capnmcbarnacle

Mayor White by allowing Houston to remain a sanctuary city and continuing to allow the infrastructure to deteriorate, has negated any goodwill he may have earned from Ike. But I was impressed by Judge Ed.

Sometimes it's fun to think of the alternative. Would you have rather had Lee Brown? Or Orlando Sanchez? Even though I'm still without power, I think the powers that be have done a good job and I applaud the mayor for dropping f-bomb.

Very cool. I have to say, though, the little cars moving around in the picture totally freaked me out at first; I thought I was seeing things.

All I can think of is some poor local teenager who gets a hold of some bad acid and gets taken to that place in the middle of the night.

Actually it's a street car unless wiki is wrong

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Charles_Avenue_Streetcar

A "trolley" is the name for the wheel that runs along the overhed wire, or the name of the pole that touches the overhead wire. Those kinds of trolley cars eventually became known as "trolleys." So a streetcar, tram, or lightrail could actually all be types of trolley cars as long as they are powered by the overhead wires.

"A Trolley Named Desire?" I don't know. But now I am starting to think that our light rail tram system is actually a trolley. I think it sounds cooler actually. "I took the trolley to the gun show." "I got wasted and had to take the trolley home." "I can't believe another person turned left in front of the trolley." I think I'll try it for awhile.

So is the apparatus that runs on St. Charles in New Orleans a tram or light rail? Sometimes it is in the neutral ground making it light rail, and sometimes it shares the road with the cars, making it a tram. Is that right? Should Tennessee Williams have called his play "A Tram Named Desire?" I just don't know anymore.

Regent Square was in the Planning Commissions agenda last week for "consent." Anyone know what that means?

http://ataps1.pd.ci.houston.tx.us/DRC/PC+M...ng+Calendar.nsf

Found a blurb in the Press that discusses a November start date. I did see all of those construction trailers off of Dallas this weekend. It is substantial -- looks like they plan on being on that site for awhile.

Regent Square Update in Houston Press

...this ubiquitous site located at the corner of Morningside and Bolsover. . .

I love developers. Someone explain to me how a static location like the corner of Morningside and Bolsover can be ubiquitous, meaning that it also exists everywhere else at the same time. But I have to admit it makes the intersection sound really important. More important than just saying "where Nit Noi used to be."

I think I'll file this away with the realtor description of a house in Encino, CA, and how it "looked down on the twinkling lights of the townspeople."

Hotel across from Poison Girl???

What is that about and where?

There is a thread somewhere but I couldn't find it...

In the 1600 block on the north side there is a lot that had been slated for condos a few years ago. The owner is working with the people who did Hotel San Jose in Austin to build a 75 room boutique hotel in that spot. The renderings looked pretty cool.

Nancy Sarnoff mentions it in last week's Chron here.

Am I the only one that doesn't mind the look of it? Id much rather have that establishment than have some others that Houston is known for.

Not at all. I have my criticisms of the both buildings, but I am absolutely psyched that these buildings are setting a standard for the street by building to the sidewalk instead of fronting the street with a parking lot. These are way better than the strip malls east of Montrose. While I don't think either are astounding on their own, I'm happy to have them.

And as for the hair salon, form has to follow function at some point. And people have budgets. I'm not sure how else you dress up a a salon that needs 2000 square feet. Given the alternative of a strip mall -- which I know was proposed by the architects and soundly rejected by the owner -- I'm happy with what they did there. I don't think it's suburban architecture that you find in Pearland if only for the fact that its owners have lived in the neighborhood forever and worked to get a variance to build close to Westheimer to help spur a more pedestrian friendly place.

If the hotel gets built across from Poison Girl, there will be no question that the prevailing buildings go to the sidewalk and it ought to make getting variances easier. I think we owe these builders a debt of gratitude for putting up with all the BS, and spending the money it took to buck the trend and try to build with the neighborhood in mind.

There has been an influx of people who want the glamour of 'the bohemian neighborhood', but without, you know, those darn bohemians.

Don't be so oppressive toward the newcomers.

Shouldn't a man be free to live in a turreted Bexar-meets-Bordeaux ranch chateau among an "ecclectic" mix of shops and restaurants without the constant sight of what Homer Simpson called "lousy beatniks?"

Chuy's is expendable. But the Buffalo Hardware center??

That's a nice looking old corner shopping center. With useful shops.

Uh-oh. That swipe at Chuy's could reignite the Chuy's battles that took place earlier in this thread.

What property across the street? There doesn't seem to be too much room to expand.

Where Chuy's and Rickshaw are. There are even rumblings about the corner spot with Buffalo Hardware and Armando's....

I went down there Saturday night and there were lots of skaters. Although I could never do what they can, I wasn't too impressed with the skill level of the skaters. I didn't see anyone grabbin their board with their hand on the side, or any of what I think is simple stuff I see them do on tv. But I'm probably clueless as to how hard it is to do.

But a very cool place.

The simple things the pros do are basically impossible for an amateur. You'd rarely see a basketball player at a YMCA pickup game do things that the pros make look simple, like jam the ball over a defender. As someone who spent a fair amount of time doing skating, all I can say is that that stuff is unbelievably difficult. Don't let the slacker, couldn't seem to give a ____ attitude fool you -- the pros are amazing atheletes who got that way by being obsessive, disciplined people who practiced all day, everyday.

HAHA!

I drove by here this morning and there were all kinds of bulldozing-type machines driving around inside. They were probably just using the empty lot to train back-hoe drivers.

Oh, it's only a matter of willpower. I can say Houston is bikeable -- eminently so, given I biked from downtown to Alief and back last week without dying.

91 Suckers!!! But I still drive 2 blocks to the store.

Montrose is a gem. There are a ton of places in Houston that would surprise people. I recently told someone in Austin that I'm never in my car more than 15 minutes and they refused to believe me. Houston reminds me of LA in that it is a fine line between having a short drive or being in your car half the day. Not a lot of middle ground.

That's a shame - I consider it an asset to the neighborhood

the Chronicle article:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...iz/5892134.html

Bummer. I always liked this place. I went there for dinner the day I got engagd and had my wedding rehearsal dinner there. It was a cool joint. I wish I could go one last time. Sigh.

Was Reality Bites set in Midtown Houston? Can someone tell me more of the scenes of the movie and where in Houston, Texas it takes place. Thanks

The short answer is no, as Midtown didn't really exist then -- it was called 3rd Ward, 4th Ward, and Freedmen's Town. The house was in Montrose. But hey, they're just labels.

The scene on the rooftop was on the roof of Two Shell downtown. I can't remember a whole lot else, but I did see it awhile back and it was fun to see that stuff.

An update on this one.

I received the free throw around newspaper, the Village News (no website) this morning. They have a front page story on the proposed high rise.

To summarize:

In mid-May, permit applications were filed with the city for "site utilities and foundation for future high rise apartments" at 3816 W. Alabama. They were returned with a number of corrections, including a traffic study analyzing the impact of a high-density development on neighboring streets. The developers will not confirm their plans. The Highland Village Civic Club president, Jimmy Glotfelty, says the surrounding community supports lower-density development, but a high rise "would get a tremendous outburst" from surrounding neighborhoods. The State Grille's lease is up on July 31. All buildings will be torn down at the end of the summer.

Looks like this is going to happen.

I can't imagine that this thing will have a huge traffic impact compared to all the traditional 3 story apartment complexes (with hundreds of units) around there, not to mention the 5,000 trips a day in and out of Central Market and all of the other stores. And given that it is on the corner of two major comercial streets, Alabama and Weslayan, I can't see much of a basis for freaking out. But freak out people will.

The highrise hysteria is an interesting phenomenon. I was by the Huntington today and I swear in the hour or so I was looking at the building I saw maybe 3 cars come or go. 40 story tower of traffic!!

If this thing is 27 stories and has maybe 125 units, I can't see that making much of an impact. I have a friend who has a view of 2727 Kirby from their yard and are up in arms about what they think will be traffic from it, but the fact that West Ave is going to drop more people and retail customers into their neck of the woods doesn't seem to bother them. They just don't want to see a highrise on the horizon.

It seems as if swamplots assumption of the direction of this view is correct. The viewpoint is from just south of W. Dallas. The condo you're talking of is north of W. Dallas, right? If so, it'd have to be a different tower. Hmmm...

That view is to the Southeast and would put it smak in the middle of the Phase II portion of the project. If you look at the most recent Phase II renderings and use your imagination, you can see something with a footprint and orientation that matches the "ghost tower." The plot thickens.

I think you may have accidently skipped over the posts above.

The site map says it will have a restaurant.

I did see that, but I think regardless they are in a great spot. I've stayed at the San Jose in Austin and the great thing about it is that despite not having a restaurant and bar (or anything major anyway) it is situated in a place where you can just leave the hotel to go eat and drink without it being a hassle. They can attract guests that normally demand those amenities wihout having them in the hotel but very close by. I was thinking about Omni, Four Seasons, etc., and they always have a great restaurant designed to make people stay in the hotel and spend their money there. And unless you are staying in NY or San Fran, those hotels usually aren't amenable to just walking 5 minutes down the street to eat. The nice thing about putting a small hotel here is that they can get guests that normally expect a bar and restaurant in the hotel without really needing to have one in the lobby. There are plenty of options a block or two away. I'm all for a restaurant in the hotel, but the hotel has the luxury of having Paulies, Brasil, Marks, Hugos, etc., as the defacto restaurants for their guests.

I live close by and I am really psyched that my guests might have a place to stay in the neighborhood. My mom used to stay at the Warwick when she vistited and she wasn't really down with the ZaZa because the bar didn't have Drambuie. Maybe she can stay here and drink at Poison Girl.

Is this what you were talking about?

http://www.mainstreet-builders.com/thewestheimer.htm

That was the one that was supposed to go there years ago. I've been pining for someone to put something cool there. If they build there, I think they are golden. I read that they may have a restaurant, but most boutique hotels usually don't have much. The beauty of that kind of place in the neighborhood is that they don't need major bars and restaurants in the Hotel becasue you can leave your hotel and turn right half a block and eat at Mark's or Agora or Brazil, or you can go left half a block and eat at Hugo's or DaMarco. Or you can a few more blocks and go to dozens of other restaurants and bars. I hate to get to giddy, but to have a hotel in Montrose would be great. Easy access to the museums (easy walk to Menil), Montrose shops, West Gray, Regent Square, West Ave...It's about time someone did this. I think there is a market for an alternative to downtown, Galleria, and the Dallas cheese that is ZaZa.

I really, really hope this works.

Now that I think of it, there was a for sale sign there for the longest time, and it vanished several months ago...

As for the San Jose, the HBJ article states the following;

1) Will be a new build compared to a rehab like her Austin project

2) Will "go vertical" because of space limitations but no hint as to # of floors

3) Will be located on Lower Westheimer

4) Pretty much a done deal but not ready to announce

As for the Washington Ave boutique hotel

1) Some of the players involved have a tie to the Lancaster downtown

2) very early in planning stages so no real news

I wonder where their Westheimer parcel is. There is a place on the north side of Westheimer between Dunlavy and Mandell that had piers put in for a condo builidng several years back that would be a great location. Or maybe they could put it between Mary's and Burger King.

For those of you who were wondering where the retail would be located...

http://www.mainplacehouston.com/pdf/maps/H...rtsV6__(p1).PDF

I am so glad to see them putting that large piece of retail along main street.

I don't want to get hyperbolic, but this building could really do wonders for that part of downtown. Having a big Class A building that opens out to Main ought to bring a lot more foot traffic to the area and do wonders for the vibe you get as a pedestrian.

Looks like it's a GO! While it is ONLY going to be 400 rooms, it should be interesting on what happens in this hotel. My only problem with it is that it is relatively isolated from the rest of downtown, except by rail.

Isolated? Whatever. It's only 2 blocks from the Petroleum Club!!

Kidding, I agree with you. A funny thing though --when I looked at Google Earth I realized it is about 7 blocks to the Pavillions, and about 7 blocks to Cyclone Anaya's in Midtown. I realize the average hotel guest in Houston is not going to want to walk either of those, but I found it interesting that you could go either way. The Pierce Elevated acts as such a physical and mental barrier that I never would have thought about walking to Midtown until I looked on the map.

I am just really psyched to see this thing get cleaned up, and keeping my fingers crossed.

If not the % of pre sale, can you divulge any info regarding the big purchases??

Nothing other than to say that some of the best (most expensive) parts have been snapped up.

This project is nice. I'm working a on pedestrian bridge that will cross over memorial and the Buffalo Bayou for TIRZ #5.

I have have to run all the hydraulic designs so the bridge doesn't impact flooding.

There are also planning a bunch of trails in the area especially when the Archstone Memorial Apartment are torn down to build a West Ave style town center.

Just picture street front retail along Washington Ave.....

That is the coolest thing I've heard in a long time. I always tell my wife that we need a pedestrian bridge over the bayou where the railroad trestle used to be so you can enjoy both sides without walking all the way to the downtwown bridge or take you life in your hands on memorial where the bayou bends. Can't wait to see where it is going.

Kind of off topic, but I'd love to seem them put a pedestrian bridge over Allen Parkway at Dunlavy. Between Regent Square and the Royalton, it would get used. I see tons of people standing on the medians in the middle of Allen Parkway trying to cross and someday someon is going to get splat. There is even a triangle shaped median thing right where Allen Parkway splits eastbound at dunlavy that would be a great place to start one end.

I use the Bayou a lot and it just needs a few things to make it really great.