102IAHexpress

There is really no reason to turn down the development when you think about it. This city is building building building!

Sure there is. It's a historical district. Have you ever seen developers grovel before the commission? It's pretty good tv. Their meetings are aired every other Wednesday I think on one of the public access channels. I think HCC tv or city of Houston tv, something like that.

I know details are light but do we know if this will be condos for sale or apts for lease?

METRO gets more return on their investment on light rail than they do buses.  It is cheaper to transport a rail rider in Houston than a bus rider.  That is a fact.

Nonsense. That's like saying it cheaper to transport a passenger on the Queen Marry 2 vs my personal motor vessel. Yes it may be cheaper to operate on a passenger per mile basis, but you're ignoring the billion(s) of dollars it cost to design and build the thing. And let me know if it's still cheaper to operate in a few months once the red line is complete.

No. 

 

It would take more money than we've ever invested in light rail to create a "world class" bus system in Houston.

Sorry but it doesn't take hundreds of millions of dollars to create a world class bus system in Houston.

We "invested" in light rail? I wonder how that investment paid off for all the small business owners along main street, where are they now?

They were thinking something like around $20 for lunch for two.

I'm assuming they're watching Wicked at the Hobby Center? That's on the edge of downtown and there's a lot of light rail construction there on the weekends. Not very pedestrian friendly i'm afraid. Market square is more than a half mile away so probably not good if they don't want to walk far. Hard Rock café is best for your budget, distance and time limitations. The food is not great though, as good as TGI Fridays imo.

I don't know of a transit bus system that does more with less than Houston's bus system. We could have a world class bus system if weren't for the stupid light rail. As to youngers and what they want... I don't really care. They are moving from cities that have failed them, so what do they know about great urban lifestyle or great cities for that matter. There are no simple answers but if I were king of Houston I would get rid of the burdensome building/construction process around north downtown due to the historical district. You would lose some history but, Houston is about looking to the future not looking at the past.

the topic is downtown the neighborhood. not Houston the city. I don't care about rail, pedestrian utopias, bayou parks or trails or any other gimmick. If tourists want those amenities in downtown, that's fine but let them pay for them, don't increase my taxes. I just want a grocery store like every other neighborhood in this city. A dry cleaners that is open 7 days a week. A bank ATM I can access on the weekends.( No not a private ATM like inside a Franks pizza). Just the basics. that's what downtown needs.

There's nothing holding downtown down. It's doing just fine.

Downtown, the central business district is doing fine.

Downtown, the neighborhood is on life support.

By definition a neighborhood needs people, community, neighbors. Downtown Houston has almost none of those traits.

You have to get the basics in place first. You need a grocery store. Don't say Georgia's and Phonecia because I live in downtown and those stores are useless to me. Downtown needs a real grocery store.

I LOVE this building but hate the location. It doesn't mesh well AT ALL with the other buildings around it. It looks very alien---like it just doesn't belong. I think this building would be better suited for an area near DG or uptown. I think it is a GREAT addition but to be so bold and center like that would, IMO, take away from the north view skyline.

The tower if built would be just outside the historic district so they are free to build what they want.

http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/maps_of_districts/MainStMarket.pdf

But I agree it is out of place for that neighborhood.

That block would be better served with residential. But that's just my two cents.

I wouldn't feel safe in the lower unit. way too close to the street. wouldn't take much for a car to jump the curb and land in your living room.

I wish I had a solution. But I got nothing. The space seems too big for the kind of volume downtown offers. I'll just throw a suggestion,  what if Franks Pizza moved into that space?

I found it really odd that they thought it made sense to put 16 of the 21 stations downtown. That's a really foolish allocation, I'd say. Still, glad it's expanding.

I thought so too. But I think it has to do with their pricing model. Base fee + check out fee. Check out is free if the bike is checked out less than one hour. After one hour you pay an additional two dollars every half hour the bike is checked out. But the checkout is "extended" if you check-in to another station before your free one hour expires. So the more stations there are within a close proximity the easier it is to continue to check-in and out for free.

That being said, I still don't know who this mode of transportation caters to? Locals? Tourists? I live in downtown. I go to a lot of rockets and dynamo games. If I want to ride a bike share bicycle to the stadium and back that's $8 for a three hour game. $16 if a friend joins me. At that price point I would rather ride the bus or share a cab. And that does not take into account the bike share base fee.

Anyways, I've started to see more stations around downtown.

anyone with any sense would walk to a closer theater that is as good or better than the alternative, regardless of the bum situation.  when i lived in chicago and new york, i went to the closest grocery store.  i didn't go to the one farther out of the way through the ghetto (especially if I had a female with me).  this is a pretty unremarkable concept.  i'm not sure why people are giving 102IAH a hard time about using common sense.  (although it is fairly comical that most of them don't live downtown.)

It's also comical that i have been to HP more times in the last month than most of the posters have gone in the last year. Talk about some whining babys.

Since it's fun to play arm chair real estate developer, what is your theory as to why HP has not reached its full retail potential?

Good news on Skybar. I hadn't realized it was that far along. I've known about Comcast Sportsnet Studios, but is the TV studios a net positive for HP? Isn't that just less available square feet for ground level retail? Or is this an indication of what's really to come? more comercial space leased at the expense of retail at HP?

Who said my fiance wants to help the bums outside of work? Did i say that? She could lose her licence for that. The whole point is that we don't want to help the bums outside the proper channels. We just want to go on our merry way.  She doesn't want to talk to them anymore than i do.

Anyways.

HP has filed for banruptcy, the bookstore is gone, Yao's is gone or is leaving? And only rumors of new tenants but nothing confirmed. This thread died a long time ago.

I thought so. But if we cant handle the first weekend of the rodeo and the all star game at the same time, then can we seriously handle bigger events like the Olympics? I would have liked to at least try the Rodeo and All Star game at the same time, so we could apply lessons learned to an olympic bid...

My fiance works for  MHMRA of Harris County and is assigned to the Harris County Jail. She works with most mentally disturbed people in the county. In fact she has commited her life to them. She sees them five days a week eight hours a day. When she gets home after work she does not want to be harrased by any more mentally disturbed people then she has to on the way to a resteraunt. sometimes it's not as easy as just saying no thank you and walking away. Sometimes bums are seriously mentally ill and are a danger to themselves and others. Sometimes they are just bums and want money and nothing more. I don't want to do a case study on bums. I would rather just avoid them if i could. HP designed their development poorly. I don't want it to fail, i just don't think it's realisitic to think it will suceed... But what do i know, i just live here.

Actually i put my money where my mouth is. I live and work in downtown. My fiance lives and works in Downtown. We are fully commited to this neighborhood. But i am also realistic. and i know Downtown's limitations. I'm sorry that hurts your feelings so much. But i don't have any control over your feelings. There's a reason why there is a network of tunnel's underneath the streets of downtown. Thousands of people prefer the tunnels. HP decided to build their development without tunnel access. That's there choice in a free market, but they will get no sympathy from me when the alienated locals flock somewhere else...

Maybe you don't live in downtown, but I do. And getting bummed on a regular basis gets annoying fast. The farther you walk the more times you get bummed. Simple science. It has nothing to do with laziness, I regularly cross the entire tunnel system during lunch, it rather has to do with peace of mind. I'm okay with getting bummed once on they way to Sundance, but not 3 times on the way to HP. But maybe HP knows something I don't? maybe they're turning big profits over there?

HP seemed promising at first, but the moment the residential component was axed, it made the task of supplying downtown locals too difficult. No tunnel access for the daytime crowd did not help. And I cant speak for all of downtown's residents but I live at Rice Lofts and for me HP is too far to walk to on a regular basis. As far as the rumored movie theatre goes, why would I walk farther and get bummed more when I can get a better experience at sundance just down the street from me?

Why start the Rodeo after the All Star game? Was it a blown opportunity not to host both at the same time? Why not have Lebron James be the grand marshal of the Rodeo Parade instead of the coach of the Aggies?

Snapped a shot of the new sign. Is it me, or does it look just like the old one?

I really tried to support this place, but it's too frustrating. The bulk bins are empty and have not been restocked in weeks. Produce sits out for days. I walked over today to buy dishwasher detergent and the shelf was empty. Who is their target customer? Is it the m-f worker crowd or the local downtown resident crowd?

Anyways their website (the downtown website) is down for non payment.

http://georgiasdowntown.com/