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Big E

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  1. Big E
    But we are not talking about transit here. We are talking about this highway project, and there has been no referendum on it. And the majority of people in Harris County supporting transit does not translate to the majority of people in Harris County not supporting this project. This isn't a zero sum game, and if/then does not come into play here.
  2. Big E
    If you don't care about the positives of the project, then why should anyone give anything you say any weight? Its clear your just biased from the beginning, so talking to you about the project is pointless. No, that's not clear. One of the prevailing messages in this thread is that its not actually all that clear what the majority of people in Houston or Harris County, for that matter, want. A few politicians are acting against the project for their own self-interest. That is all. But it doesn't indicate how the majority of the population feel one way or another. And nobody has actually asked them either. This was never a major campaign issue, so no election was a referendum on the subject and no county wide votes have been held on it either.
  3. Big E
    We also have to keep in mind the issue of the vocal minority. The majority of citizens may very well support the project, but they are the silent majority. They have better things to do than sit on a street corner and wave a sign. The people opposed to the project will be the most vocal because they are the most emotionally invested, thus they scream the loudest and get the most visibility.
  4. Big E
    Statements made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. So you say that there are more people against than for this project? Prove it. Nobody has done anything like a referendum to actually gage public support for the project. This pandemic won't last forever. Businesses are trying to move back into spaces (Dallas, for instance, is leading the way here), Delta strain be damned, with many taking advantage of the high vacancies and low rates to get large spaces for cheap, and it seems at least workers would rather move back into their offices, if only because its makes working together easier and more efficient and there are businesses forging ahead and renting space, like the one that is the subject of this article. Keep in mind that Houston was hit harder by the pandemic than most other metro areas in the U.S.; Houston's office vacancy rate is 24.1%, the highest in the country, and a lot of that has to do with the collapse of the oil industry...again. Traffic is already back to pre-pandemic levels in most cities. I remember back in the early pandemic months when roads were literally empty. Now, its pretty much where it was prior to the pandemic.
  5. Big E
    You tell me. I try to find the methodology behind keeping finished buildings in a section of the forum titled "Going Up".
  6. Big E
    Now, if they could just give Houston a new Ritz-Carlton...
  7. Big E
    Imagine what Houston would have looked like if the oil market hadn't crashed in the 80s.
  8. Big E
    While I find these nice sentiments, nobody buys a large lot like that, with the almost certain astronomical price tag is demanded, to build something like that. This is downtown Houston: big trophy towers are the name of the game and the only reason you even look to build down there. Otherwise, you could literally build that building in the picture anywhere else in the city, where its cheaper. Everything is big in Texas, and in Houston, the biggest city of them all, you go big or you go home. There will be a landmark tower on that lot, mark my words.
  9. Big E
    As @samagon said, their actual stated mission is freeway and road development, and, as @H-Town Man man said, they used to be called the Texas Highway Department. The only reason they are called the department of transportation now is because the Texas Mass Transportation Commission, Department of Aviation, and the Texas Motor Vehicle Commission were combined into it. They do "oversee" aviation, rail, and public transportation, but that's all they do: oversee. They are the jacka-s that looks over all the other jacka-ses to tell them what they are doing wrong. They don't build airports, cities and airport authorities do (Houston's airports are owned, operated, and built by the city itself, not the state). They don't build public transport, transit authorities or cities do. They don't build rail, private companies and transit authorities do. And honestly, that's probably for the best. Its better that local authorities handle these things because they will better understand the needs of the region. Hell, judging by how much you guys hate the job TxDOT is doing with this project, do you really want them handling rail too?
  10. Big E
    As far as I know, that project has never been cancelled, only put on hold till it got a major tenant. Since the garage is there, they've already made heavy investment in the property. Doubt they will sell it. They will hold on to that land till they get a major tenant.
  11. Big E
    TXDOT has always specialized in road development. Taking care of the major interstates and roads has been their main concern since forever. Freight rail in Texas is privately owned, and commuter rail networks in Texas are generally built and maintained by local transit authorities agencies. TEXRail, for instance, is maintained by Trinity Metro, a local transit agency in Tarrant County. The Trinity Railway Express is a joint venture between Trinity Metro and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The Silver Line, which is currently under construction, is being built by DART. The A-train is operated by the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA). Austin's Capital MetroRail is maintained by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. TXDOT has literally never built or managed a commuter rail network. If you want such a network to exist in the Houston Area, take it up with METRO. Constructing or running such things would literally be within their purview. They have decided to not make that a priority.
  12. Big E
    Because they've already been doing that...for years. This project is already well underway and tens of millions of dollars in. As I've said before, this project has been through a years long design process, multiple public input sessions, design changes, and planning, and it isn't going to go through remarkable changes this late in the game and everyone involved knows that, including the people suing to stop the project. This isn't something that sprung on everyone last month. Its the politicians that are opposing this that are the Johnny-come-latelys to the project. Commuter rail is not their specialization and never has been. You want that, take it up with METRO. Hell, this project is supposed to make right of way for mass transit, so if that's what you want then you should support the project.
  13. Big E
    When Harris County considers it a priority. Judging by who the current county judge is, I doubt that will happen for years.
  14. Big E
    Those are two completely different projects being done by two completely different agencies, and both were supposed to be done together. One is being held up by politicians looking for their 15 minutes and the other is, as far as I know, on hold.
  15. Big E
    The only thing that would do would be to put more pressure on the East Loop so it becomes as bad as the West loop. Also, as you said, the Ship Channel Bridge is old, and ships have run into it before. Its probably due for replacement, which will take years and be a traffic nightmare, just like what's going on with the Beltway 8 bridge. And if you think an expansion of the East Loop would be less controversial, think again. Many of the people complaining about this project will complain about that as well because they oppose any freeway development, no matter how needed or necessary. I mean they had no choice but to put it on hold, with the federal government breathing down their neck.
  16. Big E
    All this hoopla is just getting embarrassing at this point. I say enough. The courts need to throw out the challenges and let the project move forward. Its been over 10 years that this project's been in development. Some of these officials crying about it now weren't in power for most of it, but some (like that old bird, Sheila Jackson Lee) were, and now they are coming in at the literal ninth hour and wasting tax payer money, and for what? To look important? While our current infrastructure continues to decay, the price of building materials continues to rise, and the project has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars and been through multiple public input sessions. Enough is enough. This project is not significantly changing at this point. Everybody knows that. This is nothing more than a hail mary pass to keep this project going while this legal circus makes its way through court. You want to know why America doesn't have a high speed rail network to rival China or even Europe? Want to know why our infrastructure is decaying and nothing seems to get done anymore? This is why. Any project that moves forward gets strangled in red tape and BS for a decade or longer, while costs overrun to the tune of hundreds of millions. And at the end of the day, the only people who win are the lawyers and whoever gets the lucrative kick backs for the construction jobs. People say we need and infrastructure investment plan, but such an act of congress, should it ever even pass, would be pointless. Because any project, no matter its perceived or real benefits, would be litigated to death. None of the people complaining about this project are civil engineers. None of them. Not one of them know any of the technical stuff about traffic patterns, nor how bad the infrastructure really is. But when their special interests (or their own personal interest in Lee's case) say jump, they jump.
  17. Big E
    Question: Who owns the parking garage between the two properties?
  18. Big E
    I'm willing to bet that this will probably be the shortest building in the development. You know, the city should really penalize property owners who own surface parking lots or undeveloped lots downtown and refuse to develop them or sell them.
  19. Big E
    Prices might be rising, but its not because people are moving to California. Its because: a)Wall Street investors and their proxy companies, like Homes 4 Rent, are buying up properties by the bucket load because they see it as a cash cow and an easy way to make money, and b)Chinese investors are buying up properties to park their money overseas. The housing market is a sellers market right now, so sellers and investors are buying like crazy and the value of houses is going through the roof.
  20. Big E
    I think it does have its own lighting system, yes. Its why its see through glass and not something else. In other news, my trip to Houston ended and I caught some more pics on the way out: Despite how imposing the building is from the northern approach, its prominence is rather miniscule from the southern TX-288/I-69 approach. It seems JP Morgan is just enough to hide it in most angles:
  21. Big E
    I visited Houston for the first time since Thanksgiving 2019, and managed to snap a few picks of the building as I was coming down I-45. Got to say, its one handsome building, and you can really see how wide it looks compared to the JP Morgan Chase Building:
  22. Big E
    While I actually have no problem with the I-45 project and even support certain aspects of it, that is in no way comparable to this.
  23. Big E
    Ah. That's disappointing.
  24. Big E
    I mean, I guess they could just build a large structure or skywalks to bridge over the road, but I don't think getting both those properties is a coincidence, and the possibilities of that much prime real estate at the junction of two of Houston's busiest and most important roads is just too good to pass up.
  25. Big E
    Not a big fan to be honest. I would prefer a much denser development, especially if you take into account the property immediately behind this corner lot which I think they also own. Get the street in-between removed, and you could build something really impressive.
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