New Tidbit On Towne Lake

[mrfootball]

Tidbit about a new office complex in Towne Lake from Sunday's Chronicle article discussing the upcoming Caldwell Watson name change:

A number of projects are under way, including a residential development off U.S. 290 in northwest Houston called Towne Lake. The 2,400-acre project is a high-end community of custom homes with a 350-acre lake.

An office complex that focuses on social networking with a "central park," outdoor cafe and service businesses allowing workers to run errands without leaving the campus is also under development.

Read the whole article

Edited June 3, 2007 by mrfootball

[psilverot]

Where exactly will the offices be located (on 290 also)? Where will this residential development be also?

Tidbit about a new office complex in Towne Lake from Sunday's Chronicle article discussing the upcoming Caldwell Watson name change:

A number of projects are under way, including a residential development off U.S. 290 in northwest Houston called Towne Lake. The 2,400-acre project is a high-end community of custom homes with a 350-acre lake.

An office complex that focuses on social networking with a "central park," outdoor cafe and service businesses allowing workers to run errands without leaving the campus is also under development.

Read the whole article

[mrfootball]

I believe the offices and retail will be up on the part of the development that borders 290.

Here's a more detailed PDF master plan with the proposed town center

Edited June 4, 2007 by mrfootball

[hbcu]

it's already congested now....it will be bordered by Bridgelands/Cypress Creek Lakes to the West and the current hoods on the East....dang,...good luck and send help commuter rail

[mrfootball]

hbcu - same post, different thread. You always say the same thing...we know, congestion. Yet the NW area continues to explode. Go figure.

Edited June 4, 2007 by mrfootball

[aggie0083]

hbcu - same post, different thread. You always say the same thing...we know, congestion. Yet the NW area continues to explode. Go figure.

Traffic is really not that bad if you don't have to go that far into town.

I work off Westheimer and the Beltway and can get there in a little over 30 min from Cypress. Not too bad.

[dalparadise]

The office complex with the central park is not actually a part of the Towne Lake development. It is a development called "Remington Square," which will be located on the Beltway near 290.

There are a few cool things about Towne Lake that we all should find interesting --

This lake is no typical water feature. The perimeter of the lake will be about 24 miles! At it's widest point, it will be about 300 yards wide. That will make it the third largest lake in the Houston area, I believe.

Plans call for a small marina, lots of bridges, a waterfront retail and restaurtant area and a mini-Kemah family attraction area.

The Towne Lake Center will be the "town center" for all of Cypress, with office space, medical and walkable retail.

I'm surprised many here haven't talked more about this. This seems right up most of your alleys.

Edited June 5, 2007 by dalparadise

[aggie0083]

The office complex with the central park is not actually a part of the Towne Lake development. It is a development called "Remington Square," which will be located on the Beltway near 290.

There are a few cool things about Towne Lake that we all should find interesting --

This lake is no typical water feature. The perimeter of the lake will be about 24 miles! At it's widest point, it will be about 300 yards wide. That will make it the third largest lake in the Houston area, I believe.

Plans call for a small marina, lots of bridges, a waterfront retail and restaurtant area and a mini-Kemah family attraction area.

The Towne Lake Center will be the "town center" for all of Cypress, with office space, medical and walkable retail.

I'm surprised many here haven't talked more about this. This seems right up most of your alleys.

Sounds like they are trying to get in the game before Bridgeland can get there stuff together.

[mrfootball]

Sounds like something that will be very well received. At this point, good retail and cool restaurant offerings have not caught up to the growth in the 290 corridor. A walkable Town Center/Waterfront would be a nice attraction. It would be neat if some budding entrepreneur could do something with the historic Hot Wells that used to be a big draw to the Cypress area back in the late 1800's for the natural hot springs. Seems like somebody could capitalize off this natural resource and turn it into a cool Spa or something. I believe there's shooting range there now.

[hbcu]

it's greed....maybe because I grew up with a decent sized lot I'm spoiled but I spent the past 5 years on the NW Side and the cart before the horse mentality is crazy....

that gun range has been there for a minute and I bet business hasn't slowed..

what are taxes like in the area now?

[dalparadise]

Sounds like they are trying to get in the game before Bridgeland can get there stuff together.

Well, Bridgeland has at least an 18-month head-start. Something as big as Towne Lake will take time to develop. I do believe the vision for Towne Lake surpasses Bridgeland's, in that Towne Lake will devote a greater percentage of its space to public areas that will foster a more cohesive community. I believe Towne Lake will end up being less of a master-planned community and more of what people envision when they try to picture the "town of Cypress".

[MidtownCoog]

Do they really have to spell it with an "e"?

"Towne" is not even in the English dictionary.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Do they really have to spell it with an "e"?

"Towne" is not even in the English dictionary.

It looks fancier that way. I think maybe it's pronounced "Town-ay"....

Anybody else's mind go straight to this when they read Remington Square?

Anyways...

I'm interested to see this 350-acre lake. It's supposed to be boatable from one end to the other, with bridges designed to pass recreational boats.

Any backup information to show that the 350-acre lake would be the 3rd largest in the area? I have no reason to doubt it, but the top 2 would be Lake Conroe (21,000 ac) and Lake Houston (11,000 ac). That's a big dropoff to 3rd. And now that I think about it, Clear Lake has to be bigger than 350 acres, right? Anyone else know of another lake bigger than 350 acres? Towne Lake could be #4...

[PureAuteur]

Well, Bridgeland has at least an 18-month head-start. Something as big as Towne Lake will take time to develop. I do believe the vision for Towne Lake surpasses Bridgeland's, in that Towne Lake will devote a greater percentage of its space to public areas that will foster a more cohesive community. I believe Towne Lake will end up being less of a master-planned community and more of what people envision when they try to picture the "town of Cypress".

Real towns develop organically. Anything developed by a corporate developer is a master-planned community or a neighborhood. Towne Lake is just a big neighborhood like Fairfield with retail embedded and extra glitz. It will not even remotely resemble an actual town, nor will anyone view it as the center of Cypress.

[mrfootball]

Real towns develop organically. Anything developed by a corporate developer is a master-planned community or a neighborhood. Towne Lake is just a big neighborhood like Fairfield with retail embedded and extra glitz. It will not even remotely resemble an actual town, nor will anyone view it as the center of Cypress.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, PA.

If its neat enough, it will.

There is no 'organic' in Houston save for a handful of older neighborhoods inside the Loop (even those are questionable). People don't care. They just want something fun to do, someplace good to eat, and somewhere cool to shop at and hang out (a la Woodlands Market Street, Sugar Land Town Center, Katy La Centerra, Pearland Cheezy President Heads Park, Kemah Boardwalk, etc).

Edited June 5, 2007 by mrfootball

[mrfootball]

I was looking at the property using Microsoft's cool new Live Search "Birds Eye" view mapping software. It looks like this parcel actually has a fair amount of trees. Usually the land on the other side of 290 is a bit sparse, but they actually have something to work with. I hope they'll work to preserve as much as they can.

Edited June 6, 2007 by mrfootball

[dalparadise]

Real towns develop organically. Anything developed by a corporate developer is a master-planned community or a neighborhood. Towne Lake is just a big neighborhood like Fairfield with retail embedded and extra glitz. It will not even remotely resemble an actual town, nor will anyone view it as the center of Cypress.

Wow, I guess I haven't had the benefit of seeing the site plans, talking to the landscape and building architects, meeting with the developer and presenting to the domestic and foreign investors like you have. Only someone with intimate knowledge of this project would make a statement like yours. Of course, anyone who knows Caldwell Companies knows they are all about "extra glitz". I should have done my homework.

I suppose I also lack your all-knowing ability to see the future of Cypress or "anything developed by a corporate developer".

Great post.

[PureAuteur]

I stand by my post. Towns form when groups of people converge on a specific place because of its economic potential or because of its geography. The growth in Cypress is just part of the overall Houston suburban growth. People that move to Cypress want to live in the Houston area, but they don't actually want to live in Houston. Cypress was much more organic in the past, when it was mostly rural. Cypress will never be a town, but simply a large area, whether it decides to incorporate or not. I don't need to know anything about Caldwell's development to know that it will be either a neighborhood or master-planned community. There isn't anything else that it could be. If they build a "town square", it will not be the center of Cypress, but rather only the center of Towne Lake. Sugarland's town center is different in that it was developed for the entire city of Sugarland and not built as part of an isolated residential development within Sugarland.

[mrfootball]

Considering that the overall vision calls for a waterway, commuter rail station, Town Center/CBD for Cypress and the fact that the property itself is smack dab in the center of Cypress, I would think that its going to be a hit. If it draws enough people, who cares what they call it.

Edited June 6, 2007 by mrfootball

[PureAuteur]

hbcu - same post, different thread. You always say the same thing...we know, congestion. Yet the NW area continues to explode. Go figure.

I guess fear of living in the city is enough to justify wasting time and gas money. People who live out past Hwy 6 on 290 not only spend more gas money on the long commute, but fuel economy goes down when you are in stop and go traffic, because you are constantly breaking and pushing the gas. Then your car also burns gas while idle on the freeway. Let's say the commute is 1 hr and 30 minutes to and from work. That's 3 hours of your day wasted in getting from one place to another. And these NW people have been doing this for years now. It's this kind of phenomenon that certainly exists all over America that has contributed to higher fuel prices and the clogging of freeways for those of us who actually live in Houston. I say if you want to live out in Cypress, get a job out there too, or else don't live there. What good is the quality of life in the suburbs if you're there 3 hours less each day to enjoy it?

[PureAuteur]

Considering that the overall vision calls for a waterway, commuter rail station, Town Center/CBD for Cypress and the fact that the property itself is smack dab in the center of Cypress, I would think that its going to be a hit. If it draws enough people, who cares what they call it.

You have a point. We can't always live by the conventions and paradigms of the 20th century. Towns simply do not form organically anymore, because that was more of an 1800s/early 1900s phenomenon, so I shouldn't be so concerned about what this will be, in a technical sense, but just whether it will serve a purpose and be successful.

On the map, it looked like Towne Lake was on Barker Cypress Rd, a few miles south of 290. This is not exactly the center of Cypress. I would say the center would be on the north/east side of 290 a few miles in. Keep in mind the boundaries go all the way to Jones and Grant Rd, near Willowbrook Mall, but don't go very far in the southerly direction. I think 529 is the limit.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

On the map, it looked like Towne Lake was on Barker Cypress Rd, a few miles south of 290. This is not exactly the center of Cypress. I would say the center would be on the north/east side of 290 a few miles in. Keep in mind the boundaries go all the way to Jones and Grant Rd, near Willowbrook Mall, but don't go very far in the southerly direction. I think 529 is the limit.

From what I've heard, the "Town(e) Center" would be located on 290 at Barker Cypress...not in the middle of Towne Lake.

[CDeb]

I guess fear of living in the city is enough to justify wasting time and gas money.

It's called a "trade-off." Different people place different values on different things. Some people value extra space, or more affordable prices for the size of house they want, more than they value the driving time. To each his own. They aren't "wasting" money any more than the guy who pays $150-$250-plus per sqft to buy inside the loop.

It isn't about fear at all, it's about what you value. Personally, I would love some aspects of living in the city, but I value the positives of the suburbs more than I value the positives of the city.

Let's say the commute is 1 hr and 30 minutes to and from work. That's 3 hours of your day wasted in getting from one place to another.

It's all about when you want to leave. I live at Barker Cypress and 290, but leave the house at a quarter to 6. Getting up that early doesn't bother me at all and my employer encourages use of flex time. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to the office in Uptown. I leave the office a quarter past 4 and it takes me about 45 minutes to get home. Not nearly as horrific as you describe it. At those times, traffic on 290 is free flow outside of Jones Rd. I work with people who live inside the loop but they spend nearly as much time in traffic as I do.

And these NW people have been doing this for years now.

These people?? Don't you live in Jersey Village? Don't you realize that you're a "these people" to someone who lives in Fairbanks or Garden Oaks?

It's this kind of phenomenon that certainly exists all over America that has contributed to higher fuel prices and the clogging of freeways for those of us who actually live in Houston.

So where would you have them live? Not everyone who works in Houston can fit inside the Loop. And do you think the freeway would be less crowded if they did? People still have to get to work.

I say if you want to live out in Cypress, get a job out there too, or else don't live there.

I say quit trying to fit everyone into your idea of what people should value. If you don't like the traffic where you live, you can move, too.

What good is the quality of life in the suburbs if you're there 3 hours less each day to enjoy it?

What good is the extra three hours a day if you don't like the quality of life?

[mrfootball]

Very well reasoned. I believe a touche is in order.

I tire of these threads devolving into the usual blather about city vs. suburbs and the usual dissertations that people get into about it. Let's keep the focus on the actual topic please.

I'm rather excited about this proposed project. Since the new outlet mall and Fairfield Town Center are a bit of a haul, 15 minutes up the road from where I live in Cypress, I think people around these parts (ie. Longwood, Coles Crossing, Northlake Forest, Stablegate, Rock Creek, Stone Gate, etc) will enjoy having something cool nearby. I wonder if they're going to try and acquire more 290 frontage?

Edited June 6, 2007 by mrfootball

[dalparadise]

I stand by my post. Towns form when groups of people converge on a specific place because of its economic potential or because of its geography. The growth in Cypress is just part of the overall Houston suburban growth. People that move to Cypress want to live in the Houston area, but they don't actually want to live in Houston. Cypress was much more organic in the past, when it was mostly rural. Cypress will never be a town, but simply a large area, whether it decides to incorporate or not. I don't need to know anything about Caldwell's development to know that it will be either a neighborhood or master-planned community. There isn't anything else that it could be. If they build a "town square", it will not be the center of Cypress, but rather only the center of Towne Lake. Sugarland's town center is different in that it was developed for the entire city of Sugarland and not built as part of an isolated residential development within Sugarland.

I don't quite understand. They're building Towne Lake to have office buildings, medical facilities, shops, restaurants, recreation, etc. People will be able to work and shop there without going into Houston. Not everyone is hung up in your commuting nightmare.

Furthermore, since you say you already know all you need to about Caldwell, can you explain how this project of theirs is a neighborhood or master-planned community...or, how that's all it could be?

http://www.remingtonsquare.com/

Caldwell is first and formost a commercial real estate and development firm. They own lots of office buildings and commercial land in the area. Master-planned communities are not the biggest part of their business. They do much more.

[psilverot]

The Remington Square development looks great! I can't wait!!! We need more projects like these instead of distribution centers.

[hbcu]

when I lived out that way..I worked against traffic and knew every cutoff towards Willowbrook Mall from 290....I pity the folks who have to wait in the 290 East rush hour...no way traffic should be backed up miles to Barker-Cypress...the "loop to Barker-Cypress" quote on the radio is famous for traffic reporters...

eventually, what is going to be the point of oversaturation....everyone has a "town-center" concept but none of the ideas are unique in my eyes.....I'm tired of reruns...

the developer who can attract some businesses that have national reputations but not alot of Houston presence will be successful....1960 has alot of niche restaurants that are somewhat successful...

Every strip center contains a Chilis, Ross, Dollar Tree, etc.

[PureAuteur]

I don't quite understand. They're building Towne Lake to have office buildings, medical facilities, shops, restaurants, recreation, etc. People will be able to work and shop there without going into Houston. Not everyone is hung up in your commuting nightmare.

Furthermore, since you say you already know all you need to about Caldwell, can you explain how this project of theirs is a neighborhood or master-planned community...or, how that's all it could be?

http://www.remingtonsquare.com/

Caldwell is first and formost a commercial real estate and development firm. They own lots of office buildings and commercial land in the area. Master-planned communities are not the biggest part of their business. They do much more.

If they're going to build all that stuff, they should have chosen a more geographically pleasant location. Barker Cypress Rd south of 290 is extremely flat and has no trees, which means that all the people who are working, dining, and shopping in the Towne Lake center are going to have no shade, and it will be brutal during the summer afternoons. Planting trees here and there isn't going to help. You need the natural growth like Houston proper and Cypress north of 290 have.

Secondly, I don't mean to sound ignorant with my comments about Caldwell Watson. I'm sure there are lots of interesting things to learn about every player involved in the creation of Towne Lake and every step in the process, but I'm just trying to sum it up based on logic. The whole idea of creating a "town" is just a gimmick that suburban developers use to make their neighborhoods and master-planned communities more appealing. Why are these the only two things it could possibly be? Because these are the only type of residential developments that get built in the areas surrounding Houston. Why would this development be any different? I suppose it could turn into an enclave city eventually, but it will start as a master planned community. It can't be a suburb, because it's not big enough, and its boundaries are completely inside another suburb already. It cannot be a town. A true town is like Humble. Humble was not conceived by commercial developers.

[mrfootball]

Yeah, town or not...Humble sucks. I'd rather have a faux town center modelled after something like The Woodlands or Disney's Main Street USA...In fact that's a great idea! We could have a parade every day!

There's presently no real CBD for Cypress and this would certainly fill the need.

As for that particular property. Take a look at Microsoft Live Search bird's eye view. 2/3 of that property appears to be wooded with Oaks, etc. I believe Cypress Creek runs through the property. They could differentiate themselves from Bridgeland if they can somehow retain a lot of those trees in the northern 2/3 of the property. Of course, they'll also have a navigable lake and that in and of itself will be cool.

As for Caldwell Watson, they're much better than NewQuest. They seem to take pride in their work. Take a look at some of the previous Caldwell Watson developments like Wincrest Falls (outside of Longwood), Rock Creek, etc. Very nice high-end developments.

Edited June 7, 2007 by mrfootball

[MidtownCoog]

Humble has a bit more history than Cypress Towne.

The concept of Cypress as a city is beyond ludicrous. That's something you're just going to have to live with, Mr. Football.

You sound like a broken record.

Edited June 7, 2007 by MidtownCoog