Trae

So, the Ritz-Carlton is back? That's good to hear. It has such a nice design and looks tall enough to make a big impact on the Uptown skyline. And I wonder what type of movie theater they are talking about? Studio Movie Grill? That seems like a lot of condos though. I'm sure Houston can support that, as it shouldn't even be completed for four years at the earliest.

Here's an idea, rename it Highway 6.

How? Highway 6 joins 290 at that Highway 6/FM1960 and 290 intersection. Then, Highway 6 splits off from 290 just after Hempstead and goes off through College Station, etc.

That's a cool building. Good stuff for Dallas. Now people won't have to go to Fort Worth.

The key to avoiding the northbound intersection (turning east on 10) is to exit Kingsland, go through the light and turn right on E Fernhurst dr. This takes you directly to the I-10 feeder road. I'm really suprised that more people don't recognize this.

I never thought about this. Wow. I'm going to have to pass this off to my other South Katy friends. You skip the old I-10 feeder, too, which can get backed up, also.

It's not healthy to hold in your gas.

I wonder how long until 99 Southbound to I-10 Eastbound will be complete. The feeder road trying to turn left to get to I-10E can get pretty backed up. But, looks like traffic is going to get even worse at that intersection. You'll probably be seeing a lot more people going to Katy-Ft. Bend and doing a U-turn.

Yeah, a lot of people are starting to find out about the park now. I don't think it'll be too long before the park is the lead or highlight story for any one of the news stations here. We can only hope that CNN or MSNBC picks up the story and does a little report on it.

New article from the Chronicle:

A small group has since been studying and drawing plans for an upscale Disney-styled entertainment complex that would be seven times larger than Houston's original park. They want to build it on 500 wooded acres — which they own — adjacent to U.S. 59 in Montgomery County, just a short drive from the airport and downtown Houston.

But the plan is now two years behind schedule. Organizers say this is because their vision has slowly evolved from a 50-acre dinosaur park to EarthQuest — an elaborate ecofriendly entertainment zone that teaches environmental stewardship.

The $500 million project was also stalled by the sluggish economy, but now organizers are hoping to have financing by year's end and construction completed by 2013.

"In the last 60 days, things have loosened up. We're looking at five investor groups to see who's a fit," said John Marlin, a Dallas real estate investor who owns the site. "I feel the wind is at our backs."

The organizers will not disclose those investors' identities, except to say some are domestic and others are international, with some not requiring any debt service.

More: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7107178.html

Those Chronicle comments are vicious. People really don't know what the hell they are talking about.

Yeah, and DIVX planned to sell alot of movies. And Coca-Cola planned to sell a lot of New Coke. And so on and so on.

And Facebook was never going to kill MySpace. And Apple was never going to be ahead of Microsoft again. Etc.

They will be going to Disney every year if they like it better. Sure, those within a certain vicinity will tend to go to EQA, purely for logistical reasons. But I doubt if EQA can survive if they end up being a regional park. Something of this magnitude (cost) will have to bring in people from afar over the long-term. The reason that people go to both Disney and Universal is that they are close to each other. That actually is a plus for Disney (and Universal) as the more options there are, the likelier people are to travel to that region. You can hit them both on one trip.

Maybe EQA won't be any different, but that is yet to be seen. Disney is probably the greatest marketing machine anywhere. They empty your pockets and you still want to come back. They have you believing that their product is better than it probably is. We will see if EQA has the ability to do that.

It was said earlier in the thread that the developers for EQA are planning for this to be a national/international attraction and not just a regional thing (the plans prove that really). Hopefully other attractions come into that side of town and then what you said will come true. Maybe we can transport Sea World from San Antonio over here.

We will see if that is the case. I hope it works, but when the direct competition is so strong, it isn't a matter of whether or not it is appealing, it is a matter of whether or not it is as appealing as the competition and can it bring repeat business. For most families it is an either/or decision, as most will not go to both EQ and Disney (or some other park) within a certain timeframe. I have no doubt that initially it will draw people and families. The more important question is whether or not they will come back time and time again. The landscape is riddled with ventures that seemed really cool, took off, and were gone a few years later after the novelty wore off. That is why I think it is essential to appeal to families over the long-term. If people come, but don't come back, this will fail.

They won't be going to Disney every year. Plus, if someone in Oklahoma goes to Disney one year, maybe the next year's family vacation, they want to go somewhere closer to home. They can stop by EQA. When (well, if) I-69 is completed, it'll provide more access for the center third of this country, too. But, it's a theme park. I'm sure they'll add/expand on more things to keep everything fresh. I don't know why people wouldn't come back. People go back to Disney and Universal all of the time. Hell, people go back to Six Flags parks all of the time. Why would EQA be any different?

And they are making it appeal to the whole family (hence the partnership with the Houston Zoo, live animal exibits, shows, kiddie coasters, etc.), as well as adults (the eco-friendly stuff, more "extreme" roller coasters, etc.).

Well, so far, I have enjoyed the reactions of those that were interviewed on the piece. It is going to be interesting how this might be a BIT of a population shift.

One thing that I'm very curious about is how they are going to design the park, particularly if its supposed to be on both sides of 59. If it isn't planned properly, they may find themselves losing a. Sizable chunk due to land siezed to widen that thing.

Also, the taxes genereated by this are going to be a god send for New Caney.

You brought up an interesting point. Will this be in New Caney city limits, or is this Houston's ETJ? If it's Houston's ETJ, what are the chances that the city trots all the way up this way and annexes it? And by the way, the park will only be on the west side of 59. The development on the eastern side of 59 will be the hotel chains, restaurants, EarthWalk, office buildings, and the master-planned community towards the back of it all.

As far as the population shift, I can definitely see that. The NE side of the metro area will start seeing some healthy growth from this thing. The Eastex will no longer be wide open like it is now (but who expected it to stay the way it is for long?). With the Grand Parkway coming in just south of the development, and Exxon building that corporate campus near Spring, you'd probably see people who work that way live near here, also.

If you look deep into what the park will have, "Green" is only one part of it. Saving the environment, etc., is not going to run out in ten, twenty, even thirty years. I think the park's theme, and what it will have is very sustainable.

I smell a lawsuit coming. This tower really makes no sense. Seriously, who is going to buy a condo, starting from $1 million, in Downtown Dallas? This isn't Manhattan. Not even the Trump Tower Chicago starts off that high. What are presales like for the Museum Tower? Why do they feel the need to rush this tower, considering all of the other high vacancies in other condo towers in the area? Dallas continues to amaze me.

New article from the Chron. It doesn't really say anything new, but it's nice for this thing to get more publicity.

http://blogs.chron.com/houstonshiring/2010/06/earthquest_adventures_an_eco_g_1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Fhoustonshiring+%28Houston%27s+Hiring%29

The movie studio concept is included in plan C I believe. It just wouldn't be the whole building.

By the way, there is a bunch more information available on Reliant Park's website

If they can do this, then this would be really nice. I imagine a movie studios could bring in a lot of "movie" type conventions for Reliant Park. But, what will all this expansion at Reliant Park mean for the GRB? Isn't there suppose to be another convention center hotel across from the Hilton? Oh, and if we were to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, Reliant Park is looking like a great place to have the International Broadcast Center.

Edit: And I think all of that science stuff would work better with NASA/JSC. Move that stuff over there and put the movie studios in the Astrodome.

I don't really care what you all think. Nigerians are beautiful people. My family over there will give you their last dollar if you needed it, and I enjoy that half of me.

As a child? The last time I went was in 2008. Nigeria has problems (like all places), but it has gotten a lot better. It's worlds different than what it was when I first went in 1993 (from the stories I was told).

Can the Astrodome become the movie studios, but keep the other plans shown in the renderings (hotel, festival plaza, etc.)? Overall, I think that would be the best idea.

You guys act like Lagos is a warzone. Being half Nigerian (dad is from Lagos, mom is from New Orleans) I have had no problems in my times there (been four times). Going to the village (where my grandma lives) can be a problem, but only if you don't know what you're doing., or aren't familiar with the area.

Goldmine. With all the Nigerians in Houston, it's about time that this happens.

Those renderings are definitely not from before the recession. Those are just a list of "fantasy" stores. Nothing permanent.

Wall Street Journal reports today that Ft Worth-based Mallick Group bought the Astroworld site. Says they haven't decided how to develop it but noted TMC is running out of land, so "we're looking at medical and a number of things . . . offices, apartments"

TMC - South?