totheskies

Thanks for the first-hand info!! 

Most of the Humble Tower people are doing one of two things: Buying a home in the burbs or finding another place in downtown/Eado/Midtown.
I have looked at a few places, my number one is Sabine Lofts, well now called Marquis on Sabine. The Marquis Management seems to be a legit management company. They do a lot of things for their residents at the Marquis Lofts on Runnels street right outside of downtown in east downtown.

 

There are probably about 130 people in Humble Tower (I think there are about 8 kids in the building)
As far as eating out habits of Humble Tower residents. Most of the residents here do eat out majority of the week, but we don't eat in downtown all the time. Maybe one or two days a week do people eat downtown. Thursdays, Friday's and Saturdays are when a group of us will go out. Usually drinks followed by dinner. Most places we drink at are in downtown or midtown.

 

A few of my neighbors are only in Houston during the work week and have homes outside of the city somewhere.

 

As of today Sterling Group (Management Company for the entire building, including the hotels) has not given any of the residents an official notice. Sterling hasn't even been officially told about the plan to turn the building into a hotel. They are just not allowed to extend leases after 12/31/2013. All leases end before that with the exception of two leases. Mine ends 8/31, but they are allowing me to stay month to month after that at no additional cost. I just need to give them a 60 day notice as when I intend to leave. October 31st is what I am aiming for.

Hey everyone...

I am the author of the TexasLeftist blog.  I got the information about IAH's Terminal B because I was streaming the Council meeting online.  That's also why I posted the tweets from ABC13 reporter Miya Shay and Jerry Peruchini, both who were also in attendance at the meeting.  If you listen to Council's discussion for that day, they imply finalization of the expansion plans. 

My apologies if I confused anyone.  Though my blog is opinion-based, I try to get the facts correct there.  As a result I've amended the language in the hopes of some clarification. 

Thanks for checking out the blog!! 

Very interesting that half of those are in one building!! 

What is a suburbean?

Like a soya bean, but they grow on the outer fringes of the garden patch. 

Well I'm pretty happy/hopeful at the moment that Downtown is getting another mega-hotel... somethin Houston desperately needed. 5 Allen Center is still very much a possibility too.

And the new downtown hotel will be... a Marriott Marquis!! 1,000 rooms! Council just approved it 16-1, no discussion.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/City-to-offer-hotel-developer-138M-in-incentives-4109932.php?t=e58f23689fcf61987c

What I love even more than the hotel rooms, the cool design or the height... this development has AWESOME potential for the street level of the area. really excellent.

Can't wait to see all of the new Conventions Houston will attract with this beauty!! And we'll finally have the hotel rooms to garner some larger customers!

Is that sarcasm? I can't tell.

Of course not. These are types of investments that our community needs to be making... not just to educate visitors residents alike about our past, but also to build for a better future. Like it or not, tourism is a very real and lucrative industry. Houston is making the right move by placing a keystone of opportunity in downtown.

I wonder if this will only highlight the historical sites of the region or also focus on some of the cultural centers as well. I'm thinking they have the chance to make tourists aware of the museums, or theaters, and then send them on the light rail to these destinations.

There is great potential to highlight many of the city's features if the all work together. Hopefully it is not just the historical markers.

The Swamplot article says that is precisely their goal.

This is exactly what I've been hoping Houston would do... develop a center for Heritage Tourism!! This will be a cornerstone for downtown and the region, just like George R. Brown and Discovery Green have become. Look at all of the economic indicators... heritage tourism is a rapidly growing field. Good for Houston that they are being proactive to take advantage of this coming opportunity. Kudos to Mayor Parker and the business leaders on this one!

$55 million is a big investment, and I hope they don't skimp.

I think I'm going to call them and ask about patents for the gift shop. I already have some ideas!!

How many people use the HOV lanes daily? How would a light rail line from the Galleria to UH help the people commuting from Katy, Spring, etc? What should the outlying residents get for their tax money?

Ask anyone that ever has to park on UofH campus. They'd probably say it would help a hell of a lot.

It ain't rail, but definitely better than nothing!! IMO, the University Line should still be the top priority.

The rendering appears to be 1000 rooms. I counted and it's 20 by 25 starting at the 3rd story.

I don't like the architecture as much as other parts of Midtown Square, but I do like the fact that it has got ground level retail. It's hard to complain when these guys are the only people adding retail in a new apartment building in Houston right now.

Let's hope they are starting a trend!!

This is a top priority for Downtown Houston and the whole city. Even if the hotel doesn't look exactly like the rendering, there's no way they would "skimp" on a project this substantial. We didn't skimp on One Park Place or BG Group Place either.

happy about the ground floor retail too. however, what retail, other than restaurants, might be feasible in this location? you can't bank on convention business alone. there aren't enough residents or out of town shoppers for clothing. chain stores not dependent on the success of one location perhaps?

Besides restaurants, the next best thing to have is Touristy stuff... knick-knacks, sports gear, and "I'm in Houston" souvenirs. That will ensure a steady flow of conventioners, and maybe some Discovery Green visitors. After that, I'd go for a CVS/Walgreens/Rite-Aid that's ACTUALLY open 24hrs. Put those in right next to the Convention center, and you can't go wrong.

yeah, it was a pizza hut way back when, it's 'china star' now. Cheap chinese food. I haven't tried it, although I bet I will venture over there at some point during my new adventure

our hours aren't set in stone, but we absolutely will be opening early enough for people to stop by before class, and late enough for people to study into the night in a relaxed atmosphere. probably like 11 on weeknights, and 2am on weekends.

Very cool! Keep me posted... I know lots of frat guys and music majors!

The drug dealers and prostitutes in this area scare me. What I don't get... they're concentrated in a few apt buildings. Everyone in the area knows where they are. Why doesn't the city just force them out? The property values have to be skyrocketing for that area by now, and I know the city wants residents to be safe.

Not technically owned by, or on UH property, but it's surrounded by UH property.

The developer received their final permitting and started turning dirt on this site for a small strip center.

https://maps.google....001635&t=h&z=20

The really exciting part (for me, and hopefully for anyone at UH, and even East Enders) is my friend and I signed a lease for a portion of the space and will be opening a coffee shop at the location! We're targeting July of next year as our opening date.

I'll be snapping some pictures of it this weekend!

Exciting indeed!!

A quick pointer to keep steady business... I work at UH and use the Campus Rec gym.

If you can serve smoothies and be open around the gym times, I think it would be a great move. Smoothie King's hours are really fishy, and they need some competition anyway.

But even if you can't, the more options we have on/near UH Campus, the better. It has swelled now to over 40,000 students, and when you throw in faculy and staff, our daytime population is right around 50k people. Congrats on the bold venture!!

But then it has to be paid for. And that costs money. You get taxed. And that means that you have less discretionary income and that your lifestyle will suffer in some other way. If the luxury of choice of transportation modes is foisted upon you by government, then the only choice that you are left with is which other luxury you'll consume less of.

But freeways also cost money. And so do cars.

Texas drops billions and billions of dollars each year on new freeways, and no one ever gives it a second look. But the very second someone mentions rail, everyone is up in arms about it. The amount of spending for public transit that is spent in this state is ABYSMAL compared to the golden calf that is our never-ending freeway budget.

As far as I know, Lot 13A is being taken for space so that cargo can be delivered to the new dining hall. Not sure if the entire lot will be gone, but I know it will lose several spaces. There aren't any plans to turn it into anything else.

That will be very interesting and of more interest when the developer of this NEW business center has to deal with that overpass completely blocking his/her brand new shopping strip smack next to the RR tracks. Guess no one is ever happy. Smell litigation?

This shopping center has really fallen into disrepair... and fast!!

I say we build the University Line.

It would be interesting to poll downtown residents about where they shop for grocery's and why they don't shop at downtown grocers.

I'm not a Downtown resident, but in Montrose so pretty close. I go to Phoenicia at least once every 2 weeks. Any time I'm there I see a healthy number of customers in the store... it's developed a regular and stable following.

Phoenicia is different from other Houston grocers of course... it has a very European setup, and remind me of the supermarkets I went to in Paris or the UK. But the prices are quite comparable on many items to Randall's or Kroger. Some items like pasta noodles or some of the cheese are actually cheaper than the chain grocers.

Downtown to downtown is seriously the only way to go... the hub of transit connections for both cities. On the DFW end, you've already got the TRE connection to downtown Ft. Worth covered.