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bachanon

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Everything posted by bachanon

  1. bachanon
    unfortunately, hines has no obligation to make a contribution to the synergistic urban fabric of downtown houston. the bottom line is.....well, the bottom line. it is the suck, but it is true.
  2. bachanon

    hello gorgeous! (looking outside...opening windows)

  3. bachanon
    agreed, but i'm not sure it's so much a pity party for the thread as a misconception that inactivity for a thread doesn't necessarily mean the thread isn't being watched or read. .....and as i said earlier in the thread....it's great weather lately....not too many of us spending too much time in front of a pc.
  4. bachanon
    good see montrose1100 checkin' in every now then! seems like we've known you forever! it seems their is plenty of positive expectation for new projects right now. i hope it continues. by observing haif these last few years, we can be sure that expectation and the patience that reality requires will continue to bring frustration (and joy) for many of us.
  5. bachanon
    ....ummm, have you been outside lately? i can't find anyone i do not already have plans with, cuz everybody is OUT and ABOUT! ......and it's only 20 stories. if it were 40 or so, we'd be tearing up the phones checkin' in.
  6. bachanon
    springwoods is underway..........other studies are underway for the exxon site connected to springwoods. i do not think the tree removal is for the exxon site specifically.
  7. bachanon
    2 waterway is next door to 4 waterway and at the corner of woodloch forest and lake robbins. i think it is planned to be under 10 stories. it will have retail at street level.
  8. bachanon
    so the ballet owned the other half of the block, sold it with the expectation of parking via a condo developer. condo developer out, now atlanta based bank owns what is now surface parking. i wonder what will become of the lot.
  9. bachanon
    as i've said before, i'd much rather live in the loop, especially now that the kiddo is gone. i would have to give up a lot of house in exchange for culture and diversity........and, the older i get, it doesn't seem like too bad of a trade off. where would you say the leading edge of affluence is going to be? further out, more difficult to commute? more centralized, in and around the loop, industrial areas becoming residential?
  10. bachanon
    when the township was the town center improvement district, there was a study they were required to do that compared home values in close proximity to "tcid" as compared to homes 5, 10, 15 miles away. comparable home values within one mile of tcid showed to be about 20% higher than their counterparts elsewhere. the study was either titled "town center effect" or used the term in the report. it was on the old website. i do not know if they are required to do this study anymore and i have not been able to locate a current version on any of the websites. perhaps the data is no longer valid; however, my home value has appreciated 30% or more in less than ten years, unlike similar homes three miles away. i'm less than a mile from the woodlands pavilion. i think the "town center effect" is valid for homes close enough to walk to the amenities in town center and under 300K, especially when owning in town center costs considerably more. regardless, the woodlands in and around town center will not suffer the same "lifecycle" of "past" master planned communities, imo. exxon announcement coming this month......
  11. bachanon
    .............announcement this month
  12. bachanon
    interesting. are you arguing that the woodlands as an investment is already in decline.....on the downward slope of a master planned community's life cycle? my consideration regarding the topic is longevity (stability) rather than an ever increasing home investment. i do not see the woodlands, perhaps just the eastern side, diminishing any time soon. do you? as to whether or not home values will more likely increase or decrease (in the long term), who can say.
  13. bachanon
    my frail attempt to stay on topic made the easy "comparisons" to sharpstown and greenspoint. my bad. i agree that the mass produced new neighborhoods in creekside and sterling ridge, clear cut!!, and crammed together........miles away from activity centers could be the areas that suffer most as the woodlands brand wanes...in the future....at some point, perhaps. regardless of the potential increases in taxes, the economic "town center effect" (that would be "the woodlands town center" specifically) will certainly prolong the lifespan of the eastern half of the woodlands......don't you think? if exxon's move doesn't bring thousands of home buyers as many people are hoping, doesn't the area appear to have staying power, regardless? when commercial leasing agents are landing retail tenants who do not expect to profit, but want to have their name represented in the woodlands, doesn't that represent more staying power as a "suburb" than a tiny area like garden oaks? houses on north timber top that were 159K, on the golf course, have been gutted and renovated and are now on the market for 259K (in the last two or three years) does not speak of decline. (given that this is one lucky street that is not repeating elsewhere, at least that i'm aware of.) the life cycle of master planned communities today, especially the woodlands, cannot be compared to the life cycle of other master planned communities in the past or each other for that matter. as you've said, "There are too many factors subtly at play.".
  14. bachanon
    didn't say exxon would stave off decline in the woodlands. i said "once cheaper homes are not available near the freeway, the homes under $100,000 in or near the woodlands town center/exxon campus will benefit.". the spring school district is irrelevant to the discussion. how many exxon employees are from fairfax? how many of these employees "already live in north houston"? "Movement is also stirring in Virginia, where some 7,000 former Mobil Corp. employees in Fairfax could be part of the local consolidation.Mobil moved corporate headquarters from New York to the Fairfax campus in 1987, prior to merging with Exxon. According to the Washington Business Journal, Exxon employees in Virginia reportedly told real estate sources there that the company has been moving senior-level employees from the 130-acre Fairfax campus to Texas." - exxon story link more pertinent to this discussion would be how the woodlands is like sharpstown or greenspoint. can you contrast/compare the woodlands, cinco ranch, sugarland to other outgrowths of development which have suffered decline? were greenspoint or sharpstown ever the home of the houston symphony? did greenspoint or sharpstown have one of the world's most successful outdoor entertainment venues (5th out of 100....in the world)? did greenspoint or sharpstown ever garner international attention or united nations awards? did greenspoint or sharpstown become cities? recognized private schools? continued growth for 37 years? continued investment in infrastructure and civic organizations? take what you want out of context and poo poo on disnified suburbia if you will, this ain't no sharpstown, or even sugarland. just for the sake of argument, what time frame would you naysayers give the woodlands before it's demise? ten years after build out? 2022? 2032? should i start looking at land in madisonville already?
  15. bachanon
    the complete renovations i'm referring to are occurring in neighborhoods along north millbend; south millbend, not so much. proximity to town center is a key factor. the fact that lower priced homes exist in grogan's mill does not prove anything. timber lakes/timber ridge is irrelevant to the discussion; however, the north/south corridor connecting the woodlands to the exxon campus will intersect sawdust a mile or less from the entrance to timber lakes/timber ridge. once cheaper homes are not available near the freeway, the homes under $100,000 in or near the woodlands town center/exxon campus will benefit. how does anyone know for sure the associations will disappear? aren't there strict home owner's association in the houston city limits? not sure how the tax and public safety costs are relative to the impending decline of the woodlands. it seems that the woodlands is still a new kid on the block (after 37 years) topping statewide sales records even during the economic downturn. at some point, the woodlands has to be discussed outside typical comparisons of bedroom communities. like the woodlands or not, decline is not in its near future. like an earlier post suggested, perhaps we've learned something since the sharpstown version of suburbia. i think people (some of them) and developers (some of them) are beginning to see the benefits of live/work/play and are demanding/incorporating these ideals into new communities in order to sustain them.
  16. bachanon
    i think this is true. grogan's mill is the oldest neighborhood in the woodlands and homes are being completely renovated. houses in the woodlands in disrepair are targeted by the residential design committee and forced to upgrade; there is even a fund for homeowners who cannot afford to do minimum exterior maintenance. these safeguards are outside the domain of the woodlands development company and will stay in effect after the development company is gone.
  17. bachanon

    ooohh....basketball. the media keeps saying "final four" like i should know what it is....

  18. bachanon
    on my first visit to uni sushi, i was greeted by a snooty hostess who was completely obnoxious...on following visits the opposite has been true. unfortunately, even though the food is extremely… Click here to view the full review at Yelp.com
  19. bachanon
    on my first visit to uni sushi, i was greeted by a snooty hostess who was completely obnoxious...on following visits the opposite has been true. unfortunately, even though the food is extremely… Click here to view the full review at Yelp.com
  20. bachanon

    what is this "final four".........

  21. bachanon
    i think what they mean is that the architecture is plain. it's clean, sleek, but nothing new, certainly nothing too interesting. that being said, it is cool to think that the woodlands "skyline" is growing outside of town center. the simcity player in me is already connecting the commercially zoned areas between town center, shenandoah and the research forest. the crane at aon/hewitt (research forest) is not too far from memorial hermann's crane for new six or seven story building (shenandoah). a crane recently came down at the luxury senior community on the waterway (town center/eastshore) and a crane at 2 waterway square may be in the works (town center/waterway square). to see three cranes up in such a small area is exciting. even though the architecture leaves much to be desired, it's fun to watch it be constructed. did i just hyperventilate?
  22. bachanon
    by the way, there is a crane up in the aon/hewitt campus. i can see it from waterway square area buildings and a little bit from research forest.
  23. bachanon
    i read recently that 4 waterway square is more than 70% leased and there's buzz about 2 waterway square moving forward.
  24. bachanon
    for the woodlands, there are decaying homes in older neighborhoods, but the values are stable and people are remodeling/upgrading. the infrastructure continues to be maintained/upgraded. the school are good/for the most part
  25. bachanon
    consider that sugarland and the woodlands have several major employers as opposed to a mall only. also, the freeway system and the ease of driving further out for cheaper "custom" (sarcasm) homes have facilitated the growth of sugarland and the woodlands. if a new era of rail were to come about, allowing people to live even further out, easily, these communities might suffer. in addition, i do not see the available land around beltway 8 and the grand parkway, disappearing too rapidly (well, if we are talking fifty years though....). as much as our population is increasing, we have considerable room to grow close in (less than an hour), especially on the northeast side and due south. of course, communities focusing on corporate investment and lifestyle improvements could become new city centers themselves spawning further out suburbs; smaller master planned communities are popping up within 20-30 minutes from the woodlands. surely, the woodlands as a job center is a factor. add 3 million square feet for exxon south of the woodlands and i do not see the woodlands going the way of sharpstown in my lifetime. sharpstown was new when i was a kid and went downhill by the time i was in my twenties. i do not think sugarland or the woodlands will go the way of sharpstown, certainly not in less than twenty years......fifty? i don't know.
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