Angostura

Glad things are moving along inside. From the outside, the difference between the actual situation and the rendering led me to conclude there is a lot of work left to be done.

There's now a rendering up on the corner of the site, but very little other activity. I wouldn't expect an opening date this summer. Safe rule for restaurants in Houston requiring a build-out is announced opening date + 6 months.

Same meeting approved two of the four new-builds for the corner of 13th & Ashland. These will be 2-1/2 story, 4100 s.f. houses on 6600 s.f. lots. For new construction, the ordinance requires (among other things) that: The proportions of the new construction, including width and roofline, must be compatible with the typical proportions of existing contributing structures and objects in the historic district; The height of the eaves of a new construction intended for use for residential purposes must not be taller than the typical height of the eaves of existing contributing structures used for residential purposes in the historic district; These houses will be 38-ft in width, and 22-ft eave height, neither of which are "typical" of nearby contributing structures. All of the contributing houses on this block are single-story (eave height <15-ft) and of modest width (<30-ft). HCAD lists 16 homes on the 1300 block of Ashland, 7 of which are under 2000 s.f., and two more are just over. Only one home is significantly above 3000 s.f. (there is one other listed at ~3500 s.f., but most of that is in the form of a detached garage apt.; the main house is a small 1-story cottage). Neither of the houses listed above 3000 s.f. are contributing. When completed, these homes will be the 4 largest on the block. HAHC was apparently unconcerned about these being excessive in size. 1811 Harvard, on the other hand, is a pretty typical "camelback" addition to an existing structure. Lots of compatible examples can be found. Now, aesthetically, I generally prefer the look of a "lot-line monstrosity" like 1309 Ashland to that of a "humper house" like 1811 Harvard, but, as written, the ordinance is pretty clear that the latter should be approved and the former denied. HAHC just did the exact opposite.

So, by demolishing and building a new structure, will the developer be required to include surface parking (decreasing the building footprint)? How do other 19th St businesses meet the parking regs? A net increase in retail/restaurant space will require more total parking in the area, no? It's not a huge parcel, maybe 10,000 s.f., but that will still probably require 50-100 new parking spaces.

Staff will recommend granting the variance: https://twitter.com/HoustonPlanning/status/316957879745781762

Since I'm opposed to parking minimums on principle, I'm in favor of any and all variances granting relief from them. I think of it kind of like jury nullification.

According to the planning commission's twitter account, variance was granted this afternoon.

Town-in-City (Cavalcade) is requesting a setback variance (15-ft instead of 25), and the current planning commission agenda indicates it will be deferred a 2nd time this week, so it won't see approval before the end of this month. The eastern half of the old Harold's building (HGS) looks to have made significant progress on the demo, but signs of actual construction are not apparent from the outside.

Or put those big rocks between the ditch and the street. I generally find these rocks to be incredibly offensive. Our neighbor has these blocking on-street parking in the part of their frontage not occupied by driveway. As a result, theirs cars (or their guests' cars) either pull into the driveway outside the gate, blocking the sidewalk, or park in front of our house. I realize we don't own the street parking in front of our house, but it's kind of dick move to block parking in front of your own house, and expect it to be available in front of someone else's. But in the case where there's a legitimate need for an access easement, it's a reasonable solution.

The entire stretch of 19th W of Shepherd ought to be a barren wasteland, but Hubcap and Gatlin's both do well there since their products are worth seeking out. I've had this ice cream, and it's worth braving the wilds west of Lawrence St. to get it.

It's an oddly shaped plot, but this isn't terribly imaginative. With big multi-family developments 2 blocks in either direction on Yale, it seems like an opportunity to put in something more pedestrian-friendly along the Yale St frontage.

There's a very specific market segment these are aimed at: (a) people who want nothing to do with home maintenance, let alone remodeling, and/or ( people who spend a lot of time out of town, and don't want to leave a single-family home empty for that large a proportion of the time. (My next door neighbor seems to be away about 40+ weeks/year, and it's always pretty obvious when the house is unoccupied.) People in category A will want new construction, and new construction in the ~2000 s.f. range in the Heights pretty much starts at half-a-million dollars. See, for example, here, here or here. People in category B will want a multi-family property with doorman/concierge. I appreciate that it seems expensive compared to a lot of what is available nearby, and it's not a choice that's rational for many, even most, people, but it's not a non-existent market. In fact, for newer-built condos in central Houston/Uptown, $240/s.f. is closer to the floor than the ceiling, price-wise.

I wish them luck. But let's not forget what preceded Revival Market at their current address. Why has Revival succeeded where McCain's failed (and what can HGS learn from this)? Given the background of the owners, Revival had instant credibility with people from the food service industry and therefore got a lot of favorable social media coverage from day one. HGS will have to build this credibility more slowly, The biggest excitement drivers for Revival were its charcuterie/salumi program (given their custom curing room and Pera's experience) and its coffee program. Over time, though, what impresses me about Revival is their constant innovation, especially with prepared foods. Every weekend there seems to be a new offering, be it bagels or kolaches or prepared sides for Thanksgiving. And everything is done to a very high standard. They're also a model in the use of social media to drive sales, with frequent updates and a lot of original content.

[inadvertent double post.]

Wow. Just, wow. So Council approves an ordinance that basically requires camelbacks. HAHC finds camelbacks distasteful, and refuses to approve. Message: only buy a property with intent to renovate if you don't plan to increase square footage. Good luck with that.

This is a fine argument, but there was already a mechanism in place to ensure lots were not further subdivided and current setbacks were maintained. Many blocks in the Heights already had MLS and MBL restrictions (voluntarily entered into), and the process to establish MLS and MBL restrictions is not overly cumbersome, requiring signatures from only 51% of the property owners. The HD's accomplish very little that couldn't be accomplished more democratically and more amicably by MLS and MBL.

It was probably the best thing I had, too. That says more about the rest of the menu than it does about the soup. (Maybe we caught them on an off day.) I disagree. It is absolutely possible to do good bistro/brasserie food in Houston. It just requires some attention to detail. No, you can't get poulet de Bresse or Charolais beef here, but you don't need them to make decent roast chicken or steak au poivre. A was hoping for a less formal version of, say, Brasserie 19. A version more suited to the Heights than River Oaks, but still doing faithful versions of standard bistro cuisine. I'd like to see them ditch the crepes, edit the menu down to 3-5 starters and 3-5 mains, and just execute them very well.

I had kind of hoped that Salé-Sucré would be a place that does good, simple bistrot food. Steak-frites, frisee-aux-lardons, quiche, cassoulet, pan sauces made from proper stocks, mashed potatoes with embarrassing amounts of butter; you get the idea. I can't say I've been impressed with much of anything from the savory side of the menu. Most disappointing example is the french onion soup. At it's best, this soup should have copious amounts of well-caramelized onions in a rich beef stock laced with a little cognac. It takes me two full days to make a good one at home, so it'd be nice to have a good restaurant version in the neighborhood. S-S's version is a weird-tasting, watery broth with some strips of sauteed onions and random bits of herbs floating in it. And, yes, the service kind of sucks, too.

Speed limit on Heights is 35 mph. Speed of the median driver is below 30. Speed limit on Yale is 30 mph. Speed of the median driver is above 40. (...based on my unscientific observations.)

I think we can safely say that it wasn't the Walmart that royally f-ed up the traffic on Heights and Yale. It's not even open yet and late afternoon northbound traffic on both streets at I-10 has become ridiculous due to the screwed up light-timings.

Revival Market owners to open Italian restaurant on White Oak: http://houston.eater.com/archives/2012/09/17/revival-market-owners-ryan-pera-and-morgan-weber-to-open-italian-restaurant-cultivare.php

Being pro-capitalism and being pro-business (esp. pro-big-business), in this day and age, are very much not the same thing. There are aspects of the 380 that DO come across as crony-ism, and I find those aspects troubling, if not terribly surprising .

The oft-repeated statement by Ainbinder that the development didn't need the 380 to proceed has been taken to mean that, had the city taken a harder line, the developer would have paid the $6M out of his own pocket. That's not what that statement means. Red is right that the development would have gone forward without many (any?) of the infrastructure improvements. Some of these are of questionable value (the jogging trail to nowhere is a good example), but, absent the 380, they just wouldn't be a part of the development. Three things bear pointing out: 1 - The developer does benefit from some of the infrastructure improvements (improved access, making area surrounding the development aesthetically better, etc.) without actually incurring any direct cost. 2 - The per-s.f. price of the land the city acquired for the Koehler St. extension probably exceeded the actual market value of that land. 3 - In the absence of a 380, without some of the street reconfiguration, the development may have had more issues with the TIA. So, yes, the developer is better of with the 380 than without it, but probably not to the tune of $6M. But, on the other side of the ledger, the city is probably better off with the 380 than without it. The area around the development looks a little nicer, traffic will flow a little better than it otherwise would, etc. So, if you stipulate that the Walmart was going in with or without the 380 (which the critics of the 380 almost universally usually do), then I don't see a whole lot to get upset about.

...as does (I think) Dragon Bowl on 11th.

That space is bigger than one realizes. It'll be nice to have some more windows facing 19th St.