OkieEric

This isn't worthy of a new thread, but while the area is "losing" this hotel it looks like a couple of more modern chains are moving in/expanding (result of the Super Bowl?)

 

There's a "Residence Inn Medical Center" planned for a vacant lot near Kirby & Main:

 

ftp://PlatViewer:Viewer4DRC@edrc.houstontx.gov/2015/Applications/2015-0419/SubdivisionPlatPDF_81-15.pdf

 

and based on permits the construction @ 9300 Main St is a new Holiday Inn Express

Both of these chains already exist in the medical center, and not far from these sites.  Clearly this isn't the area for some boutique hotel but talk about some unexciting developments

Looks like they did buy that property on Buffalo Speedway - address is 9714 Buffalo Speedway.  It also references 1520 Oliver St (InTown homes)

 

Obviously we are looking at another large townhome/patio home development, which is certainly an improvement over what was there

 

 

The sign on the current building really bugs me, looks like something on a strip mall.  I only point that out so hopefully we don't get a repeat

 

I thought this was perhaps infringing on the area noted in the renderings for 7200 Main (I'm holding onto that unlikely dream) but I don't think it does

 

Either way, within a few blocks you've got this (states construction starting in May), Texas Children's new 25 story tower, the 17 story hotel/apartment tower (hopefully, at least sign is still up) @ 6750 Main St, and the new DeBakey High all potentially going up around the same time

 

OT, but are there any plans to rework Main St through the Med Center?  I suppose it is functional, but you've now got reasonably decent concrete intersections with patchwork-quilt type asphalt in most areas.  Also, OT (but same area), I have not been impressed at all with the ReBuild Houston efforts on Holcombe (particularly West-bound) at all to this point.  They've already cut back out squares in freshly paved areas

 

It's HOK.  The Pickard Chilton design was for another conceptual development shown in the same HOK brochure (also broken link), not 7200 Main

 

That said, I'm not holding my breath for 7200 Main at this point

I'm trying, but I can't find a single thing I like about the look of that design - even the color is awful.  Did someone seriously request those columns?  I mean, come on

 

If this is some kind of experiment by Surge I would recommend trying it out on less expensive real estate.  Looking at the rest of the site the designs are somewhat boring and benign but certainly easier on the eyes.  If you want to appeal to the masses it's probably better to keep it that way

Thanks goodness...I hate those columns.  Will be interesting to see what they come up with to individualize the storefronts

 

The only reference to Highland Village was to the storefronts there, which are undeniably more visually appealing than the Village Arcade.  Breaking up that blandness for what sounds like a minimal investment sounds great to me

You can use the city's GIS system to make similar maps - show neighborhood boundaries, land use, etc.  There's actually quite a bit of functionality though navigating around takes some getting used to

 

 

http://mycity.houstontx.gov/public/

HCAD shows built 1960 but that's notoriously inaccurate

 

Historic aerials "might" show a gap there in 1957 but it could just be washed out so tough to tell.  Either way that is the exact spot, no doubt

 

Thank you for saving countless future hours of searching 

gnu nailed it!  That's got to be correct

 

if I'm looking at it correctly there is still a single story structure there where Mary's was

Yes, it lives up to the hype.  I haven't been in a long while, though.  We went a few years ago and probably had the best waiter I've ever had - very friendly and knowledgeable and truly went above and beyond expectations.  The food was also great, of course.  Due to travels with work I've been to a lot of nice restaurants but that waiter (an older gentleman) really stands out in my mind

 

We had a great meal and wine for < $150 or so.  I'm guessing there's been some price inflation since then but it's a great place if you are willing to spend a little

I tried and probably wasted time...  I thought perhaps an archive news search of "Mary's Cafe" would help and the best I could find was a Mary's Cafe that existed in Bloomington, TX.  The owner, Mary RItchey, retired in 1972 after being open for ~20 years.  The article below also mentions it was "next to the service station"

 

Article

 

So right timeline and next to a service station, but it's perhaps a bit far from Houston and unfortunately I couldn't find any historic imagery.  Plus 404 runs NW/SE so that wouldn't seem to fit with the whole shadow thing

The garage is still being used and will apparently undergo some renovation after the new DeBakey High School is built adjacent to it

I've noticed that as well and thought maybe it had something to do with the planned Buffalo Lakes development down there that apparently never happened

 

If you look at the Buffalo Lakes master plan there was some sort of drainage/retention pond that somewhat mirrored the location of the ditch.

 

Buffalo Lakes

I didn't attend the meeting but Old Braeswood POA sent out a summary that confirms the location as the Hornberger Conference Center.  From the email:

 

Original plan was to add floors to the parking garage, but it was not feasible

 

Site will be 2.5 acres bounded by Holcombe, Pressler, Main St, and Montclair

 

The school will consist of 2 5-story structures connected by a 4 story atrium and have room for 900 to 1000 students.  Construction will start in November

 

The TMC parking garage on Holcombe will be renovated after school is built

 

 

HMLs or UFOs?  I hadn't really noticed high mast lights until they started installing them along the southern stretch of 610, as well as 45 S.  I knew immediately what this UFO was when it was in the news last month

There was a Bank of America drive through there before, so I guess they are just replacing it...seems like good real estate for what I'm sure will be a generic bank branch, but then again across Main St is a Pizza Hut

Agreed...but Pressler is a weird street that goes from E/W to N/S.  The Montclair addresses along the same stretch are even numbers on the west side of the street

Well now I'm confused.  This link does show 2160 Pressler but per google that is around Shriner's and the HCC building area.  The HCC building is 1900 Pressler so not sure I trust google maps for Pressler addresses

 

http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/71974

 

The link says they are working with the Texas Medical Center to find a new home.  The actual video I linked looks to be filmed inside of Hornberger and they say something about being on the site of the new campus

 

Also, Trevisio's website states the conference center closed on May 1, 2014:

 

http://www.trevisiorestaurant.com/Hornberger_center.html

 

I also would hope the Old Braeswood POA would have been given the proper location of the new school

 

 

EDIT:  OK, in looking over some of the Project Advisory Team (PAT) minutes it sounds as if the parking garage will stay, just the conference center itself will likely go.  Plus if you watch the video it's clear that the garage on W Holcombe will remain as it's in the background of some of the renderings.  Looks like quite a bit of the "Shamrock parking lot" will actually remain

 

 

Old Braeswood POA sent out a notice for a meeting regarding construction of the new DeBakey High School in the medical center.  Per the notice it will be built "on the site of the Hornberger Conference Center."  I guess this means the last piece of the Shamrock is coming down?

 

Construction is to begin later this year

 

I looked around for some renderings and could only find something on the HISD blog:

 

http://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2014/06/03/video-highlights-how-design-is-shaping-up-for-new-debakey-high-school/

Plan Review Fee for new apartments just out.  Does anyone know if anything useful can be gleaned from that Use code?  Still can't find anything else on this

 

  Project No: 14084005 Date : 2014/09/04 00:00:00 USE : NEW APTS 1-5-3-R2-B-FA/SPK IBC06 110455S Owner/Occupant : *HAVEN AT MAIN Job Address : 8700 MAIN ST BLD1A 77025 Valuation : $ 0 Permit Type : PX FCC Group : Apartments Buyer : *GUEFEN DEVELOPMENT Address : 8700 MAIN ST 77025 Phone : (817) 797-6156

 

I hate to revive an old thread, but this is the most relevant one I could find

 

We live in a ~1940 2 story pier and beam home.  We bought the house in late 2012, and in the inspection report there were some issues some piers that were corrected.  The soil itself under the house was not very level, so the previous owners had some guys come in (not sure how reputable, guessing not) and add quite a bit.  They actually added so much that the inspector said they had to take some back out as it was impossible to actually crawl under the house.  So yeah, hence the not sure how reputable part

 

Anyway, over the winter last year I noticed a new crack along the stairwell.  Thought I would just keep an eye on it....and while it hasn't seemed to grow any, today I finally got around to peeking under the house.  I thought maybe with the rain I would check and see if any water was pooling down there or anything, and apparently I have found the exact opposite.  The ground is so dry under an area of the house that there are some huge cracks in the soil.  Worse, there is a small bathroom under the stairs on slab and I could see void space underneath it from where the newer dirt has pulled away.  I was about to just push dirt back under it but from what I've read that could lead to future problems if/when moisture finds its way back down there

 

So long story, but does anyone have recommendations for even smaller jobs?  There's just the single crack in the drywall that would seem to be at least partially attributed to the area that has dried out and pulled away from the small slab.  If it seems reasonable to assume we are at close to normal moisture levels the solution would seem to be to just push dirt back under there....but I'd rather not pay huge $$ for that.  From what I could see the remaining piers looked fine

It's not that hard if you've been to cities that have it usually bikes have their own green light and there is a separate turn light

 

I hope so...the article only mentions adding signals for those on bikes headed east

 

Looks like there is a wave of cities doing this.  This article from Pittsburgh specifically says that they won't be adding dedicated signals so I don't think it's a given

 

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/business-leaders-cheer-protected-bike-lanes-into-busy-downtown-pittsburgh

 

Apparently Seattle has a pretty good set up

 

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/7-lessons-from-seattles-spectacular-broadway-protected-bike-lanes

 

 

Edit:  Common sense kicked in - surely they'd use the far right lane else some sort of crossover would be required once you reach the west side of downtown

Do they indicate which lane it would be?  I use Lamar daily and can only imagine having to turn and dodge pedestrians while simultaneously watching my mirror for approaching bicyclists.  I also see accidents along here unless they ban turns that cross the bike lane

There's a new sign up on the site with the above rendering and "Coming 2017"

 

No indication of hotel brand

I refuse to believe that this will wind up being the name of the complex - it just makes no sense.  Typically "Upper Kirby" is the name creep over this particular part of Montrose

 

The LLC was formed October of last year and the sale wasn't until April/May of this year so maybe it was originally formed for another deal that fell through?

 

Anyway, hard to tell much from that "rendering" but I'm impressed with the height of these new complexes (like the Susanne) in the area.  Just imagine if the Admiral Linen plot gets developed into a midrise and Read King finally goes vertical on that center at Shepherd and W Alabama.  I lived in the area until very recently and W Alabama always made for a nice commute in - I suspect that is changing