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Camden McGowen Station & Midtown Park At 2727 Travis St.


Subdude

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I'm honestly curious what factors went in to make this decision. It's not like they just decided "hmmmmmmmmmmmmm yep this is it", there had to be some important reason of why the project is orientated the way it is.

 

Don't overthink this. As David Crossley proved long ago with his idea to turn the whole Superblock into a park (McGowen Green), the more thought you pour into the Superblock, the more frustration you get back. It would have been better for Houston if there wasn't any Superblock at all and all the streets just continued through.

 

If there is ever another site like the Superblock that emerges in Houston, the lesson from this is that if you want to do something great, you need to control the land early, control all of it, and don't give any for-profit entity a chance to do more than say "thank you for letting me build here according to your rules."

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was an explanation ever given as to why the park was placed on the southern end, blocked from having downtown views? seems like that would've been a no-brainer.

Marlon with the Midtown management district said they all but begged Camden to swap tracts with them over and over and let them build the park on the north end of the block, but Campo flat out refused.

No explanation as to why.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not too much water in the hole and they're still digging on the South side this morning.  They've installed some of the rebar for the garage columns on the North side.

 

As for the wall, I can understand the need for a wall around the pool but it sucks they have it on the McGowen side as well.

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It's not an ugly building, but it's nothing to shout about either. For the location I was expecting more of a showpiece

 

We could have been waiting another 10 years for a 'showpiece'.  

 

I like it, it looks tons better than the 4-story Camden complex directly across the street and reminds me of the http://www.venuemuseumdistrict.com/further down the metrorail line on Fannin near the Hines Southmore tower under construction. 

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It's amazing that they got a free park built right next to them without even a street to cross, a busy light rail line next to them with a station directly adjacent, and still they thought ground floor retail was too risky. Development like this has more in common with the Tulsas and Albuquerques of the world than any city we consider a rival.

 

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It's amazing that they got a free park built right next to them without even a street to cross, a busy light rail line next to them with a station directly adjacent, and still they thought ground floor retail was too risky. Development like this has more in common with the Tulsas and Albuquerques of the world than any city we consider a rival.

Agree with you totally in this thread. It is yet another missed opportunity to buck trends

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