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OkieEric

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Everything posted by OkieEric

  1. So anyway, at least one local university president is open to UT's plans: http://www.chron.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/TSU-president-open-to-working-with-UT-on-Houston-6738438.php
  2. No more Baker St - per the news article Trademark elected not to renew. A sign of things to come? Always seemed to have a decent crowd though I haven't been in a couple of years http://www.chron.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/article/Baker-St-Pub-in-Rice-Village-closes-6735936.php
  3. I think you are right - I noticed they were doing some dirt work there over the weekend and thought maybe they were going to pave the parking lot. They may have already started on this Edit: Looking at the rendering again and considering this is just "off" Holcombe, it might actually be that lot on Almeda near Holcombe. The white buildings in the background of the rendering appear to match up with existing buildings in that location
  4. The Houston metro area is nearly 1/4 of the state's population. Just thought i would throw that out there as to me it's difficult to really illustrate which areas of the state are "underserved". If UT wants to create a research campus somewhere in the state to support all of its campuses, why not Houston? (I admit that it's not exactly clear to me how this hub will "support" the other schools in the system) Also, James White is from Houston and has graduate degrees from UH: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_White_(Texas_politician)
  5. Hmm... I'm starting to see a common theme here: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/lawmaker-asks-coordinating-board-to-stop-uts-expansion-into-houston.html/ Carol Alvarado: UH graduate http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/texas-senator-objects-to-ut-systems-houston-expansion.html/ John Whitmire: UH graduate The article posted earlier today had 19 signatures including Sylvester Turner (UH grad) and Alvarado. Granted, a lot of the others are not from UH, but the grumblings from some of these folks makes me wonder whether they are more interested in what's best for the city of Houston or their alma mater. From what I've read it doesn't seem that the purchase can actually be blocked, but I don't like the fact that Turner signed
  6. More whining... Are any Rice or other non-UH graduates against UT's plans? Just curious http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/State-reps-ask-UT-to-step-back-from-Houston-6692292.php So is there any way (through public records or other) to verify when/if UT closes on the land? I've tried some online searching on the County Clerk's office but no luck
  7. Not much to report on this, but took some pics today. They've been up to this few a few weeks now - I really haven't seen any activity during the day but they were working into the night the other night A "shoring-earth retention" permit was issued recently that listed "GS TMC JV, LLC" as the buyer with an address associated with Greystar. So at least they do appear to be behind this
  8. Well, I looked some but didn't find much. Demo permit is as follows: Project No: 15118681 Date : 2015/12/08 00:00:00 USE : DEMO RES/ SEWER DISC Owner/Occupant : *ASHWIN PATEL Job Address : 9000 MAIN ST 77025 Valuation : $ 0 Permit Type : SD FCC Group : Demo; Single Familty Dwelling Buyer : *DENNIS WILLIAMS & COMPANY, IN Address : 1748 OAK TREE 77080 Phone : (713) 465-7231 Searched for Ashwin Patel and per Linkedin it looks like he works for Staybridge Suites. Never heard of it but apparently it's an IHG brand. Here's an article about one they opened off 249 last year in which he is quoted: http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?PageID=116&NewsID=3291 So yeah...unfortunately not all that exciting, but sure beats what's there now. I thought I noticed they had done some improvements at the Medical Inn and Suites so I'm wondering if they are going to somehow rehab the existing property or really demo the whole thing. It's a pretty outdated design, though
  9. Drum roll........ They're digging a hole in the street at the corner of Travis and Old Main under the existing power lines, so I assume this is utilities-related. That said, Medistar, TRC Capital Partners, and Greystar are all apparently involved in this development and none of them list this as an active project on their website at present. I would like to think that they wouldn't bother with this step unless it was moving forward but who knows
  10. Nothing for a couple of days, but the road is closed off now (though somehow there were still cars parked on it). I saw a dump truck and a backhoe out there this morning on the street but there wasn't any activity yet I will try to get a better look later today to try to figure out what is going on. No permitting activity, so while it sure seems this has to be related to the hotel/apartments I'm not 100% sure. I just recall during the discussion with the planning commission there was a mention of working with CenterPoint to bury utilities
  11. It's been quiet, but ran by today and noticed there was a new sign on the lot saying that Old Main would be closed 11/16 - 12/2. I'll take that as a positive sign, hopefully they are starting on the utilities?
  12. I sure hope so, but I'm guessing this would be on a reasonably long timeframe. I don't know much about those apartments along Westridge, but man there are a lot of them Just imagine with this, a potentially re-purposed astrodome (?), the new TMC3 campus, the various other expansions ongoing in the med center, and things are really looking up for this part of town
  13. Saw a few news articles on this today... http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/UT-to-open-research-center-in-SW-Houston-6612665.php http://www.texastribune.org/2015/11/05/ut-system-plans-open-new-campus-houston/ A copy of the presentation with some conceptual renderings is @ http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/news/university-of-texas-is-coming-to-houston/
  14. This has been fenced off for a week or so, building permit just issued Project No: 15083796 Date : 2015/11/04 00:00:00 USE : (EPR)HI-RISE HOSPITAL REMODEL/CORE ADDIT Owner/Occupant : *TEXAS CHILDRENS HOSPITAL Job Address : 6651 MAIN ST 77030 Valuation : $ 158,517,000 Permit Type : 13 FCC Group : Non-Residential Alteration Buyer : KUBIN DAVID Address : 1906 AFTON ST 77055 Phone : (713) 680-2132
  15. Agreed. To be honest, the more I look at it the more this seems like kind of an odd, isolated spot for something like this - yes, I realize this will change in the coming years but there are other denser, more walkable areas that already exist. If you work downtown it's not impossible to walk, but it's not particularly convenient or safe. It's also not near the rail line. This is just an assumption on my part but I would think people willing to live in smaller units would do so in order to be right in the middle of the action (downtown or maybe midtown). Or maybe there is just a segment of the population out there that really want to live in a condo for some reason but that can't afford the new ones going up in downtown and uptown That said, I did see that they are sponsoring Houston Whatever Fest: http://houstonwhateverfest.com/sponsorship and given the Facebook, Instagram, and website are now all up and running hopefully we will find out some more soon
  16. This seems even less likely than the Ivy Lofts, but I hope this is built - it just defies logic But seriously, I feel like there is some sort of optical illusion with that pool. Is that supposed to be for the entire complex?
  17. I'm a bit skeptical of this one, so I've tried doing some research without much success The owner per the plat and HCAD is Novel Creative Development LLC The given address per HCAD is 5713 160TH STFRESH MEADOWS NY 11365-1443 and per the plat it is3711 Southmore Blvd #408Houston, TX 77004 which is a unit in the Nubia Square apartments unless I am mistaken. I can't really find anything associated with the addresses above If you check google street view there was a for sale sign on the property back in September 2014 but it appears Novel has owned it since November 2014 Obviously this is a decent parcel of land so there is money behind this somewhere. EaDo is a hot area but when you hear about first floor retail and then see that drone footage something just doesn't click - there's still a lot of vacant land/industrial/etc. I guess in general that area is lacking retail so the townhouse development + however many people would be in this "mirco unit" tower could support something. To me it just seems a bit early for something like this to pop up Anyway, whatever the case I seriously doubt groundbreaking will be in a "few weeks". Would be happy to come back and eat crow on this one, though, as I'd love to see towers on the east side of downtown
  18. Another permit for "plan review fee", but this time it lists the buyer as Greystar along with a Greystar-associated address. Hopefully getting closer to making this one official Project No: 15091823 Date : 2015/10/08 00:00:00 USE : FOUNDATION ONLY W/UNDERGROUND UTILITY 20 Owner/Occupant : *GREYSTAR-TMC Job Address : 1850 OLD MAIN ST 77030 Valuation : $ 0 Permit Type : PX FCC Group : Structures Other than Buildings Buyer : *GREYSTAR Address : 750 BERING 200 77057 Phone : (713) 479-8962
  19. That's really going to stand out there. Hopefully we don't get a beige box
  20. Checked to see if there was any new detail and there are new entries for Points H1 through H5 showing 196' and 244' - must be for the hotel component https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=267260219&row=54 https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=267260225&row=46
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