Angostura

36 minutes ago, cspwal said:

If only they could flip the parking lot and the building...

 

Or build it like this, with vertical parking in the back, street facing retail in the front.

Not shown in the rendering: the two rows of parked cars in front. Another development ruined by parking minimums and setbacks.

Also, what are those people on the roof cheering about?

On 5/8/2016 at 8:34 AM, Ross said:

What's your point? All facilities open to the public have to meet certain requirements to allow access by people with disabilities. Are you saying that's a bad thing?

In most cases, no. In some cases, yes. 

I think it's good practice for new facilities to be designed to accommodate everyone. 

However, let's say there was no way practical to put an elevator into the tower. If I were unable to climb those stairs, I wouldn't want that fact to prevent others from being able to use and enjoy the space. And having a place shut down for not being able to accommodate a small percentage of people seems like kind of a jerk move. 

11 hours ago, Mab said:

From the brochure phase 2 is still a go!

 

The text doesn't match the site plan. The residential component was where the two retail spaces are now (in the SW corner).

All it says on Heights is this:

Quote

McClelland said he couldn't comment on plans for a new Heights store but said an announcement soon will come.

More intriguing was this:

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He also said Shepherd Plaza, the once-bustling, now-forlorn shopping center just north of the intersection of Greenbriar and the Southwest Freeway, is moving closer to its destiny of becoming an H-E-B store.

 

Much of the center at 2110 Portsmouth is vacant, but tenant Tuesday Morning apparently holds the longest lease of the remaining retailers. McClelland said he believes the store's lease expires in 2019.

 

H-E-B has owned Shepherd Plaza for about 10 years.

I had no idea HEB owned that property. By now, I'd think it's too close to their Montrose store (and Central Market) to be a likely location for them.

1 hour ago, s3mh said:

Scott McLelland said in the chron yesterday that an announcement about HEB in the Heights is coming soon.  I think this points to HEB coming to studemont.  It is shovel ready.  Waugh is not. It is not in the dry area. The recently shuttered Fiesta is.  

Could be. I still think Washington is at least as likely. (Shep & 23 is a long shot.)

At 62k s.f. this site comparable but smaller than recent openings in Montrose (75k) and Tanglewood (91k). Adding in the "Jr Anchor" spot and it's about the same size as Montrose.

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

Repeal of the dry zone would be DOA in the Heights.  There is already enough of a kerfuffle every time someone wants to put in a new restaurant that will result in spillover parking issues on residential streets.  The private club license/dry zone regulations do a good job of keeping bars and liquor stores/convenience stores out.  Only those who are committed to operating in the Heights will bother with the private club license.

I don't agree that a local option election would necessarily be DOA, especially if it was limited, as this application is, to beer and wine for off-premise consumption. From the point of view of the pearl-clutchers, with the private club licenses, we already get all the externalities normally associated with liquor sales. All this would change is that you might be able to get a bottle of wine to drink with dinner at home without having to drive outside the neighborhood. I, for one, would love to have a retail wine shop or three in the neighborhood, or be able to buy a 6-pack at the 20th St Kroger.

This petition will fail for a different reason. The local option election would have to be for the entirety either of the City of Houston or (more likely) JP/Constable Precinct 1, since current law doesn't allow for local option elections in smaller jurisdictions. For that reason, the signature requirements to hold a local option election are unlikely ever to be met.

On 5/7/2016 at 0:19 PM, nate4l1f3 said:

How is this any different from a shopping center in Katy?  Struck out on this one. 

Driving west on I-10 from downtown is like watching a video loop. You see the same big box retailers in identical-looking developments every 7-8 miles.

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following complaints about access issues for people with disabilities

Someone probably filed an ADA complaint since (I'm guessing) there's no elevator to the top.

Looks like they ditched the apartments (ph 2) in favor of 1-1/2 new big box retailers and a bunch more surface parking.

This entire area, from the cemetery to Sawyer St, will go down as one of the great missed opportunities in Houston real estate development. It's a huge area, smack in between the Heights, the Washington corridor, and 1st/6th wards, yet it's completely inaccessible from any of those areas other than by car.

On 5/3/2016 at 9:14 PM, Montrose1100 said:

600 units on one of those blocks with a Piazza? Over exaggeration of the word or a very tall tower. 

From the article:

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He has also bought a second site across the road that will hold more than 600 apartments, with plans including shops and a piazza.

A site with 600 apartments, shops and a "piazza" sounds a lot like the superblock (albeit off on the number of apartments).

I'm guessing the interviewer heard that he bought a second site, and that across the road is a site that will hold 600 apartments, shops and a piazza, and mistakenly conflated the two.

Lot of pizza in the Heights: Pink's, Alli's, Cane Rosso, Mellow Mushroom, and now Pi.

Plus Collina's, Coltivare, and the pies Gelazzi are selling. And I wouldn't be surprised if the new red sauce joint going in on Studewood and 11-1/2 served pizza as well.

The eccentrically apostrophe'd Mels' Seafood Shack appears to be open and serving crawfish (Th-Sun) at 26th and Durham. 

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

I know that these are just pie in the sky renderings, but I wonder whether someone is planning a grocery/restaurant concept?  Revival and Harolds both failed, but things are changing pretty quickly in the neighborhood.  Getting in and out of Kroger, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc. with just one or two items is not fun during busy times of the day.  I would gladly pay an extra buck or two not to have to deal with that when I just need eggs or a nice block of cheese.

1900 s.f. is not a lot of space for a grocery store. At least not when there are spacious stores with ample parking available as ready alternatives.

A specialty butcher or fishmonger (or a combination of the two) could potentially survive, but it'd have to be special enough to be a destination, not just a neighborhood convenience. You can find "exotic" meats (goat, whole suckling pig, various organ meats) at ethnic markets around town, but dry-aged beef, heritage pork, pasture-raised chicken, etc., are either only sporadically available, or exorbitantly expensive. Good seafood is similarly very difficult to find, though fishmongers don't make the best-smelling neighbors in a retail development.

5 hours ago, cspwal said:

Whoo it has the parking in the back!

4 hours ago, Avossos said:

if this image is true to form, they will be tearing down about half the building for the parking.

At least they're tearing down the back half. 

4 hours ago, Avossos said:

I think the parking lot off Washington is left a lot with the garage behind it for future development. The garage would serve the retail in front of it. I think Star Pizza will likely move into the bank. I hope (and pray) this is a forward thinking development plan that will allow for density off wash ave. I live in lower wash ave area and there are a handful of old buildings right on the street. The problem is the gaps between these buildings prevents a truly walkable space. We need parking garages like this to remove surface parking and encourage denser development.

My guess is Star Pizza will stay put, but I agree with the rest.

Problem is: CoH only lets businesses count off-site parking against minimum requirements if it's both exclusive and within 250 ft. The area could get around individual parking minimums with a parking management district, but there's a chicken-and-egg problem. You can't get the parking management district approved without the parking garages, but no one will build spec parking garages while businesses still have to provide their OWN on-site parking.

14 hours ago, Visitor said:

I was referring to this image, which if produced to the rendering, would be an improvement in my opinion.  It's too bad they don't have the ability/rights to push it to the street front of Washington and just have retail on Washington as well. 

 

I think they do, they just decided not to.

The re-plat puts the entire block, except the smoke shop on the corner of Heights and Washington, and the brick building at the corner of Heights and Center, into a single unrestricted reserve:

I would love to have seen them ask for a 0-ft building line on Washington as well, in order to match the setbacks of the other three buildings on the block.

On 4/23/2016 at 2:37 PM, BigFootsSocks said:

So is Star Pizza moving into the retail spot or what? Kinda weak that they wouldn't put retail up to Washington.

Looks like the Star Pizza building remains intact. 

I'm guessing the surface parking in the SE corner is preserved so that Star Pizza remains visible from Washington.

On 4/24/2016 at 9:53 AM, Visitor said:

Assuming it looks like the rendering I'm happy with anything that enhances curb appeal on washington. It is the quintessential Houston hodge podge.

I don't think any of the structure fronts Washington. The 2nd rendering appears to be from Center St.

>$60/s.f., but about half of those square feet are in the flood plain. Basically everything except for the paved area on the northern half of the site is in the 100-yr flood plain, which restricts what a developer can reasonably build here.

20 hours ago, Ross said:

Be a little hard for the City to develop that as a grid, given the property was privately owned for the most part. Unless you think it's OK for the City to force a developer to put in a grid, rather than what the developer thinks will actually sell.

Very difficult. Especially since all these parcels came on the market piecemeal; the first one a decade ago. 

There's no incentive for a landowner to do it on their own, since they're basically giving away that square footage. The city would have had to acquire the right-of-way via eminent domain, then pay to put in the streets and associated infrastructure, either directly or via 380. An admittedly unlikely scenario.

13 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Its funny because I was just in this area today and I was like why the hell don't they make this area more pedestrian friendly... it has some elements of that but man why doesn't this city go crazy with laying sidewalks? Like consistent sidewalks with the same width from downtown and everywhere expanding from the cities core. If you added more pedestrian friendly areas for people to simply cross the damn street, you'll get a denser city with higher quality. Instead all these developments are half ass, with sidewalks to nowhere or that end out of nowhere and so much landscaping that it becomes hard to maintain all that crap. Instead if you made everything simple and just have all sidewalks come to the edge of the curb, you would find a nicer city with less maintenance. I just don't get it. And all these lots that are empty or overgrown, man fence that crap off. Is the city that strapped for money that they can't section off eyesore lots? 

It's largely because there's nowhere to walk from. As these large tracts became available, starting with the Target several years ago, instead of extending the street grid into these formerly industrial areas, they were/are being developed as standalone big-box centers. 

Imagine what kind of neighborhood would emerge if the entire area bound by Houston Ave, I-10, Studemont and Washington was laid out as a street grid with lots (of various sizes) sold off piecemeal, some for retail, some for multifamily, some for single family. You'd have a walkable neighborhood (with a built-in transit right-of-way) within minutes of downtown. Instead we'll get 4-6 large commercial developments, each with their own large surface parking lot.

Food looks great. And that Terlaner is a very nice white wine.

On 3/27/2016 at 3:20 PM, CrockpotandGravel said:

One of the John Besh restaurants may be PIZZA domenica. Eater Houston is reporting the pizzeria from Besh and Alon Shaya is scouting locations in Houston and Nashville.
[...]
Another Besh restaurant for Kirby Grove if he is for sure looking to open there is Lüke. From a Restaurant Hospitality article two weeks ago:

 

Would rather have a Houston version of Shaya, which is a unique concept, and was one of the best meals I had on my last trip to NO. Luke did not impress me, and would struggle to compete here.

A thread on next door notes that the Fiesta on the corner of Shepherd and 23rd will close on March 27th.

Let the wild speculation about a Heights HEB begin!

Demo permit for 2200 Yale (Alabama Furniture) issued today, and for 2222 Yale (dry cleaners) yesterday.

The dry cleaner site doesn't appear on the site plan in the current flyer. Only spaces offered on that flyer are the north end cap and the space immediately adjacent. The dry cleaner site may end up just being parking, or it may already be leased to an undisclosed tenant. It's been almost ten months with no confirmation about the ramen shop.