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X.R.

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Everything posted by X.R.

  1. X.R.
    Now that @Houston19514 mentioned congestion pricing, I am sorta sad that so much of 288 is going to involve a toll. If we're being honest, the 288 expansion was needed (it was a parking lot going from the Land of Pears to...anywhere in the city using 288). It is truly congestion traffic, as opposed to shitty freeway design. Its kind of shitty to those people since house prices aren't really crazy in new Pearland (can still get a house for 200k or so, but only with a decent downpayment) so I dunno if paying 3 dollars every day (going and coming) is going to make those people very happy. Plus you got sunnyside and orem and stella link over there, and those lower income peeps use 288 too. Living in the land of pears/sunnyside and workin in Med Center/downtown is going to be a good more expensive. I say all that just to mention that we're about to have a massive highway improvement project finish up by end of the year (and dont forget the beltway 8 expansion in that area too). There is a loooot of land just south of 610 and north of the belt in that area, so we can see if all that finally gets infilled or not with this massive expansion down south. Potentially a perfect test case.
  2. X.R.
    Treated as a transit corridor? That sounds unusual, no? I don't imagine there will be anyone there to fight the variance request 😂. They blow out holes in the Ion building and now needing the variance for the lot, do we know the timeline for this entire thing? I thought it was like 2021 or something. I would imagine building a garage wouldn't take very long, and the retail, depending on what it is, would benefit those apartments that are next door to that lot.
  3. X.R.
    Yeah, mid 2000s to early 2010s had downtown filled with TSU students and the random people seeking a good time that wasn't oriented with Washington or Midtown. Now its much more stable, with an established sense of who they are, unlike (I would argue) Midtown/Washington. Main/Market Square park has even attracted Tipping Point to re-open their sneakerhead/limited retail shop up over there. Its becoming, against all odds (if you remember going to Franks at 2am for pizza in 2011 and the absolute desolation all around their parking lot...whew), an established area where 21+ can go to have a chill night, a crazy night, and anything in between. Which is to me a hallmark of a good nightlife district.
  4. X.R.
    When you don't have something, and are stuck in 80s style infrastructure, and get thrown into the future, it can be jarring at first 😂. They just need to throw the signage up on there to educate people. That cyclist sounded pretty happy though, and then was like "nah, cars don't know what to do." haha
  5. X.R.
    I believe he or she is referring to the perceived sporadic and stagnant development that goes on between the 610 loop and Beltway 8. Or in this case, the area between 610 and Sugarland.
  6. X.R.
    Is it just me or is this flying? Also, its a great sign for this development that in Q3 2019 you have tenants already lining up for a Q2 2020 move when the projected office space hasn't really gotten off the first floor yet, so to speak. Its going to be added pressure to deliver on time. This could also speak to a market that is ready for a development of this sort, since nothing like this is really out there in that area.
  7. X.R.
    It seems that whole section, with the windows to the right in that photo, are coming out. They are currently using a jackhammer attached to a short crane to knock out that portion of the building. I think that all of this will be those massive windows we saw in the rendering? If so, they weren't playing around with that render. You can also see people working on the wiring on the second floor through huge holes in the building, lol. It looks funny.
  8. X.R.
    Seems like Gray street is coming along pretty well!
  9. X.R.
    So I guess those tarps are protecting the insides as they knock out the brick. Crazy.
  10. X.R.
    That ENR article that was linked to said groundbreaking starting in 2020 and ending in 2022. That would be...shocking. But I can see why they would want it done fast. Seems to be a trend we're seeing in the City, which is bigger pockets leading to construction projects with seemingly expedited construction, like Caydon, this, ION, and Hines' projects.
  11. X.R.
    I just noticed this thread was began in...2012. Wtf. Any solid idea of when this would be completed? Seems to be end of 2019. I had to dig through this thread to find this chronicle article where they explained their reasoning https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Houston-developer-starts-long-awaited-Midtown-13038743.php: The Houston-based apartment development and management company broke ground on one of two blocks it acquired in October 2013 just south of the Pierce Elevated at Austin. It initially planned to start the development in October 2016. “We put it on hold because of the soft economy of Houston then, and also there was a lot of supply of apartments,” said Frederic Gautier-Winther, head of Winther Investment. “A year and 9 months later, we feel like the economy of Houston is stronger than what we thought and also there’s been a good absorption of apartments.” That confession at the end makes them sound...dumb. "Our analysts were pretty wrong, and you know, like, we thought we might have to make this a parking lot...but we fired those guys and the new analysts were like yo Camden and Pearl have been building and building so...wtf were y'all doing?" But on the topic of its prettiness: "Rents will start around $1,300, Gautier-Winther said. Units will average 830 square feet with mostly one-bedroom plans. There will be a few three-bedroom units and efficiencies, in addition to two-bedroom plans designed for professionals." For 1300 a month, I think its a pretty great looking building. The brick kind of matches some of the older townhouses in the area. Yeah the look is dated, but the top cap thing makes it look like it belongs to an older dorm you'd see at Rice or SMU (which can be both good or bad, depending if you like that stuff).
  12. X.R.
    Per the update on August 26th, 2019, we got a solid timeline and update: Project Updates Pavement markings and striping are in progress on Gray Street. Full signal installation expected to be complete by Spring 2020. Seems this will completed before Austin, but a bit later than the initial update indicated. I'm sure its cause they need to get the new lights for the stoplights as @wilcal mentioned. I also get the feeling Polk may be effecting these buildout timeline, in-so-much that I'm sure they are trying to slot Polk's timelines in somewhere and now they have which resulted in the more realistic timeframes. The only thing I can find about Polk is this: https://bikehouston.org/2019/03/04/28-miles-complete-will-we-meet-the-build-50-challenge/
  13. X.R.
    If anyone cares, if you click the link, this full build out has been postponed from Spring 2020 to Summer 2020. Seems like they are taking a realist approach to these dates and buildouts, and the updated timelines are refreshing transparencies.
  14. X.R.
    I don't know if anyone rolls through this area often, but the homeless in the area have been completely changed since a year ago, starting with the breaking up of the camp. That left many of those individuals loitering in the area up until maybe a month and half ago, when I really noticed that some of the homeless that I had gotten to know (yes I'm that guy, I'm sorry) no longer aggressively asked for money from cars when I was at the lights. Some of them seemed to have moved on because I don't see them in the mornings or nights anymore. I think something has already changed either in the way the police have been handling them (they are out there kind of frequently) or because of pressure from Rice/the neighborhood associations. My neighborhood associated did mention that they have been working with area shelters/police officers to help the population shift from that spot under 59 by Fiesta. I second that notion about the drug dealers though, I always feel bad when I see the older G's out there with the backpacks counting money with the zombie'd out people sitting next to him. Or im completely wrong and its just too hot so they aint wanting to come outside.
  15. X.R.
    Seriously, thanks @Skyboxdweller for sharing. Its always cool to hear people's perspectives. I guess I never realized its really the amenities that sell the property.
  16. X.R.
    Yeah, I mean they talked about it at the meetings and they were pretty positive, I think they were just really "What is the City going to do for us if we allow this to happen?" And now the City is fixing sidewalks and stuff, and its just a sharrow. Cake and eat it., too If that makes you sad, then the fact that they are in advance stages of putting together a parking ordinance for the entire Museum District is going to make you even sadder. 3 passes for each residential, and like 1-2 passes for mutli-family (which the City put in and supposedly the association is super pissed about, dunno if its gonna fly with them in its current state). I went yesterday to the city meeting about it and told em its dumb and my fellow MPNA people looked at me like I was nuts. Its crazy, I feel like this is just to get back at the Turkey Leg Hut people. That tension is really uncomfortable, for pretty obvious reasons. http://houstontx.gov/parking/museum-park.html
  17. X.R.
    Holy crap, are they already on floors 6/7? The speed they are working at is pretty unusual, no?
  18. X.R.
    I watched that video and it mentioned "mixed-use" so I think its apartments + ground floor retail. Went back in the thread and their most recent piece of design mentioned something like 5k+ sq. ft or so of retail. Also, project end date was 5/2020, right? Midtown next summer is going to be crazy. This finally open, caydon in full swing, Pearl leased up, and the whole foods is open.
  19. X.R.
    I scanned the first 10 or so pages of the executive study and it starts off with a doozy of an assumption: "A second dimension of this study is to address connectivity between transit modes within the urban core which will be essential for commuter rail to be fully successful. A given factor that has been assumed is the completion of the urban light rail transit (LRT) system (part of the METRO Solutions Plan, Phase II), which will tie together the major urban districts within the urban core." Which it must make because parts of the study reads like "If we get you from the 290 corridor into Urban Core Houston, there will satisfactory LRT/BRT to get you from Downtown to Uptown/University." 2008 was a wild time. And before anyone gets upset about me teasing that quote, here is a link that details what the 2003 referendum should have brought us, and we didn't get most of Phase II: https://www.texite.org/wp-content/uploads/meeting-presentations/S104A4.pdf "Phase II: 39.7 Miles of Light Rail – North Corridor 5.4 Miles from UH Downtown to Northline Mall – Southeast Corridor 9.9 from Downtown to Gulfgate Area – East End 6 Miles from Downtown to Griggs Road of South – Westpark 6.6 from Wheeler Station to Hillcroft Transit Center – Uptown 4.4 miles from Westpark to NW Transit Center – Inner Katy 7.4 miles from Downtown to NW Transit Center" @Toopicky Yeah I brought up DART (and so does the H-GAC Study) because some posters mentioned commuter rail, which they have. Downtown to Woodlands is about 30 miles, the D to Ft Worth is 32 miles and its a rail line. Downtown to Sugarland town center is 20 miles, the D to Garland is 20 miles of rail. We MIGHT get Hobby (crosses fingers) they have one going to their international airport already. I didn't mean to offend anyone, only wanted to point out that there is a blueprint already in the works in Texas and we're over here thirsty about extending rail 2-3 miles so it goes down Washington. Its so sad its funny.
  20. X.R.
    Don't know if this was posted, but the timeline has been updated on the website for the bike lane on Austin. I can attest to them making good progress on La branch already, a number of updated sidewalk improvements have already taken place. The city seems to be making little improvements on multiple bike plans at once (which is great): http://houstonbikeplan.org/implementation/infrastructure/austin-corridor/ The La Branch Street segment of the corridor is currently under construction. Anticipated completion date of this section is November 2019. Austin Street two-way cycletrack is estimated to go into construction by October, will full build-out by Spring 2020.
  21. X.R.
    As a Houstonian who lived there up until a few years ago, and who has only ever known buses and the red-line, this is pretty astounding: https://www.dart.org/maps/pdfmaps/DARTRailSystemMap12aug19.pdf I guess there are spaces in the map, but I mean, its pretty dope. I don't know where else I would have wanted to go when I lived there that I couldn't take the train to.
  22. X.R.
    I too wish that Metro would be like Dart, which services the entire DFW metro area. If we had the Dart-type train service that they have that goes between FT Worth and Dallas, this thread wouldn't exist and I don't think anyone would complain about Metro. But Dart also operates on a sales tax that all the member cities pay into, which I think would be a problem for some of those areas (and maybe for some of the posters here). To me, the ideal situation is a Dart-like system, but changing people's minds as to what this city can be is happening kind of slowly in Houston. Also, people move to the Woodlands, to Sugarland, to Fulshear, to 290 and 99, etc for specific reasons. Schools are nice and maybe work. But there are other reasons too. If you asked people in charge of these areas, those elected by the people, "Do you want people, potentially from downtown, or maybe Hobby, (if the rail line makes it there) to have easy access to your neighborhood?" I think the resounding answer would be "No." So there's that. NextDoor would be full of meltdowns, everday all day. I would love to have a vote for the surrounding areas to either join Metro, or create a service that supplements it, or even replace it. I think at this point you can get Pearland/Mo City to join, since, as it was described to me by a nurse last friday, no one wants to pay a car note a month to ride a bus that goes up 288 (speaking about the new charter bus Pearland just started). The others are toss ups.
  23. X.R.
    Welllll, I guess Gray is the first one up of the remaining Houston Bike Plan projects.. http://houstonbikeplan.org/implementation/infrastructure/gray-street/ The protected lane looks great, it gives me hope. Imagine Houston has an actual bike network by the end of the year where with lights signals and stuff. BCycle better be ready.
  24. X.R.
    Looks pretty modern, to be honest, which fits with connecting Tanglewood to the Uptown area. I kinda love the wrap around drive way, with the extensive landscaping. Kinda gives it an older money feel. Just an observation: Everytime I read the interviews for condo developments in Houston, this included, its always "empty nesters" or "lock and leave" or "downsizing" (in the context of older people). I guess thats the market for 300k+ Condos in Houston, but damn, how many older people are going to move back into the city. Who knew Houston has this seemingly large cache of 45+ year olds making great money just chilling 15+ miles out of the downtown. I wish I could ask these developers "well what should the 30 year olds be buying." I'm sure they'd say they are just renting. The people of Tanglewood should be happy all this earning power is moving in, think of all the new development it will draw in. 😙
  25. X.R.
    The building's parking lot is now full of worker's trucks, I'm assuming they are going to town on the inside of the building while the heat has been causing hallucinations in people who dare to go outside at 1 pm. A lane of wheeler has been closed the last few days early in the morning as they move stuff into the building. Makes you kind of wonder how much work they actually have to do on the outside.
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