volvo99

I hear the place gets slammed on B4-U-EAT.com...

The Plaza is on my daily walking route from UST to Hermann Park and back.

I've noticed this is the second week carpenters are inside hard at work.

Progress is being made.

before we waste our time on the phone and a day with an apartment locator, i figured someone here may be able to provide some insight. is this site legit?

she's not looking to buy since she's not staying here for long. she works at beltway 8 and 290, but wants to live in downtown or uptown/galleria area. uptown probably makes more sense for her.

As an apartment locator, the service we offer actually saves you the time you consider so precious. My computerised directory and experience in the market allows you to peruse offerings at your leisure, ensuring that you will know exactly what you will be looking at when you walk out the door on the way to view a property.

haroldaranda@finditaptloc.com

Why the Astrodome won't work...

Soccer regulations demand natural grass. No exceptions. Then, roping off the upper levels of the stadium creates a cavernous, empty feel. It would dwarf any other stadium in the league and destroy any attempt at atmosphere. Any additional work on the Dome would really be unecessary and an expense that the new team could not finance. A hotel? So what happens when there are no teams staying? Hotel occupancy is hovering over 57%, so new rooms in a new hotel sitting in a parking lot with nothing else to do would be a waste. Understand that the leading MLS franchise has an annual player payroll of 3 Million! Roger Clemons alone will make that come mid-June! So not a lot of cash for them to burn before the first match.

I've gone into the Woodlands version of the Central Market a few times now, and unless things pick up dramatically, they may be going the way of Albertson's. It is always dead slow in there, more of a tourist attraction but people just walk through and look around and then leave without buying. Meanwhile the Krogers and Randalls in the area always appear to be bustling. What gives?

Because it is an upscale store stuck in a middle class neighborhood masquerading with upscale pretensions.

They could just blow it on 2-3 Van Goghs. Irises cost the Getty Center in L.A. about 23 million alone.

It's just another champps in my opinion. Not much sets any of the two apart. I don't buy the foot traffic that ESPN is waiting for downtown. Either they haven't visited downtown Houston, or they are using some bogus numbers. The lunch crowd alone would more than support an ESPNZone and the weekend crowd downtown is pretty substantial. Plus, it's Houston, people will drive just to go to the ESPNZone downtown. Clearly they need to research the Houston market better, instead of trying to box in every market into one category.

What you fail to notice is that ESPN Zones primarily locate in areas that have an urban business/tourist mix; Times Square, Dowtown Disneyland, Baltimore Harbor, LoDo in Denver. Houston- Downtown is nowhere near the caliber of the above places in terms of foot traffic and tourist appeal.

Despite their best efforts, downtown restaurants still look empty every time I pass by.

I think the issue of economic stratification is being ignored here. While it is true that without the presence of early adoptors the Downtown and Midtown areas would be dormant, it does not bode well for the economic well being of a city if all the "prime" areas become an enclave for walk-on from 'Friends'. I take it none of you know what it is like for the armies of anonymous copper skinned labor who troll around in slow Metro buses commuting in the wee hours from the suburban slums outside the Loop.

I suppose that is why I enjoy the Montrose, and while it is succumbing to gentrification, its mishmash of cultures and socio-economic levels ensure its egalitarian nature in a city where that is disappearing.

Semipro...

I agree, however I believe the current Astrodome is too large. Another issue is to determine if the future soccer stadium would be an enclosable facility like Reliant. I think not, as perhaps it would be too small to be economically feasible.

So ideally; demolish the Astrodome, build a purpose built soccer stadium with training fields (or borrow the Texans facility), and reserve Reliant for future World Cup/ US National/ International prestige matches.

Very interesting topic.

One must understand that such an experiment in Houston could work, and that besides building a team that will have cross cultural support, there must be a forward thinking stadium plan.

Ideally, a solution along the lines of Home Depot Center in L.A., which consists of a fan-friendly 25 000 seat stadium and a practice field complex. Considering how short Houston is on park space anyway, any addition where fans can not only enjoy a game in an intimate setting, along with fields where youth leagues can flourish would be a welcome addition.

As far as where to build it, does the huge Reliant parking lot have enough space for this? It is on the light rail line and is rather convenient from pretty much all of the city.

Jobs r jobs r jobs.

True. But the city did a piss poor job luring Boeing here when they wanted to relocate from Seattle. They eventually went to Chicago.

Simply having a glut of cheap, recently built office space available is not enough to lure Fortune 500's to downtown. Having a large and influential industrial-technology company like Boeing would have been much more beneficial than ending up with a corporate caretaker for a far-flung empire of burger franchises.

Has any thought been given to WHO will make up the 10,000 living downtown? Will this become an enclave for nouveau riche childless professionals or will other portions of the Houston social strata find affordable housing here?

Has the optimistic orgy that theorized the Superbowl would bring tons of convention business finally hit the brick wall of reality?

I think Houston visitors were in love with the imaginary city Houston impersonated, and not Houston itself.

My GF works at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disneyland. It is the highest grossing unit they have. Quite simply, nothing in Houston yet fits their criteria for where a unit could be located with enough space to do what they want.

Their requirements for walk in foot traffic is not present in downtown Houston on a consistent basis.

They want a stand alone building; not in a mall like Fox was willing to.

Although a downtown location is desireable, they feel there was not enough "gravity" yet for the substanstial investment required.

Do we really need a fast food giant relocating to America's Fattest City?