Jump to content

bobruss

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,594

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    13

 Content Type 

Everything posted by bobruss

  1. bobruss
    There appears to be a fairly large construction project going up across the street from Dixie Hardware. They have started putting up a steel framed structure. There also appears to be quite a bit of plumbing coming up which makes me think it might be some type of housing. Sorry I couldn't submit any photos. Hopefully Hindesky or Highrise tower will swing by here and get some images.
  2. bobruss
    There is a large construction project on O.S.T. across the street from Dixie Hardware just east of Cullen. There is also a project on OST across from MacGregor Park
  3. bobruss
    Baby steps!
  4. bobruss
    Although the view from Discovery Green will be free of the Embassy Suites, It's not going anywhere. It will still be lurking from the southeastern view, but what an improvement.
  5. bobruss
    We went to lunch on Tuesday. It was not that busy. I spent 15 years in the restaurant business, and I felt uncomfortable for several of the vendors. I would be real concerned about Golfstrommen also. I didn't see one customer there the whole time we were there. Restaurants depend on a steady flow of customers and for specialty vendors like Salt and Time and Golfstrommen that feature delicate product its hard to maintain a good product when your business is so spotty. Your dealing with food and seafood in particular has a short shelf life to maintain its quality. It gets harder to keep fresh inventory and big crowds on weekends and slow weekdays don't help. You also have to maintain a staff and its hard to operate a space like these without consistent volume. I asked several of the workers in different spaces and they all seemed a little concerned. I was not that impressed with the turnout. They should have built some apartments around the site first and created a captive audience. Right now they are dependent on a drive up market that is not even downtown right now. It still looks like a ghost town. I hope they make it but I don't feel real positive about it. Lets face this has has been a terrible 2 years for the restaurant and bar industry with the pandemic, and putting yourself on an island doesn't help. I will say that my old boss Johnny Carrabba, used to say it didn't matter where you were located if the food was good and the atmosphere was inviting. Of course he didn't pick a very challenging location in the heart of River Oaks West U. on the Upper Kirby corridor.
  6. bobruss
    Ok so let me get this straight. From the posts above, I gather Lovett who developed the Post Project at the downtown post office is coincidentally moving into the old Houston Post building, on Polk and Emancipation.
  7. bobruss
    I was suggesting that since the rendering that I was relating too above, had no signage from any Landrys or Fertitta owned establishment, it was possibly a sign that they weren't the intended developer. Often in renderings they put the names of proposed establishments in the render. Sapo added the doctored rendering below my quote and added Rainforest and Downtown Aquarium as a joke. I hope that clarifies my intent.
  8. bobruss
    If it is, thats telling because the rendering doesn't have a single Landrys, Rain Forest or Crab Shack in it.
  9. bobruss
    They're also emphasizing the old River Oaks title just like Helfman did on his Kirby- Dodge/Jeep location. Obviously these are both no where near R.O. . They could have done just as well to call themselves West U., or Southampton motors.
  10. bobruss
    You're absolutely correct, however what's been done should vastly improve the current situation. Thats why I wish we could control the land use outside of our boundaries as far as development goes. That's the key to our dilemma. They need to quit building these monstrous box warehouses, parking lots, shopping centers, and neighborhoods on these watersheds. Or make them pay exorbitant taxes on water runoff. Perhaps that would give some second thoughts on what they build and how they manage water runoff in these new communities. They're profits shouldn't cost us inside the city, to manage they're water runoff. But just as I write that I can see old Ross sitting there getting ready to say now wait a minute. You can't tell anyone what they can and can't do with their property. Those landholders want to make a profit on their land. Developers want to develop and the city has no control. So what do we do.
  11. bobruss
    For one thing they've rebuilt and raised Buffalo Speedway, Greenbrier, Almeda, Ardmore, Calhoun is partially finished, Telephone, 75th street bridges and contouring and widening on all the land adjacent to these bridge projects. I also believe that the detention pond just east of 610, came online since Harvey. I'm not aware of bridges west of Buffalo Speedway that might have been rebuilt.
  12. bobruss
    I guess now we just sit back and wait for the next big rain event to see how effective all of the work, and money, that has been poured into this project to help mitigate flooding pays off. With the addition of detention properties with the capacity to hold approximately 3.5 billion gallons of water, the widening and contour changes in the bayou, and the structural changes to most of the bridges, I feel very positive about it and hope that we'll have excellent results. I know the citizens of Meyerland, Braes Heights, the med center, Riverside Terrace are all hoping for its success.
  13. bobruss
    This was posted above from Culture map, concerning the routing of the marathon through the tunnel The tunnels built for Memorial Park's Land Bridge are scheduled to open this spring to traffic. Runners with the Chevron Houston Marathon will get a sneak peek this Sunday, January 16. Eyewitness News learned the south tunnel will be used as part of the race.
  14. bobruss
    They're not wasting any time on this one. Moving right along.
  15. bobruss
    Perhaps TMC3 wanted the hotel to face the world famous Texas Medical Center.
  16. bobruss
    Just drove down Caroline and they are planting trees, and greenery now. Looks like most of the heavy construction is done and they're starting to clean up the street and working on landscaping. The lighting looks really nice. Cant wait to see this finished and Im sure neither can the people who live on this street or have businesses here. I don't know what the problem with construction was that delayed this for so long but its nice to see them getting to the end.
  17. bobruss
    For a better understanding of the politics and history of this area I pass along this link to a comprehensive article published the Spring of 1991, in Cite Magazine. https://offcite.rice.edu/2010/03/FourthWardSeigeAllenParkway_Taylor_Cite26.pdf
  18. bobruss
    Let's not get started on the Astrodome argument on this site. I think it has its own post.
  19. bobruss
    I'm curious where they would intend to drain this water too. If it's the Gulf, I would have to (first time only), agree with Ross. If we are talking about flooding from a hurricane and it's pushing 10- 15 foot storm surge of water there is no way that water in that tunnel is going anywhere but back where it came from. As sea levels rise this problem will be exacerbated. I think the diversion canal offers some hope to heavy rainfall flooding, when there is no storm surge. I really believe that allowing the confluence of White Oak and Buffalo bayous to occur on the east side of the business district would at least alleviate the heavy flooding that occurs in the historic district and the theater district. I still contend that the remaining building on the south side of Buffalo Bayou just east of Allens landing and owned by the county constricts flow at Louisiana. Is there any room on the east side for detention ponds such as have been added to Brays, and which seems to help mitigate flooding. Of course Brays has undergone some extensive recontouring and major bridge reconstructing, which will definitely help.
  20. bobruss
    I have no doubt that this and the TMC3 site will affect the housing market in south east third ward areas. Those neighborhoods are five minutes from the med center and if you add in Ion you will have a remarkable employment growth in this area and that always affects the housing market. People want to live closer to work and cut down on their commute, cost of fuel and taking advantage of all of the wonderful benefits of the area. The museum district, Hermann park, golf course and zoo. Not to mention the med center. You can be in downtown in ten minutes. Whats not to love about this area. Plus there's always the Turkey Leg Hut.
  21. bobruss
    This is going to bring this whole area too everyones attention, and I hope they have studied the maps and worked around the proposed canal.
  22. bobruss
    Driving into town on 59 north provides a great view of the dynamic cluster of buildings centered around the Pennzoil bldg., and creates a powerful massing of some pretty amazing architecture. Also the view on the new exit ramp to 59 and 288 south off south 45 just before the Pierce elevated offers a dynamic view of the outstretched skyline from the Med center to the galleria area and all points in between.
  23. bobruss
    Sorry to hear of your knee issues. Hope you have a speedy recovery.
  24. bobruss
    Serious excavation for the first lake going on.
  25. bobruss
    Perhaps Johnson's friendship and working relationship with Hines, and the fact that Gerald's world headquarters just happened to be in Houston, helped to influence the way both approached the Houston portfolio. I would think that Gerald would want to go that extra mile to do great things in his hometown. And perhaps Hines approach to development inspired Philip to push things a little farther. He definitely was Gerald Hines main guy for a number of years and Houston was the recipient of quite a few of his most successful projects. The list of projects he designed for Houston is quite long. I guess his design for the Fluor campus in Sugarland was one of his last, and certainly the most distant to downtown. Together they helped shape Uptown, and remade the Houston skyline.
×
×
  • Create New...