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Angostura

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Everything posted by Angostura

  1. Angostura
    I agree, but maybe for a different reason. The biggest impediment to workable transit is a lack of density. And the biggest impediment to achieving sufficient density is the requirement that every development provide parking. (There are others, but this is the biggest.) Once cars can drive themselves, you can de-couple parking from the destination. Even if the dominant model remains everyone having their own personal vehicle, if the cars "valet park" themselves, then you can eliminate the rule that off-site parking can only be a short distance away. That opens up a ton of land area for additional commercial and residential development, which could result in corridors with enough density to make transit work.
  2. Angostura
    There's a census tract covering around 1 sq mile, roughly centered on the intersection of Wash and Studemont with 4616 people (probably more now). Population density is similar throughout the Washington corridor: mid-4-figures. Call it an average of 5000 /sq mile across the corridor. This is largely a residential corridor, but let's assume that for every resident, there's 0.5 jobs in the area as well. That's an activity level of 7500/sq mile, or about 12/acre. A UC Berkeley study estimates that, for a light rail project to be cost-effective at capital costs of $50M/mile (the green/purple lines cost about 3X this much), you'd need an activity level of 60/acre. So we'd need to not only reduce the cost per mile by 2/3, but also increase activity density by of a factor of 5 as compared to 2010 levels. Most of the corridor is still single-family residential, albeit now with 3000-sf townhouses instead of 1200-sf bungalows. It's possible for neighborhoods made up of single family houses to get to 30,000+/sq mile, but not with our current development rules, with wide right-of-ways, mandatory setbacks, and off-street parking minimums, all of which limit density to levels well below those needed for workable transit.
  3. Angostura
    City has additional comments on both permits (site work and actual construction). Will require another resubmittal.
  4. Angostura
    But in this case, I think it refers to a subdivision in Katy, south of I-10, West of 99.
  5. Angostura
    The variance request on the Planning Commission agenda to reduce the building line to 6' along 19th St (for the new-construction Bldg D) was deferred. The CoAs for Building A (reservoir) and Building B (1939 pumping station) were approved by HAHC. The CoA application for Building C (1949 pumping station) was withdrawn, as no alterations to the exterior are proposed.
  6. Angostura
    Surveyors on site today. Permits still under review w/ CoH.
  7. Angostura
    Swamplot has some info.
  8. Angostura
    Ground breaking has (apparently) been scheduled for October 24th. Actual work will still have to wait for permit approval.
  9. Angostura
    There's a school of thought that, because polished brass is so hard to maintain (needs to be polished pretty much daily), it's a sign of commitment to quality. (That handrail actually looks like a satin finish, though.)
  10. Angostura
    Well, it would require the entire street to be dug up so the drainage system could be relocated. Also, it would require variances to a number of the requirements in Chapter 42 with respect to development along major thoroughfares, including building setbacks (zero feet instead of 25), right-of-way width (40 ft instead of 100), curve radius (major thoroughfares require a curve radius of 2000-ft, with 100 ft between reverse curves. Center roadway infill might be more (physically) practical on low-traffic residential streets, especially ones that have open drainage ditches. For example, here's a street in the Heights with 90+ ft from façade to façade, and maybe gets an average of a car or two per minute, if that. The block face is almost continuous on both sides, with minimal lateral setbacks. Take the 20 feet closest to the facades on either side and make two one-way woonerf-style streets. Maybe eliminate on-street parking, because people in the Heights hate on-street parking of cars that aren't theirs. That gives you space to lay out townhouses down the center of the RoW, say, 25x50, oriented parallel with the street, in 4-packs so the garages don't take access from the street. Each TH has two external walls, one of which faces a pedestrian-scaled street, and two off-street parking spaces. That's twenty new 3000-sf townhouses: something like $12M of new tax base. On one block. On space that's pretty much going un-used. All you have to do is convince people that front yards are stupid and a waste of space and not really worth having in the first place.
  11. Angostura
    Doesn't solve the key problem with this block: it's 200-ft from façade to façade, 120 feet of which are dedicated to machinery storage, and there are only palm trees for shade. Palm trees don't really provide any shade. Here's what they COULD do: The middle 80 feet of right-of way belongs to the city. Trade that middle 80 feet for two 40-ft ROW's along the facades on either side of the street. Take the middle 120-ft and build new retail (in the same art-deco style). Convert the two 40-ft strips of what is now parking into two one-way streets: 2 x 11-ft traffic lanes, with an 8-ft sidewalk on either side. You now have 66,000 s.f. of new retail space, a more human-scaled pedestrian environment, and a real amenity for the new residents in your apartment tower. Structured parking in the new tower (and maybe additional structured parking behind Brasserie 19) can compensate for the lost strip-center parking and the parking requirements for the new retail. (Yes, I realize this is completely impractical.)
  12. Angostura
    Anyone know what's going in here? Looks like the northern half of the site has been graded for parking, and a P&B foundation looks to be going in on the southern half. The site was replatted earlier this year, but I couldn't find any other info.
  13. Angostura
    Second submission of the permit application for site work was unsuccessful. A number of corrections/revisions required. Work probably won't commence before October.
  14. Angostura
    It's good, but it could be better. Get rid of the double-row of surface parking in front of the HEB. In fact, since there's all that structured parking, get rid of ALL the surface parking. Then you can make the RoW's of the internal streets much narrower (say, 20 ft), with retail on both sides, and restrict a lot of them to pedestrian (plus emergency vehicle/delivery) access. With narrow RoW's, you don't need street trees, since buildings provide the shade. That lets you get rid of the stupid, useless street-side "green space" that no one uses and put in actual park space that people DO use. Why you would put in 140-ft right-of-ways in a pedestrian-oriented development is beyond me.
  15. Angostura
    Drive down any freeway in the city: it looks like that. Only thing different is the shape of the parking lot.
  16. Angostura
    Is that a 2nd story, or just a really high ceiling? How is this situated on the site. It looks like large setbacks, but I don't see any cars in the rendering,.
  17. Angostura
    It does. It also bumps out in the East to include the soccer stadium. Elgin is only 6 more blocks south.
  18. Angostura
    With the additional density added to this area in the last several years, it's time to extend the CBD's exemption from parking minimums at least to Elgin between Bagby and 59, if not the entire "crotch" between the Spur/Bagby and 59.
  19. Angostura
    People in need of affordable housing were not the demographic DLI was hoping to attract. Also, commercial rents kind of establish a price floor below which it doesn't make sense to build residential. If a developer can get $30/sf for Class A commercial space, that's roughly the equivalent of $2500/month for a 1000-sf apartment. As residential and commercial rates fluctuate relative to one another, the mix of new development should shift accordingly.
  20. Angostura
    The Dunlavy store is drawing from Rice Military and parts of the Heights as well as Midtown and Montrose. When the Washington and N Shepherd stores open, it should slack off a little.
  21. Angostura
    If you ever find yourself overly confident in the wisdom of crowds, check out Tripadvisor's ranking of the top restaurants in Houston. The top 10 consists of 5 steakhouses (including 2 churrascarias), a grocery store, two Peli Peli locations, and Uchi. Underbelly is #39 Xochi is #172 Coltivare is #309 MF Sushi is #443
  22. Angostura
    Will compete with the vegan ice cream place opening two doors East.
  23. Angostura
    Urban Float is apparently a sensory deprivation spa, where for $89 you will be able to float in a tank of salt water for an hour.
  24. Angostura
    The visibility barrier that (I presume) the city made them put on the south wall is hideous.
  25. Angostura
    It looks like this puts a sharper segregation between the wholesale and retail portions of the site. If this first phase is successful at turning this site into a destination, the days might be numbers for the wholesale warehouse on the north edge of the site.
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