bachanon

Chevron Phillips Chemical Office Building At 10001 Six Pines Dr.

more howard hughes "watered down design"; they have no interest in anything appealing....just cashing in on high demand. the buildings they've thrown up (pun intended) at hughes landing are ugly. the hotel is no longer curved like the shape of the waterway and it creates a barrier between the waterway and its lower levels.....disgusting waste of what was a grand idea....utter stupidity. the folks in control of finishing out the woodlands have no desire to build on the last forty years of planning, only to cash in. blech!!!! the boats passing by will not see people dining or sitting at a cafe, they will see a wall or windows.

....yeah....not sure you'll find much about the history of grocery stores in the woodlands. what does the "post-built" woodlands mean? are you interested in the progress of development from inception to now? the most interesting thing to me about the woodlands is the planning that came before the development. the months spent walking thousands of acres to determine flood plains and the mitchell's and environmentalists planning how natural run-off to area creeks was central to determining how/where each village was placed. it was very detailed and no clear cutting (originally....now days they almost have to, to meet epa requirements/yes, the environmental protection agency makes it necessary to remove thousands of trees and makes it uneconomical to preserve existing vegetation) interfaith was a key factor in providing a sense of community. interfaith was the welcome wagon for all new residents and became a major community outreach for everything from food pantries, senior services, counseling....interfaith brought/brings people of all faiths together to support common humanitarian/community ideals. in grogan's mill, the wharf/convention center, was a lone island of development for a long time, then panther creek, cochran's crossing/indian springs, research forest, the mall/pavilion, harper's landing, alden bridge, sterling ridge, town center, the waterway, eastshore, creekside......if you look at the interactive map on the woodlands website and look at my list (maybe not exactly in order but close) you can see the development pattern. the location of retail initially was intended to be completely hidden but this made it difficult for retail to survive and prevented certain franchises from having interest in the village retail centers. inevitably, retail has creeped front and center over the years. one genius idea of the master plan was to leave the freeway frontage area undeveloped until the population of the area could support large scale retail. most developers would have cashed in on the easy frontage right away, mitchell and his crew knew that it would benefit the region and the woodlands proper to have space for large corporations, retail and hospitality closer to build out. the woodlands is more than the built environment. when someone asks about the history of the woodlands, it's easy for locals to think you might mean the actual history of the woodlands.

i'm not sure how not watching the olympics will send a message or even qualify as a protest. there are gay athletes from all over the world in sochi, some who could medal....giving a polite finger to anti-gay russia. i wouldn't want to miss that. imagine how a medal winning gay athlete in sochi who sneaks out a pride flag will encourage and give hope to those oppressed in russia. you are not supporting russia by watching, you're supporting athletes from all over the world, straight, gay, bi....whatever, who have committed a large portion of their lives to be the best of the best. i wouldn't dishonor their efforts because russia is on the wrong side of history. you defy russia by supporting the usa delegates that are there......and if you feel strongly enough, support human rights efforts in russia with feet on the ground trying to make a difference. http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/current-campaigns/pride-house-events-sochi/ http://www.lgbtnet.ru/en/content/winter-olympics-we-should-speak-not-walk-out (the russian lgbt network is pleading that people speak up, not walk out) ....that's my two-cents. do we have any athletes competing from houston?

I'm curious as to whether other HAIF members are watching the winter Olympics. I'm interested, but the first half hour tonight included commercials, commentary, the president, commercials, commentary and the obligatory positive intro on the host country, Russia. I shouldn't be surprised. I do not watch television like I used do and do not have patience for all of the filler while I wait for what I want. At this point, I think I'll just find the events and ceremonies I want to watch, when I can watch them with a little more control over the content. I plan to watch highlights of snowboarding, maybe some figure-skating and bobsled competitions. If you're a fan of the winter Olympics, what are you following? Are there any Houstonians or Texans we can root for? I haven't been paying close attention to the teams. Have you seen the stories and pictures of unfinished facilities? It looks like Russia might not have been the best choice (is Russia ever a good choice?). http://www.sochi2014.com/en

http://www.amazon.com/The-Woodlands-Inside-Creating-Hometown/dp/0874209315 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodlands,_Texas http://www.thewoodlandstx.com/history/timeline.php

.....interesting. we never lose power in the woodlands unless a major line is cut from construction (very rare) or an above-ground line is cut from outside the woodlands. in a perfect world, all of the lines should be buried. i would be unable to make money as a developer as i couldn't stomach building with power lines in front of my new construction. as a buyer, i will never buy a property with exposed electrical wires in front of my home or over my back yard. i'm surprised that people buy those townhomes.....wait, no i'm not, people will buy anything.

good stuff triton! posting on the haif facebook page.

yes. anadarko three would be across the street, between timberloch and the waterway, on the east side of woodloch forest.

......you know, the rendering for anadarko tower is not what was built. i think this may be outdated unfortunately. the perspective on what a tower will look like at that location is interesting however. dated or not, it's a good find!

the mysterious superblock east tower emerges!! as usual, great work urbanizzer! you continue to rock my world.

http://impactnews.com/houston-metro/the-woodlands/woodlands-playing-a-role-in-high-speed-rail/ this is an article from last march. i'm sure the woodlands is campaigning heavily for stop in the area.

if you look at a map of the downtown post office, the rail line connects to the line going north up the hardy toll road (and the hardy extension to downtown) and heads from downtown to the northwest corridor. it is at the intersection of rail right of way that goes "where rail needs to go". it seems like an obvious choice.

newspapers are dying

Interesting to see the increase in mid-rise/high-rise development on the east side of W. Loop 610 in the Galleria area. The Galleria's skyline grows eastward.

. ....tease

good points all. with as many different viewpoints as i'm hearing from usually dependable sources (Houston19514 being one of them) i'm very excited to see how this turns out. one way or the other, the speculation for and against is great fun.

I've heard that energy companies are promising telecommuting options to woo people averse to daily commutes. For instance 30% or 50% telecommuting for certain jobs. Remember that these companies are trying to appear green and environmental initiatives are a part of their big picture. Reducing commutes is something they strive for. I would argue that any plan would have included feasibility studies to reduce company-wide commute times.

well, except for the fact that three other people have heard rumors regarding a major energy company building at camp strake since june. also, rumored that shell bid on the camp strake property (north of 1488, south of conroe). that said, there are other properties north of 1488. but, just as springwoods development was announced prior to exxonmobil; johnson development company has announced their development plans prior to the shell information. camp strake or not, the woodlands will be "bookended" (new word) by two of the world's top oil companies. i wonder what home prices are like in the river plantation and crighton ridge subdivisions these days? it might be a good time to buy something. http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Conroe-TX-77302/91832_rid/days_sort/30.266388,-95.427568,30.241847,-95.469582_rect/14_zm/1_fr/

so, now, shell is reported to be building a campus north of 1488 but south of conroe. why am i not surprised? http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/27792-shell-to-build-in-the-woodlands/page-2#entry444427

that would be the camp strake site.........

cool. it's overdue for an update, especially with the increase of good restaurants in the area.

Most of The Woodlands' earlier neighborhoods have at least one Section 8 complex and townhomes/condos under 150K. Most of the houses that used to be in this price range are rapidly increasing in price. Much less affordability in Sterling Ridge and Creekside.

thanks for sharing this! excellent post.

Oh my.....the plot thickens.