The B1M released a video on the Corpus Christi Bridge Project, going over all the issues that plagued it for the past few years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ODgfIaxc4

On 7/3/2023 at 9:06 PM, Highrise Tower said:

The newly released Newmark Group's 1Q23 Houston Multifamily Market Report contains information about the TMC BioPort. Thought I would add this to the thread.

They actually mention the Medstar Tower. Last we heard, it was either cancelled completely or in deep hold.

Place your bets. Which building will finish first? This one, or the first building of Discovery West? Everyone place your bets!

3 hours ago, Triton said:

Why? 

Because zoning codes are filled with all kinds of arbitrary rules and variances that can make building anything a pain, and make it easier for NIMBYs, like the ones trying to stop this, to actually stall out and even defeat development, especially in cities like San Francisco which are not as-of-right jurisdictions. Houston is not nearly has bad as those cities precisely because it lacks a large, labyrinthine zoning code that has to be navigated, and there is little to nothing NIMBYs can do to stop a development once it starts. 

There's a reason why NIMBYism is worse in other American cities. Zoning codes basically play right into them. Even if you try to follow them perfectly, challenges and litigation are still guaranteed.

4 hours ago, __nevii said:

The location of ARPA-H is a decision from the federal government, which would be the Biden Administration in thise case: lots of doubt that he would choose a red state making increasingly regressive policies regarding social well-being, healthcare, and higher education over the blue states on the East Coast where such problems are absent.

The Biden Administration doesn't care about local politics. They might care about putting it in a Red State simply due to not wanting to give a win to a Red State...but in the same vein they might put it in Houston just to give a boost to local Democrats to spite the state government.

4 hours ago, __nevii said:

Nah, far-left is fine.

Oh course, if you're a far-leftist, you would think that.

On 6/14/2023 at 9:07 PM, jmitch94 said:

I dated someone at McGovern med school and pretty much all of them wanted to leave the state. 

And, as I said, they will be replaced by people moving to Texas, which is experiencing a net gain in population.

38 minutes ago, __nevii said:

Culture war fluff. The old geezers in government are too infused with religious nonsense to understand the nuances regaring the transgenders (as well as LGBT in general). They think that they are qualified to make medical decisions, as opposed to the doctors, while simultaneously failing to realize the nuances regarding the gender-affirming care given to minors versus adults.
 

Transitioning children? Really? That's what you think is going to stop this from happening? Look, I don't care if you think its is God's gift to man or mutilating children. It has nothing to do with ARPA-H which will be focused on things like cancer research.

33 minutes ago, __nevii said:

Might seem like a bold stance in a forum like this, but talented medical officials are currently fleeing/turning down jobs in this state due to recent policies regarding the bans on abortions and gender-affirming care. If it continues long enough, that could totally hobble the ambitions regarding this entire TMC project.

I doubt many doctors are abandoning the state over abortion or "gender-affirming care" for children, especially since many probably oppose these things themselves. And for those that leave, many will arrive to replace them. TMC is not defined by any of these things either.

8 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Does this mean the metro bus parking will move all together? That would be a good location for a mix-use. 

Might as well ask if we are moving the prisons and courthouses too.

1 hour ago, kennyc05 said:

Kind of like the walls they have going through the city of Bellaire or taller I don't understand why they haven't done that I hate driving down the freeway and seeing cluttered mess especially on 45 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Those concrete walls are expensive and add to the cost per mile of the free substantially. Which is why you only ever see them on highways going through residential areas. Their purpose isn't to hide blight, its for soundproofing so the noise of the traffic doesn't effect neighborhoods.

On 6/11/2023 at 2:55 PM, LosFeliz said:

Uh, Paxton has threatened to sue Texas Children's Hospital and is going after patients and doctors.

Over what, exactly?

On 6/9/2023 at 9:16 AM, Texasota said:

You also have the state's culture war nonsense which is already having an impact on UT etc. 

I don't think any "culture war nonsense", whatever that means, will matter much here. It will mainly be political support, and, more importantly, tax breaks, that will win the day here. Texas isn't opposing the bid, and the free federal investment and prestige that would come from landing it would be too good to pass up. Houston, overall, is probably the most logical location for this to be built.

On 5/7/2023 at 8:40 AM, 004n063 said:

Nice to see a lot of seating for like, ya know, sitting. Sometimes it's really nice to be able to sit down when you've been walking for a while.

There are in fact outdoor seats specifically designed to discourage people doing things like sitting on them for long periods of time or laying down on them, to discourage the homeless for congregating. Japan uses them all the time. These seats may not be designed with that in mind, though they probably should be, to encourage people to sit while not encouraging vagrants to congregate.

11 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Does anyone know if that final lot on the upper right will be part of this project?

Also, any sense of what kind of treatment the street crossings will get? Would be awesome to have crossing tables at a continuous grade that asserted pedestrian priority.

Anyways, great photos, CL!

That's where the Hotel and condo development will be.

Definitely feels like student housing. It did well to master that whole "prison block" look.

I mean, if you are familiar with the Big Dig, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Most of the construction took place between 1991 and 2007, the better part of two decades, but project planning and preliminary studies actually started back in 1982, and the project was discussed as far back as the early 70s.

4 hours ago, aachor said:

The city is healing.

One filled in parking lot at a time.

9 hours ago, cityliving said:

That sure is a tall parking garage.

The literal biggest middle finger to the neighborhood they could give.

16 hours ago, DotCom said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/04/27/the-langley-approved-neighbors-consider-options.html

With controversial The Langley high-rise approved, neighbors consider legal options

Apr 27, 2023, 1:47pm CDT

Houston officials’ decision late last week to approve plans for vertical construction of a 20-story apartment complex in the historic Boulevard Oaks neighborhood marked the latest twist in the long-running saga of the so-called Ashby high-rise.

But an attorney representing a group of neighbors opposed to the project said their fight might not be over just yet.

Peter Patterson, whose practice focuses on business litigation, told the Houston Business Journal that his clients are considering a lawsuit to keep Dallas-based StreetLights Residential’s The Langley project from moving forward as currently designed.

The neighbors’ opposition centers on the outcome of a lawsuit filed in opposition of an earlier plan to build an apartment tower at 1717 Bissonnet St. Under a restrictive covenant approved by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in 2012, any apartment tower built on the site had to adhere to nine limitations before the project could move forward.

An appeals court eventually sided with the developers in 2016. But the project has yet to be developed, and the site has sat vacant for years.

Patterson said his clients believe StreetLights Residential’s revamped design does not strictly comply with the restrictive covenant and, therefore, is not grandfathered in under permits issued to the project’s original developers, Houston-based Buckhead Investments. Their primary concern is a pedestrian plaza that the neighbors claim is “substantively modified” from the previous plan, as well as alleged encroachments on a city right of way, according to a March 24 letter to city attorneys.

“We are not against development,” Patterson said. “We have spent a significant amount of time working to provide options to the developers, but the developers have said they are not changing the plan.”

Case Kilgore, StreetLights Residential’s president of development, said in an interview that his company believes its revised plan for The Langley does comply with the restrictive covenant, as evidenced by the project gaining city approval.

A spokeswoman for Houston Public Works confirmed that the project has been approved for construction, but StreetLights Residential still needs to purchase some additional permits.

Kilgore said the company also made significant changes to the original plan, including reducing its height and cutting a retail element, to bring it in line with the restrictive covenant.

“We think that the design and the context of this building and the impact on the neighborhood compared to the prior building is a huge improvement,” Kilgore said. “We look forward to working with the neighborhood groups and are proactively taking some steps to prepare to keep them updated and to handle communication on the site as we look to break ground.”

As currently designed, The Langley would offer 134 two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 2,600 to 3,300 square feet. The goal is to provide a property that caters to empty-nesters looking to downsize their living accommodations, Kilgore said.

In all, the building will be 20 stories tall, down from the 23-story original plan.

Kilgore said the exterior of the building will take its design from the local architecture and from Rice University’s campus.

StreetLights Residential has partnered with property owner El Paso-based Hunt Companies Inc. on the property and will serve as both general contractor and primary architect on the project. Kilgore said Houston-based EDI International also assisted in designing the building.

Kilgore said StreetLights Residential wants to be good neighbors with the Boulevard Oaks community and will take steps to reduce the impact of construction on the neighborhood. The company has already designated a separate area for staging trucks to limit the impact on traffic in the area, he said.

StreetLights Residential plans to break ground on the project in May with an estimated delivery date of 2025.

With the scheduled groundbreaking coming up next month, Patterson said his clients are already discussing their legal options.

“I think you will see a decision made in the short term — not weeks or months but days or weeks,” Patterson said.

Jeff Jeffrey
Senior reporter - Houston Business Journal

Honestly, I think these people need to stop wasting time and money and pack it in at this point.

While it was value engineered, it was value engineered well, which is more than I can say for most buildings that go through that process in Houston.

Huh. So there were two different buildings this whole time? Well, at least now we know.

On 4/11/2023 at 12:45 PM, bookey23 said:

I went through the HCAD Parcel Map yesterday to pull that info. Skansa owns pieces of both of those blocks, but they do not currently own the whole block. Also, the portion of the Caroline/Polk block that Skansa owns is teeny-tiny

The parcel map maybe out of date, because it doesn't line up with past reports, or current plans.

Is this building finished? Nobody has posted photos of the exterior in months. If so, this should be moved from "Going Up!". Also, this building's name is The Westcott Memorial Park, so the thread should be renamed.

20 hours ago, bookey23 said:

This is a big roadblock to your vision for SE Downtown:

 

I went through on HCAD and highlighted all of the parcels owned by Golconda Ventures, which is a subsidiary of Opicoil, Taiwan's national oil and gas company. Apparently they've owned most of these plots since 1990 and have been content to just sit on them as parking lots for the past 33 years.

Pretty sure at least two of those parcels (the ones north of Polk) were bought by Skanska and are part of their project (see the picture posted above; smaller parcel would be part of large hotel/residential building planned for the left most parcel in that picture). The larger parcel was originally reported as having been acquired by them, but they've posted no plans for it.

5 hours ago, editor said:

The AC Hotel had whichever team was the Owls.  Something out of Florida, I think.

Florida Atlantic

On 4/5/2023 at 7:42 PM, Houston19514 said:

Regardless, we are suffering from an embarrassing and pathetic lack of leadership.  Refurbish, find a use for it, tear it down and replace it with something, tear it down and leave a hole in the ground.  Any of those moves require some leadership.  But here we are almost TWENTY-FOUR YEARS after the last baseball game was played in the Dome, with no decision, no direction, no leadership.

Lack of leadership, lack of will, lack of money. Lack of everything, really.

I think the historical designation is the only reason it hasn't been torn down, and nobody has simply cared enough to go out their way to get the designation removed. Its political and bureaucratic inertia at this point.

On 4/3/2023 at 5:25 PM, mkultra25 said:

There's apparently no shortage of people who fit that description.

State Rep. Jolanda Jones’ Senior Staff Resigns, Alleging Inappropriate Behavior and Mistreatment

The sorry state of our elected representatives is an indictment on us all.