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bobruss

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Everything posted by bobruss

  1. bobruss
    Thanks for all the updates Hindesky. The new law school is such an improvement, and I like that its closer to the other buildings. I also noticed that they have cut a diagonal off the med school to the corner of MLK and OST to the train. They've already put in the sidewalk and lighting. I hated to see that area developed but it sure does look nice.
  2. bobruss
    From this angle it will look great!
  3. bobruss
    Im glad to see this back up to speed so to speak. This area of downtown sure needed some love. With the Exxon building sitting empty, the abandoned Holiday Inn, and the demo of the old historic Y, it just seemed dead. Now they've begun work on the Cullen center building repurposing it into residential. Maybe if they ever work out 45 and they actually tear down the Pearce Elevated, that will spur growth into that no mans land at the edge of downtown and Midtown, and the southwestern corner will come alive.
  4. bobruss
    Neither one of those apartment buildings were in very good shape. Trust me this is all good! Considering Lake Flato is the architect I have no doubt that if they felt that the homes would have been a better fit they would have come up with a plan to include them. They have always worked to save recyclable buildings. This will be a huge success.
  5. bobruss
    It reminds me of some of the public spaces that are prevalent in Citi Centre. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point they add some restaurant or bar taking advantage of that incredible view. It would become the new great date night restaurant. Then maybe go play 9 holes of golf at night on the east end. With that view it will be a very popular course. I can see salesman taking their down town clients to a late afternoon game and maybe a few drinks afterwards. Cant wait.
  6. bobruss
    Nice article on the front page of the New York Times about Buffalo Dave and his efforts to clean the trash out of Buffalo Bayou. Thats today Tuesday the 14th of June.
  7. bobruss
    Speaking of Buffalo Bayou. There is a great story on the cover of the New York Times today about Buffalo Dave and his efforts to keep Buffalo Bayou cleared of trash.
  8. bobruss
    This is the flood that's responsible for the Army Corp of Engineers constructing Barker and Addicks Dam and spillway in the 40's, creating the reservoirs on western Buffalo Bayou.
  9. bobruss
    R.E. Bob Smith did own the land that the Astrodome was built on. He was one of Judge Roy Hofheinz partners in making the Astrodome happen. I have a very interesting 11 x 20 black and white photo of the groundbreaking for the stadium. Instead of shovels, this group of men are wearing dusters and black raincoats and are aiming Colt 45's at the ground, in honor of their original teams name. It's a great photo. They look like a posse. One other fact. When they first built colt 45 stadium there was a very well known amusement park next door called Playland Park on south Main. It had a great wooden rollercoaster and bumper cars and many other rides. Right next door to Playland Park was a stock car race track and just down the road was a short test track monorail that had been built to present a life size replica of the monorail for Houston in the 60's. If I remember it went about 2 blocks. I went on a ride and hoped they would build this very Buck Rogers retro cars.
  10. bobruss
    You are correct about the way the jails and courts work. The thing that bothers me is how the county ended up with the most interesting property in downtown. They own most of the land north of Preston from Main to Austin. The county just purchased a 17 story office building at 1111 Fannin to consolidate their offices downtown. That would seem to me to suggest they might have several old dated properties in north downtown available for sale in the future. Or they could consolidate all of the prisoners in a new jail built on one of those buildings sites adjacent to or in very close proximity to the courts. There is an 8 - 10 story jail on Franklin and Caroline, that sits empty due to poor design. A new jail needs to be built. Perhaps they could be persuaded to rethink the management of their property downtown to more efficient use. They could also make a lot of money if they sold some of that land. Both sides of the bayou should be parkland. The old buildings that sit in the flood plane and deter the flow of Buffalo Bayou are doing no-one any good. Up until a few years ago there was a jail across the street from Minute Maid Park on the north end of Crawford at Preston. There is still a Federal prison in downtown on Texas Ave. and San Jacinto. My point being that a jail need not interfere with the surrounding area. I doubt that most people even knew they existed.
  11. bobruss
    I don't know what all the fuss is. We have seen several park projects around town developed in the last ten years and the affect they have had on the surrounding areas. What happened when Discovery Green, and Market Square Park were created or redesigned. Both have shown how development follows. Nobody hung out on Crawford and Mckinney back when I lived on the east side of downtown. Now try and find a parking place around that area. Look at the residential towers that have been built around Market Square park since its revitalization. For too long people have settled for bare bones solutions. Great cities think ahead and come up with solutions that are both helpful in mitigating problems, while creating solutions that invite development. Also when my wife and I were looking back in the 90's at property over near Washington Ave. we thought there was a lot of potential for future growth and a lively neighborhood. I felt like there was too much heavy industry and railroad tracks and that it would be a long way off. There was a steel plant right on the corner of Yale and Washington. There were heavy polluters in old metal warehouses. It looked bleak but look at it now. So don't ever tell me how bad an area looks. You have to have vision to see the bones to understand future growth patterns. The jails could probably be moved and with property values going up that might be in the back of the mind of county fathers anyway. There are jails everywhere and other cities have made those areas workable neighborhoods.
  12. bobruss
    Hindesky, Very nice images. The last one when enlarged really gives you the sense of just how close it is between downtown and this building. From this view and time of night it really accentuates that volume of space and It seems to pull downtown to its doorsteps. I always like seeing the boundary pushed a little farther out. I imagine its altered the skyline when seen from the loops.
  13. bobruss
    I find it usually best to make critical analysis once the project is finished. There are just too many unfinished details to fairly judge the building. I'll reserve my opinion until it's done.
  14. bobruss
    We didn't have a port and we dug a fifty mile long one. Now #2 or 3 in tonnage We didn't have a rail and we built one. now we have three lines with plans for expansion We didn't have a space port and were building one. We didn't have an incubator and now we have 4. Just give it time and we will find our niche and for the first time there will be opportunities for interaction between the different members of the med center and it will grow and prosper just like all the above. We now have one of the best and highest ranked airports in the world in Hobby.
  15. bobruss
    Has anyone contacted the builder or developer directly to find out what the holdup is?
  16. bobruss
    So at roughly 20,000 sq. ft. a floor this must be the shorter of the two buildings coming out at roughly 17 or 18 floors, if its 350,000. total sq. ft. right?
  17. bobruss
    On a quick look this image of the signage on the podium and the vertical square windows and vertical lines, reminds me of the old Foleys on Main street.
  18. bobruss
    Regardless of what street it resembles, once all of the road construction is finished and the apartment building going up right now gets finished this is going to be a popular area for the neighborhood. They already have two longtime hospitality spaces in Weights and Measure, and 13 degrees Celsius. The new street improvements will make it a very enviable spot to add walk up traffic in east Midtown. Maybe thats why Wonton is leaving. They probably sold the property to a developer who will build a new mid rise there. Just speculating. You've got HCC on the south end and a straight shot from downtown for lunch business. I guess you could look to the west side of Midtown on Bagby since they did this same thing over there.
  19. bobruss
    About a year ago I called the Brays project about the Scott street bridge. They had almost finished the Ardmore street bridge and were starting the Calhoun bridge. I left a message about the Scott street bridge. We went up to Durango for a vacation and were up at 11,000 ft in a beautiful log cabin. There was no service in the house. You had to walk down a 1/4 mile to the gate and you could get some service. I had walked down to the gate to try and make contact and check messages and while down there I received a call from an engineer for the project returning my call. It surprised the hell out of me. I asked him when they were going to start work on Scott street since I live just east of it, and use the bridge quite often. He explained that the Scott street bridge was not going to be rebuilt because it's flow was satisfactory. I didn't want to argue with him because I was actually very pleased I had received a call from him and I was in the mountains. I know during Harvey the water was being slowed by the bottom of the bridge when the bayou crested. I have video of it stacking up against the bridge but we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully he was right.
  20. bobruss
    I'd like to see the breakdown of how many of these 40 low income housing projects are going where. Like how many in Memorial, or Tanglewood or Briar grove, or Meyerland. It seems like they are all focused in the east side and the third ward, and I would imagine the fourth and fifth wards and perhaps the north side. It's the same song fifteenth verse. Just stick them in the lower income neighborhoods so they can continue to struggle. Talking about a bunch of nimbys.
  21. bobruss
    I provide this link once again so that anyone not familiar with the master plan its all there. This is the 2002 master plan which I don't think they have changed much if any. https://issuu.com/buffalobayou/docs/bbpmasterplan2002 If you go to page 36 you can see a rendering of what they propose. This would be a very nice addition to what would become an island and even though the county has several incarceration facilities on the north side of the bayou the area between them and the south side of the Northern canal would be prime property for development. It would leave a lot of space for growth and improvements. Housing, retail, and mixed use projects would fill those remaining spaces on both sides of the canal. The Genesis project is just the beginning of that areas regentrification. It would not be the San Antonio riverwalk, but it would provide some opportunities for restaurants, clubs and all sorts of recreational opportunities along b both sides of a controlled canal.
  22. bobruss
    Now we just need someone to build out the block just to the west and spare the office workers in downtown of the embassy. Isn't that Skanska's block also?
  23. bobruss
    This has been this way since it was built many years before TMC3 was even a vision.
  24. bobruss
    I did a little research and this is going to V.A. housing.
  25. bobruss
    Apparently the appreciation for the benefits of park living has caught on in the Third Ward. This is one of two new projects across the street from MacGregor Park. One at the east end of the park and one at the west end. Both are on O.S.T. They appear to be fairly contemporary townhomes. The one at 4720 O.S.T. is farther along and now has particle board siding attached. I'm sure with the construction of the Medical school on the park has also influenced developers. Hopefully when Hindesky and Highrise tower make their rounds they can take some images of these projects along with 4320 O.S.T.
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