capnmcbarnacle

I heard rumblings a few days ago that Phoenicia was coming to downtown and was hoping it was there. Awesome.

That is great! I drive out there from Montrose to eat and shop sometimes. I'll go downtown now. What a great call. I realize this will be smaller store, but assuming the selection is still solid they will draw inner loopers to shop. I couldn't imagine a scenario where I would drive downtown to buy groceries but this just created one. Great pickup.

i know it is posted somewhere, but i am at my desk being lazy.

How much higher does it have to go, say in relation to One Shell Plaza? Not so much concerned about floor count, but height left to go 'til completion.

Thanks,

m

I am watching this sucker go up and it looks like they are just finishing the 45th floor. There is one more on top of this and then the roof. About 40 or so feet to go by my guess -- equivilent of four floors.

It looks like they're working on the 9th of 22 floors. So, it still has some to go plus a crown. It'll probably be 330-350 ft. Not bad for infill and certainly better than a parking lot...

When you drive down Allen Parkway and enter downtown where it becomes Dallas, it is becoming noticeable. From an infill standpoint it is nice to see some height down at the end of the street. Dallas terminates into the convntion center and the street has now really filled in with this building, as well as the 3 blocks of Pavillions. Put it this way, it wasn't more than a few years ago that the last five blocks of Dallas before the convention center felt barren. The height of the hotel at the end of the street has the effect of "lengthening" the street. As a veteran of that part of DT, it's amazing to think of that area before the park, Hilton, Embassy, Park Place, Hess, Houston Center 5, Pavillions, etc.

A park would be nice but the current economic climate isn't conducive.

I live 5 minutes walk from here. Assuming this jumps all the City hurdles. If HEB wants me to shop there they need to build an interesting, urban structure, keep the perimeter trees and some of the interior ones and make it acccessible to foot traffic. I'm a person of habit and I'm perfectly happy with the Kroger on West Gray. If HEB does all these things and shows me they're serious about fitting into the community, I'll switch allegiance. If not, and it's just another beige stucco River Oaks Shopping Center Barnes and Noble, forget it.

I hear you. If HEB took the time to build the Buffalo Speedway store the way they did, I suspect they'll do something interesting here. The store in the area that appears to be dying on the vine is Randall's, and it is a basic suburban prototype. I think HEB will understand that to come into a saturated market and thrive, they will need to do something different. One thing that has always intrigued me about HEB is their willingness to tailor the size, shape, and style of stores to their market.

I think HEB has had their eye on this location for a long time. I remember hearing rumblings about HEB wanting to get in there back in 2003.

Something tells me that they will want to make this the quintessential Montrose location to win people over. I hope I'm right. Put it this way, I'm more confident that HEB will do something unexpected than I would be if it were Randall's or Kroger.

The drinks at Anvil are far from being weak. At least none that I have had.

I have to second this emotion. My experience has been that Anvil drinks can knock one on their ass. I guess it depends what you order. I can't say whether they short pour on a vodka tonic because I've never ordered one there. I can say that they make a nice Mint Julep, a solid gin fizz, a proper Manhattan, and Gin and Moscow Mules that will make you see triple. And I also need to disclose that I haven't been much since it became difficult to get a seat. All this to say, when the bar first opened they served mighty drinks the first 15 times I went. I'm sure they will ride out the pitfalls of being discovered by douchebags (it was a matter of time) and eventually return to serving aging hipsters who don't feel like Poison Girl for the night.

May I ask why you are trying to revive it? It was fun enough back in the day when Lower Westheimer was the strip, but that area has obviously changed and grown a lot of strip centers.

Might you consider not using the name "WestFest"? "Westheimer Street Festival" at least has some meaning to people, while "WestFest" just sounds like some generic "hip" name concocted by marketing consultants, like EaDo.

I have to chime in here to echo the problem with the strip centers. Those former tracts of vacant land were the heart and soul of the old festival. Booths, stages, all that stuff would be set up in those vacant lots and it gave people ease of movement along the street. It's hard to imagine where everything would go now, but I wish you the best. I had lots and lots of fun at that thing as a younger person -- the free food from the Hare Krishnas was always nice.

Just an observation...

I can see this building out of my window and expected them to start on the indented floors a couple of floors ago. I think that the floor numbers on the exterior service elevators do not correspond with the floor numbers in the renderings from Hines. There has been some comment that this building looked shorter than we thought but maybe this is part of the issue.

No idea, just an observation. I thought it might be related to the planned development on Allen Parkway, but it's a separate lot (right?). They weren't more than ten years old, I'm fairly sure...

I think the Regent Square folks puchased those awhile back and they had been vacant for awhile before the scraped them. The plan for Regent shows a major ingress/egress point right there.

I would like to see a new rendering, as the footprint of the building looks awfully small to me. But, I like that what appears to be the tower footprint is set back in the corner and there is a lot of space facing the park. I'm guessing they may put pool deck or something on a second floor that covers the area facing the park. Anyone know?

I thought it was "Neartown". I've always called it that... hrm...

I call it "over where those silos used to be where we'd go to light fireworks on the Fourth of July."

I know, that looks cool. I imagine the views from the tower itself down to the bayou will be stunning as well. I'm ignorant here, but can you canoe/kayak on the bayou? there are gators in though, right?

Don't care for the color though, looks like something in Miami.

Yes you can canoe, and yes there are gators.

Thanks for the updates Jax. That facade/glass looks sleek.

I predict the cranes will move up over the weekend. They're about to finish a floor and look like they'd run into the lower crane with then next floor.

I wish Jalapeno's was one of them. I really miss their brunch.

I miss the Fajita Tower...

I'm not sure if anyone has answered this in the 59684309683 pages of this thread, but what's wrong with the apartments currently holding ground at 1717 Bissonnet?

How many units are there now anyway?

Wait... I think I just found it. 67 units there now. So whatever traffic that place generates now, it will be about 3.25 times more with Ashby...

Great news. Did I hear correctly that they cancelled the retail portion of the project and made it 100% residential?

That's how they got it permitted. Retail obviously means much more traffic thatn 216 apartment units. Of course, there's no telling how many cars a walkable retail option keep off the road...

The traffic impact assesssment said something like 120 trips per hour at peak times. A drop in the bucket. But people will freak out and show what this has been about all along -- having a 26 story tower in your backyard. It's never been about the traffic, it's about people not wanting a tower looming (with scary arms and everything!!) over your house. Can't say I blame them, but they should have put a height restriction on that property before these guys bought it.

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Dont hold your breath. Only time will tell. I sure hope it does well though.

In the anecdotal evidence department, I was invited to a Birthday dinner at Guadalajara on Saturday. Keep in mind that this is for a bunch or current and former (moved to the burbs) inner loopers. I'm not sure who came up with this place or how, but it struck me as interesting that a Pavillion restaurant got tabbed over any numbber of the other usual Inner Loop haunts. I hope this is a sign that this place will actually draw people who live 10-15 minutes away from downtown instead of just staying in Montrose, Heights, etc. The difficulty with downtown restaurants has always been that to attract close-in residents,as those residents had to drive past half a dozen great places to get to the downtown spot.

Are they trying to? Because they really need an inner loop location. I don't know what they were thinking with their placement.

I had alway heard early on that they weren't in the loop simply because the rents were too high for them. This would certainly provide them with a great opportunit to jump in but I wonder if their business model can work with a single screen? I'd love to see this place turn back into a real theatre of some kind.

Oh good grief. Did the Chronicle just have Weingarten's PR department write the article for them?

What exactly are the "new services" that weren't in the old Bookstop?

This is really a shame, because old movie theaters are extremely difficult to redevelop and keep their historic character. Even if the structure itself survives it is unlikely to end up resembling anything like it is now.

For those of us keeping score at home, it looks like they took a building that was near 100% occupancy, and replaced it with a building that they can't get filled up. Suffice to say the plans for the rest of the center are on a long hold.

A lot of us could utter a general "Told ya so!" at this point, but there would be no satisfaction in it. I had fervently hoped that Weingarten Realty would surprise everyone. I have no idea what I must have been smoking when I thought that.

An article about bookstop closing and moving to the new building.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/heights/news/6558890.html

After stating that they have no plans to redo anything else and are fine with the status quo, the Weingarten rep delivers this gem...

“We're very healthy there and very excited about what's going on there,” Harvey said.

“If you disregard the new development section, almost every space in the shopping center is taken.”

The Sisters sold hospital, yes, but the hospital/HPA doesn't even own that building.

I feel the way I do about any other big adverising sign. That's all it is to me, the same as the old "Rice Hotel" sign I see out my window, or the old Gulf Oil sign, or any other big sign or billboard. Some I like, some I don't. Some has content that might offend me, some doesn't. I'm sure there are plenty of Baptists who hate the big Budweiser signs on the brewery and distributorships but there ought to be some distinction between disliking what the sign advertises and disliking the design of the sign.

St. Joseph chose a cross to advertise themselves, or mark their affiliation, or attract a certain clientele. I understand that people get sensitive about religion, but I think lots of people are confusing the aesthetic of the object with the symbolism of the object. If they had installed a big Caduceus (The doctor emblem with the pin and wings and snakes) would you feel different? I think some of us would still think it is out of scale etc., but others of us who dislike the cross would be ok with it.

I don't feel strongly about the addtion one way or another. It evokes a shoulder shrug when I go by.

urban land institute architect renderings

the charrette was sponsored by the Neartown Asso and ULI the community leaders, businesses, residents and interested parties were asked to gather and tell what should be "in the Mix" for the "buckle" of Montrose-- the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer-- Walkability, multi-use -less traffic-- more parking--public art

were all elements--this is just one possibility

The sky is all purple, but I don't see people running everywhere.

I give this an A+ for ambition and/or sarcasm. I have to believe the illustrator realized that the only thing that is ever really going to happen here is maybe repaving of the sidewalks to make them squiggly, some flower beds, and purple or pink street signs. But hey, if you're asked to draw an idea I guess this works.

Brian Distefano, marketing manager of the 43,000- square-foot House of Blues, which opened in October, said the Pavilions location has had the most financially successful launch in the 13-unit company's history.

Wow... that's pretty impressive considering some of the other locations they have.

Don't look now, but this thread is at risk of becoming complementary and optimistic toward HP. Stop it right now. We didn't have 237 pages of negativity in order to thow it all away because the office space got leased, House of Blues is booming, and Lucky Strike is actually going to open. Somebody throw in a downer of a post! Don't you know that "Lidz" didn't make it!!!!

Nice pics! I bike and run along the bayou all the time and have never seen an alligator (or is that a croc?), very cool!

(I was actually surprised to see a family of rabbits living near the bayou close to downtown)

It's a gator. I've seen a few down there, but that guy was the largest. Probably 6-7 feet, but they always look bigger when you are in the water with them. We just cruised right past him and he slid into the water as we went by. Kind of spooky. I haven't seen as many snakes as I'd expect down there, but lots of turtles and saw a coyote once. And before everyone says it was a dog, there was an article awhile back about TPWD trying to trap coyotes in the loop that were snagging poodles in River Oaks.

The architecture of the old viaducts downtown is cool -- lots of interesting structures that are visible from the water under the underpasses. Brick walls, arches, etc. There are some great beaches to stop and hang out at in the park too. They're off the trail and nobody is around. And, best as I can tell, it's legal to drink beer on the water as it's a navigable waterway. If more people knew what a few of us know, you'd see people using it like crazy. To be honest, I kind of like it as it is.

Would it even be safe to kayak or canoe in Buffalo Bayou? I remember they tested the waters last year, and it wasn't very good. Infact it is one of the worse polluted bayous in Texas.

That reminds me. I was running along the bayou a few weeks ago and saw a man fishing. I did a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

I do it every year. It's aweseome. It's more polluted downstream, then up. The section through memorial park and river oaks would surprise you. Look in the photo section wehre I posted some photos a year ago. It's a cool trip.

I think this will link you...

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/index.php?showtopic=15519

I guess it would be really old news if the PR Director for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership (Trudi Smith) hadn't just said this yesterday. A rehash of stuff they'd said before? Perhaps. But if they're actively pursuing it, then I don't see how that's old news.

In April, I talke to the canoe guys that are supposed to have the concession. He said they'd be in next summer.