KinkaidAlum

College teams playing in relatively new stadiums (last decade or so) or building new right now... Louisville (42,000 PapaJohn's Cardinal Stadium) Pittsburgh (65,000 Heinz Field built in collaboration with the Steelers) Rutgers (41,500 Rutgers Stadium) UConn (40,000 Rentschler Field built between campus and Hartford) Minnesota (currently building a 55,000 seat stadium on campus) Central Florida (opening a 45,000 seat stadium next season) SMU (32,000 Ford Stadium) Stanford (50,000 seat stadium opened this year on former site of old bowl) Utah (45,017 Rice Stadium) Troy (30,000 Movie Gallery Stadium) Florida Int'l (building new on campus) It would be cheaper for UH to tear down and build new than to renovate the current Roberston Stadium because of issues with the ADA. That is why the most recent expansion build structures that were not connected to the old structure (both new endzones as well as the new concession stands are free standing).

Silly Sev and Dbig, Racism no longer exists. The white man says so.

Isuredid, These photos are amazing. THanks so much for sharing. Hopefully some of these places can be saved from "progress."

They definitely rent to men. I know two that lived there over the years and their apartments were amazing. Nothing like it in Houston. I also toured the ground floor retail spaces two years ago for a place to put my furniture showroom. They are quite neat as well but the apartments are unbeatable!

I live in an 1862 townhouse. I work in an old mill building from the 1840s. My dry cleaners, barber shop, favorite restaurants, and even local bodega are all in buildings that were built nearly 145-150 years ago. I belong to the local historical society and am very proud to live in a neighborhood that houses North America's largest Victorian era housing stock. Many other parts of Boston (Beacon Hill, Back Bay, North End, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Roxbury, Fenway, etc...) are also filled with old structures that have been adapted to modern life. It's part of why Boston is so great and why the demand to live here has driven prices through the roof. Unfortunately, many parts of Boston were ruined to make way for the new such as the West End for a sterile 1960s high rise development called Charles River Park, the Sculley Square (old red light district) to make way for the most horrible brutalist architecture you will find (City Hall Plaza). Funny, it's these new places that SUCK in this town whereas people are falling all over themselves to find something older. Stop being such a putz. This is an ARCHITECTURE site first and foremost. Of course, you're going to find tons of people who care about history, tradition, and design posting on these boards. While I agree with Red that this was not a fight worth fighting because of the flooding issues, I am wary of the larger message that keeps being sent to Houston developers; that we as a community don't care what they deliver to us beyond making sure there is adequate parking.

Why is it so hard to figure out that sometimes the greatest returns can be on creating something new out of something old? Now, the following might not necessarily be the MOST economically successful businesses or spaces around, but they are wildly popular and have loyal followings. They are also unique and make Houston a much better place to live, work, and play. Mark's Montrose Library/Black Lab Dharma Cafe Brasil LaCarafe Warren's Inn Treebeards Ruggles Julia's Continental Club Tacos A-GO-Go Galleries and Apartments at Isabella Courts The Rice Lancaster Hotel The old warehouse could have been turned into something really special. A farmer's market on the ground floor with real lofts upstairs. A gym. A restaurant/club. A community center. Anything. Where's the damn vision?

The development along the Main St. line has been a disappointment in Midtown. Much of this however is due to speculative flippers who have priced anyone other than national companies such as CVS out of the market. It's a shame. Again, I have to ask CVS, why there? There are hundreds of parcels of land in the midtown area that are much more suitable for a CVS style pharmacy. Why build with your back to the Main Street line? Why not find a parcel on the opposite side of Fannin or along San Jacinto or Brazos or any of the other N/S thoroughfares? It's not like this location is surrounded by a neighborhood. They will be relying solely on drive-through traffic. Again, it's a real shame that Houstonians would allow a Rhode Island based company to do as they please regardless of the larger consequences.

The CVS is taking up the full block? Jesus, what a total waste of space. The thing that really gets me is that there are CVS everywhere now. Market saturation gone wild.

The problem with the above data is that it is for evacuees that have sought governmental assistance. These are folks that have contacted local agencies for housing vouchers, job training, etc... The Houston area picked up a large number of people who just moved on their own to Houston. While many of the wealthier folks who bunkered down with relatives or just rented/purchased new property on their own have returned, many have stayed. While overall enrollment might be down in poorer school districts, they are not down at all at schools like West U, Lanier, Poe, Bellaire, etc... nor are they down at numerous private schools all over the region. Just this week, another large corporation announced that 100 more jobs are leaving Nawlins for Houston. These people count as evacuees or refugees or transplants as well. My friends who moved from New Orleans into property I owned still tell me that the majority of their friends are in Houston. While they moved back, his (my friend's) job is still in Houston. They will be forced to make a decision to have him quit his job or sell their Uptown home and move to Texas. These are the types of people that were NEVER officially counted by any government agency, but they are still in Southeast Texas to be sure.

Montrose, You are talking about a different project that was built out a few years ago (the Alexan Lofts). Alexan is just the "brand name" for Trammell Crow's higher end apartments. Thus, you'll see names like Alexan Lofts (east side of US 59) Alexan Upper Kirby Alexan Greenway Alexan Piney Point...

I think DalDoucheadise needs a flying Dutchmen wedgie. Let's get him, gang!

Barton Smith is a smart man, but he isn't the ultimate source for all information. Maybe you should think for yourself sometime too?

Where did you get the 120,000 evacuees number from? Everything I have seen has been MUCH larger than that, ranging from 250,000 to 375,000 thousand if you include folks that fled Rita. In fact, FEMA estimates that 150,000 ARE STILL here in the Houston area as of Sept. 2006.

That was for the original project; 140 for sale condos. They then changed that to TWO apartment (rental) towers to be operated by Wood Partners of Atlanta under the Alta name. There would have been 350 plus apartments. Again, the biggest disappointment is that once again, a NEW development (from the ground up for residential purposes) was cancelled. Add this to the Artalia and Shamrock, and it clearly isn't good news for the downtown market. Hopefully Finger's Park Tower will work because someone needs to be the first...

This is a bummer. This project without the residential buildings is just a larger version of Bayou Place. I wonder if the city/county will want some of the $ back? I am sure a large part of the reason for the local governments to support this project was to help jump start NEW residential building in downtown since everything so far has been conversions. I am much less inclined to want to support this project with public funding without the residential element. While still a plus overall for downtown, it's really nothing more than an entertainment zone...Seriously, compare it with the Bayou Place and surrounding environs House of Blues, Lucky Strike, medical office space, and several restaurants vs. Verizon Wireless Concert Hall, Angelika Theater, Hard Rock Cafe, Bayou Place II offices and Aquarium. None of these really create the kind of environment needed to build a residential base to downtown. It worries me that RENTAL apartments couldn't even make it out of the ground with all the subsidies thrown at the Pavilions. Of course, nobody said they wouldn't work, just that they wouldn't be as profitable. Disappointing but not surprising.

I also noticed that they just released some new listings on HAR this week that say "final week of pre-construction pricing" or something like that. I love this slim beauty. Will be fun to watch it rise!

I just got back to Boston from a double-dip trip. Caught the SMU vs Houston game at Ford Stadium where the Coog crowd was quite large and VERY loud. The SMU campus is incredibly nice but I am glad I wont have to see another Kate/Ashley Olsen look-alike wearing ug boots and carrying $6,500 Berkin (sp?) bags for quite awhile. That was just my second MLS game and I loved it. The stadium was awesome. GREAT amenities, sitelines, and booze choices! The Houston fans were out in force. We sat a section over from the official Revolution section and even there, it was 80% Orange. My two buddies I went with hate soccer. They left loving the experience. What was not to love... beautiful weather great venue beer and booze flowing loud crowd and an exciting win regardless of what Midtown claims

But, since it is Dallas, I am sure that nutsack is closely trimmed to make sure the entire Metro seems larger than it actually is...

Hmmmmm.... lightning is always possible but the number of church fires in the 4th Ward over the last few years is a bit fishy... There's already been one charge levied by the African-American congregations that they think arson by developers might be a possibility.

Original- I'll look for ya in Dallas at the SMU game. As for what to say for that Eat Em Up! Cheer... Eat Me Beat Me Raw Raw Raw!!! I'll be wearing my 1836 shirt at the game on Sunday.

I am going to Dallas to watch the UH vs. SMU game on saturday and am now staying over to catch the Dynamo the next day. From what I can tell, quite a few Houston Cougar supporters are doing the same thing. As an aside, was the UH band at the game last night? I know they've gone to a couple of Dynamo games and I could have sworn I heard a pep band playing a lot of the typical UH Spirt of Houstom Marching Band songs.

Incredible thread. Thanks for sharing these with me. I used to volunteer at the Thomas Street Clinic. That place always felt haunted! Hopefully, people will begin to realize the importance of trying to save pieces of our past. In fact, I work in an old mill building that has been turned into lofts in Boston and my new gym is located in an old railroad building very similar to the one in these pics. They can be re-adapted to today's needs with just a little bit of imagination!

Have some faith, people. This is a HUGE project right in the heart of the city. These things take TIME. This isn't like plopping down a TGI Fridays out in Katy. Last I heard, the condo towers were dead. Instead, they were going to build apartment towers and had lined up Wood Partners out of Atlanta to develop the buildings. Wood Partners is part of the team on the Mosaic project and they just recently completed a project on Almeda (rehab of a 10 story building and new buildings around it) under the name Alta Lofts. The Alta brand is what I heard was going to be rolled out for the Pavilions project. That said, the Pavilions WILL BE BUILT. They are lining up quality tenants. They have secured construction financing from a Houston bank. They have secured loans/bonds from the City of Houston and Harris County. It is not uncommon at all for a project of this magnitude to be delayed. Get a grip.

There are a lot of new homes going up just East of 288 and North of the Beltway. A buddy of mine bought a place off of Cullen down that way. His entire neighborhood is new and he is surrounded by new developments. It's odd driving down there though... you pass that huge apartment complex which appears to be sitting all by itself and then you exit at Almeda-Genoa and see a KB homes area called Skyline something or other. As you head East on A-G the area appears to be a funky rural mix. There are horses out infront of houses, signs for Asian Truck Stops coming soon, feed stores, and what appears to be a black cowboy business. You make that right on Cullen and all of a sudden, the roadway scenery turns into giant new cookie-cutter hoods.

With Chevron's purchase of the old Enron Tower taking nearly 1,100,000 square feet of vacant space off the market and Brookfield's announcement that in addition to their purchase of both Enron towers, the entire Allen Center complex, and two vacant parcels, there's further good news today. Cheniere Energy is almost doubling their downtown lease... http://www.houston.bizjournals.com/houston...23/daily33.html