OkieEric

This land just sold to "1500 OST LLC", which appears associated with Crosswell Realty Partners (Newquest Crosswell?). Not sure what that means

Some sort of permit issued here regarding filling and grading - have to wonder if it’s related to new floodplain regulations effective Sept 1 as I know net fill rules become more restrictive Project No: 18098972 Date : 2018/08/24 00:00:00 USE : FILL AND GRADE ONLY Owner/Occupant : *KEITH SIMON, 7200 MAIN CORPORATION Job Address : 7200 MAIN ST 77030 Valuation : $ 0 Permit Type : PX FCC Group : Structures Other than Buildings Buyer : *TBD Address : 7200 MAIN ST 77030 Phone : (512) 501-4323

Crane was going up yesterday:

This property was bought by A&M last year to house their EnMed program https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/A-M-focusing-on-Houston-with-purchase-of-land-12271197.php https://tees.tamu.edu/news/2018/04/06/enmed-program-obtains-lcme-approval-to-move-forward/ So no fancy mixed-use development, but will at least be renovated. Still holding out hope for 7200 Main just down the street....someday

Methodist has built a child care center on the western extent of this plot in the last couple of years. Not sure it's legit enough for a "going up!" post just yet but there have also been some recent permits for Methodist that appear to be related to an office building + garage. Currently most of the land is occupied by Hunt construction and temporary buildings (presumably related to other construction in the area) PROJECT_NO PERMIT_DESC OWNER_OCCUPANT Address PROJECT_DESC CURRENT_VALUATION PERMIT_TYPE 18049409 Expedited Com *HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL 7550 GREENBRIAR DR 77030 (EPR) SITEWORK & FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING '12 IBC 0 EC 18049409 Plan Review Fee *HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL 7550 GREENBRIAR DR 77030 (EPR) SITEWORK & FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING '12 IBC 0 PX 18049409 Express Review *HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL 7550 GREENBRIAR DR 77030 (EPR) SITEWORK & FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING '12 IBC 0 SX 18049483 Plan Review Fee *HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL 7550 GREENBRIAR DR GARAG 77030 (EPR) FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GARAGE '12 IBC 0 PX

There's a banner for WGW Architects - their website now directs you to "W Partnership" http://www.wpartnership.com/ Given the angles and brick I'm wondering if it will wind up similar to Hanover Rice Village, also from WGW. I did notice there was some drywall work on first and second floor near the corner so hopefully the garage is somewhat hidden

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/See-what-the-Astroworld-site-looks-like-50-years-12954611.php?ipid=hpctp Per the article the HSLR now owns all of the former Astroworld land. As someone who frequents that stretch of 610, it's truly uninspiring that such a large, relatively prime (and should be more so with TMC3 and other TMC developments) piece of land is now essentially used as parking for a few weeks a year. The rest of the year an extremely small fraction houses sheds, parking shuttles, and various other pieces of equipment. It's amazing the HSLR has so much cash they can just essentially sit on a huge tract of land that "could" have buildings someday. I can't fault them for doing so, but sheesh that tract is ugly in its current form

Has anyone else read up on these? I saw the headlines a few weeks back but hadn't really read in any detail until lately, and honestly after doing so I'm having a hard time understanding some of the logic of the new regulations. To summarize, whereas previously new construction within 100 year floodplain had to be built to the 100 year floodplain + 1 foot, now new construction within the 500 year floodplain must be built floodplain + 2 feet. The argument for the change is laid out in the following document: http://www.houstontx.gov/council/g/chapter19/Floodplain-Mgmt-Data-Analysis.pdf The gist of the argument is that, of the 31,822 homes in the floodplain that were studied, 84% of those structures would have avoided flooding had they been elevated at the 500 year floodplain + 2 ft The error in logic that I see is that it is acknowledged in a few places that FEMA is releasing new floodplain maps for Houston within the next few months, and I think everyone realizes that the old floodplain maps were either terribly outdated or just totally inaccurate. Either way, wouldn't it have made more sense to wait until the new floodplain maps are released and then use them as a guide for what the appropriate new building level should be? As is, we are using inaccurate maps (note that a higher % of homes flooded within 500 year floodplain in Harvey than 100 year floodplain) to set new building restrictions; at the same time, the new maps are likely to show a vastly increased 100 and 500-year floodplain (at least in certain watersheds). I definitely have a personal interest in these new floodplain restrictions as my house is at the edge of the current 100 year floodplain though it has never flooded. It just seems like these new restrictions were rushed knowing that a key critical element (the FEMA maps themselves) are set to be revised in the coming months. The nearest gauge to me indicates a 4.3' difference in 100 and 500 year elevations, so could potentially be a huge deal in my neighborhood though hopefully Project Brays has offset some of this Am I missing something here?

A "Notice of Termination of Protective Covenants" was recorded by Shell on this property with Harris County Clerk yesterday and signed by a Shell manager of deals & projects. Not sure what this means but hopefully something is imminent

Governor, Turner, TMC officials to announce new project https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Texas-governor-Greg-Abbot-Houston-Mayor-and-med-12857083.php

Various permits (including building) issued last Friday

Exactly how I heard it as well... I even heard $ mentioned. I’m a bit surprised not a single news article yet as this was really (as I understand it) the final hurdle for this to move forward

UT Regents set to discuss (and potentially vote) on TMC3 again on Monday, March 19. Not much info in Agenda

Not much of an update, but apparently the school has delayed it's move due to construction delays on their new campus - planned move is May 2019 There are a handful of new survey markers that cut across the property at the end of Glen Haven but who knows what that could mean. I was hoping we'd get a glimpse of something with the N. Braeswood abandonment process but can't find anything on that, either New nearby developments include new HCC building, Latitude & Intercontinental, new Allen Harrison South Main building (just to the south), and A&M buying 1020 Holcombe for it's EnMed program. Plenty of activity nearby, so hopefully something eventually happens here

I don't know if they post minutes of the meetings, but here is a paraphrased version of the motion: "I move that the UT System Board of Regents authorize the Chancellor to work actively to assure UT system participation.....upon satisfaction of the following actions: a.) Philanthropy is achievable b.) In recognition of current financial challenges, condition participation on some "other entity" covering the cost of the helix, actively seek financial support from city of Houston and state of Texas c.) Assure UT institutions are protected from potential situation of paying for non-usable space d.) Seek legal opinion from AG if any questions remain...blah blah e.) Secure commitment with selection of an experienced 3rd party for managing real estate development f.) Document additional reviews and approvals as required for the planned construction of the new individual research buildings. Board approval to be required to include costs in capital improvement plan...." In particular, b.) doesn't sound like much of a commitment. After listening yet again I'm not quite sure what to make of it...

I guess I wasn't the only one listening (or trying to) listen in. I had to listen to the motion a second time to ensure I understood it, with so many caveats listed. Pretty exciting news, regardless

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3566986 I don't completely understand the height of this thing - one of the renderings in the article above make this appear taller than the Latitude

Wow, that was great and very informative. By far the most information that's been made public. Pretty cool that apparently even Apple has some level of interest... The big take away for me is that this all (obviously) hinges on UT's approval, which could hopefully come as early as November 27th I'm not sure how you watch that video and not approve TMC3, but the regents had some good, legitimate questions

Finally! Should have been a simple fix, but I feel like it (and well, Harvey) really killed activity on the site

Heavy equipment there now...looks like a go (finally)

Quite the hotel boom for TMC...there are these 2, the Blossom hotel, the Intercontinental, the Embassy suites (which has had some permitting activity lately), the new Residence Inn (appears to finally be happening), and various other smaller, new hotels that have popped up along South main. There's also the supposed TMC3 hotel as well, but who knows if/when that one will ever come together

One thing is for certain: be ready to start seeing "no water during Harvey!" as a key phrase in real estate listings over the next decade or so. The flooding was so widespread from this that many buyers, when looking at a new property listing, will have no idea whether or not it previously flooded based on general location alone. The question is whether people will care - that is, are they going to view Harvey as a "once in a lifetime" event (see Allison) and thus discount any flooding from Harvey, or whether they view this as some sort of new normal to avoid at all costs. I think initially people may be concerned with whether the property flooded (especially since so many locals just went through the experience), but if we expect more normal weather patterns for a few years it will matter considerably less with time. I know if I were to look to sell my house ("no water during Harvey!" but we had our moments) and buy another soon, it's certainly something I would want to know and perhaps avoid even though I keep hearing it was a "1000 year flood" event. Longer-term I'd certainly care less I really do wonder what's going to happen with the houses impacted by Barker/Addicks. Many that have NEVER flooded may be flooded for weeks - what kind of impact is that going to have?

Has anyone see anything on how the medical center fared during this? From what I've seen it remained operational though obviously access was limited I am curious to see if we ever get any statistics regarding the impact of Project Brays on Harvey. My house (and many others in Old Braeswood/Braeswood area) are in the 100 yr flood plain, but didn't take any water from this event. It's unfortunate they did not start work on the stretch to Meyerland until just last month but seems to bode well for future flood mitigation along Brays I know of some water rescues from Braes Heights area but can only imagine what this would have been like without this project. Obviously the floods of the past few years show that we need to take a closer look at many other watersheds. The real question is whether we can really still look at Tax Day/Harvey/etc as "500 year"-type events

Lots of permits (including building permit) issued today, so hopefully get some news (and rendering) soon. The groundbreaking ceremony was a couple of weeks back as that tent has been gone for a while. There are also a few more brick combinations out there LOL In somewhat-related news, I'm really impressed with the Project Brays construction going on - I thought I'd hate more concrete but the walls upstream of this spot give it more of a canal-type feel. I had thought they were going to replace the lower trails to place in the middle of the lower shelf but so far they are still right on the edge of the liner. The upper trails are definitely being replaced

One thing that strikes me about this is the large blank wall along the northern face of the hotel, visible in Hindesky's photo above. It sure seems to lend some credence to a future project on the BW hotel site (well, former BW). I can't find any renderings from the north side to figure out what this side will look like upon completion