what

It sure didn't take long for this topic to fizzle....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

If you can't beat them...Who is a good barber in that area anyway ?

This part of the article really struck me. Is this supposed to give some sense of false hope?

Actually,what if they decided to place the residential component right smack on top of a new hotel addition... Imagine what would get posted then, do you think it would still be false hope or simply awesome ?

downtown is filling in just nicely. the pavillions, more residential, some commericial. Perhaps in the future the population will support the specialty grocery store you desire, but it isn't needed currently.

Nice try, but I never stated that I wanted a specialty grocery store ??? Nor do I believe there is anything wrong with lots of things that don't currently exist downtown. I think that not having a lot of duplication is a good thing for an area and probably benefits the business owner the most under some circumstances. Actually, that is one thing that makes the Houston Pavilions unique because there is really nothing like it in downtown or in the city for that matter...

downtown's not ready for a specialty grocery store.

What do you think downtown is ready for ? Just curious.

So, your saying that the high end stores similar to what one would find in Beverly Hills are open late or 24 hrs in New York City?

I think that what is also being said is that it doesn't matter so much where the stores are located in the u.s. because a lot of these high end stores are european and in europe you do find these stores open late at night. I think the entire 24 hour thing has more to do with the area of town, and with that being said Galleria in my opinion is not ready to embrace a 24 hour culture, I do believe downtown is definately headed in that direction and has been headed that way for a while now.

It sure didn't take long for this topic to fizzle....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Baseball season always helps. Once game is over, people like to venture west to the real action.

I was downtown well after the game and I'm still sure that I saw lots of people...

Have St. Patricks Day every Saturday. All of the bars and restaraunts were full at 2:00pm...it was a nice site.

It seems that a lot of the places downtown are picking up steam and momentum on the weekends...

The Galleria has no business staying open for 24 hours. However, I strong believe it should stay open later than regular malls do, being what it is to many Houstonians. 10PM on weekdays and 12AM on weekends would be wise.

It's dead at 9pm on Fridays and Saturday anyway, so am not sure why that would be necessary ?

That is TRUE. I worked there (Suite level) for 2 seasons and see a big difference in patronage/attendance. It was great $ while it lasted and I knew it was a 1 time opportunity so I lived for the moment. Still have the cap that says Enron Field on it (scary) but who would have known?

Sticking to the topic though, with the city heading west (Katy) as it has for years I can see DT struggling once again. No one will be happy either way. Hear it everyday.

make up your mind. So you are saying that downtown isn't struggling now. I take it based upon your post that downtown is rocking. Are you from a village ? Where is the city heading to Austin or on a trail ride ? I thought everyone was heading to Midtown... You haven't seen anything yet downtown.

Ever since the condominium proposal was axed it's been hard for me to get excited about Houston Pavilions. Minus the condos what's so special about the Pavilions? As a consumer what about the Pavilions would drive me away from Bayou Place or the shops at Houston Center? Is the office space anymore preferable than the other office spaces available in Downtown? What am I missing?

Why do you feel like it has to have a condo building anyway ? the galleria doesn't have a condo building connected to it. The pavilions is probably one of the largest high end retail projects/malls that this town has seen (actually going up/ not just announced) in a long time. I see Bayou Place as an alternative project with good concepts like Rocbar (sp.) . With more places to go and things to do that will be a a good situation for downtown to have and offer people, and with each on 2 different sides of downtown. Well as far as the new office building above Pavilions being neat...maybe it isn't neat to you, but it is going to be brand new and that in of itself might be very desirable to companies. You tell us what are you missing ? What is so great about glorified air-space anyway to you on a personal level ? I believe that the condos that you are talking about were going to be rental units anyway ? Eventually, it will be good to hear about more and more things to do instead of complaining about less. Sorry, but i don't get how having more to do downtown is a bad thing for you anyway.

The Roof has been open for some time now, 2600 Travis. it takes up the upper floors, i'm not sure what's going on in the ground floor.

Yes, I believe that is correct.

To bring it back on topic, to the extent develping condos in Houston makes sense it is at a site like this with walkable retail/restaurants.

Wow !! You said it.

Bayou Bend Towers

1400 Hermann

The Huntingdon.

a massive grocery store in a highly-accessible location (Post Oak at San Felipe is better than inner Westheimer, btw)

" This Has Yet To Be Seen. ok. "

The Randall's could stand to be rebranded to a smaller Whole Foods, but it isn't happening anytime soon.

" Agree. "

..and there's really no developable or redevelopable land left in any part of Bellaire that would be both desirable and large enough to accomodate a new grocery store.

" Actually, I believe that there might be several options along South Rice going towards 59.

Exactly. Whole Foods TWC is constantly packed with breakfast, lunch and dinner patrons in addition to afternoon commuters taking home a quality meal. This could be on a smaller yet similar and profitable scale at the San Felipie/Post Oak location.

The Whole Foods on Westheimer in West Houston as mentioned prev. has been there for

7-10 + years. It seems to be a pretty ordinary flag-ship whole foods from what i can tell. It's not terribly busy and the area is great. The HEB in that area also on westheimer gets considerably more business . I would imagine the same would occur with Central Market getting the most business if there was a whole foods in the same area . i can see a small Whole Foods diving in to that area, but can't see a big one taking the Nestea Plunge. i think it would be a big mistake with Central Market which is a very nice store being in the area already catering to that high-end consumer and clustered in between River Oaks and the Galleria neighborhoods. i think at a S.Felipe/ p.oak location there would be less high end consumers they will have to draw from off in terms of the demograpics. i bet the the incomes are probably higher in the River Oaks area as well. It is probably the river oaks crowd that drove a lot of the biz at whole foods on s. shephard. I also heard Eatzi's was locked out of their space at p.oak/san felipe and that casts a cloud because it was smaller, but the same ? I think that whole foods would do far better positioning itself along 59/ South Rice and trying to catch Bellaire's business because Bellaire desparately needs more grocery stores like these.

Anybody?

it sure sounds like just more out of that bag of tricks that those urban-realtor-men use to try and create interest. my favorite though has to be the cute coming soon banners...i don't think anyone has told them that nobody believes them.

It will never go 24 hours. There are two things that keep the Galleria from innovating or being a 24 hour live and work environment: the conservative status-quo nature of most residents all over the area (as someone mentioned), and the growing criminal class.

What do you mean ? crim-class.

Calm down man. I asked for examples because I just don't know, and without seeing examples I'm not willing to accept "common knowledge" because "common knowledge" is very often wrong. (For example, it is "common knowledge" that Houston has the dirtiest air, the fattest people and the worst traffic in America... None of those are true.)

I realize Ms. Sarnoff mentioned that in the recent article. That was in fact the genesis of my inquiry. But remember, Ms. Sarnoff is the same "reporter" who told us that with the construction of 2727 Kirby, Houston was at long last beginning to catch up with Dallas and Atlanta with high-rise condominiums, apparently oblivious to the dozens of high-rises that have been scattered around central Houston for decades. Sorry, but I need a more reliable source than Sarnoff.

Is anybody else here familiar enough with Dallas or Atlanta (or Austin or Phoenix, two other cities that, according to Sarnoff are ahead of Houston) to be able to throw out some examples of the mixed-use projects in those cities?

I really can't think of much in Atlanta that is mixed use ??? Atlanta seems like it has a lot of condo-buildings. i will tell you an odd thing that i noticed about atlanta. it seemed to have a lot of sex-toys-shops everywhere in the buck-head area and they just kind of blended in...even close to nice neighborhoods.

LOL don't go into urban planning! you will fail miserably.

i take your advice seriously and will not do this. thanks for being honest. LOL

if they are latin, it's too bad because their spanish is horrible. the word is tamal (pl. tamales)

Is this the tamal or tamale thread. please clarify ? are they the same thing ?? i am afraid to mention the word Tex-Mex as in food. there is no telling how confusing it would become discussing the pronunciation of words like Chimy-changa ? what's this topic about again anyway ?

there's already an ongoing thread on this subj.

No, it's actually not. Please re-read. thx !