sid113

I would not feel comfortable buying an expensive townhouse in this market. If things do go south for real estate in Houston these will be the hardest hit, plus I do not see a lot of value or appreciation potential there. But I think single family inner loop homes on decent lots are not overpriced and are unlikely to show much weekness. Unless you are looking for a house over $750K, your inner loop choices - particularly if you are picky about the neighborhood - really are fairly limited. That said, if you are offering within 5% of the asking price I am surprised you are having much of a problem striking a deal...

Is there a limit for how long the city will allow the buildings to remain standing in this state or is basically up to the owner? I assumed he would have needed to submit some sort of plan??

Does anyone know a good, not too expensive carpenter? I need a fairly basic but nice cabinet made for my living room...Thanks.

If the windows were "removed" couldn't that mean salvage? Do they remove windows separately prior to demo if it is not necessary?

or they removed them to throw stuff out of them. many window still there, but most doors look like they have been removed, probably just to make it easier to take things in/out.

Looks like prep work before demo. In addition to all the ground excavation, a lot of the windows seem to have been removed over the weekend. I have noticed quite a few workers going in and out of the buildings but no heavy equipment yet.

Is anyone else turned off by the way the gray exterior actually looks? It's a bit cheap in appearance for a building that is supposed to be ritzy. Can you imagine if those gray tiles were a stone of some sort? That would be rich.

Completely agree. I pass this builing every day and think the exact same thing. Overall, despite the fact that it is a new highrise, the units do not look impressive whatsoever.

When I was in my early 20s, there was a very successful company founder with a blackbelt in karate who over a period of a couple of years kicked in a passenger window in my car and the back windshield of my car. I didn't know him really, but I rebuffed him. Anyway, from everyone who knew him, he was a really nice guy. I believe that he was...to them. Until he was witnessed kicking in my windows, I wouldn't have believed it either. In fact, he seemed to take my rejection in stride. But he was seen and he eventually admitted it to me, right before he kicked in the second window.

My point is this...don't judge somebody else's experience based on your own. They don't always match.

I have not had a bad experience with Mr. Dilick personally, but his unwillingness to let them do salvage is giving me a bad impression of him. His having worked with Mr. Fertitta gives me a bad impression of him. None of this is based on any action from him. By simply acting positively to the community, he could change those impressions, but he has chosen not to. Hopefully, he will choose differently soon.

Wow...how about EMME buys the property and then does whatever she wants with it. Maybe she will foot a half million dollar tax bill each year and then she can decide piece by piece to whom we would like to give each crappy seventy year old brick to. This is private property and the owner is under no obligation to do anything other than what he wants with it. As a nearby resident, I could not be more thrilled that this guy has finally chosen to tear down this terrible blight of the neighborhood.

I really cannot believe how so many people are villifying this developer. It is his investment and his decisions. If you don't like it then raise the money to buy it yourself. Clearly, their are very few business people here, looks more like far lefters (let's save the beautiful trees and glass blocks!). Frankly as an investment this guy has been spot on, the lot has practically doubled in value over the last decade and he has probably put next to nil in terms of additional capital into it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

IMO, Wilshire Village holds SO much damn potential. It has a beautiful park-like setting with mature live oaks and magnolias. It's scale/massing fits in nicely with the surroundings. Clean lines from the 40s (look at those stunning windows!!!). Parking that isn't the first thing you notice.

Now, compare that to something like what was put up on the corner of Richmond @ Wesleyan or Sawyer Heights Village. In my opinion, a lot of new construction just looks cheap. Cheap materials. Cheap labor. Public space as an afterthought. Cheesy design cliches. YUCK.

i agree that the trees are beautiful. unfortunately, the rest is hideous and scares away potential buyers in the surrounding neighborhood.

Still, I hope it's not just left as a fenced off demo site until construction does begin. That would be very unappealing to the neighborhood. I wonder if the city would be interested in leasing from him for a temporary greenspace site.

seriously?? i really don't understand why any resident in this area would prefer these disgusting projects to remain standing as opposed to an empty lot....anything new that is erected on this plot is an upgrade compared to Wilshire Village so at least an empty lot holds this potential