mfastx

Too good to be true.

Well that was a pleasant exchange. 

The hole has been filled! Those back windows are gonna have a great view! 

Hasn't it been understood since day 1 that they would have to use eminent domain for some portions of folks weren't willing to sell?  Not sure why this is being discussed. 

One can only hope. 

Really a nice building.  Only thing I can take away from it is how far back it is from the street, making it suburban in nature.  But guess I can't expect too much with it being on a feeder road. 

Damn, that looks pretty sweet.  Looks like something you'd see in DC. 

Soo much work to be done around Toyota Center but it's moving in the right direction for sure. 

That Hilton Americas has really aged well, beautiful building. 

Now THAT is what a development should look like. 

I actually kind of agree, especially when viewed at ground level.  I get why it's so prominently featured as there is a nice parkland and bayou running in the foreground, but the buildings are really spaced out and it just doesn't look dense. 

They're persistent, gotta give 'em that. 

Lol, that "NEADO" has to be a joke.  

I mean I'd live there. 

Turner should focus on getting the damn University line built, TxDOT does the freeways and they never seem to have any shortage of money. 

If I had a somewhat unlimited check book I'd do:

 

Elevated light rail west of S. Rice st (at grade in certain spots if possible / if there are long stretches without lights). Keep it in the median as there is plenty of street capacity for cars.

 

Underground light rail east of Sage......something like Boston's system.

 

That would save "some" $. But we're talking bazillions of dollars here.

 

Pipe dreams.....

 

Heh, yea my fantasy system would likely cost like $25-30 billion, but it'd get amazing ridership.  Neither here nor there though. 

They are

 

 

I'm not sure when it is starting though.

 

Westheimer really needs some sort of heavier transit method - BRT, light rail, subway, elevated train, cable car - something

I've always thought a heavy rail subway under Westheimer from like Beltway 8 all the way into downtown would get great ridership. 

10 mins to the galleria, 15 to downtown, 15 to the energy corridor. What pain?

610 from 290 to 59 is absolute and total suckage, c'mon man. 

Lol, last couple of pages are hilarious. 

But yea, people have a right to complain whenever the final product is 100% worse than the rendering. 

The FRA report (https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L17203) is certainly a thick read, but I would recommend at least skimming it if you're intested in this project.

 

What I can gather from it, TCR had downtown as their goal, but needed to study if the costs of continuing into downtown were worth it compared to the increased revenue.  From it being eliminated in level 1 screening, they used "the Project’s purpose and need, alignment objectives and design guidelines as screening criteria."  

 

The two downtown alternatives failed on Economic criteria and Environmental criteria

 

 

The discussion of why is on page 22 of the report.  

Thanks, apologies for the laziness should have read the report before commenting. 

It looks like this was an internal analysis done by TCR and they themselves made the decision that it would be too costly and a negative return on their investment if they came all the way downtown, which is what most of us thought would happen in the first place. 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/Planned-high-speed-rail-line-won-t-come-downtown-6627877.php

Like I said above, looks like an internal analysis/decision and not the feds not allowing it. 

If they had tons of money to spare, they'd do it. 

 

Why are we all getting hung up on this? The Northwest Mall site is not the mall itself. Almost certainly the mall will be flattened in the process or at least highly renovated. The old Foley's building will probably get demolished either way, and could provide an impetus to revive that part of town. Besides, even if it wasn't completely demolished, a renovated transit-oriented mall could provide a decent terminal, with places to eat, wait, or buy sundries at. That's what happens at all these actual transit/train stations in reality you guys claim to lionize.

 

And now you've got some Dallasite deliberately trying to troll you guys by taunting you that it's not downtown, and you're taking the bait.

That's all speculation, I doubt any of that would be paid for by TCR.  Maybe another developer might come in and do that, I hope so. 

You do know that TCR wanted to go downtown but the Fed's nixed it, right?

What's your source on this?  I read that they studied it and basically determined it was too expensive. 

I feel like the problem that most people have with the NW mall site is not necessarily that it isn't in downtown, but that it isn't anywhere really.  It's in a very undesirable area.  Who likes that area? 

Edit: to clarify, if the station was in uptown or something people wouldn't whine about it not being downtown.. because at least the station is in a destination area.  

No one is taking HSR to Houston to get to NW mall.  

At least some people's final destination would have been downtown, or uptown, or wherever.  Literally 0% of people taking HSR are wanting to get to NW mall. 

I laughed at "anchored by Northwest Mall."  Yeah, that's a signature property right there.  Lol. 

Man if Houston could finally do something with that eyesore that'd be incredible. 

Hey, at least there's something there and not a parking lot.