The Great Hizzy!

What an odd thread. Then again... not really.

They're rehabbing the sidewalks for sure but there construction crews going in and out of the gated parking lot. The problem is that there's not enough going on inside the lot to really say if something meaningful is taking place.

Still a good amount of pedestrian activity at the park but I have to laugh at the irony of half dozen or more vehicles worth six figures and up that were valet parked in front of The Grove during lunch today.

What's funny is that UT tried to encroach further into the neighborhood with a psychiatric outpatient center earlier this decade. I remember the man in the blue shirt in the film suggested if the community owned the land, that wouldn't have happened. Well, in this case, UT claimed "imminent domain" and bought the Wright Morrow property on S. MacGregor. The 5 story complex would have been an eyesore and brought more traffic into the neighborhood. We fought it, because there were a few well documented incidents of escaped hospital patients running though the neighborhood, including one who swam across the bayou twice and got arrested almost in our back yard. UT finally relented and decided to place the property in the TMC "proper". It was a double edged sword though, UT sold the property to a developer who tore down the historic Wright Morrow mansion and started construction on some "luxury townhomes" starting at $500,000. In the past few months however, construction on the units has stalled, leaving an unsightly, weed grown property surrounded by a chain link fence containing freshly laid roads and water lines sprouting out of the ground.

This pisses me off. The exterior of that mansion was glorious and the property's location quite advantageous. I truly hope that they haven't abandoned the project completely given what they've destroyed in the process.

It was nice to see the park was packed today even well after the Astros game began. If the residential takes off and the Pavillions is marketed well, that are really can be a focal point of activity year round.

Even if the city told AEG and the Dyanmo, "You know what, screw it, we will build your entire stadium for you howver you like it, whereever you want it, you dont have to pay a penny" it would be cheaper than turning the dome unto a soccer stadium.

Prescient

The dome needs hundreds of millions of dollars. Even then the Dynamo can't play in the dome. Its a nightmare financially. Running an 70,000 seat stadium is not cheap. You need an army of security guards, janitors, concessions, ushers, and parking attendants, not to mention paying the electrical bills from the lighting necessary even in the day time, and the astronomical costs of running the A/C in the place. It costs roughly $400,000 a day to have an event in a venue that size like Reliant, probably even more in one like the dome built in the 60's.

Sobering.

Well known New Orleans band (New Birth Brass Band) vs. Houston's Voodoo will be performing at Discovery Green this evening at 6:00-8:30pm. It will be a battle of the brass bands.

Sounds good. I just hope the rain stays away until later.

Strike that up to karma!

that's okay. I embrace my assessness and openly acknowledge it.

I think you mean jackassery.

It's tricky. The summer is warmer and less inviting for many when it comes to outdoor recreating yet kids are out of school, including college age kids, and so the park may be able to draw more from a group that isn't as available right now.

It really is something that merits close attention to see if a trend can be spotted.

Well... It looks like the "renovation" is "complete". The fence has come down and now there are For Lease signs in each and every window. I assume that means they don't have a single tenant lined up.

There's nothing like undertaking a muti-year renovation of a consistently 100% occupied property only to end up with a property that looks nearly identical, yet has 0% occupancy. Now that they are "done", they get to enjoy a few years of rail construction that will forever ruin Richmond for vehicle (read: customer) traffic.

Somebody really dropped the ball on this deal.

bpe3

While I wouldn't exactly say it looks exactly identitical, I do agree with the overall point, which is that they took a long time to rehab the old center and that there will be other elements in play that could very well affect the leasability of the added parcels.

I would've thought that they'd have tenants in place by now (of course, I also thought they would've been done with the rehab at least six months ago as well).

It seems pretty clear that they reached an unexpected snag in the timetable. What the implications are for the project overall will obviously remain to be seen. I would certainly like to see or hear of revisions to whichever aspects of the project that are deemed prudent by the development group.

Where the rubber meets the road: today on a weekday afternoon at approximately 1:15 PM, I saw quite a number of people just hanging out, walking their dogs, reading, playing shuffle ball (yes, shuffle ball), throwing frisbees and just being themselves.

It's the off-event/non-novelty attendance that will really mark the park's longterm impact, especially if more residential continues to swell near it.

The meters are enforced on Saturdays up until six o'clock unless otherwise posted.

Seems like they're rhabbing the sidewalks all along Elgin from Travis to Bagby.

A metropolis of 2.2 million people? At 630-square miles, the nation's most sprawling city? Article mess ups.

At least they spelled Houston right.

There were far more people using the park today than I'd ever seen at the old Houston Center Gardens. Wasn't even close.

I'm surprised The Niche hasn't commented on this.

That Juneteenth lineup does indeed look good. I have relatives in San Antonio and Austin who love blues and who would eat that up.

A baseball game and a basketball game going on at the same time. Roughly 50,000 sports fans in the general area along with normal activity over in the Theater District.

Besides, those are only five of what, a couple dozen or so tenants (and maybe even more than that)? You could have the same discussion concering the Pavillions, High Street, River Oaks District and Blvd. Place.

Although, I do like a good piano bar, I will admit that.

My question is, what goes up on the property just to the north of it? The way construction is moving in that little section near the Museum District, you'd think that the property would be ripe for new residential development.

It really makes an impact on the skyline when you're coming in on the Southwest Freeway near Greenway Plaza.

Musicman's cracking me up.

I can't comment on Chuy's as I've never been. But my many out-of-town friends (African-American and white) who visit have had the place recommended to them by others, and they've liked it.

They never seem to be hurting for business, from what I can tell.

Do you really walk from the Hilton to Main Street by going through DG? You would go through HP it seems.

You can't help but pass Discovery Green from the Hilton, since they're across the street from each other.