htownproud

Sorry. My bad. Was thinking Ninfas but got them confused. Ninfas is permanently closed down. I tried to go there to pick up tortillas last month and saw it was closed for good.

I think that Old Ninfa's is suppose to become a Pico's fairly soon.   Perhaps it will have better luck with all the new activity in the area . . . .

The Pappasitos has already closed down.

It was still open as of last Friday. I suppose it could have closed over the weekend, but it is always slammed . . . .

I think Regent Square will be the best urban development of all the ones going up in Houston. The reason I say this is because the development mixes in with what is already there, it doesn't have parking lots around it like BLVD place and many of the others. This will just be a part of the city that you can walk directly to from the street and not have to pass through a parking lot to get to it.

Perhaps, but we just passed 7 years since it was announced, and there is absolutely no timetable when it will get finished. I hope you are younger than me.

The Sovereign topped out on Jan 21st.

 

Mathis Group FB Page: 

 

A few more short years and they will start building out the interior.  What do folks think this project will do to the apartment rental market in 2020 when it opens?  

Both Shell and Chevron are looking to relocate to the Houston suburb of Harligen. My buddy's dog litter mate told me.

Gulfton will be the new Montrose. Take it to the bank.

It is incredible how long they have been working on the buffalo bayou running trail, so it doesn't surprise me they are going to take forever for the dog park. I guess it's government work, but my goodness, they built the Golden Gate Bridge in less time.

I would love to have subways, but I think it will never happen.  I think the easier, quicker, and cheaper fix is to make Richmond, San Felipe, and Westheimer one way.  

Agree with Smelly on this. Anything built in the past five years to the west/southwest of downtown relatively close is at least $1300/month and no more free months rent at the start like 5 years ago. (I'm not counting studios in the corner next to the dumpster with no windows in this statement, because I'm sure someone will tell us they have a friend . . . .)

How about "BFE"? The woodlands is definitely out there for folks wanting to live in a big city. I don't know anyone that is excited about the new Exxon campus so I'm not sure chevron needs the tower to compete for talent. My understanding s that Exxon is anticipating having some retention issuers wih the move . . . .

If true, this would be news to the executives at chevron. You are also forgetting that that they purchased the parking garage next to the current tower on Louisiana in the last 24 months for future expansion. And of course that is to say nothing of the announcement to all employees about the tower. Moving north would go against absolutely every action chevron has taken in the past. That said, if some guy in Conroe said they are moving there, it is probably happening. . . .

I.

I'm glad all the cranes currently at the Exxon project in Spring will find a new, better home in 2014.  

it sounds like no one can disagree with you, so just for clarification--you want something like the Woodlands, Sugar Land, and City Center squares plopped down in DT with big box retail and the sort (with of course narrower surrounding streets and historic, wow monuments)?

I don't know about violent crime, but I think the general crime rate is much higher around the Greyhound station than downtown (number of incidents, not necessarily number of incidents/resident, since there are so few residents downtown).  Downtown for the most part is vacant after 11:00 pm.  There is no one around to commit crime or become a victim.  During the day, there are too many people--all of whom are business people--for many crimes to occur.  

And there is a reason there is such a strong police presence around the bus station -- that is where all the crime happens.  There are undercover cops galore in the immediate vicinity running drug and prostitution stings (interestingly, a lot of male prostitution).  The city is (or was) trying to shut down the gas station across the street as a public nuisance due to all the crime occurring there.  Admittedly all the crimes I've identified are non-violent, but my assumption is that there must be some violent crime associated with these because there normally is.  And this is not unusual -- the same issues exist in Chicago and other cities that are trying to redevelop the areas immediately around the bus station.

All of that said, the more people that move to the area, the safer it will become (as Nuclearreaction noted), so I'm all for this new development.    

I can't wait until 2020 when Phase 2 is complete!! And only 13 years after first announced. These other developers like Skyhouse and Finger should take note on how to complete a project. These guys are doing it right.

This thread must be a joke. I can't believe anyone really wants to rehab this disaster. I can't tell if we're getting trolled or if people really believe in these points (that the people are from out of town and have never seen this building make me suspect trolled).

Isn't that actually the Metropolitan? 

 

http://www.cinemahouston.info/palaces.shtml

 

The destruction of the "big 3" downtown theaters has to rank near the top of the list of the greatest losses to Houston architecture. 

Not sure, but the Majestic is still downtown.  It is a venue for parties and weddings.  Of course folks on these boards never let facts get in the way of a good argument.  

When did it happen? What kind of pieces?

http://swamplot.com/stone-panel-leaps-to-montrose-blvd-sidewalk-from-former-skybar-balcony/2011-11-14/

The stone facade on the side of the building is crumbling.

arche -- are you familiar with this building?  what about it makes you think it can be saved other than the fact that it is hasn't fallen over yet?  the place is falling apart onto those of us in the neighborhood that walk by it.  if you had deteriorating buildings falling on the fine citizens of Galveston, I suspect you would want the public nuisance torn down.  At least something is going in its place here.  

then there is the inside of this building, which from what I saw before it closed was equally neglected and further beyond repair.  

is there a single building in Houston that you think should be torn down or should every building currently standing be preserved?

Something has to be done with the railroad train tracks.  They need a overpass over it with trees, fountains, native plants.  Houston can do ANYTHING!

We should turn the overpass into a unicorn preserve as well.  Perhaps have leprechauns handing out candy at each end for the kids.   

I think you can walk across the tracks. Not many trains.

You're saying the Water Tower Place mall is not attached to the Water Tower Place tower?  I am not talking about the old water tower itself. I am talking about the Water Tower Place development. There is no street cutting through it.

I thought you were trying to show that an old structure could be attached to a new structure/mall.  But if you were just trying to show that you can have a hotel on top of a mall, then yes I agree with you.  

An adaptive reuse could have looked something like Water Tower Place. You save the front facade, gut the interior. One of the back quadrants of the building becomes an office tower. Then make the interior kind of a giant atrium with shops and escalators and trees in the middle. Maybe an ice rink. Make the roof skylights, and maybe have the upper floors as office space looking out over the atrium with windows punched on the non-Main sides of the building.  Parking can go either in the other back quadrant or across the street where the Americana building is.

 

 

This is a deceiving picture.  Water Tower Place was never part of the original structure.  There is street between the two that you can't see from this angle.  

A lot of people have suggested Hilcorp should have restored Foley's. Can someone with building knowledge comment on how expensive it would be to install the windows that would be required to make a building with no windows into a Class A building with as many windows as would be required for such? I'm not a builder but I assume it be cost prohibitive times a thousand.

are you not supposed to make left turns from the side streets onto Main? i thought it was just no left turns across the tracks if your on Main. if not ive been making illegal turns and havent noticed any signs saying otherwise. ha, but yeah it would be cool if they blocked off that part to cars for a wider pedestrian area on that block.

You must be right!