banking214

Actually, the Dallas Mandarin Oriental is not yet under construction. They are currently saying they expect construction to start this fall.

I think the one in Austin might be under construction already. Not 100% certain, just though I was reading an article mentioning it.

The Oriental in Victory is going to incredible when completed. I have a friend doing the interiornwall coverings and they are spending a kings ransom.

Sometimes, people just need to relax and laugh at the prodding of each other. If you don't have a sense of humor, then you are not living a full life.

if he is an adult, i don't understand why he/she would use boi?!?!?

In the gay community, it is not uncommon to see profiles of grown men with the word "boi" included.

Example:

uptownboi = Actual age: 35

It is just like seeing someone that is easily passes for 30 with an Abercrombie t shirt on. If you are over 25, ditch it.

Disclaimer

**Not sure of dallasboi's sexual persuasion**

This is Phase I. Phase II after the brouhaha has subsided is to 'modify' the section that River Oaks Theatre occupies. Houston development at its finest!! The patron has no say. It's all about the profit motive of the developer. Why can't Disney just buy us out already? We're so predictable anyway.

I heard today that city council approved the name change of Westheimer Road to Weingarten Road.

Why would you want to stop it? It's a great shopping center, and after the renovation's complete, it would still be a great shopping center. It's not like it's being converted to a park or anything.

Renovation? It sounds and looks as if they are basically tearing it down and putting something up that carries on the general asthetic integrity. I just don't like the fact you have a such a wonderful and appealing existing center being "renovated". I know the bottom line is the almighty dollar, but can't we save our heritage?

they just had a story on 13 news....the black eyed pea is history. the whole ne corner will be demolished and replaced. weingarten said nothing further will be done til this is finished.

This is not good news. I hate to see such a great shopping center picked apart, piece by piece.

What can be done to stop them?

Look what she put on her website:

LOL

Too funny.

Feel free to mass email the below persons. I sent an email earlier today to everyone on the list I built. I also included a very brief statement that can be found after the emails.

mayor@cityofhouston.net

atlarge1@cityofhouston.net

atlarge2@cityofhouston.net

atlarge4@cityofhouston.net

atlarge5@cityofhouston.net

districta@cityofhouston.net

districtd@cityofhouston.net

districtg@cityofhouston.net

districtc@cityofhouston.net

districte@cityofhouston.net

districtf@cityofhouston.net

jessica.willey@abc.com

andy.cerota@abc.com

gene.apodaca@abc.com

dominique@click2houston.com

parcher@click2houston.com

jerome@click2houston.com

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

loren.steffy@chron.com

ken.hoffman@chron.com

rda@rice.edu

info@ghpa.org

ir@weingarten.com

pbender@weingarten.com

gcrump@weingarten.com

aferguson@weingarten.com

jpearson@weingarten.com

Let us not forget our past or the former civic leaders that built Houston to the city it is today. By slowly destroying such wonderful buildings and structures, we are wiping away our history, our heritage, our way of life.

Banking214,

Was it during the Walton and Johnson radio show? Because they're based out of Houston.

Honestly, I never listen to "The Bone". I just happened to be flipping through stations when I heard them talking about Houston. I know it was 2 guys and one sidekick (I think).

I was driving to a meeting yesterday morning and was scanning the stations. Local radio station "The Bone" was talking about crime in Dallas and how it was on the upswing recently. They then began to mention how Houston had a mass influx of refugees after Katrina. Yes Houstons crime did increase, but if it was any other major city, the consequences of such an influx would have been devastating. They gave a huge kudos to the City of Houston, citizens, and the police department in a round about way. This topic is not meant to generate "my city is better than yours" at all. I just want everyone to know that we are Texans first, and should be proud of both cities.

This is why i lease nothing and i dont subscibe to any creative financing!!

I would like to see this tower rise and shine.

I like the term "exotic financing".

I was reading the Chronicle business section this morning and noticed that most foreclosures are between 75k and 125k (or around) loan amounts. So many borrowers with no money and an insane amount of collections with never one bill paid on time. Sure, give them a home.

This is a really a great thread. Makes me really yearn for the days of old school channel 2. I used to love watchiing Ron Stone and Jan Carson when I was a kid. Then on Saturday nights at 6.30 (I think), The Eyes of Texas.

So, where did Shara Fryer go? I always liked her, even though she sometimes seemed a little "blonde".

I say Thrash.

She is scouting NYC for a new pad. Rumour has it.

". . .Texan Becca Cason Thrash is continuing her New York publicity blitz by making more and more appearances in New York. . ."

Airport is just a horrid sight. It is all about first impressions for so many people, you can only imagine what visitors must think. But then we just take them for a quick spin down Memorial or Allen Parkway (but tell them to close their eyes as you pass the federal reserve).

Long Point is not as bad as it once was. We used to call it Gun Point when it was really infested with crime. I think all of the higher end construction north of I-10 in Spring Valley is starting to slowly move towards Long Point. Give it another 5 years and I think it will have cleaned up nicely.

I see that U don't care for streets that run along railroad tracks in addition to two-lane streets with rural influence to em. Adding to the lists:

*East Houston Road -- the only thing new along it is the former Lakewood Church building. Everything else is two lane rural, with residential rural streets leading to rough parts of Settegast.

*Ley Road -- same as above street. Makes Wayside Drive north of the North Loop look decent.

*All of Highway 6 between 290 and 59. Six lanes is well thought of but it traffic is rushing its obsoleteness as a street/highway with stoplights. And TxDot is too slow to do anything about it (overpasses, anyone).

*Westheimer west of Wilcrest somewhere beyond there. A complete lack of street lighting all the way out to Highway 6.

*Holmes Road. **zzzzz**

*Fondren Road. Four words for you: Apartments of Killing Alley.

Hempstead Highway and Galveston Road are the way they are because 290 and 45 parallel these two. They were former routes of them. So in example, it is all the Northwest Freeway's fault that Hempstead Road looks like crap.

*Fondren Road. Four words for you: Apartments of Killing Alley.

Or, to take from a movie "New Jack City"

I completely disagree. The inner loop townhouse/condo market is largely targeted at young professionals who are doing rather well in this economy. I suspect that subprime lending is much prevelant in the financing of all the tract housing being built outside the loop.

Some of those young professionals had spotty credit and only could find financing on 2/28 ARMS at the time. If their credit has not improved, they are in for a hurt when the ARMS start adjusting. I have had a few prospective borrowers contact me that reside in Rice Military. After consulting with them, they have no options due to credit issues. Now their ARMS are set to mature and rates jumping from 6.25 to over 11% in one case. Either sell or foreclose.

We're getting close...

www.hotelzazahouston.com

While this isn't exactly my cup of tea, I think it will be GREAT for the area. The Museum District is so amazingly beautiful but it lacks vitality. Throw in a quality new restaurant (The Monarch), a large Spa (ZaSpa), and revitalize the pool area and cabanas that overlook Hermann Park and you've got a good start. Plus, I hate to admit that the "gay" in me thinks the trashy suite names (Rock Star, Houston We Have A Problem, Outlaw, Geisha...) are quite fun. I can see locals getting a place for the night just to enjoy it.

I hope it is a success and breeds more street life in the area. I'd love to see the Binz area get filled with street-side cafes, corner coffee shops, and other places so that it becomes a true destination for locals and visitors and not just a place for someone to park in a garage.

When ZaZa first opened in Dallas, I thought it was a little over the top. However, as time has progressed, it has grown on me. It is a vibrant, youthful crowd that adds and extra "umph" factor to Uptown.

My thinking was that projects such as this one are targeted at a demographic group that typically has more resources, better credit scores, and better financial management skills. I'm sure that there will always be folks stretching their budget to get in on a high-end place, but I'd expect the proportion of such buyers to be lower than with more affordable housing alternatives.

Credit does not discriminate. You would think that borrowers that can afford such lavish homes would have great credit and reserves. However, I see all too many times borrowers wanting $1 million plus homes that have no money and horrible credit. They want 100%, 6% seller concessions, interest only loans.

With the sub prime and 2nd lien market in chaos, the market is poised for a very tough year. In the past 2 months, 41 lenders have either filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors. The most recent lender is Loan City which closed yesterday. Large scale projects like 2727 are going to find it tough to find prospective buyers to purchase units. Even borrowers with decent credit (660+) are finding money hard to find. The easy money days of lending are over.

There are rumors that Hard Rock plans to scout the Dallas area for a Hard Rock Hotel. If gambling passes, could a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino take the place of Reunion Arena?

After you made that comment, it got me to thinking that what would be really fun would be to get the Greater East End Management District and the City of Houston to sponsor an extended family reunion of sorts, tracking down the descendents and relatives of Sara and her husband Archaleus, to be held in old Harrisburg. The couple lived there at the outbreak of the revolution, and that is where the flag was sewn, then carried into combat by Archaleus and the Harrisburg company of volunteers.

The old town was razed by Santa Anna prior to the battle of San Jacinto, but if the GEEMD installed replicas of historic streetlamps to replace the existing streetlights, then hung replica Dodson flags from them, and unveiled the project on a day of significance in combination with a Dodson/extended-family reunion, that would bring a lot of publicity to the area for them and be a really fun event for everyone else.

In fact, I know someone who knows the GEEMD management. I think I'll leverage my contacts and make a suggestion.

Thanks for the brief tutorial. I did not know they lived in old Harrisburg. A family reunion would be something to look forward to as well.

Thank you! I decided to fly it on HAIF for the week of Texas Independence, since 1) it was flown over Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2nd, 1836, and 2) I'm related to Sara.

Then we are related as well. I did not know much about the flag until my parents decided to hang a replica in their house.

If land were acquired 20 years ago and nothing has happened thus far, why would anybody choose to believe that a recent land acquisition should be any different? Land sales ≠ development.

You clearly don't know what you are talking about, and you won't know what you're talking about until something of significance actually happens because I'm not going to tell you. All I want for you and others to know, as I stated long ago, is that they're awake, and that you can expect great things from east Downtown.

I like the flag. The first flag of Texas designed by Sara Dodson.

The Mondrian is on Central not I-35, so you've either got the highway or the building wrong. Chances are you've got the entire thing wrong, as it seems Trump is all about floating rumors to generate interest in his speaking engagements that he charges for...whatever the case might actually be, if you haven't already, please post this information at dallasmetropolis where it can be discussed properly.

Let me say "Mandarin" Oriental. I was thinking of The Mondrian in LA when I was typing this.

The sources are pretty reliable. I do understand your lack of enthusiasm when it comes to Mr. Trump and his projects. He does tend to make grandoise statments at times. However, this is something that will happen with time. In this case, you should be a little more of an optimist.

Here's the record-again:

I don't know if you're wrong or right. All I did is answer your question. You asked "can some one name the stuff that caters only to the rich?"

I gave you a list. Maybe some will show up in Victory-maybe some won't. Never the less, Victory is geared towards the high end so except for Gomer staggering through the plaza on his way from a tractor pull at the AA, don't expect his cousin/brother/uncle to be stopping by for a latte at the "You Can't Afford Us Coffee Salon so why don't you Haul your Drunken Ass home to Crandall"

BTW, I love Dallas and welcome anything that will bring more people and $$ to the city...but let's not pretend Victory is for anyone like Gomer.

Where is Crandall? Seriously.

planeta bar rio on richmond holds large concerts on weekends.

edit:

Dallas nitelife is cool, bit plastic, but i dig lower greenville & exposition ave

Exposition Ave is pretty cool.

I love the Double Wide and New Amsterdam. NA makes the best Chai tea.

I was talking to someone the other night that is working on another project in the Victory vicinity. It appears as if The Donald is serious (define it) about building in Dallas. The proposed project would be around 700 feet, contain residential/retail/commerical, possibly a hotel. The project is most likely going to be located across from The Mondrian on the vacant stretch of property along 35. The name currently being used: The Apprentice.

Harry Winston is in Highland Park Village. Gucci's in the Galleria. Cartier and Tiffany are in NorthPark and the Galleria. None of those other retailers have been mentioned in connection with Victory as far as I know. Most of the businesses slated for Victory may be expensive but are skewed slightly more yuppie youthful and less old-school -- as in the W Hotel, G Star (clothes), Haven (houseware), headquarters for the upcoming AFI Dallas Film Festival, the Oakville gourmet grocery out of Northern California and clubs like Liquid Sky (with a retractable roof) and Ghostbar.

I can't wait for the new Cartier store to open. Going to be incredible.