The Langley: Residential High-Rise At 1717 Bissonnet St.

[samagon]

any time you can cite something as a precedent, it makes it easier for the next group of people to do the same thing. and maybe it's not a mega-rich group of people who would be able to do it next time.

even if that doesn't happen and this is the only instance, it still has an effect, maybe it's less than .01% of the overall property tax uplift for the city, but the uplift of property taxes might afford better training for a number of police officers, or any number of potholes being filled. both of which are desperately needed.

[004n063]

1 hour ago, Twinsanity02 said:

I don't feel bad for the "meag-rich". I don't love or hate them. I cannot imagine them trying to stop one highrise, which appears as if they will not succeed, will have such a cataclysmic effect on Houston. Just do not understand this heat, anger and hatred toward these folks. 

I really don't think it's all that specifically directed toward the opponents of this project - just the general threat of "other city"-ish NIMBYism that this indefatigable resistance calls to mind.

[Triton]

23 hours ago, samagon said:

we already have enough quazi zoning, and we don't need more regulations pushing even more zoning like rules on our city, specifically, we need more density, not less.

sure, it may suck to see a Zone 'D Erotica next to the Galleria (RIP), but the future needs to be more cohesive, interwoven, and density needs to be a part of that future.

Enough zoning? What zoning do you think we have? Minimum lot size? That's the best we can do.. what a joke.

Zoning prevents massive indoor and outdoor music halls from being built in the middle of neighborhoods and then I get to read from internet posters who claim we didn't do enough to prevent them from being built or didn't work with them enough to prevent the problems that we have. Zoning prevents all this back and forth battles and honestly zoning would make it easier for developers instead of getting so much pushback for every project they try to push forward. 

If there's anything this city needs, it clear zoning laws. It's why we're in the mess we're in and why major lawsuits will definitely be there in the future. 

[Texasota]

Have you ever lived in a city with zoning? All of those issues (back and forth battles in particular) are worse in most peer cities with zoning ordinances. 

[Triton]

26 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Have you ever lived in a city with zoning? All of those issues (back and forth battles in particular) are worse in most peer cities with zoning ordinances. 

Why? 

[Big E]

3 hours ago, Triton said:

Why? 

Because zoning codes are filled with all kinds of arbitrary rules and variances that can make building anything a pain, and make it easier for NIMBYs, like the ones trying to stop this, to actually stall out and even defeat development, especially in cities like San Francisco which are not as-of-right jurisdictions. Houston is not nearly has bad as those cities precisely because it lacks a large, labyrinthine zoning code that has to be navigated, and there is little to nothing NIMBYs can do to stop a development once it starts. 

There's a reason why NIMBYism is worse in other American cities. Zoning codes basically play right into them. Even if you try to follow them perfectly, challenges and litigation are still guaranteed.

[aachor]

Zoning almost always constricts supply and drives up demand because it does not allow development to occur organically- where it's most needed. And in my opinion, it primarily exists so that the politically well-connected and the special interests in a city can exercise control and exclusion authority over property they don't own. Usually, the lower and middle classes are most adversely affected by zoning. They are restricted to particular corners of the city, their commutes are lengthened, they are separated from their businesses and services, and the well-connected get to dictate who breathes their rarified air. 

With conventional zoning, my wife and I could not afford to live in the neighborhood we live in. We wanted to live where we live because it is well located and shortens our daily commutes. And thankfully, because of the lack of zoning, some developer plopped a midrise condo in the middle of a neighborhood of single-family detached homes a couple of decades ago. We can't afford the detached homes in this neighborhood, but a decent condo sells for half.

This is why there has been a big push by affordable housing advocacy groups in recent years to end single-family zoning. My only disagreement with them is, "Why stop there?" We can clearly see the benefits of mixed-use development. And if a duplex or a four-plex is better than a single-family home, why not a larger condominium on the same lot?

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/11/1155094278/states-cities-end-single-family-zoning-housing-affordable

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by aachor

[004n063]

17 hours ago, Triton said:

Enough zoning? What zoning do you think we have? Minimum lot size? That's the best we can do.. what a joke.

Minimum lot size, minimum parking requirements, and setback requirements have combined to reinforce sprawl citywide. Add in lots of neighborhood deed restrictions in relatively close-in neighborhoods, and you get the situation we're in, where we're indiscriminately building 20, 30, even 40 miles out from the city center, and then trying to maintain infrastructure that serves all of that inefficiency. 

But with true zoning, it'd be even worse - no taquerias in the neighborhood, no renovations on old 8-plexes that were grandfathered in (this is still an issue with parking mins), et cetera. 

I'm all for noise ordinances, neighborhood quiet hours, etc. - as long as they are maintained at the neighborhood level - and as a teacher whose school is about 15 feet from a highway, next to an auto body shop, and across the street from a sheet metal factory, I'm certainly open to the idea of segregating certain types of uses. But separating all commercial uses from all residential (which is typical of most zoning codes) and barring multifamily development from all but a few areas (which is common of many zoning codes) is bad news and contributes to the insane housing markets we see in nearly every other major city.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Crew is building rebar forms for the piers.

[toxtethogrady]

Good luck stopping this one!😎

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Drilling piers and removing dirt.

[cityliving]

[Nate99]

I can feel the vapors coming off those pics from the surrounding neighborhood... and they didn't even use the pile drill with the 2-cycle Detroit Diesel engine that sounds like an old bus from the 1960's without a muffler.  

[cityliving]

30 minutes ago, Nate99 said:

I can feel the vapors coming off those pics from the surrounding neighborhood... and they didn't even use the pile drill with the 2-cycle Detroit Diesel engine that sounds like an old bus from the 1960's without a muffler.  

😀 Not concerned about how old the pile drill is as long as it gets the Job done.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[HoustonMidtown]

 

[hindesky]

[HoustonIsHome]

That plot looks huge. Is it perspective?

[samagon]

it held a 76 unit, 2 story apartment complex before this, so yeah, it is big.

[Houston19514]

Yeah, it's bigger than a downtown block.

[houstontexasjack]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

Yeah, it's bigger than a downtown block.

That’s what she said.

[hindesky]

 

I think the tower crane might go here.

[nate]

So, good news on two fronts....the latest lawsuit against this project was dismissed yesterday and the crane base was being installed this afternoon.

 

110211584.PDF IMG_2824.HEIC

Edited September 12, 2023 by nate

[hindesky]

[cityliving]

[hindesky]

[mfastx]

Crazy how long a road it took to get here, but it's finally happening! I lived in the neighborhood in high school and I remember back in like '09 when we had the first "town hall" meeting at Poe about it 😄 people were so upset ..