Jump to content

Ross

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,561

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    5

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Ross

  1. Ross
    Nope, that's not an elementary school. That's the current location of the Energy Institute High School. It used to be Dodson Elementary, but that school was closed and combined with Blackshear. Once the new Energy building at Southmore and Tierwester is complete, HISD may move another school there while renovations or new build occur.
  2. Ross
    Those companies aren't in business to slake your architecture appetites. Want awesome towers? Move to the Middle East, where they have the money to build something with a different design, and don't really care about how bad or unusable the floor layouts are.
  3. Ross
    The angle of the grid likely had more to do with prevailing winds than anything. East and West are the bad directions for sun. South can be dealt with by some minimal window shades.
  4. Ross
    Keep in mind it was demolished in 1983, a time when no one may have wanted an old building in that area. I haven't seen any details on condition, but the owners would have kept it if they could have made money renting it out.
  5. Ross
    Sounds like a winnable protest for unequal appraisal
  6. Ross
    The ordinance doesn't apply to trees on private property. Only trees on the City right of way. If the removed trees were on a lot, the City doesn't have any control .
  7. Ross

    Humble ST Camp

    Ross replied to Ross's topic in Historic Houston

    ExxonMobil donated most of its historical collection to UT Austin. There might be something there.
  8. Ross
    That's hilarious, since there's no way to get the bullet train there without using eminent domain on a bunch of properties that belong to people with the money to fight. Bullet train terminus belongs at Northwest Mall.
  9. Ross
    Bob Onstead was not a Mormon, he was a member of the Church of Christ. He refused to sell alcohol because he thought it was destructive to families.
  10. Ross

    Shiplap

    Ross replied to Dean3326's topic in Other Texas Places

    We looked at a few houses in the Sixth Ward years back that had the exposed shiplap. In general, the cheesecloth was removed, the nail heads made flush, and the wood stained and varnished. Some of the nail heads were shiny, some looked like they had been touched up with paint to match the stain, so they weren't obvious.None of the houses had sealed the joints between boards to make them less visible.
  11. Ross
    I guess that means the two taller buildings will get demolished. That should be interesting to watch. I drove by there the other day, and the East half is pretty much just dirt. The smaller building towards the back is a pile of rubble, and the bunker looking 2 story is gutted. There was a pile mountain of what looked like desks or filing cabinets next to the tall buildings.
  12. Ross
    Absolutely. $41k per year is only $800 per week. As long as they've been in business, they know what they are doing.
  13. Ross
    Being pedantic, the tax rate for those buildings is the same as for any other building with the same taxing entities. Total taxes vary on property value and any exemptions. The taxes on the Sand Dollar property were $41k last year, the label warehouse owners paid $29k. Neither of those amounts is that high, and the business model for those types of stores are to buy stock for almost nothing, and get it out the door for a 300% markup, with prices that are much less than a regular retail establishment. The label warehouse owners have several other stores in Houston, all of them owned for some time, so their carry costs are probably minimal, as they acquired them when property was much cheaper. There are three Sand Dollar stores with similar ownership histories. I doubt either company is interested in selling their properties, or they likely would have by now.
  14. Ross
    Another potential mural site?
  15. Ross
    This comment mentions KTRK, and here's a link with a Tom Evans reference at Universal Weather http://www.universalweather.com/about-us/our-history/ Reference to Chris Chandler in the comments to this link https://bill37mccurdy.com/2010/08/21/early-houston-tv-programs-personalities/ IMDB reference for Chandler http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151335/ Picture at KPRC here
  16. Ross
    If that's what the owners of the properties want, I'm OK with it. As a benefit, the various taxing authorities would get more revenue than the vacant lots with surface parking provide. The garages would likely go away as new buildings become economic. I do doubt, though, that parking garages are going to sprout up all over the place, given the cost to build, and the low probability that, other than for special events, there will be enough customers to make a profit. And, it seems like more companies are leaving Downtown for cheaper, or owned property elsewhere in the city, which makes random parking garage construction less likely.
  17. Ross

    Bot Popularity

    Ross replied to cspwal's topic in HAIF on HAIF

    Limit the number of posts, and put them in a separate subforum.
  18. Ross
    That's not a new terminal, it's a replacement and redevelopment of an existing bus terminal, with an extension of the Caltrain line from 4th and King to the new terminal(unlikely to be completed until 2026, apparently), and a pedestrian connection to the existing BART Embarcadero station near Market and Pine. It's easy to build a terminal when most of the connections are nearby or already exist. The San Francisco project is nothing like the proposals for the NW Mall site. San Francisco also has far higher density, and far less empty space, so there is more impetus for transit projects, and they make more sense there.
  19. Ross
    Now that's some different music! Thanks for mentioning it.
  20. Ross
    So long, farewell...
  21. Ross
    The cases heard in municipal court are all small misdemeanors. Jury separation is a far smaller issue.
  22. Ross
    Someone needs to tell Harris County that, since both of the main courthouses are high rise buildings. 800 Bell's elevators are first class, fast, and there are a lot of them. 3 banks if I remember correctly from meetings I attended there.
  23. Ross
    I go into that Randalls at random times on a reasonably regular basis. I never see more than 5 shoppers in there, and it's been like that for years.
  24. Ross
    I noticed this the other day and wondered what was going on. Besides the plants, several trailers are gone as well.
  25. Ross
    Houston is not a big condo city. Too much money to be made renting out the apartments until a good return is earned, then flipping to another owner for a nice profit.
×
×
  • Create New...