IronTiger

It's like something has to be counterbalanced with these things. There was one tweet I read where someone was like "Wow, the Cubs won the World Series. I guess Donald Trump will be elected President, then", whereas in Houston, the Astros winning the World Series is compensation for Hurricane Harvey.

They did convert a defunct freight lane into a somewhat useless commuter rail, which I have nothing against; however, it's only one-track. And their refusal of freeways (at least in the Oak Hill area) makes that area pretty difficult to get around in.

Still gonna call B.S. on this one, and it's awfully convenient they have information so soon after the flood did the Braeswood store in for good. I suspect that had the store not flooded, they would've let the lease run out and then directed people to the Bellaire store. It could happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Google Street View?

Ike also came at the same time as a major recession, which hit areas like Florida pretty hard. That was one of the big shocks to me was how Galveston was almost worse in 2012 than 2008. The trolleys weren't operating anymore, stores like the Peanut Butter Warehouse (antiques, fudge) had closed, H-E-B Pantry was gone, and the beach seemed shockingly empty for Spring Break (the weather was pretty awful for doing much, with it being cloudy and windy, but still). At the time, Pleasure Pier hadn't opened yet either.

There were a few crossing areas that were taken out because they weren't really meant to have overpasses to begin with (generally, the ones that were supposed to have full interchanges had turnaround lanes and were perpendicular to the frontage roads, whereas the ones that were temporarily weren't). As an example, the crossing between Canyon Gate Pointe Drive and 3 Lakes Blvd. was temporary. As to why the stoplights are still there, I don't know. Just eyeballing it on Google Earth, the only new stoplights added were two for Grand Parkway, which is standard for intersecting freeways in Houston. Looks like they have the right of way cut out for the eventual five-stack ramps.

Correct. I don't know what KBR or its predecessor companies used the industrial part for but given how well-integrated it was (the railroads to the south were connected via a long-gone bridge, probably dismantled after logistics of street-running on Commerce Street, and integrating with the railroads to the west as well). Some of the first new townhomes (Plaza Del Sol) appeared on Clinton and Sydnor as early as 2002 (just south of Kennedy Place, public housing). Since they were completed in 2004, the townhomes in that part of the Fifth Ward have hextupled. Restaurants will probably follow anyway, and that part of Houston will probably completely change.

The Randalls there at Bellfort and Post Oak is far smaller than what H-E-B wants. To occupy it would basically involve tearing down the adjacent strip mall area at least and terminating those leases, and the actual store would be have to be gutted to a shell to begin construction, if that. I don't think they would. I think that an additional 80,000 square foot store in that neighborhood is wishful thinking, and they're just going to have to settle for the new H-E-B at Bellaire, or take the Kroger and Randalls down south. It's possible that some independent will look at it. As for the old Kmart on Beechnut, I did find an article that it was purchased in the mid-1990s and converted into an Asian interior mini-mall that reached 80% capacity if briefly. (Yes, I am aware that the presumed replacement Kmart at Beechnut at Beltway 8 did ALSO become an Asian mall, but no, this is the one at the Southwest Freeway)

A bit late, but I think I have an idea of how that ramp can be improved to prevent backups onto Southwest Freeway. It's easy. They close off Newcastle Road north of the eastbound frontage road. It's already not a highly-used intersection anyway (no ramps to the west of the road anymore, and a wall was installed at Newcastle and 59 north of the freeway some years ago). They add one lane to the south of the existing westbound US-59 frontage road, putting plastic bollards between the frontage road and the exit. Then that ramp elevates back up to the current level of the exit ramp, and connects to it. Done. It prevents traffic from backing up on Southwest Freeway by having them exit earlier, and it eliminates an extra exit. Traffic would be informed to access Newcastle via Westpark Drive.

I'd be surprised if they took the JCPenney space, they would have to do a tremendous amount of work to reconfigure the parking lot. The JCPenney was designed for parking on all three sides, not parking for one. Personally, I just don't think they'll replace it. They have a tendency to replace smaller stores with bigger ones, and I think the rebuilt Bellaire store will fit that bill.

Sad to say that's not too surprising. There was another topic where Toddle House was discussed near the intersection of Murphy Road and US-90. It was neither torn down for Jack in the Box nor the overpass...there was an incredibly short-lived building that was built at the tail-end of 2003 and completed in early 2004 (if it all) but totally torn down by spring 2005.

Seems suspect for flooding. That's possibly why it has remained unoccupied. I took notice of the palm trees and the plot seems to be a restaurant torn down sometime between 1995 and 2001 but searching for it has yielded very little (a zero address on HCAD, with only vague indications that about a decade ago, CVS was considering it for a store). The best guess I have is La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant at 7525 Main Street.

From TXDOT's page Looks like they'll basically build two new ramps to and fro 610 (basically the "left turns" off of 610), possibly to reduce the sharp curves of the two. I'd also reckon that it's the "level" at which a HOT/bus compatible 610 will be rebuilt at...that was one of the things about that intersection, where 610 was at the peak of the hill. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I found that the construction wouldn't convert it to a flavor of 5-stack, but there are several factors that prevent that from actually coming true.

The Houston Chronicle reported in 1998 that the Hardy Toll Road was still not paying for itself and indicated with their numbers that there needed to be about a 50% increase in toll-paying drivers for it to break even. However, by 2002, the Hardy Toll Road traffic had increased by 50% and has been rising since. (source: Houston Freeways by @MaxConcrete) So yes...you are correct if you were using data from two decades ago. As for your other claim, HCTRA is still a government agency and is eligible for disaster recompensation.

Roads (or any transportation network) aren't just "build once and ignore forever" no matter how you slice it, because once you take a road off of funding, it will fall apart. Imagine the Houston freeways having the sort of potholes some of the late 1970s/1980s roads have gotten prior to rebuilding. Richmond, Broadway, maybe Gessner north of I-10, all that. And of course, maintenance for emergency situations. They repaired Beltway 8 south of I-10 following damage from Harvey. Imagine if they didn't repair it or just scrounged up enough cash to plug the most problematic areas with asphalt. Or expansion, like how Beltway 8 and 288 is getting a shiny five-stack, or at least the first phases of it.

A bit of an old bump, but the Antoine location seemed to exist in the mid-1990s, given that it is listed in my "Mariner's Guide" list. The fact that they list Daddy Did It, a West Houston seafood restaurant and many others seem to date it to the mid-1990s. Same address.

Yeah, I know I wrote "k" but in my head I still meant million. Everything else is correct though. At one time, there was a fast food restaurant at the corner of Hirsch and Clinton, though by the mid-1990s that had gotten absorbed into Brown & Root's property with a new building occupying the premises.

It was time, and the flooding events do provide nice bookends to its history. The Fiesta probably will close, doing archive searches reveal that the property was sub-leased by Sears and now Rice can (and likely will) boot it out. Coincidentally, Sears Canada announced closing all of its stores, but even if Sears dies as a whole, Sears Outlet and Sears Hometown are a separate company now.

The Astrodome is a lose/lose situation. Incentives are absolutely not going to be the deciding factor, or some powerful local politician can push around taxpayer money to get Amazon in a city obviously unfit for it. Besides, for the Astrodome to work, $105M or whatever Harris Co. wants to offer won't cover the renovations that need to happen for it to be used as office space. Imagine if you were offered $100,000 if you took a deed to a historic home that was in poor condition, but to really make it liveable and keep the "historic" designation, you calculate it would take $500,000 to renovate it. Conversely, you figure you can build the home that you really want for $250,000. (I know some of these numbers seem off for what homes should be worth, just roll with it). Incentives are worth nothing if you have to put more into it than get out of it. And no, $100k is not going to cover much at the scale you're talking. Half of that is just for construction of parking underneath, and most of the wilder ideas that have come out are far more expensive than $100k. Just to get it up to code is going to going to be incredibly expensive, and we're not even talking about logistical problems like parking. Fact: the KBR site, while problematic, is probably Houston's best chance at attracting Amazon. If the Astrodome is the best chance, then guess where Amazon will be located? Not Houston.

From casual observation, KBR's site was oversized. At one time they had a huge industrial operation there with warehouses and railroad spurs coming in from several lines, but divorced from that it was just a few office buildings in a not so great part of town. I find it laughable that you think that KBR is an impossibility but the Astrodome isn't.

Absolutely. I keep saying that even if the Astrodome was renovated into an office building (at more than $100M, realistically), parking would be an issue, and thinking Amazon and the sports venues could share parking is absolutely not going to happen. But if there is the "existing buildings" caveat (which I must have missed in reading) that really puts the KBR site up front. I don't think KBR's lack of mass transit is an issue, it's unrealistic if they wanted to be near a rail-based mass transit in most cities, and I contend that the mass transit requirement was just to filter out small MSAs.

I predict that what Amazon wants is a campus, not an office building. That would rule out 800 Bell, and put the advantage of what other cities are offering, basically rehabbed greenfield space. Now, can the Astrodome make a great flagship to a campus? Probably. It would certainly be an interesting (if somewhat impractical) re-use of the building but expecting them to share parking with, say, the Rodeo and other NRG events is wishful thinking. Basically, what is Amazon looking for? If that thing about diversity and mass transit is just to keep small cities out of the running and not actually conducive to the actual in-city location, then they'll probably go for the suburbs. Hockley, Katy, The Woodlands...somewhere like that. If they're looking for a place near the city's core and a redevelopment opportunity, then KBR is a decent site. If they're explicitly looking for downtown, then 800 Bell but also adjacent blocks to make more of a campus, similar to their current Seattle HQ. This would also making parking challenging, but its doable. If they're looking for a place in the city but not suburbs, then Astroworld's site is better. It still has light rail access, and it's right next to the highway.

I have a hard time believing $100M will do much for a conversion anywhere close to what Amazon wants. Yeah, I know Rackspace was able to convert Windsor Park Mall into something they could use for about the same price (same size too) but they were able to use the main mall corridors and general layout, whereas the Astrodome would be completely gutted and totally rebuilt, and they're probably going to want their own parking and land as well. The worst outcome would be for the Astrodome to actually be chosen but have it break down because Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation doesn't want to part with the parking lot between NRG Arena and NRG Center. Could you believe if that happened? They'll talk about that one for years. Realistically, the only thing the Astrodome has going for it is light rail access and a fairly centralized (non-suburban) location. Gosh, if only there was some large vacant tract of land near the Astrodome with light rail access.

The first photo shows Buffalo Bayou at the KBR site looking west toward downtown (I was able to determine this via Google Earth), but at a very specific angle. I don't know where the camera is. It has to be off the ground to allow for a vantage point like that, and any buildings are going to be far back enough to see the whole of Houston downtown (including Minute Maid Park, hidden behind the trees) would be visible. And it is too underdeveloped. If Houston wants Amazon to take the KBR site, they would have to (at minimum) have to finish the north side bayou trail. At present, it doesn't connect to the Heights trail, starts just east of McKee Street, went under the Elysian Viaduct (though that section is demolished due to Elysian Viaduct demolition), goes under I-69, and there's another gap just before it goes under the railroad...make that two gaps since about 60 yards of sidewalk were washed out due to Harvey...goes under the railroad and suddenly stops just east of Jensen. The whole HQ2 thing would all demand on what Amazon is looking for. If they just want a sprawling space in a large MSA with a growing area, then The Woodlands or Hockley would be a better choice if the Houston area is chosen. If they're looking for a redevelopment plat that would put them in the inner city, KBR is a viable choice. Based on what Amazon seems to want (and the general corporation preference these days), they want campuses, not tall buildings, which would put Houston at an advantage, over, say, NYC. Putting HQ2 in the Astrodome is probably on par with locating it in College Station-Bryan, that is, a nice thought that you imagine is fantastic and can make a few arguments for before reality hits and you realize how impractical the location is, with that only happening of very powerful people moved heaven and earth to make that happen.

Mention of the Astrodome and the others came from another blog post. From re-reading it, I don't really think that Slotboom thinks that the Astrodome is a realistic choice. It's a fun thought and the light rail is there, but it's not going to be able to co-exist with the NRG facilities (after all, the shared parking was one of the alleged factors that put the screws to Astroworld)