largeTEXAS

Office on second floor and one apartment on the top

If the developer can pull of what he's proposed, the new building will be 2.5 floors with zero setback. He's had a hell of a time with the city getting permitted for the parking because of the density of the project (parking in back). The thing that really concerns me about the current plan, though, is that it could be another cheesy stucco Mediterranean structure. There's actually a rendering on the corner of the site.

Things are moving along with this project. No tenants to announce just yet though

Is confidence high with respect to BLVD Place? Source?

I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you

my guess is that its probably doing as well as any other fine silver retailer is doing who leases a place in a neighborhood setting...i think there is a slight diff. for some though between selling forks/knives vs. an art gallery.

This sure looks like forks an knives to me!

http://www.finesilver.com/

"Finesilver is committed to bringing work by Texas artists to the national and international markets. The formal program includes works exploring the manipulation of materials, new media and inventive processes of painting and sculpture. This portion of the program holds the practice of inventive materials as a counterpoint to the tradition of the figure within the vocabulary of contemporary art. "

oh i enjoy reading this stuff. next we will hear about a race to the Galleria Mall amongst grocery stores. they have the demographics for a grocery store in their high-end retail location certainly. i am surprised that nobody else thought about it . yeah-right !!!!!

Well, the city that invented the mall, Milan, sure thinks grocery stores are good anchors.

Milan Elan

Shopping Centers Today, January 2007

MILAN

The only thing that I'd be concerned about is whether BLVD Place or the Oaks District is able to break ground first. The one would likely negate the other. ...but right now, my money is on BLVD Place.

Oaks District is nowhere near ready to break ground while BLVD Place is very close. To me what is really interesting is what will happen if and when all these developments are complete. Since they all want to create Houston's version of Rodeo Dr. or 5th Ave., one or more will likely have to change scope (unless this city can all the sudden supports multiple high end districts). I think West Ave has the chance to be the most accessible of the developments, simply because the mix of tenants will likely be less couture-only. While I'm excited I might finally be able to buy a pair of Miu Miu's or Paul Smith shoes here in Houston, being able to walk around and hang out without getting hit by a car (hopefully) is what I'm most excited about.

If all goes as planned, construction should start in the next few weeks.

I said it before... Victory is a much bigger project (and a very nice project!)... but I believe HP will do more to make Downtown Houston the type of "urban" environment many of us would like to work in, shop in, walk in, live in, etc.

I agree, but I think downtown has to take advantage of the next two years while the Pavilions is under construction to attract some residential projects. If we can get that going hopefully there will be more people patronizing the Pavilions than just tourists.

The Kirby Coalition is attempting to raise money to make visual and pedestrian improvements to Upper Kirby. They had to go "All Star" on us, though...

www.Kirbyallstars.org

I agree with the "city officials" in the article. There needs to be an increase of density closer to transit corridors. Somehow the city has to promote higher denisty mixed-use developments in those areas and dicourage them from plopping down in the middle of older neighborhoods. The way things are looking right now with all the new mixed use projects that have been announced, this is already strarting to happen. We just need to push for this trend to continue. IMHO, I think streets like Montrose Blvd, Westheimer, Richmond, and Kirby should all be medium to high density corridors with every building being at least 3 stories.

Very cool! That is one of the most interesting new pieces of architecture in the city. I kinda love it

Construction is underway...started earlier this week. This project is going to be incredible when finished. Lots of residential and lots of retail. Just can't believe how many great projects are about to break ground!!! It's a good time to be in Houston..

Don't know if anyone has already posted this. SOM designed it so you know it'll be pretty rad! Looks slightly influenced by some of the new Spanish architects.

http://www.collaborativeresearchcenter.org/

steinberg designed it...i'm not too impressed with their other stuff (the calais, ventana, left bank, etc).

seems like standard run of the mill complexes

Yeah, I agree sevfiv. In my opinion Steinberg's work is mediocre at best. I was hoping for something a little more design forward in this location...it is Montrose!

This development would not be an SRO, although the sizes would be similar. This would be a market driven deal that would aim to reach a demographic that seems to be increasingly overlooked inside the Loop, especially now that Allen House and Westcreek are set for demolition.

Hey guys, I was talking to a developer who wants to take a 8-10 storey existing building downtown and create apartments that are around 350 sf each. There would be lots of amenities on the ground floor. I know the size is small, but the rent would be cheap-ish, around $600- $700. It would allow for a whole new working class to live downtown. What are your thoughts? Would you live there?

I could see exactly that, but a jazzier brand, a tad bit taller, and perhaps some special facilities to compliment its location.

...but then that's only what I myself would like to see and in no way constitutes the concepts as they were conveyed to me.

Oh, Eugene....

There's a new committee of stakeholders, brokers, and city officials to reinvigorate the area. This should be a pretty exciting time for the Historic District. It's a beautiful area, one of may favorites in Houston, but it's been decimated by cheesy clubs. So much so that now it's pretty much a blank slate. Hopefully the new efforts are successful in attracting great new businesses to the area. To me it's exciting because everyone seems to finally be on the same page - no cheesy night clubs! Rather the committee is interested in creating a district full of great chef-driven restaurants, shops, and distinctive entertainment venues. Any input is welcome. One thing for sure right now though is that Walgreens isn't taking the MBar space. Maybe in the future, but not right now.

There won't be a Walgreens in the M Bar space; at least not anytime soon. It was a good excuse of why they closed M Bar though...

I keep thinking people are going to call this park "Disco Green" or " Disco Park." Either way, makes me wanna get up and dance

An honest question.

It isn't as though there aren't other areas of opportunity within the city where it'd be easier to stimulate major redevelopment on a more concentrated and grand scale (i.e. Buffalo Bayou corridor). Downtown/midtown are each just have this problem with divided ownership of a whole lot of tiny parcels that makes cohesive urban planning incredibly difficult.

I agree with you. The Buffalo Bayou Corridor needs to be redeveloped and redeveloped with a solid plan. Hopefully, that's what the Buffalo Bayou Partnership can encourage (or do themselves). There are some potentially amazing attractions waiting to happen, including residential, park space, and amenities such as botanical gardens, etc.

But, these developments compliment, not detract, from a strong downtown. There is already so much infrastructure downtown that it would be unwise not to capitalize on it. You are right, there are many ideas of what "ye olde" downtown was like and many want to somehow reproduce that. But, I think most people that favor downtown revitalization simply believe in developing a lively, multi-faceted, amenity-rich neighborhood that will be the city's civic and emotional center. Truly great cities have truly great civic (or at least publicly accessible) centers.

They're also going to have a really cool store design. Premium Goods is a great store and I love shopping there. I think this one is going to take it to the next level, though.

This had been discussed to some degree before in the Humble Tower thread, but I just wanted to let you guys know it's finally going to happen. In the next 3 - 4 months, the doors will open at the corner of Polk and Main. It'll be a REALLY cool little store selling exclusive and limited edition kicks as well as t-shirts and memorabilia. This will be the first non-mall street level fashion retail to open downtown in, like, 800 years!

From what I understand, Notsuoh is going to take over many of the nights/events that Helios used to have. Seems like the owner decided to re-open Notsuoh when he found out Helios was closing. Should be interesting!