thedistrict84

22 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

I don't know whether the Tower Theater was built with air conditioning but it seems very possible that it was. From the KHOU-11 website:

"It wasn't until the 1920s that HOU got A/C as we know it. The first room: the cafeteria at the Rice Hotel, which got air conditioning in 1922. A year later, there was another milestone reached at Second National Bank.

“Most people today will know it as the newly renovated JW Marriott that opened recently,” says Scovil. “That was the first air-conditioned building in Houston.”

Movie theater, such as the Texan and Majestic, were quick to catch on too in 1926."

If theaters already had air conditioning ten years earlier, it seems unlikely that a "modern" 1936 theater would lack it.

I had no idea that air conditioning dated back to the 1920s. I honestly thought it was introduced sometime in the 1940s or early 1950s. 

I drove by this project on Emancipation for the first time in a few weeks and I have to say. . . the window, door, and brick color combination is giving off a "middle school in some random suburban town constructed in 1995" vibe. I'm not a fan. 

The 800 Middle St. project is such an ill-conceived project for multiple reasons. Thanks for the heads-up, I just emailed Councilwoman Cisneros urging her to oppose this project--although from her quote in the article in support of affordable housing, it sounds as though her mind is made up already.  

12 minutes ago, hindesky said:

No, I'm talking about that brick high rise in the background, seems like it might be where the current AT&T building is on Richmond and Graustark but it doesn't seem high enough for that to be it.

I think we are talking about the same thing. It is way too narrow to be another building even a few blocks away. I believe it is some sort of mechanical system or ventilation apparatus for the building, I'm just not sure what. With the current iteration of the building, there are rooftop A/C units on the "pedestal" exactly where this structure appears to be. 

ETA: It could be a ventilation shaft, since vehicles were presumably moved around in at least part of the building. 

19 hours ago, hindesky said:

First one shows Jack Roach in 1936 at the current "Adam & Eve", I believe Jack Roach was a car dealership. Does anyone know what that high rise in the background was?

Are you talking about the structure to the left of the photo, behind the Jack Roach Ford sign? If so, I do not think that that is a separate building, but rather part of the roof of the same building. If you go to the current street view from Yoakum, you can see the same basic pedestal there. Not sure what was on top of that pedestal though, as the date of the photo clearly predates A/C or any other similar ventilation systems.  

On 4/11/2021 at 2:58 PM, hindesky said:

I agree Mr. Graffiti Artist, this is a very stout development for the area. 

20 hours ago, hindesky said:

I talked to a couple that were walking their dog and live on Commerce St. They want the tracks removed because every time a truck rides over the tracks it rattles the truck and creates a very aggravating noise.

Commerce is just a bad street all around. The tracks running down the middle have created a lot of potholes through washout, and the City has only patched some of it. Oddly enough, the street is so wide that you also have a lot of people speeding at 45+ MPH down it, especially between Palmer and St. Charles. It's a bad combination. 

I drive down it every day and definitely get some Mad Max vibes. They cannot redo Commerce fast enough.

18 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

The trains have been blaring all night long for decades. At least that's what long time residences say when people complain on NextDoor.

Living in the area, I also routinely see those comments on NextDoor. Long-term residents essentially bragging about being able to tolerate high-decibel train horns like it’s some sort of badge of honor—unlike all of the new residents, apparently—is the strangest thing.

12 hours ago, hindesky said:

One of the guys said his ultimate goal would be to get it running and taking to Commerce St tracks into downtown, I'm pretty sure he was joking. He said he grew up in the Heights but now lives in Goliad.

He was totally joking. They’ve paved over portions of the Commerce St. tracks in multiple places, so it wouldn’t even be possible at this point.

On the new East End Bike Plan, the Commerce stretch seems to be a target for development. I’m holding out hope that they pull out the railroad tracks and repave the entire street, adding high-comfort bike lanes.

On 4/1/2021 at 8:10 AM, wilcal said:

They know that riding on Commerce sucks, but might take some major construction with rail line still set in the middle of the street. 

As someone who lives on Commerce St., a substantial reworking and repaving of Commerce with dedicated bike lanes added to connect the Harrisburg Rail Trail and Buffalo Bayou trails in downtown is definitely optimal.

1 hour ago, phillip_white said:

Not sure if this is new "roiling" or a known development (also technically EaDo), but I'm adding it here:

Sunrise Lofts - 89 Units with 81 designated as Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief

https://csd.harriscountytx.gov/Documents/Table of Selected CDBG-DR Affordable Rental Projects 051920 - website.pdf

Recent (3/22/21) plan review permit states 64,086 sq ft apts with amenities. Currently an empty lot.

$22 million seems like a lot for 89 units. But, the scale is reasonable, and this development wouldn't be immediately near another mixed-income development (closest would be the 55+ project going up at Scott and Clay).

That being said, I'm surprised that there have not been more market rate offerings announced in the immediate area, especially since HHA purchased The Circuit by BBVA and is transitioning 51% of the units to affordable (at 60% AMI if I recall). 

That looks to be the right project, I noticed Freund St. on the renders as well. Good find.

From what I recall, Padua is the developer that owns a lot of land in the area and has been very vocally against HHA’s proposed EaDo 800 project nearby. A few of the townhomes represented in the last two photos have already been built, and there are more slated to be constructed along N. Live Oak, by the silos.

On 3/24/2021 at 1:42 AM, Urbannizer said:

New design?

https://www.levyarchitects.com/houston-mixed-use

 

I bet the person who rode the motorcycle there is regretting their choice.

Seriously though, why put together a render that shows the property in a steady downpour? Are they trying to obfuscate some of the design details? I don't get it.  

19 hours ago, 77011transplant said:

I, for one, am hyped for this project. Especially if it means they'll clean up the overpass on Lockwood and clear the sidewalks that connect to the trail. 

I’m also looking forward to this stretch of trail being reworked and transformed. It also seems to have a good mix of housing, which should be the goal for most new developments.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/03/23/electronic-scooters-could-soon-be-banned-from-houston-sidewalks/

Article regarding proposed amendments to City ordinances targeting scooters. Article hints at but doesn’t really explicitly say that the proposed amendments are intended to treat scooters the same as bicycles—especially Chapter 45, which already bans bicycle use on sidewalks in “business districts” (i.e., practically all of downtown, Midtown, and most major streets through Montrose, The Heights, the East End, etc.).

3 hours ago, Highrise Tower said:

This is a few blocks away from the other development by the same name, which seems odd. Also no "Phase I" or "Phase II" designation, which probably wouldn't make sense anyway given that the lots are not contiguous. 

I will note that they were doing soil sampling at the 415 N Charles address a month or so ago, so something large is definitely planned to go there. Apartments above a parking structure makes perfect sense, given how low that lot lies. 

On 3/21/2021 at 11:54 AM, ATH said:

That is correct, bobruss.  It is the Peden Building.

As someone who formerly lived on Peden St. in Montrose, this topic having the name misspelled is making me irrationally anxious. 

@ljchouasked an important question in another topic, and I figured it best to rehash it here to see if anyone knows: what is the latest on HHA's so-called "EADO" 800 development at 800 Middle St? I know there was a notice and comment period regarding an environmental impact study by the City of Houston which ended in October, but I haven't heard anything since.

I did hear that the contract to purchase the site for the Ojala development was tabled during the last HHA meeting in late February, after a large number of people commented in opposition during that meeting. I guess that is a win at this point. 

For the record, I do not oppose affordable housing developments and welcome the ones that are here. The problem is the volume of such developments already in the East End, and the very real concern that development of these projects is outpacing market-rate developments in the area. I've been cautiously optimistic about recent efforts to spread these developments out in other neighborhoods, and hopefully that trend continues. 

4 hours ago, ljchou said:

What happened to the 800 Middle Street affordable housing development plans?

I believe there is an ongoing TCEQ investigation into one of the tracts that make up the larger property relating to contamination.

There was also a notice and comment period with the City of Houston regarding environmental and infrastructure impact, which ended in October. I had submitted comments at that time, given the scale of the property and the inherent issues with access and overwhelming traffic given the narrow ROW of neighborhood streets nearby.

I have not heard anything since. 

32 minutes ago, burt said:

FWIW, I believe these are going to be condos instead of traditional MF. 

Heck, that’s even better. Now when somebody talks about “all of those condos in the East End” in an attempt to denigrate townhomes, at least they won’t be completely wrong.

Guess the apartments are back on, good news for the area. We definitely need some more market-rate apartments in the area.

The unit count seems a bit small, so I’m assuming these will be larger units?

Good to know the time table on this, we need more of these predominately market-rate housing and premium office and retail developments to come online in this area soon, to help offset all of the affordable housing planned. 

It is nice to see a developer in tune with the history of the area and going out of their way to emphasize not only reuse of existing buildings but using materials that are consistent with existing building styles.

On 3/17/2021 at 1:21 PM, ljchou said:

Assuming this will be an affordable housing complex managed by Eureka and Financed by HHFC.

I retract my previous statement. Ugh.

On 3/12/2021 at 6:29 AM, cityliving said:

I took this photograph from the 29th-floor balcony of the Driscoll River Oaks.

Man, I was way off. 

It does seem like this is something that can be put together very quickly, given the limited construction needed and the inherent small scale of a par 3 course. 

I guess I need to hit the range, since I haven't swung a club in over a year. . .