, ads were in place when there were less posts per page and pages loaded fast. The slow loading and lag happened when the editor increased the amount of posts per page to a significant number.

Houston Chronicle published an article today on the changes coming to 6600 Harrisburg Blvd and 6614 Harrisburg Blvd. The article is located in the Business and Real Estate section. The sites will become a "food-maker campus." From the article: Magnolia Fund, a real estate firm co-founded by East End native and serial entrepreneur Erik Ibarra, has agreed to buy 6600 and 6614 Harrisburg Blvd. from Houston investor Paolo Fronza. The sale is expected to close by this summer, Ibarra said. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/houston-east-end-food-maker-campus-magnolia-park-18651616.php

My internet connection is fine. I don't have a problem with pages loading slow on any other site except this one. I encounter this issue no matter if I'm logged in from my home computer or if I'm logged out browsing on my phone and another computer elsewhere. Even on other forums I frequent, the loading isn't slow because there aren't a load of posts set up for each page like this forum switch to in the last year or so.

Of course you'd disagree. That's to be expected. What else is new. Still, there are other members who have made the same request throughout various topics in passing in the last year or so. Several have commented on the change in the number of posts per page which makes the entire page load slowly. It's even more so when there's a long page filled with numerous images be it large or small in size.

There are registered web domains for Gossamer. The domains were registered in 2022. According to a WHOIS search, the registrant is located in Texas. At present, there isn't a website or landing page. I'm assuming the domains are for the proposed hotel at 704 Hyde Park Boulevard: Gossamer. https://gossamerhotel.com https://thegossamerhotel.com

Is it possible to scale back the amount of topics shown per page? There was a time when there were maybe 15 or 20 topics shown on each page in each forum. Now the forum is set to 50 topics shown per page for each subforum. Maybe a decrease in the number of topics shown per page can be decreased? That may help with pages loading faster for some. Also, some members and visitors may feel overwhelmed with such a long page to scroll through. I don't know. It seems 50 topics per page is a tad too much. Maybe the editor or moderators can consider reducing the topics per page in the subforums to 20? Or do a trial run to see what most members may prefer?

I'd like to suggest either editor or moderators consider decreasing the amount of posts shown in topics. It takes a while for an entire page to load. Large images contribute to the decreased speed of page loads. Another contributing factor, I think, is the number of posts shown on each page. Combine a long page that is full of posts with tons of images, and the result is long loading times. Sometime between 2022 and 2023, Editor adjusted the settings to increase the number of posts shown on each page. In doing so, the loading time has been noticeably impacted. Several members have mentioned this in various topics. Maybe the goal in increasing the number of posts per page was to create less pages for a single topic. I don't know. However, it would be nice if the posts per page were decreased. If considered, I think it would make for an even better experience on the forum.

That's a great start, @Specwriter!

A web domain was registered last month for Tempo at White Oak: https://www.tempoatwhiteoak.com Tempo at White Oak is a multifamily / apartment development located at 2623 Keene St. It's in the Near Northside area.

Houston Business Journal reported the name in an article back in October. Here's the portion from the paywall article: In addition, [Marquette Cos.] is currently developing Tempo at White Oak District, a 304-unit apartment complex across from White Oak Music Hall in the Near Northside. https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/10/11/marquette-companies-build-to-rent-sylvan-woodlands.html Tempo at White Oak is located at 2623 Keene St in the Near Northside area.

Renderings of Rye Heights published on Price Development Group's website. Rye Heights is a multifamily / apartment development from Price Development Group. It's going up at 1111 W 23rd St in the Shady Acres area. https://www.pricedg.com/rye-heights Unit Club house Pool area Sky lounge

A web domain was registered for Rye Heights in August. Currently, there is nothing on the site. Rye Heights is a multifamily / apartment development from Price Development Group. It's going up at 1111 W 23rd St in the Shady Acres area. https://www.ryeheights.com

Price Development Group has named the 1111 W 23rd St multifamily / apartment property Rye Heights. https://www.pricedg.com/rye-heights Description from Price Development Group's website: Located in the heart of Houston's coveted Heights neighborhood, Rye Heights is an exclusive 211-unit multifamily development, set to redefine luxury living. At the intersection of Beall St. and 23rd St., Rye Heights capitalizes on the neighborhood's remarkable growth, characterized by its rich amenities, unique boutique shops, charming architecture, and strategic inner-loop location. An array of retail and lifestyle amenities are within walking distance, including a 92,000 sq ft H-E-B, over 25 gourmet eateries, vibrant bars, and boutique yoga and fitness studios. Rye Heights’ five-story podium design with a two-story parking structure at the base. The development hosts a diverse range of floor plans, from intimate 431 sq ft studio apartments to an expansive 1,726 sq ft Penthouse, with an average unit size of 836 sq ft. Each unit features stainless steel appliances, custom cabinets, quartz countertops, spacious kitchen islands or wrap-around bars, smart-door hardware, private balconies, and select units featuring private courtyards. Rye Heights' residents will enjoy access to high-end amenities, including a two-story clubroom, a state-of-the-art fitness facility with a second-story spin/yoga studio, a modern business center with private offices, a bike repair shop, a pet spa, and package locker systems. The outdoor space features a resort-style swimming pool with tanning shelves and cabanas, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, an outdoor fitness space, and a dog park with separate areas for large and small dogs. The signature rooftop Skylounge, provides unrivaled, unobstructed Downtown views, reinforcing Rye Heights' position as Houston’s new destination for luxury living.

Le Ciel Hospitality has leased Idle Hands' former unit at Montrose Collective. The hospitality group is the mind behind Ciel, the supperclub at 4411 San Felipe St, Suite 101. A bar or nightclub is planned for the 910 Westheimer unit. Although there are no permits indicating a name, the bar's moniker is Sophie. There is an Instagram for Sophie. While, the bio doesn't list an address or any other location, I'm certain it's the bar's social media account. It's billed as a rooftop and lounge in its Instagram bio. https://www.instagram.com/sophierooftop/

Pie Tap / Pie Tap Pizza Workshop + Bar is rumored to possibly open at Novel River Oaks (3750 Westheimer). Does anyone have further insight? According to marketing materials for another property, the Dallas pizzeria may also open in the Montrose area. The restaurant is shown at 211 Fairview St in leasing materials. https://pie-tap.com https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/32848-fairview-collective-mixed-use-at-fairview-st-mason-st/?do=findComment&comment=691365

Has anyone heard or seen anything pertaining to Cafe Ion? I think this is replacing Common Bond On-the-Go's location at The Ion.