kjb434

I'm guessing some of you may have looked at the swamplot blog. The tall building is not any part of Regent Square.

I'm guessing the architect is also working on a tower design in the area and has it in the same rendering.

The two condo towers for Regent Square are much shorter.

The put the tree on West Ave and they put it on the first phase of Blvd place that is finished in elevation.

Leases can be broken especially if the building they are in gets sold to another group. The Lease would actually be bought out for a price.

Based on that, it'll probably be just a restaurant.

Do you know of a Shruber? I know some knights over in Kni who wants some shrubbery. They also want a nice little white picket fence! Those bastards!

They have been toying around with lots of ideas to replace the surface parking. Obviously and surface parking removed will have to be replaced with garages. The skywalk that is built will eventually connect to the Mall in some way. Currently it will just access the surface parking. There were plans at one time for an Aquarium in that corning of the mall by I-10 and Gessner.

The developer is trying make the area a cohesive urban development. Of course having the Hospital attached to the mall helps when you get stabbed by some of the crowd I've seen there.

Most people don't realize that all the hills and rolling prairie aspects are all man-made. The Corps and Harris County Flood Control District planned it that way to support the hydraulics of the bayou and to provide increased flood protection.

Buffalo Bayou from Hwy 6 to east of downtown and the lower part of White Oak Bayou from I-610 to downtown are in a current federal study being performed by HCFCD. The study won't be fully complete for another 5 years. The target is increased flood protection and to a lesser extent to provide ecosystem restoration.

I live nearby at TC Jester and I-10, but I always drive to the Edwards at Wesleyan and Richmond because I can't stand the teenagers at the MarqE.

I never really feel safe near the theater. I have been to the Dave & Busters when it was Jillians, but only because and organization I belong to was hosting an event there.

The place has potential, but the demographics does not support it. So more offices located near it would support eateries in the place and add some traffic for better stores.

The removal of Vans helped it a lot more than hurt. The demographic Vans brought in is not the one to support a place like this.

Well, since we are on trees, does variety of the Cypress they are planting produce knees? If you are familiar with swamps in southern US and from my home state of Louisiana, Cypress trees should never e planted near a foundation because they will crack them.

This species I'm talking about is particular the Bald Cypress. Cool fact: Cypress Tree wood never rots!

Not really, it is done quite often. I wouldn't put critical baseball fields needed for league play in this situation, but for neighborhood, being sunken isn't a problem.

TheNiche

Parts along Washington Fall within the TIRZ #5 boundary. The TIRZ is what is encouraging this project and the future teardown of the Archstone Memorial Apt complex.

Below is a link to a PDF file from the City of Houston website of all the current TIRZ's as of 2004.

TIRZ Map

I do know TIRZ #5 has recently expanded along street ROWs to reach White Oak Bayou. The TIRZ includes now a long stretch of White Oak Bayou and also added in the much of Buffalo Bayou.

The White Oak portion stretches from Shepherd to Downtown. The Buffalo Bayou portion goes from Shepherd to Downtown. This is allow TIRZ money to improve trails and parks.

The actual section of TIRZ on Washington is only 1 large block, but the plans for that area are to massively urbanize it. it will be quite dense with new residential and retail. Office will be included and the nearby offices off Heights and Waugh will benefit.

This will essentially become like a town center for the West End area. It will go a long way to rebrand the area as Memorial Heights.

The Great Hizzy,

The baseball field along TC jester just outside the loop on TC Jester park isn't an example of this. It's built at natural ground. If the field was sunken several feet below natural ground, then it would be a good example. Actually, that would be a great idea to suggest to community groups and to the Parks Board.

HCFCD might as well be on board.

I'm not a structural engineer, but i do have some background in geotechnical engineering (subset of Civil Engineering).

The deep excavations and large basements are build to offset the immense weight of a building.

The science behind this is that the lower level of earthen material has existed for a much longer time with either weight of just the existing soil above or other buildings. Engineers will design a large basement to remove as much existing soil, since the weight is now gone, the building's weight can replace it.

This will reduce the amount of concrete needed to form a foundation and/or footings.

The use of basements in large buildings is not just efficient land use, it's for engineering reasons too. Just look at how large the excavation for the World Trade Towers were in NYC.

Yeah,

I think it'll fill in too, but that'll happen when critical mass occurs and/or government incentives exist to develop. I'm completely against the government incentives. It won't happen naturally, then it shouldn't move forward.

The beauty of Houston development is that is happens without zoning in a natural way. Zoning would be man interfering.

They often do. Many suburban developers are turning the detention basins into functional recreational spots. It's cheap parkland.

If it is large enough, they'll put soccer fields and baseball fields in them. At minimum trails around them are usually created. Many are build with lakes at the bottom.

The detention basins along I-10 will most likely be fenced in at some level thanks to lawyers. Just like detention basin that are build on school sites.

For the innerloopers. Just drive E TC Jester heading north from 11th street or south from 18th street and you'll see a baseball field in a detention basin.

If you ever jog along Buffalo Bayou (shepherd to downtown, or Terry Hershey park past the beltway) much of those areas are not in any natural configuration. Much of those areas have been re-sloped to create storage for storm water and they are now dual use.

Brays Bayou is getting the same treatment. Just check out Art Story Park. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has been implementing much of this with cooperation with the city and county.

Sims Bayou has a massive park just finished with this concept also.

What's weird is that much of this land doesn't always get classified at parks even though they are. This is why park land numbers are always skewed like we don't have much.

The West End/Rice Military areas are benefiting from not having the LRT in place like midtown which caused land prices to skyrocket out of wack with what developers to could make a profit with.

Washington Avenue is being targeted because the land values are relatively good to support projects like this.

Anyone wonder why the Calais and the MIX in Midtown aren't on the LRT and instead are located along Smith/Louisiana? It's because they'll get more traffic and business away from the LRT.

You can call a developer greedy, but they are very rarely stupid.

Accidents don't happen on the parkway because it's dangerous, it happens because idiots are speeding.

The turn lane at Dunlavy should be closed down there it removes the danger.

I don't know what their timeline is on that, but they did quite a lot in the last year and half.

It's preliminary, but they already made some variance requests from the Planning Commission and are working with Super Neighborhood 22 and TIRZ #.

Archstone Memorial Heights will be coming down.

Much better than it was when it was Bricks.

They are making money and trying to improve it bit by bit.

Their masterplan will eventually add a second floor and balcony along the side street.

McCord is one of our land development clients. If it makes any of you feel better, he has an abandoned sanitary sewer in his backyard that is causing it to become a smelly swamp!

This project is nice. I'm working a on pedestrian bridge that will cross over memorial and the Buffalo Bayou for TIRZ #5.

I have have to run all the hydraulic designs so the bridge doesn't impact flooding.

There are also planning a bunch of trails in the area especially when the Archstone Memorial Apartment are torn down to build a West Ave style town center.

Just picture street front retail along Washington Ave.....

Ooo... ok. Personally I like going to a gym... it gets me out of the house and around other people.

I use the bars to hang around with a bunch of people.

Particularly George's because I still catch a game, socialize, and have a drink.

More cranes!

That's becoming a little crowded with them now.

Get to work! LOL

So Memorial City is clawing there way to become Uptown II. Now if just Greenspoint could get a bug up there ass to clean their neighborhood. I know the management district is trying a few things, but all the apartments nearby doesn't help.

Turnberry has very good record on their projects. This project looks like it'll go through.

The sales center is worth nothing compared to final structure. The sales center is also more inviting than a trailer parked on the site.