totheskies

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.

Wow this is what I'm talking about... City Council and the Mayor are thinking about the future of our downtown. Have to give it to people like Marvy Finger and Bob and Arpi Tcholakian (Phoenicia) for reminding us that downtown residential/mixed-use can and DOES work. It's a great time to be a Houstonian!

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.

Wow I love love love London. It's really a great city with so much to see and do. I kinda hope the Olympians have a chance to get out when they're done competing. I was there for a mere 2 days last year, but if I ever go back I want to spend a whole week just in London.

Market Square is open now, and from what I've heard we need more bars in the area again. Isn't Hearsay doing pretty well?

This is a thread about Midtown, so I'm going to ignore that your interpretation of successful TOD is evidently that a hospital on Fannin builds a new tower along the same block of Fannin, or that an apartment developer used one of the two or three sites large enough to build new apartments on in the Museum District (and not the Wheeler Transit Center site) to build apartments.

The largest structure to be built along light rail in Midtown is the CVS Pharmacy, whose drive-through backs up to light rail while the front entrance points toward Fannin. I declare FAIL on you.

Another datapoint is Camden Property Trust. They have owned the superblock since what, the year 2000. They've developed over 1,300 apartment units on various sites in Midtown during that time period, but not the superblock. Their basis should be low enough in the property that they've got no excuse for waiting if light rail is such a compelling amenity. (Developers didn't wait on Discovery Green, after all. All it took to get an apartment tower going was the City's commitment that it would move forward; not even completion.)

Other than that, I know that there's a ratty old Days Inn from the 60's that got repositioned as subsidized housing for homeless veterans. That's the biggest thing that's happened along light rail in Midtown and I won't deny that light rail has been critical to its success, but it certainly doesn't aid in any kind of urban renaissance for the neighborhood.

Camden Property Trust makes its own decisions about what to build on the Superblock. That has nothing to do with anything. Venue Museum district is Transit-Oriented Development. The rail line was a major progenitor in its development and in other residential units. They all list rail as an amenity. So you can declare fail all you like, but it doesn't make your logic any less flawed. The rail line has made a positive economic impact on Central Houston.

The soccer stadium isn't in Midtown either, but you can be damn sure that they brought that stadium to central Houston in large part because of the planned rail line. They could have built it out in the burbs like many other cities, but they chose to put it in Central Houston. That benefits EaDo, Midtown, the Med Center and everywhere in between.

Amazing news!!! So great to hear/see all of the restorations going on in Houston now!

BTW... what the HELL were people thinking in the 50s and 60s? It's like their only goal was to make buildings look as fugly as possible.

Thank you for posting!!

In my opinion, someone will have to budge here. If METRO can't reclaim the full one-cent sales tax, then it needs to pursue additional revenue through other sources like the FTA or another tax that's just on Houston residents. If they can recover it, then Houston and the multi-cities need to stop bitching and raise their own taxes.

Our tax rates in this country, especially in Texas, are at historic lows. Eventually someone needs to stand up and make people realize that taxes have a purpose. If paying higher taxes improves my transit, the education of our kids, and the overall quality of life, then I say raise 'em.

I really hope they go for mixed use, and something that's at least 6 stories. Given the organic transformation that's already well underway in Montrose, this block is a golden opportunity to turn this neighborhood into an urban jewel of the US.

Whatever they decide, it's got to have both retail and residential!!

Trouble brewing for Megabus... they've had to change their stop in Dallas to Grand Prairie

http://texasleftist.blogspot.com/2012/06/megabus-rocky-start-in-texas.html

Thank you!! I'll definitely be citing and making mention of HAIF!!

Would be pretty cool if he makes 50 years.

It's further north... Louisiana at Tuam.

You're still missing the point. You may support other forms of infrastructure investment, but you are still a light rail apologist. In very nearly every thread about a highway, you randomly pop in and state in a manner that lacks context and is off topic that you wish as much money were being spent on light rail. You advance bogus positions constantly, look for any opportunity to twist coincidence into causality, and then do something inane like asking an opponent to compile a list or perform hours of primary research to prove the least relevant or hypothetical portion of their argument. It is incredibly frustrating.

I made two basic points: 1) If you look at the development pattern, they're only building neat stuff near the light rail because they're running out of land to the west of the light rail. The existence of light rail has been inconsequential during the period of time that it has existed...except to ward off development due to rail-biased land speculators. 2) You are a light rail apologist. I'd bet that if rail had been laid down a corridor with more activity (for instance anywhere near Regent Square by itself), you'd be attributing that development to light rail and declaring success.

I will not compile a list of new developments along the Buffalo Bayou corridor because they are so numerous, it would be time consuming, and it would not advance the conversation.

FAIL.

The light rail has spurred develpment and improvement. Some of that development may have happened without the rail, but it definitely has NOT been hindered by it. It gives Houstonians another option for transportation, and you better believe that people make use of it. Venue Museum District used to be a block with a Subway and a flower shop on it, but it has yielded a significant investment in the Museum district area. Beyond just residential space, businesses have benefitted substantially from location near the light rail... today more than ever. Ask any Medical Center employee if the light rail was a good investment... they won't waste a second to let you know how much they use it daily to get to work because med center parking is so bad. Gripe all you want, but rail is an important part of Houston's infrastructure and is bringing business and investment to Midtown.

Houston, We Have Two New Alamos

http://drafthouse.com/blog/entry/houston_we_have_two_new_alamos

(HOUSTON, Texas, May 30, 2012) – Triple Tap Ventures LLC, owner and operator of the Houston area Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations in West Oaks Mall and on Mason Road in Katy, Texas, is pleased to announce it will bring two new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations to Houston in 2013.

...The first new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is slated to open in Northwest Houston in early 2013 and will be located in the Vintage Park Shopping Village off of Tomball Parkway 249 and Louetta Road.

...The second new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, scheduled to open after Vintage Park, is a highly anticipated inner-loop location, which will be centrally accessible and located in Houston’s bustling Midtown area. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Midtown will be located at 2901 Louisiana Street as part of a mixed-use project developed by Crosspoint Properties and, like Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Vintage Park, will offer state-of-the-art auditoriums featuring 100 percent digital projection and sound as well as an expansive and inviting lobby bar which will be visible from Milam Street and boast panoramic views of Houston’s impressive downtown skyline.

Houston needs a themepark. Take out the seats, and turn the Astrodome into an indoor themepark. Bathrooms and vending areas are already in place. I mean sheesh we already do a large-scale fair outside for the Rodeo. Just move it inside and make it year-round! Is this so difficult to comprehend?

The timing actually had a lot to do with the decade of construction work that has only just begun on US 290. Beltway 8 to I-10 is already a preferred alternative just due to pre-construction congestion, but that detour is going to become much more heavily utilized in the next few years and they want an alternative to the alternative.

Spot on... for once we agree!!

An alternative to the alternative's alternative. But the central question remains... when does this cycle of Sprawlmageddon stop?

The only fair way to do this is for someone to pay for it. METRO benefits everyone in our region. More people using METRO for transportation means fewer individual cars on the roads. That's less traffic and increased mobility for everyone.

I'm a Texan too. We all have that stupid independent streak of hyper-NIMBYism, but it's got to go. Houston is one of the most rapidly growing regions in the country, and we need to invest in public transit improvements now while we have the chance. As more and more people move here and clog up the freeways, we continue to put our citizenry at risk. This money should rightfully be used 100% to fund public transit.

Sports stadium planning is a definitely plus for Houstonians. Regardless of who is attending the games, The simple fact is that more people have BBVA Compass as an entertainment option because it's in downtown. It's right at the heart of our mass transit network so Houstonians without a car can also get there easily. This cannot be said for the FC Dallas Stadium which is in Frisco (27 miles from Downtown Dallas) or even for Cowboys Stadium. As transit improves in our city and more people choose to use transit, we'll look back on these stadia as one of the best things Houston has ever done to promote urban development.

Anyone have any experience with the apartment complex in Fairfield called Alexan Sommerall located at 6777 Sommerall Drive.

Thanks for your help.

Yeah but the origin was a festival. It's great to discover about Houston's past. It would be another event that can easily incorporate Art Cars, and have a parade that celebrates the unique history that is Houston. Having a parade that connects Discovery Green (the epitome of 21st century achievement so far in Downtown Houston) to Market Square (the centerpiece of Houston's early government and commerce) would be very cool. No better way to preserve and honor the past than to educate people about it, and have fun doing it!