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Houston19514

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Everything posted by Houston19514

  1. Houston19514
    Color me skeptical. If it were true that the flag used to be SO large that it hung down TWO FLOORS below the top of the building (which, incidentally, also seems like it would be a violation of flag etiquette) I am pretty confident SOMEONE on this board would recall seeing such a thing. Anyone?
  2. Houston19514
    Not true. You can see most of their magazine content and flip through the magazine page by page.
  3. Houston19514
    ^ and right here is the reason developers keep building business structures with surface parking attached.
  4. Houston19514
    ^ Perhaps that's because it's actually patterned after MAYAN temples. Not Aztec. ;-)
  5. Houston19514
    ^ Yes, I believe those are the correct block numbers.
  6. Houston19514
    Reliant Energy was the primary backer, and I think the organizer, of Power of Houston. They had to get the cooperation of most every major building owner downtown, not only to cast lights on them, but to install lights and fireworks and lasers on their rooftops and in many cases, take out windows and install equipment inside of buildings. Weeks before the show, they were running helicopters dropping stuff on the tops of the buildings. It was an incredible undertaking and no doubt very expensive, but at the same time, the whole festival raised a bunch of money for charity. I think the primary reason it was in October rather than 4th of July or New Years Eve is a very simple one: better, more comfortable weather. I brought my three nephews and neice down for it and they still talk about it. All agree they'd love to see it again and would happily pay for it.
  7. Houston19514
    Power of Houston was INCREDIBLE!! Impossible to describe. And pictures, as spectacular as they are, do not do it justice. I wish they would make it a permanent annual event. DJV Lawrence: great pics of Power of Houston. I like your idea for a regular lighting of the skyline. Re: the petition to City Council. While it might help to get the City Council interested... They are not the ones who make the decision on lighting buildings. Each individual building owner makes that call. It might be more useful to present the petition to the building owners and/or the various downtown organizations (and there seems to be too many of those, but that's another subject)
  8. Houston19514
    I just happened upon this on My-Table.com: According to them, Dolce & Freddo closed all locations in 2004. It's in their "Farewell - 2004's Most Significant Closings" section
  9. Houston19514
    Just ran across this by way of a search on HAR: Da Vinci Court They are townhouses in the 1500 block of North Main and apparently is the first project in the Hardy Railyard development. They look very nice. Has anyone been by there lately? Are these already under construction? Well, I just did the virtual tour on the website and it appears that some of them have already been built. Is that correct?
  10. Houston19514
    ^ I totally agree. Gehry is so 1990s ;-)
  11. Houston19514
  12. Houston19514
    ^ When you find a city without suburban sprawl, be sure to let us know.
  13. Houston19514
    The first one is the Lofts at the Ballpark. The second one is the Humble Building Apartments (in the same complex as the Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn Hotels)
  14. Houston19514
    Let me go over this again. There are only three possibilities for making money by flipping... In order for it to work, or even have the chance of working, at least one of these element must be present... -- the flipper buys a property for a below-market price, such as in a distress sale (someone needing to sell so they can re-locate, a repossessed house, etc.) Midtownguy has assured us that Perry is NOT selling their townhouses for below-market prices. -- Prices are sky-rocketing (and even that is problematic, because there's no reason to think Perry wouldn't keep it's prices in-line with the sky-rocketing prices) -- Fraud (the re-sale is done based on a fraudulent appraisal, etc. Somewhat complicated and way beyond the scope of this posting). Maybe you guys don't really understand what flipping is. Flipping is the re-selling of a property in the VERY short term, usually immediately. There is no time for market appreciation, etc. You keep telling us that people are buying townhouses for fair market value and "flipping" them for a profit. Given that we've established the initial sale is for Fair Market Value, a profitable flipping is well-nigh impossible... the only way for it to happen is to get lucky enough to find a foolish buyer willing to pay above Fair Market Value (and even then you might have to get a fraudulent appraisal). Now, what you MAY be talking about is simply investors buying townhouses as investments, banking on rising property values in Midtown, leasing them out and hoping to sell them for a profit sometime in the medium-to-long term. I am quite certain that is happening... I've considered doing that myself, because I think Midtown may have a phenomenal future and these should be good investments. But that is NOT flipping.
  15. Houston19514
    Well, if I were you, I'd be trying to do some business opposite these supposed townhouse flippers. You should be able to make a killing off of them, cause they aren't too bright. Now, in the example you just gave... were there not still brand new Perry townhouses either in the same block or just around the corner in the price range of $150,000?
  16. Houston19514
    You are right, kz. I don't think there is really any indication that the Wolfe project will look anything like the "Riva" renderings, since those were published in connection with an earlier proposal for a redevlopment of the Pavilion by a group called something like "Urban Resort Properties." It seems like Wolfe's plans may not be far enough along to have renderings. I suspect they are shopping their general concept to prospective retail tenants and prospective office, hotel, condo, and apartment developers, and will generate physical plans and renderings once they have a better handle on what is feasible.
  17. Houston19514
    The question is... why would anyone in their right mind try to flip properties in an over-saturated market? Midtownguy: Take a chill pill, man. I never suggested you were lying. If I understand you correctly, you are telling me that people are buying up townhouses from Perry and other builders and immediately putting them back on the market, hoping to make a killing. This in a market generally agreed to be overbuilt, and where the builders' initial prices are fair market prices. I'm sorry, I just cannot make sense of this. The only way flipping works is if you buy for an extraordinarily low price (below-market) or if the market is under-built and prices are sky-rocketing. Cleary, neither is generally the case in Midtown Houston and it's hard to imagine there are many people who ever thought it might be the case. Might I ask how you can tell a townhouse is being flipped by going around looking at those for sale? Just by finding some "new" Perry townhouses that aren't owned by Perry? Or by seeing a town house for sale that still looks new? Again, I'm not calling you a liar, but without more evidence than a few new-looking townhouses on the market, I just find it too hard to believe there are enough people in the Houston real estate business, with the necessary money, to make this ignorant of a move. "Gee, I think I'll get rich by buying some new townhouses at market price, and then re-sell them as 'pre-owned' units." That, my friend, is not greed. That is stupidity. (and just to be clear, I'm referring to anyone who would try such a scheme, NOT to you, Midtownguy.)
  18. Houston19514
    It is hard to imagine that there is any significant amount of "flipping" going on in Midtown. If new construction can be sold for higher prices, wouldn't Perry and the other builders price them accordingly?
  19. Houston19514
    Calm down everyone... that link took us to one listing for ONE of the units in the Edge complex. When one takes the 10 seconds required to look further, one finds that there are units listed starting at $144,500.
  20. Houston19514
    Since you either don't really understand what the Post-Dallas "partnership" really amounted to, or just haven't desired to let us in on the little secret, I looked it up. Post Properties just got the city of Dallas to establish a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) zone to upgrade the area's infrastructure. I believe that is EXACTLY what Houston has done with the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. Regarding your comments about the Crescent Court and the new Hilton... you are entirely misstating the "argument." I never suggested that a hotel, and a hotel alone, would cause booming revitalization. Regarding the Hilton, the "argument" would only be that promoting development in that area of downtown would be much easier with the Hilton present than it would be without the Hilton in the neighborhood. Personally, I think that's almost too obvious to spend time debating. And the Crescent Court is more than just a hotel; it also has office buildings and retail, which makes it an even stronger catalyst for redeveloping an area.
  21. Houston19514
    How does the Uptown Improvement District differ from the Midtown Management District? Is Houston not in fact doing the same thing? Right down to involving the very same apartment developer? The Crescent doesn't count? How ridiculous is that? Of course it counts. Of course pre-existing development helps tremendously when you go in to start reinvigorating a community. All that proves is that the Uptown Improvement District had a huge head start, compared with where the Midtown Management District started out. Don't you think it's easier to develop and promote luxury apartment spaces in a neighbhorhood already blessed with a development like the Crescent Court, than in a neighborhood like midtown that was totally rundown and largely abandoned? I am in absolute agreement that the two cities should look to each other for ideas and to make improvements. I cannot imagine where you got the idea that Houston in general has the attitude that it's perfect and never needs to look elsewhere for ideas.
  22. Houston19514
    I don't think there will be anything taller in Uptown Houston in the near future, or for that matter, the far future. Certainly not an office building in the near future. I believe the vacancy rates are currently too high for any substantial new office construction. I would also be quite surprised to see anything residential go higher than Transco, especially in the near future. Personally, I think Uptown would look better with more shorter buildings (in the 35-40-50-60 story range), to fill in the area and make it more dense and urban. Having said that, I would love to see a 70 story residential building, but I'd prefer to see it go downtown.
  23. Houston19514
    Danes, what do you have in mind re: Houston partnering with someone to help revitalize Midtown? Who did Dallas partner with? What did the City of Dallas do to assist/promote the revitalization of Uptown Dallas, that Houston has failed to do? Before anyone gets all excited and thinks I'm challenging you to a dual ;-) let me just say, my questions are serious. While I think you have been somewhat extreme in your trashing of Houston, it does appear that Dallas has done/is doing a darned nice job in its Uptown District and maybe Houston could learn from it. Here is something I do not understand. I'm pretty sure the Downtown Dallas hotel market has a lower occupancy rate than downtown Houston, and yet they get Ritz Carlton and W to come in and build entirely new hotels! And I just read recently of a proposal to refurbish some older downtown Dallas building into a hotel. Is there going to be a serious bloodbath down the road there, or what's up with that? What abandoned property are you referring to that the city sold to someone for low-income housing? When comparing Dallas's Uptown and Houston's Midtown, I think it's fair to keep in mind that Dallas has been working on revitalizing their Uptown for a VERY long time. For example, the Crescent Court (including its office buildings) and a lot of nearby development, has been there for probably at least 20 years already. I think you're right that Houston's Uptown is more comparable to Dallas's Galleria Area (although I believe that it is actually somewhat further from downtown Dallas than Uptown is from downtown Houston). In any event, I have not been near Dallas' Galleria for a while, but unless the area has changed dramatically, I think Houston has done a better job in developing this area. And the future is only looking better for Uptown Houston, growing more urban and pedestrian friendly.
  24. Houston19514
    I was referring to 1500 Smith. It's a new tower. It's ChevronTexaco's. Thus, the new ChevronTexaco Tower. (I don't know what they are officially calling it.)
  25. Houston19514
    ^ Where? Argentina, China, Brazil, Czech Republic, England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Mexico Why? There's money to be made. They are plenty active in the United States too. They managed the construction of the new ChevronTexaco Tower, they built and own Calpine Center. They still own a lot of properties around Houston and manage still more. Almost half of the "new devlopments" listed on their website are in the US.
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