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X.R.

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  1. X.R.
    These kind of takes are my favorite on HAIF, discussing the architecture of a park. I love the Lamp posts with the hanging lantern but the brick they are on, not so much. If we're talking taking in motifs from the surrounding homes, then yeah, alot of the houses closer to 59 have older looking brick in them. Is there such a thing as distressed looking bricks? They shoulda used that. If there really are some porch swings, that is v montrose-y based on the surrounding homes lol. And the gazebo being to the side, and not directly in the middle is a weird, but then if you think of connectivity and allowing people to stroll through the park, it makes sense. It help the gazebo be a little more private. Having the park be well lit is smart because in Montrose you have people walking around at all times of day. I really like it, seems like a lot of thought went into it and it will serve the community well. When do we get to play here? 😁
  2. X.R.
    Not to jump into something that you guys are quite knowledgeable about, but couldn't Southwest moving into Terminal A just as simple as Southwest seizing on an opportunity caused by either a United or market weakness due to COVID? I can't imagine anything happening to Hobby with that announcement, its definitely the more...cohesive of the two airports, just in terms of food/bars/entertainment and alot of that, to me, happened after Southwest basically took over the place. But of course its smaller.
  3. X.R.
    I'm torn. I agree with you in part since a row of mixed use down the Parkway, with the Whole Foods just right there, would make it a pedestrian paradise. But a part of me says that because it is such a prominent location it makes even more sense to have such a public cultural/spiritual place go into the space. The Menil/Rothko Chapel helps give Montrose a sense of permanency, and provides a v positive space for gathering and reflection for the neighborhood and Houston, that I love the thought of having that replicated.
  4. X.R.
    Smart. Newer models, per CNBC (shoutout to Tilman's data dumps on Tuesdays lol), aren't showing a decent rebounding in the hotel/travel industries until late 2021/early 2022 so if they can push it back a little so they are opening just before things are starting to look normal, or right at the start, it would make good business sense. I want this to go up as bad as anyone, and I think they will hit whatever timeline is set out because its Caydon, it just has to make sense per national market conditions.
  5. X.R.
    Not quite the signage I expected us to get from an establishment as fine as Acme Oyster, especially for their first foray into Houston, but I guess thats ok...😉
  6. X.R.
    Man, Minute Maid Fridays with the fireworks is going to be special when living over there. Didn't realize that.
  7. X.R.
    Looks like they are doing the prep work for the tower(s) which is a great step in the right direction. I know we can look at oil prices or the pandemic and ask why are these buildings going up, but if we look at perceived risk in the markets and the volatility of equities, it kind of makes sense for people to pour money into real estate in relatively hot areas (I would argue Uptown is scorching hot in terms of development). Don't trust the market to keep millions on millions invested in it for multiple years? Need a place to stash money to escape capital gains/estate tax? Hello real estate and real estate development! 😂
  8. X.R.
    I'll take it if it really comes with 5.7k of retail space. Every owner of property around that massive empty lot that has become a magnet for trash and whatever else will be doing cartwheels. If you get a mini grocer there, you'll have a walgreens, that grocer, the delicious food on almeda, two coffee shops (assuming one gets built in this place), and the food closer to the park all within like a mile and a half of walking. That would be really nice. I read through the thread, I've read the Davis critiques but...is it weird that I like how this looks? Looks...snazzy 😁
  9. X.R.
    For real, for a city where many homeowners have a typical suburban style home, you would think all the junk would fit in the garage or in the closets or something. I hope they keep that little gold top hat thing.
  10. X.R.
    I love how they spent all this money and all this time, dug something of a pond around the lowest part of 288, and after the initial rain from Beta 288 was flooded again. I don't know how many people at work and in my personal life was like "they spent how much? and took how long? and it still flooded after some rain?" It seemed like they were finally working on the portion of 288 closest to the 610 interchange this weekend since they closed all northbound lanes but one on Saturday and Sunday. It looked like they were putting up signage and working on some road elements. Given the length of time, I don't care what txdot says, as someone who was living near and around Pearland, and has family and friends in Pearland, the 288 construction ruined my pre-covid commute and many weekends. I don't want to imagine what i-45 construction would do to the city. I compare it to 1-45 cause, as stated above, this company has a financial interest in completing a widening of a relatively short stretch of highway (with some additional exits and bridges being reworked) and its taking forever and a day. Imagine gov't money not only widening by burying, lol.
  11. X.R.
    Yeah, the face of the building will have the bricks removed in sections and replace by giant windows/glass, supposed to be done by end of 2021, if the plans are still intact and proceeding as planned.
  12. X.R.
    100% agree with see this being against the original vision. The change has been much...more than I would have thought after seeing the original outline a year ago. If they basically just remove SOME of the brick from the Shops, downtown will have gotten such a facelift. And walking into the shops will no longer feel like going into a bunker.
  13. X.R.
    Yeah, agree with second point. They need the space to actually do testing. 40k sq feet of green energy startups is a coup to me cause its so far out of my expectations for startups in Houston, I almost can't believe it. We went from thought and opinion pieces in local papers and publications asking "can this even work, it should have been more organic/what about Post Oak?!?" to "we have THE established green incubator opening up a space next to the Ion." Thats an impressive jump.
  14. X.R.
    The more recent "successes" have been moreso due to the State for the areas under the highways and private entities enforcing their rights via the method outlined by @ATH. But you are right, the city does sometimes get aggressive with certain encampments through HPD and their outreach officers either citing trespassing or helping the individuals find the shelter thats right for them. Also, the more the "successes" there are the more the transient people will find their ways into unusual parts of neighborhoods that didn't typically have such people walking around. For example, some of the individuals I got to know by Wheeler/the Ion are now panhandling deep in Montrose, almost near Kirby. So its kind of a cascading issue. The city did the impossible and helped the homeless find either shelter or helped them move on from the area by the courthouse compared to what it was in 2012-2013. If they can do that, I'm sure this development will be fine when the time comes.
  15. X.R.
    Are those mockups made out of legos, reminds me of Zoolander. The pool area is exposed on one side? What are they doing, lol.
  16. X.R.
    Not only downtown is dead, but midtown/montrose/galleria bar and restaurant scenes are dead too. I mean Chris Shepard was saying he might have had to close UB Preserve if HEB didn't let them sell their meals at HEB. And Chris kinda rules Montrose. So to me, its not just a downtown thing. The biggest shift when I go around is that there are less people "out" at the bars/restaurants/stores in the core, but more people in the parks (My god, Memorial and Bayou Parks). I think I was worried about work from home too, but the more my clients get comfortable with COVID, the more and more I have seen medium sized businesses and financial places bring people back on a limited basis. Work from home makes sense for Tech and certain other businesses that have established business culture, I'm not sure if it really translates well to anyone else. Even your Exxon's/Shell's/Chevron's who have huge HQ teams involving sectors that could easily be remote (HR/IT/Upper Management/Project Engineers) have been working towards bringing everyone back eventually. We'll see. Most of my restaurant clients, if they made it this far, are OK. Alot of these closings are places that were on the fence before, like Im surprised Saint/Springbok didn't close earlier.
  17. X.R.
    Given the fact that its related to teaching adults looking for tech jobs, and that the article also mentions that Microsoft is separately sponsoring Yates High and Edison middle school for STEM instruction, I think this is probably related to Microsoft and Houston's "Internet of Things" partnership. Would be very cool, and kind of forward thinking of CoH and Turner since the partnership was established in 2018, if they could use the Ion to push Microsoft to sponsor ($$$) more things at the Ion for adults, young adults and teens to create homegrown tech sector. Talking to people with CoH, I don't know if anyone knew what the Internet of Things was going to do outside of some HISD stuff, but maybe the Ion provides them a more solid path forward. I know NYC's and DC's apple stores have a ton of programming for kids and teens to learn video/picture editing, rudimentary logic based programming, math, etc which Houston's flagship store only sometimes does. If they could get that kind of programming going on, with big name sponsorship, I think thing it will have a big impact not only on the surrounding area but for people in the city generally.
  18. X.R.

    Montrose TIRZ

    X.R. replied to trymahjong's topic in Montrose

    Well, it seems like the article has been written about this and it contains some interesting soundbites: https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/development/2020/08/18/after-legal-resolution-montrose-management-district-takes-steps-toward-comeback/ Oh? It sounds like they may be able to help with those questions in the other thread about the Montrose pedestrian study and implementation of the study and the suggested bike/walking improvements. "Madden’s letter stated that upon reinstatement, the district will better leverage the economic growth in the neighborhood from upcoming developments that are outpacing city-led improvements to the area’s infrastructure hampered by Houston’s budgetary constraints."
  19. X.R.
    You were right about the demo and rebuilding. I wonder if they saw the success of city centre/baybrook mall and thought that might be a demand for it especially now with Covid. I have multiple friends with kids who make the trek to city centre just to have them play in that outdoor space while they walk around.
  20. X.R.
    One of the lead engineers tweeted this: If Rodney Ellis is involved with the project, based on what him and his team and COH have been able to accomplish in 3rd Ward/Downtown/Midtown/East End/the Bayous, I would bet a lot of money that parts of this project will not only have legs, but a decent timetable for certain walking and biking components. You can now get from one side of downtown to the other, both north and south and east and west on protected lanes, which was a pipe-dream not too long ago. Adding on street bike lanes to Waugh and Hawthorne and expanded sidewalks around those areas? Seems easier by comparison, especially with community buy in.
  21. X.R.
    I was listening to the memorial park people talk on some interview and it seems like the design is more worried about sustaining the weight of the land mass since they are using soil from the park and growing trees on top of it. A comment on the post said something like "this isn't just a rooftop garden" lol. So it seems like they need incredible support, aka all that concrete looking like drain culverts, to ensure the soil stays in place and the trees can grow. The new expansion is more than I could have imagined, the land bridge is some visionary type stuff that as a person born and raise in houston I could only dream of. Looking at those photos, it looks like the Arboretum in some places. So do you just park on the south side of the park and walk over there?
  22. X.R.
    As long as Half-Price books stays in the area, I don't care what they build there. Unless its a cookie-cutter apt like the Montrose at Buffalo Bayou *shudders*.
  23. X.R.
    I very honestly would add the areas around the current rail lines to those two streets. Midtown, just by the buildings that are already there, give a glimpse of what the rail corridors could end up looking like, specifically that area by the Continental Club and a few streets north. All that land around Wheeler (that Rice/Mann don't already own) and south of it, the land south of TMC going to NRG, and the area going southeast of the soccer stadium can finally have development that makes sense and not just random smatterings of...whatever.
  24. X.R.
    Big win. Emailed the council members after meeting, I'm hoping they received enough support post meeting for them to feel comfortable with their votes. Mayor Turner being such a stalwart in defense of the ordinance probably had a huge impact.
  25. X.R.
    While they say its because people are getting sick, and I don't doubt they are and that is terrible (and raises a separate discussion if construction should have been allowed during COVID), the real reason is probably the above: that they "overestimated" demand and because of COVID/stay at home work/layoffs the economics of the project is thrown into whack. So now they might want to slow play it and potentially dial back some because the estimated tolls is lower. I think the damning thing is that "even if congestion increases slightly," because of all the work they've done on the free lanes, traffic will be smooth and they'll have a tollway that is used at a lower rate than their estimation, probably much lower. What a great article, some good insight into how traffic is affecting tollways.
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