WestGrayGuy

Yeehaw!

We have a good urban design in midtown no less!

This is great news.

I am excited about this project; especially the portion on Gray and La Branch. This will add synergy to the St Joseph's in the area creating a mini-medical center downtown.

This area is pretty rough right now. There are lots of "transients" in this area; no doubt likely to the half way houses nearby. I like the mirror image design.

I am not as excited about the building on Main. In my opinion, I would like to see Main lined with retail and/or residential in midtown. Medical buildings along Main belong in the medical center. But in Houston it is first come first serve in terms of land use.

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Dallasite:

If you are talking about the new chemical engineering building (my degree). I have not seen it... I am dying to see what its like.

I spent three years in the Zachry building. This was not the most up to date of buildings.

As the token Aggie for this board, I will comment from the Aggie's perspective. Yes, the Bonfire tradition was wreckless. I have seen my share of drunken aggies working on that thing at many hours of the night. But to A&M, it was one of the biggest and longest lasting traditions. I was at A&M in 1998 when the bonfire partially collapsed three days before the game.

A massive amount of aggies came out to rebuild the stack. It was very impressive to see so many people working for a common goal. That year also foreshadowed the tragedy that would follow.

You may be surprised to hear that those who died on the stack would probably want to see it go on. It was really that big of a deal.

Without disrespecting the families of the deceased, I would personally like to see it return with a much higher control on the work that goes on there. Also, there was no blueprint for the stack. The design was passed on through the years.

As a matter of fact, in the 70's and 80's, the bonfire stack was twice as tall as it was when it fell.

While riding the light rail for the first time yesterday, I had to use the bathroom. So I decided to check out the Hotel Icon's bathroom. Man was it nice. It even had special paper towels with their logo printed on them to wipe your hands. The restuarant downstairs .... quite impressive, Bank by Jean Georges. Go check it out.

Hotel Icon

As an aggie, I have yet to visit the memorial in Aggieland. I don't know if I can. It was such a sad moment in our history. I visited the night after it happened and it was the quietest I have ever heard A&M. Has anyone else been?

Aggie Bonfire Memorial

I think it would work as lofts. Even with the improvements, it will start to look run down if no one keeps up with it.

The broken glass looks bad in my opinion.

Thanks for the update.

The Buffalo Bayou plan calls for the conversion of the massive Post Office downtown into another performance hall. The master plan is to expand the theatre district to the other side of the freeway.

Slight problem, convince the government to relocate.

Personally, I love our district and the Hobby center. Going to see Hair on Wedsnesday.

I think this is the name of the property. It is a loft conversion that is adjacent to 45 downtown. It is an old hotel that was developed into lofts I believe. It has green colored glass with one pane broken out. It also has a bronze star on the white colored limestone.

I have not heard anything about its current status. Anyone have a clue? It's a shame to have it sit empty.

I also disagree. Dom Capers is a good coach. The reason we lost last Sunday was a shift in momentum caused by the power outage in the stadium.

As a side note, isn't it ironic that a stadium named after an energy conglomerate would lose power during a TV broadcast?

As you recall, the Texans had just sacked Drew Brees, San Diego's quarterback, before the outage. After the outage, we turned over the ball with a few minutes left in the game.

This was a costly mistake however, does not a bad coach make.

Keep the faith my friends.

I am glad you have asked about that green space. There is a lot of controversary about this plot. It has rather a interesting history. For reference, it is bounded by Cook, Bailey, Gillette, and West Webster. Currently it stands as an undeveloped open field.

Historically this land was the site of an old ice factory in the early 20-30s for this neighborhood. The process of making ice requires refrigeration obviously. Back in those days, companies used ammonia to provide the refrigeration. Throughout the years some ammonia leached into the ground. Nothing major, in fact, the contamination is quite localized. Needless to say, to build on this land would require some remediation, meaning $$$$.

One day, last year a sign appeared on this land. The sign said "Freedman's Town Low Income Housing Site". The sign was a simple plastic one that looked like a Garage Sale sign. Needless to say this sign quite a stir to those homeowners who were selling their homes at the time. After a little asking around, the sign was put up by a local celebrity. Her name is Gladys House and she is part of the Freedman's Town association. Apparently, she is very resentful about the gentrification of the historic Freedman's town. In fact, I heard she has gone to city council to have this land turned over to her association to build low income housing. A side note, there is some controversary associated with her and the millions of dollars spent to build low income housing in the 4th ward. If you have driven through this ward, there are not many homes built.

Here is the deal with the land, the city owns it and is unwilling to turn it into a park for whatever reason. This is what our homeowner's association would like to have happen. Because of the contamination, it will never contain housing. This especially applies to low income housing since it would be cost prohibitive.

Long story somewhat shortened. This land will remain, for the foreseeable future, an empty grassy field where dogs and residents go and mingle.

I personally like it, as it has a great skyline view.

I moved to Live Oaks (precursor to Oakwood) in 99. Then moved to Camden Midtown in 2001. Then I bought my townhome last year.

I love this part of town and will always live here.

My neighbors are furious that they are losing the view shown above. The vistas are being built directly in front of them.

Sugarland Town Square

Here is the layout of the sqaure:

The sweep continues... I predict the next stop, East downtown (second ward)

How about a description of the ordinance?

I thought the same thing about the old World Trade building next to Minute Maid park. I didn't think anything could be done with that building.

Thanks to the foresite for Tillman Fertitta, the building looks great as the Inn at the Ballpark.

Citykid:

Nice avatar.

And to answer your question, no Montrose will never look like the French quarter looking down towards the central business district. Let me explain why. The French Quarter has an incredible density because the city of New Orleans started there. Thats the only place there was to build when New Orleans started. Consequently, they crammed buildings along the river. Necessity breeds density in this case. Houston is a different case all together.

The biggest obstacle to density in Houston is the amount of land available that the city has to expand to.

Citykid:

It's a shame that you never knew the inner loop neighborhoods of Houston existed. I wonder how many others in Texas think of Houston as freeways and strip centers with no cultural center.

I have been accused of being an inner loop snob. I am fortunate enough to live and work inside the loop. There are times when I don't leave the loop for weeks. My friends and I call this OTL (outside the Loop). The heart and soul of Houston is with the confines of 610.

Are you referring to the Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in downtown?

If so, I believe they are still raising funds for it. They put an outline on the ground to show how big it will be.

I think the bell tower has been taken off the plan to save costs.

The largest medical district in the world is planning on doubling in the next 50 years. Here is a link to master plan.

TMC Master Plan

Have a look.

A popular topic for this area of town is the Plaza Hotel located on Montrose close to 59. The issue remains, what should or could be done with this property. Obviously, it would make some bad ass lofts. The last I heard was that a developer was holding out to recover the amount of money he invested in the 80's. From what I understand this is several million dollars.

Anyone have any new information on the grand ole Plaza Hotel?

The building I am referring to is the old bank building bounded by the streets: Webster, Milam, Travis and Gray. It is probably 12-15 stories and on the very Northern edge of midtown.

What can be done with this building? Can it be economically turned into resiential? Surely asbestos abatement would negate this. Can a business come in and renovate? Should it be another casualty of Houston's tear down craze?

To crater or not to crater?

Berryhill if anything will be more about a social atmosphere and drinking I believe. The food is good but, you're right, there is better in the area.

The Heights as a neighborhood is, at this point, mostly dull. A happening bar should liven this up.

Midtown is just about reaching a critical mass. Look at Little Woodrow's, Front Porch Pub, and the very popular BW3. All of these places are packed. In fact, the Midtown Crossing parking lot is always filled. Street parking has become necessary. This will be the case with the Deco Diner, I believe. Obviously there will not be enough parking on that tiny little triangular lot.

Midtowners will soon become accustomed to street parking.