X.R.

Krispy Kreme! Yes! Big Gulps! The best!

The Midtown/Museum District is where its at baby, we're coming up! Best surprise of the year on HAIF.

"Physician ownership/investment" opportunities means HCA isn't the sole lessor in the building because they don't offer those types of investments for physicians. So it must mean this PE/IB company has some relationships in the med community they are looking to use. Those type of guys wouldn't build a single floor unless there have been other significant commits. 

So we're at least getting the MOB's. If built nicely, those are somewhat of a game changer because now they'll occupy what are now empty lots. But what a game changer a tower with GFR would be, jeez. And I guess they are making a mini green space? Thats cool. 

What is the time frame on all of this? 10 years? Thats almost impossible to imagine with the way that area is now. I finally know how some of the older members on the forum feel!

I like the synergy of this with the montrose collective building. Both incorporating impressive, by Houston standards, amounts of green in and around the buildings. The modernity of these designs almost feel like they are somehow even more modern than the stuff going up in TMC3. 

12 minutes ago, shasta said:

We still need more walkable mixed-use elements to complement the museums, parks, and nearby residential. More restaurants and some retail would be nice  to connect the buildings along Bissonnet/Binz.

This x100. People in the neighborhood clamor for that stuff. I mean, they begged the Boone Manor people to let museum district residents pay the developer to use the apartment gym. And they begged them to let the cafe in the apartment be GFR. The need is pretty clearly there, I'm not quite sure what the hold up is.

That looks like your basic multi-family option in the Sims. 

7 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah but now downtown is saturated with food halls. Conservatory served it's purpose in opening the door to something new for Houston, and downtown in general. The good news is that it isn't closed for good. It's just moving to a neighborhood that is in need of a food hall concept. 

Agreed with this 100%. With the opening of the foodhalls, I was wondering about conservatory's viability, and talking to the pho guys they said it had slowed a little bit. This gives them a chance to breathe and serve a community in need of late night eats.

But I do hope the space is being preserved for other cool stuff.

For stuff like this, parking mins going away would primarily affect the amount of parking allocated to any retail within the building, right? 

I have two thoughts that I've been mulling:

1) Considering how long its taken 288 and 610 to finish various projects (Post Oak exit says hello), is it fair to worry about the length of time this construction will take? This is probably going to take forever and a day to do during a time period where Houston is finally experiencing the type of densifying development growth you'd expect out of a city so large. Maybe do a smaller phase to see how that goes and what disruption that brings? I have zero confidence in any timelines that have been put out.

2) But then again, I do see the benefits of giving easier access to downtown from various suburbs. I feel like TxDot's selling point to why this works, to me, is Klyde Warren Park being the game changer for Dallas. This whole project change so much of what is Houston that it almost gives one anxiety to think about a project this big. However, Klyde Warren worked because of how disconnected the area towards Elm street and the farmer's market was getting from Downtown Dallas. There was no cohesion, and the thing that burying did was bring those communities together, let people who worked in Downtown (like myself back then) let out a sigh of relief that they weren't working in this barren concrete wasteland of excessively priced food and Concrete Cowboys, and partially shift the homeless away from that part of DT to make people feel safer about living there (and people certainly started moving into those condos and apartments since then). Burying a freeway and creating a huge park did all of that for DT Dallas. But if you don't get the parks, or the capped areas aren't utilized in a non-car centric fashion, then haven't you lost a significant portion of why this is worth doing? 

Hutchin's sucks right now, in terms of safety. I definitely have used it to blow by traffic once in a while. A lot of these neighborhoods will be thanking the city/county/whoever for these bike lanes and road diets once more people have kids. No one wants to live on a 35mph street and have cars dominating it at 50mph. 

Based on @wilcal's initial post in this thread with the diagram...it almost seems like we're getting the promised bike lanes? I'm pretty astonished that Grey got built, rode on it this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised. And the nice thing is that you see everyone using it...the hip bros, the serious cycle dads, and people using it to seemingly get to work who live on or near Grey/Emancipation. If Hutchins is dedicated bike lane to Grey we might actually be getting a useable network! Now they just need to figure out how people are supposed to get to East downtown/2nd ward without having to go all the way to the Columbia Tap.

1 hour ago, iah77 said:

Most of the residences on that street are less than 4 years old and many actually replaced a warehouse  by the corner so it's funny now they are trying to block a process that allowed them to live there. Typical of people to try to exclude new people from an area they themselves just came to. 

Maybe I'm just younger, and grew up in apartments, but why do people hate high-end apartments? I could see why someone in a nice area would be upset at "affordable" housing, but the apartments in such an area would be higher end so...whats the issue? Is it just as simple as the bolded?

That looks fantastic. I'd take this every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The colors are dynamic, the stone is cool, and the greenery is well dispersed throughout the development. Love the idea of that walk-way between the buildings.

I was walking to and around Hermann Park yesterday and it reminded me of how conditioned some of those drivers are to stopping for pedestrians going to and from the park on Crawford Street. You don't get that level of conditioning even at Memorial park, but I think developments like this will go a long way to adding enough foot traffic to get people in Montrose conditioned to the fact that they need to be looking out for pedestrians. 

I do love the building the library is currently in but putting the library in here may make it easier for people with kids/groups of people to go to the library. Ate at one of places in the Collective? Mosey on over to the library to check stuff out. Right now if you eat/go anywhere in montrose you have to get into a car and hope you get decent parking. I think the accessibility goes up. 

Something is different. I think it’s 59 between midtown and Museum D. And potentially issues with the one between the montrose and Museum D.

So if showed the people who commented on the first page of this thread the pics of midtown in 2021, I would wonder if they would think its a different city.

I only say that because omgwtf is this "This building will contain retail/commercial on floors 1 and 2. Floors 2-7 will primarily consist of parking garage with an attractive screening element on the perimeter. Floors 8-12 will consist of office space. Floors 13 and above will be dedicated to residential use."

1 and 2 is retail? So either an entity that is big enough to take up 2 stories, or a bunch of stuff (either is a win). AND office space? Office space across from Whole foods is quite genius. 

3 hours ago, ekdrm2d1 said:

 

Broadway Square Apartments have been issued demolition permits.  Total of 13 buildings.

YESSSSSSSSSS. I grew up in those apartments and quite a few both north and south of that area and I gotta say...good f*ing riddance. The crime was crazy. I want all those people who have houses there to be happy, and to continue enjoying their lives, but nuking this complex and a few others in the area from orbit would change that area dramatically. If I see a Chron article about gentrification or something so reductive like that, my auto-response will be "Please submit proof that there were robberies and stolen cars and cars on cinder blocks happening daily in your apartment complex's parking lot. And then tell me how getting rid of said thing isn't good for the community" 

Can't imagine a developer would go ahead with this unless they know for certain that rail line is coming, tho (I only say that because rail lines have been promised and not delivered before). I mean, there are other relatively new-ish hotels in the area and mom and pop shops all along the street so its not like retail is lacking. I am hoping, and potentially praying, that this means the developer knows more than us about this area.

Based on the movement in the Park/Museum area, I felt like this was going to be built eventually by someone. Seemingly anything near the three big parks in the loop is going to be built because those areas, as someone pointed out in another thread, are just now correcting for the under-development that occurred over the years. People like parks.

Boomtown, to me, would be like the Ion (if it was private) or some of the Australian developer's eventual buildings (Condos/Hotel). If Houston can just make it 2021 and then TMC3 starts to get going, is it really a boom or just the new normal.

This is the surprise of the year for me. Thought "oh, gonna get some nice 10-12 story red brick apartments like the one near 45 in midtown" and then see a baby Caydon sprouting out with GFR. Ridiculous.

Who would have thought the opportunity zone designation would create this type of affordable housing/apartments? Not I! If this starts a trend of affordable development because of the long-term money designation, then I owe people apologies.

And the problem with buying the "undesirable" land is those lots most often times have immense situational value to the owners (concrete plant can't move, the junkyard land has been in the family for 40 years, etc), the land is more expensive than one would expect, or, and you see this alot with downtown/midtown lots, the land is owned by some random oil and gas or international company that is holding the land for the big, big payday. In my experience every commercial real estate developer in-town, and quite a few out of town investment funds, are just trying to buy whatever lot they can (in Midtown/Montrose/Museum/Downtown), however they can but sometimes its too expensive even for them. Can't just snap those fingers!

I would agree with thatguy about some, but most of that part of Midtown was a dumpster for a while. Like, no one lived there, and no one went there cause it was seen by most as unsafe. And this is coming from someone who grew up in various dumpster-like places like old gulfgate and soho. If we're talking about the people who live on the other side of 59, and next to that Fiesta by the barber shop, then yeah, theres people there. 

21 minutes ago, thatguysly said:

These areas were racially created decades ago in the name of white flight and suburban development.

Now that is true, or at least I agree with that. But that letter they want people to send is disingenuous, because they don't care about any of that. They just want to some concessions. Its like when the Museum Park people are smacking around apartment developers at town hall meetings to get nicer esplanades and to have more trees and free drainage fixes. Or when those Midtown residents showed up to fight the bike lanes because of their supposed right to free parking on the street but really they wanted wider sidewalks/fix drainage issues, etc. Its all the same, and I think most people find it gross. The problem is, this part of Midtown to my knowledge doesn't have an association other than the ones for the townhouses closer to DT, this aint the hood those people signing that letter normally claim. So yeah, they can't even do what the Midtown/Museum people did. I dunno, its shiesty man; I agree with you in part, but where were all these organizations when Sears closed and you would accidentally exit 59 at Fanin and be like "yooo what is the fastest way outta here." 

You guys know Burger Joint has like the tiniest parking lot ever right? With some unique angles for parking. So while they may be adults, they dont have alot of experience with parking lots lolol. I think you can poke fun at them for something fairly stupid even if you love their burgers and fries as most of us do.

Looking at this thread, it seems basically the Heights is getting a lot of Montrose transplants. Dunno if theres a better blueprint for restaurants in the city so congrats my Heights homies.

1 hour ago, Moore713 said:

There is no logical reasoning behind  opposing this. The area has largely been abandoned  for close  25 years. It not displacing  and existing residents.  To be perfectly honest most people from third ward have not considered that area part of third ward in decades. Not since the early 2000s at the latest, so even before than.  I honestly dont see how this effects third ward as a whole. 

I'm assuming they have an issue with the stuff going on in the area surrounding the Ion that is/was third ward (the terrible litigation going between Turkey Leg Hut and the Museum District people and the perceived stifling of certain business on Almeda, the expansion of townhomes into third ward, etc) and this is something they can actually effect. All the other stuff is private actors and private developers. Here its schools and some city people, and various organizations that could/would actually listen to complaints. I agree tho, this is the wrong entity to throw stones at, since I don't think a single person in Houston would  say this part of Midtown has been anything to anyone in 20+ years. 

In my line of business alot of people just want to have their voice heard at the end of the day. I get the feeling this is alot of what this is, for better or for worse. 

Yes, as of this morning, the one that caught fire was still up, but they are currently clearing all the debris from the other homes and putting them in massive trash bins.

The guys on site mentioned they are looking to start site prep work before Christmas (I don't know what that means) but that seems pretty fast considering where they are and that they are quite a few older trees on this lot that I hope they figure out a way to preserve (I never thought I would type that last part).

Sad that people can mistake this construction for various places along the Bayou because of how long this has taken.

Its kind of ruined these "hundreds of miles" of bike paths the city likes to talk about. Yesterday was a beautiful day to be on the bike, and met 6 or 7 people who were like "uhh we can't ride the Bayou because every mile or two there is more construction." The old-houston slow construction doesn't make much sense when you have 40 story multi-family going up in a year and a half. Just wish this would be finished soon so people can get the flood relief they deserve and the old bike system can go back to normal.

Also, one of the construction workers that helped with the bayou expansion by the Cistern by buffalo bayou was saying the greenery they are planting there will be more of what will be seen over here. 

On 11/21/2019 at 8:10 PM, Purdueenginerd said:

 

This comes off as a little needlessly accusatory, FYI. 

 

Anyway, to settle the population density of Houston here's an interactive map, from 2014. 

 

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=85a821d13a4f4502a85f71c4aae8bae8

 

 

Man, that map really, really hates single lot homes. I checked where my rents live, it doesn't even have a color and its inside beltway 8. I guess I never realized how inefficient those types of developments are. West U and the other more single lot home areas definitely fit the "low" category. Kinda telling that the map loves that part of Montrose and the museum district close to the park.  

If they update that map Q2 of 2020, I think Midtown and the whole of Montrose will look very different.

I am actually surprised by how good this looks vs what I thought it would look like. Put some nice frames on those windows and doors, this could be real nice. Also, very cool that the beginning of page 2 is almost a year ago and it was just the pillars sticking out of the ground. Things change fast in Houston.

1 hour ago, cspwal said:

What's strange is this building has no facade facing MacGregor - it's just a blank wall.  That's also the view for NB 288.  I wonder why they ended up deciding that

Also Metro is going to reroute the 5 bus to go to HEB https://www.ridemetro.org/MetroPDFs/News/PublicHearings/120319-Feb-Service-Changes-Public-Hearing-Flyer-en-es.pdf

https://www.ridemetro.org/MetroPDFs/News/PublicHearings/February-2020-Service-Change-Book.pdf (page 6)

 

It's going to go south on 288's feeder to go to HEB, then go back north to Southmore

I think the positioning of the building is to reinforce the fact that its a neighborhood store first. As do the entrances, since you can only get in by coming up through Macgregor towards 288, or the neighborhood street just North.

Metro better hope they finish the Southmore bridge soon. 

On 11/6/2019 at 11:45 AM, Triton said:

I think the concern is that it's government waste and it only services poor people, but I've never fully accepted that argument.

 

I live near downtown and commute all the way to Sugarland, and I would absolutely love having some sort of alternative than having to commute nearly an hour back home everyday. It's stressful and I could be doing something better with my time, like reading a book or working on my laptop on transit or something.

 

The real thing I've always found bizarre is the backlash from businesses. It's literally allowing more people to flow in front of your business. AND, it generally makes your property more attractive and an added marketing bonus if you ever decide to sell. 

 

I think the real problem is that people care more about short term solutions rather than dealing with the long term, especially for politicians who may not see the benefit during their terms.

Thats the short term. So for retail and food services, the short term sucks because of the construction (and thus all the Cease and Desist letters and injunctions and lawsuits Uptown faced when they were a year into construction) hurting flow of people to their businesses. But long term? I think we've finally turned the corner for business and light rail in the city, which bodes well for BRT. Foodhalls, sports venues, hotels, apartment, and other new builds begin their investment pitches and advertising now with proximity to light rail in Downtown. Hell, the Dynamo practically beg people to use it. Plus, businesses are on the side of removing the parking minimums in Downtown/Midtown, theres some signs of going more transit based.

I really honestly think the BRT will change the flow of people to Uptown. We thought it sucked working in Galleria area before? It'll take a few years, like the rail, but once it gets going, I think the businesses there will finally appreciate it, and we will be whining about getting stuck at the Westheimer and Post Oak light in April because theres so much foot traffic and it takes forever to take a right.

Also, the "Gold Line" is hilariously appropriate for the area.