bobruss

Houston, We Have No Problem !

Yes, it is. Sorry I wasn't paying attention to what I wrote

Hindesky next time your in the neighborhood you should swing by the Weingarten's estate at the corner of Oakhurst and South MacGregor and get some shots of this amazing estate under construction. It's as impressive as some of the other projects you shoot. I'd love to see some aerial shots of the property.

That's not completely true. I've watched a competition marching band that rehearses over there, and they're quite entertaining. It is for the most part reserved for TSU. I don't think that will change for years. TSU doesn't have that much room on campus to build a football field or a baseball diamond. I think they play their football games at the Dynamo stadium. At least they did for a while. I worry about bad golfers when I drive through Hermann Park and windshields sometimes. Maybe they plan to put up some kind of netting to keep foul balls off the street.

This should help the Farmers Market gain a little more traction.

That doesn't look deep enough to be a pool. Looks more like a drain for landscape drainage, or perhaps a fountain.

How times have changed in Riverside Terrace. Average home prices are over $500K and many are selling for over a million now. I'm happy to report that work has resumed on the Weingartens mansion. They took the brick off and are replacing with stone. It's going to be an amazing residence on one of the most incredible 5 acre properties in Houston. For anyone curious this is just a couple of blocks east of Scott.

And how many neighborhoods are home to a pair of Bald Eagles. They live in Parkwood in a small but incredibly beautiful park of the same name. If you drive down South MacGregor towards Scott you can often see them up in a tall pine tree just across from the bayou where the corten pedestrian bridge crosses Brays. In The west end of the big white house garage at Rio Vista for anyone interested.

Glad to see this moving forward. This will be a nice addition to the neighborhood.

On 3/19/2023 at 4:50 PM, hindesky said:

Building is down and just load out and breaking up the concrete parking lot is left.

Considering this is where this stood on March 19th, 2023, they are moving at a fast clip. Great improvement and I really like the retail space on the first floor. This will be a great place to live with all of the retail around and a Whole Foods a short walk down the street. Plenty of restaurants in the neighborhood.

While this is disappointing, Rice is still going forward on a new master plan for the village and their western campus and stadium.

On 5/21/2023 at 1:12 PM, bobruss said:

I've heard from reliable sources that this whole project is going to slow down. With Rice's new administration, and reorganization of Rices direction they are rethinking their future plans for Ion, and a hoped for master plan for  Rice's property in the Village.  They have released their real estate team and reorganizing their priorities. They have dropped RDA which has been an important community compass helping to guide the city in the right direction. Apparently this project doesnt fit in with the new direction Rice plans to go. I hope this isn't true but I do trust my source.

I believe I brought this up last May and no one believed that there was something askew.

There is a new master plan being developed by a major Houston firm for Rice University's property in the Village. It's all in the early planning stages and it will be a Rice Village Game Changer for sure. Thats all I can say.

I'm curious how this ended up in Going Up, instead of Points North where all of the other stories about projects in the Woodlands are located.

That will be something to watch. I hope it works.

Little known about this but saw a blurb about a new Texas AIDS Memorial park to be developed along the cap trail close to the Ardmore apartments and the Hearing institute.

It also might be due to the weather yesterday. I know in the past these fountains have been closed down when the wind is forecast to be blowing hard from the north. When the fountains originally opened and water rained down on workers walking from their offices when the winds were heavy people were complaining and the city shut them down for a while. It causes the water to completely soak people walking on the sidewalk.

The difference with the incredible fountains in Las Vegas, and Dubai, is that they are out in the middle of a very large body of water, far enough away from the crowds to not be a nuisance or a reason to detour. People go to see them as a tourist entertainment attraction and not a main thoroughfare for pedestrians.

The park is in disrepair and needs a lot of loving care. It's been neglected for a long time. It was originally donated to the city of Houston in the 1930's. It actually went across MLK where U of Houston now has a med school. U of Houston eventually bought the land on the east side of MLK. At the time of its dedication to the city, land along Brays Bayou to Scott was donated by MacGregor's wife for additional natural greenspace. The plan was to connect Hermann Park and MacGregor park with a natural park like string of pearls. This is when Riverside Terrace,  west of MacGregor park was starting to be developed along Brays Bayou It started closer to Almeda before 288 was built on the North side and worked its way down to Calhoun. This was to become the River Oaks for the Jewish community who had been banned from River Oaks. Families like the Weingartens, the Sakowitz, the Fingers, and Battlesteins to name a few. Our home was built in 1949. So originally this was a Jewish neighborhood until the mid 60's. So I don't fully understand the complete cultural bias since she fails to remember that it wasn't always a black neighborhood. I fully appreciate her concern for removing the things that brought joy and history to her memories in the park, but to neglect to remember that this has had at least two different chapters of its story, is not fair either. Regardless and in reading about the plans it sounds to me like they will be improving the area around the MLK Statue and creating a plaza. They will be renovating the original gymnasium and swimming pool. They will be improving the children's playground which is in disrepair, and they will be improving the perimeter trail and connecting it to the Brays bayou hike and bike trail. They will also be adding an amphitheater near the bayou for concerts, and improving the tennis facilities. So I really don't understand her fears. Unfortunately what this doesn't address are the people who come over on Sunday afternoons into the evenings and drive through the grassy areas and dig trenches in the grounds or people who dump their unwanted belongings in the trash dumpsters in the park. So along with these improvements, what really needs to happen is for people to be a little more respectful for this cherished park and treat it with respect. It has nothing to do with gentrification. The area across OST has been rundown vacant lots, poorly kept business fronts or empty buildings. There are four small scale townhouse projects built on OST and thats it. Everything else is the same as its been for the last ten years. Start turning some dirt!

Can someone refresh my memory on what the cladding will be on these buildings. 

Monarch, For a city that has nothing going for it😜, like Dallas and Austin, we sure seem to get our share of World Series, NFL Super Bowls, Mens college Final Fours, World cup games, and now College football playoff championships. I guess we need to work a little harder and then we might get a few more opportunities.

Oh, and did I see where they are planning a St. Regis residence tower off Memorial Drive on the Welling property.

This is great news for our neighborhood and a much needed revitalization of a historic Houston park. I was beginning to think that this was getting shelved since we first heard about the meter plan in 2021. I applaud the Kinder Foundation for their continued support in making Houston a much more livable city.

I also want to remind Bike riders who frequent the Brays trail to keep a look out for the pair of Bald Eagles who nest in Parkwood and can be seen high up in the pine trees close to Rio Vista street on the south side of the bayou where the corten steel pedestrian bridge crosses Brays Bayou just west of Scott. It's an amazing sight and pretty special to have a pair of Bald Eagles living in broad daylight inside the loop on s. Macgregor.

I'm curious how Dallas got 4 million dollars and Houston $320,000.

How is their leasing going? Have they had any other companies join the roster. I haven't heard anything about any 

additions. It will take that building filling before they decide to add another I believe.. or a large firm wanting their own facilities. Any word on anything exciting coming up?

To add to the discussion concerning Urban Planners, I would like to suggest that all watch a spectacular series running on Apple TV called HOME. This is probably one of the most refreshing well produced narrated and beautifully filmed television shows/documentary series I have ever watched. Regardless if you are an architect, planner or just one who appreciates good architecture this show has it all. There is nothing commercial about the production and it features real people predominantly architects and their search for serenity, beauty , and a relationship to earth and fellow man. The episode that really hits on this urban planning theme is the Chicago episode featuring Theaster Gates, my new hero. Not only is he a world class artist, but what he has accomplished in South Chicago is astonishing. If you thought what Rick Lowe has done with the Row Houses, in the Third ward, was great, you will be blown away by Theaster , and this all while he has created some of the most important art of the 21st century. I saw him perform at the Menil a couple of years ago with a jazz group at his exhibition. The man is a genius. He lets his actions speak for themselves. 

I have watched many of the episodes, and they range from homes in France, Bali, Hong Kong, Malibu and Austin to name a few. I can guarantee that anyone who watches one will watch all the rest.

I only hope this piques the interest of a few architects and planners to watch, and to think about what they do and how remarkable things can be if you have your heart in it. 

This is my Christmas gift to all HAIFers!

Looks like six.