brian0123

Looks like different guys now. Initially they had one crew in w/ hard hats doing a lot of the main construction (building out the structure). Now there have been guys that look like they are working on more detailed work (the entrance seems to be getting attention right now). I don't know anything about construction, so I can' say what they are doing. The place still has a way to go.

If you're asking about the one at the Mix... they have been working on it every day. I drive by the place probably 4 times a day, and every time there are crews working in it.

Ha ha, my little brother (when he was teeny tiny) used to scream and cry when we drove past the Sam Houston statue because he thought it was going to eat him.

That is Midtown (I live on that side). Tons of townhouses all over. That is the more "neighborhood" side of Midtown that no one really knows about. Check out Baldwin Park sometime when you're in the area.

Don't forget... Park Lofts http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=52446496&class=2 Chenevert Condominiums http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=34108546&class=2&sType=0 Ellie Lofts http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=5520982&class=2

Everyone has already touched on most of the counterpoints to you. The only thing I can really add is... You cannot compare Houston of the 70's and 80's to the Houston of today (and the same goes for many other cities around the country). The types of industry and jobs now, the population growth (and projected future numbers), etc. Heck, just think about our downtown and how far it has come (and is going). Discovery Green, new towers and buildings, nightlife, MASS TRANSIT, soon to be soccer stadium, etc. Think about Herman Park improvements since then, Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Med Center's insane explosion of growth, Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid, (and the list goes on). Midtown is in the middle of ALL of these improved things where millions and millions of dollars have been spent since the 80's (hence Midtown's surge in popularity since then). Apartments are EVERYWHERE in Houston, and EVERYONE is at risk of them lowering property values of surrounding areas. While Midtown is no exception... neither is the rest of Houston... or the Woodlands... or Sugarland... or Katy (etc.).

Thanks for putting this here (makes more sense than under "the mix"). How are their house margaritas? $1.99 for happy hour is a pretty good price.

A new look is one thing, but this place still needs to work on removing the vagrants that sleep alongside it (and the church groups that overrun it on the weekends). My wife is a speech pathologist that has been interested in starting a clinic in Midtown, but she cannot be at a location where her clients would be afraid to drive up to the building.

I could care less about retail right now and am excited to see this thing almost finished. If it gets leased out, my guess is that the retail will follow soon next door, across the street, and at the Mix. Also, remember that Camden owns part of the super block. BTW, does anyone know if this place has a pool?

That's what is so awesome about it. Unlike other "club" scenes that are merely just fads... this part of Midtown has cemented itself as a fixture in the area and will probably be around for awhile (well after the Washington "scene" dies). Thanks for the heads up. I'm not much into the "indie music" of today, but I still enjoy these places. Anyways, Saturday night my band has a show on the NW side at the same time... so no go for me.

Don't forget about the entire block around the Continental Club (inc. backdoor, etc.). Those indie scenesters and other biker/rocker types definitely fit the mold of the frat boy/dockers crowd.

Unfortunately, the location is the problem for this thing (at least with the city and neighbors). Something like this would be better suited (and approved easier) near the rail line and on a better street system like in Midtown/Museum District. Otherwise, they will keep running into these road blocks. The only ideas I have is that they either: 1) Keep fighting the city and powerful neighbors for who knows how long 2) Continue wasting time and money altering the design and trying to please those that won't be pleased, or 3) Build what they want five minutes away.

Restaurants like Reef are nice, but I'd like to have more affordable (and less fancy, dress up type) places to eat, too. My wife and I are very excited about this.

Can someone explain why they have an actual office? Is there a reason for me to book through this office versus making reservations online at their website?

Hey Brittney, is the lot across the street that was leveled going to be the parking lot for the club... or is something else going in?

The only "park" at Elgin and Austin is Elizabeth Grover that was acquired by the COH last year (it's really just an empty lot right now). There are talks to make it a community garden next year.

It looks like you removed your initial post (so I'm not sure what you were asking), but if you are wondering about parks in Midtown, you should check out Baldwin Park... View Here It has some really huge old trees that kids love to climb on. Also has a jogging trail around it. Midtown Park is used for events every now and then. People mostly walk dogs there.

That's interesting. My wife and I are 25/26 and own. Another couple just moved in near us that is in their 20's and they own. I've heard this complaint on HAIF before, but have yet to encounter the "unstable" renters... maybe my section is different? If there are a lot of renters vs. owners, then my guess is it's due to the original property owners holding on to their house as an investment as opposed to renting it out of necessity. Every house I've seen go on the market near me has been sold in a couple of weeks.

I understand what he's saying, but you can say that about a lot of places. What about the pricey townhouses (and homes) west of downtown (fourth ward) that happen to have City Vista, AMLI Town Square, the "Bel Air", lower income apartments and housing, even the NW quadrant of Midtown, surrounding it? It's also a fad to live along Washington now... same with EaDo. Most people living in those townhouses probably wouldn't be considered old residents of the neighborhood either. I have a lot of neighbors that have lived in Midtown for almost ten years. In my book, living somewhere for a decade should make you a native of that neighborhood... not just a fad... or lemming as Niche puts it.

I agree that Midtown is not completely unique (other than what Lockmat mentioned)... but I think it's crazy to single it out as some sort of a fad that is going to turn into a barbed wire ghetto in 15 years. As for the other side of 288, I am curious to see how the new rail line impacts development in that neighborhood.

Speaking as someone who has lived his entire life in the burbs and then moved inner loop, I believe there is a huge difference. I guess if you're a homebody that just cares about getting to the grocery store or neighborhood pool, the suburbs are great. However, I never was able to... - Go to almost any museum, sports event, entertainment option, etc. quickly (heck get anywhere quickly) - Ride my bike/walk/jog to anywhere worthwhile - Eat somewhere great that wasn't typically owned by a large chain - Call the police and have them at my doorstep in four minutes (in the burbs it usually took them about 20 minutes to respond) I actually sat down and figured out last year that by purchasing in the inner loop, I have bought 2.5 hours of my life back per day (including weekends). This included everything from commuting to work, trips to stores, driving to church, waiting in lines at restaurants, etc.

First, a $500 house inner loop is not going to be in any type of neighborhood that most people would consider safe (or in a condition someone would really want to live in). Also, there are places scattered around town with different levels of pricing... and yes, working and living in the Woodlands would be great. The point I was making about my neighbors commuting to the burbs for work is that we are living in a place that provides easy access to ANY employment opportunity this huge city has to offer. If I lived in the Woodlands and lost my Woodlands job, I'm guarantied a long commute to any other employment center. By living in the middle, my commute is relatively the same no matter where I might work in this city. That argument is such a generalized statement and can be applied to almost any neighborhood, (especially those built on farm fields in the burbs like those near FM 1960). Almost any neighborhood is at risk of deteriorating. Midtown at least still has the thing that helped bring it out of the ghetto, its TIRZ.

Buildings are recycled/demolished all the time. I understand the point you are making, but land is land and a wrecking ball doesn't care what's on top of it. In all of the locations you mentioned, if the companies that own these start to see the decline of their property and determine they can make more money by tearing down and building something else, they will. Yes, they will try to milk every last penny out of it... but being in the loop is a little different than outer loop. There is something to be said about owning/living somewhere that sits directly in the middle of the blob of millions of people that make up Houston and surrounding communities. This occurred because of the creation of suburbs...not rundown apartment complexes. We are now seeing the reverse (and will continue to for a long time) where the suburbs are getting cheaper, rundown, and ghetto... and the city is becoming the place to live. Downtown employment might help inner city areas... but I have lots of neighbors that work in the suburbs (my wife does too). This thread is about The Mix, and Crosspoint has it right. They understand what is happening to our city, and they have built the first phase of something that will one day be bigger than it currently is. One restaurant is already moving in, and the Chron article referenced above sounds as if they have other tenants that will be announced soon (so long as the recession doesn't kill some of these people). Look at the Houston Pavilions... one day we were talking about it being a failure... and the next day it was almost all leased up.

On the first point, this is what I was trying to get to... Yes, these properties will decline eventually... BUT their location will cause them to be recycled (just like you said about Archstone). Also, even if the apts decline some and rents go down... there will still be people living in them with retail on the bottom. Who knows, there might be more (and better) retail filling in underneath those places (middle income folks have to eat too). Also, I highly doubt declines in those apartments will ever be that dramatic. Heck, you can walk from your apartment right into downtown in a matter of minutes... you can't do that anywhere else in Houston. On your second point, I attended a public forum w/ HCC and the MMD last month and HCC said that they finally joined the MMD, and joked that "I'm sure you MMD guys are glad to start collecting our money!" I was surprised by this too, but my guess is they joined because of something related to my third point... Third, the MMD (and why East Midtown shouldn't form it's own entity) is going to be investing heavily on infrastructure improvements to East Midtown soon. They will be redoing all of Caroline from HCC to Elgin to make it a "grand entranceway to HCC", and after that phase redo all of Caroline from Elgin to Pierce. They are also working on McGowen right now, and will soon be doing Gray as well. They will also be redoing Alabama from Main eastward touching the bottom of HCC.

The apartment section of Midtown (even though it's what most people think of when they think Midtown) is not all of Midtown. On the other side of Midtown, there is a huge swath of very nice town homes owned by non-party types... and the town homes are in high demand. We are in the middle of a horrible recession, and the house behind me just sold in two weeks, and the one across the street has been on the market 1 1/2 weeks and I just drove by on the way home for lunch and it has an Option Pending sign on it. I agree that poor mgmt can bring down apartments, but I fail to see how they will bring the ENTIRE Midtown area down. Gulfton is a so so example (even though it is outer loop). They might be crap, but they haven't brought down nearby Bellaire. I mentioned Washington Ave as an example because it does have a lot of apartments too (i.e. the Memorial Heights areas, CORE apts, Jackson Hill, and what about Archstone taking the ENTIRE Washington block from Studemont to Heights Blvd?) Again, I think you are focusing on Midtown as an apartment area... when town homes (and other single family residences south of Elgin) take up a lot more blocks than the apartments in Midtown. Also, the largest land holder in Midtown is HCC, and they are going to be spending millions upgrading their campus and surrounding properties soon. The MMD will be collecting $$$ from them for a long time and will continue to funnel that into district improvements. Yes, apartments make up SOME of Midtown... but large businesses, town houses, single family residences, and govt. entities make up the other... and they operate independent of any club scene.