The Allen: Mixed-Use Development At Allen Parkway & Gillette St.

[Ross]

28 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

I don't get the reasoning to put the suburban Federal Reserve there, but I'm sure the housing complex will densify & sell off part of the land. It's a huge lot and some of the buildings are what, 80 years old?

That property is owned by the Houston Housing Authority(or whatever they call themselves these days). There's a lot of history related to Allen Parkway Village that makes it difficult to just sell. The history is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Oaks_of_Allen_Parkway_Village

Selling the property would likely be seen as a City sponsored attempt to gentrify the area, pushing the poor, mostly minority, tenants further away from Downtown.

[arche_757]

Seems more logical to relocate the FRB of Dallas some years down the line.

I doubt Houston Housing Authority (HHA) would be open to selling unless there were a package of fantastic incentive$$$$ given to them.

[Fortune]

In regards to the Allen Parkway Village, they should preserve the original buildings around Bluebonnet Place Circle, Valentine Way, & Blue Place Circle. The land containing the remaining buildings which have no historical value should be sold off for redevelopment. HHA should then work out a deal with the new buyer to incorporate low income/mixed income housing in the redevelopment. 

[Montrose1100]

2 hours ago, Ross said:

That property is owned by the Houston Housing Authority(or whatever they call themselves these days). There's a lot of history related to Allen Parkway Village that makes it difficult to just sell. The history is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Oaks_of_Allen_Parkway_Village

Selling the property would likely be seen as a City sponsored attempt to gentrify the area, pushing the poor, mostly minority, tenants further away from Downtown.

The HHA could build a high rise building or two. Not only replace the aging housing, also add more units. Obviously keep that portion and property for affordable units. Sell off the remainder or even extend the park. Create a bigger urban garden, incorporate the boys & girls club, add a pool, outdoor athletic infrastructure with a playground. 

I'm sure at one point this may happen. In no way am I advocating getting rid of the affordable housing - only improving.

[jmitch94]

Why all the hate for the Fed building? I don’t see them moving it anytime soon if really ever. That would cost a fortune. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by jmitch94

[kennyc05]

2 minutes ago, jmitch94 said:

Why all the hate for the Fed building? I don’t see them moving it anytime soon if really ever. That would cost a fortune. 

I think it's a nice looking building.

[dbigtex56]

1 hour ago, jmitch94 said:

Why all the hate for the Fed building? I don’t see them moving it anytime soon if really ever. That would cost a fortune. 

For some reason, Michael Graves's buildings aren't as popular in Houston as in other places. 
IIRC, one of the major functions of the Fed building was to provide enough space to process checks. Even before it was completed, laws were changed to allow electronic facsimiles rather than preserving the paper check. The space allocated for the sorting and storage of checks suddenly wasn't needed.
Now that checks are almost obsolete, I wonder if the Feds might reexamine the need for all of that unused space, and divest themselves of this building.

Edited June 9, 2022 by dbigtex56

[kennyc05]

4 minutes ago, dbigtex56 said:

For some reason, Michael Graves's buildings aren't as popular in Houston as in other places. 
IIRC, one of the major functions of the Fed building was to provide enough space to process checks. Even before it was completed, laws were changed to allow electronic facsimiles rather than preserving the paper check. The space allocated for the sorting and storage of checks suddenly wasn't needed.
Now that checks are almost obsolete, I wonder if the Feds might reexamine the need for all of that unused space, and divest themselves of this building.

They probably have all types of uses for all that extra space 😊

[toxtethogrady]

18 minutes ago, kennyc05 said:

They probably have all types of uses for all that extra space 😊

Yep. Triangles are my favorite shape...

 

[Montrose1100]

14 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

Why all the hate for the Fed building? I don’t see them moving it anytime soon if really ever. That would cost a fortune. 

It reminds me of those giant cardboard bricks you played with in Pre-K. Cartoonish colors, giant suburban layout with surface lots, what I imagine a prison for toddlers would look like.

Weird they didn't build a high-rise like most of their buildings are - on an empty lot Downtown. Would leave this huge area for better purpose fronting a premier park in a highly expanding/densifying area. 

[arche_757]

When the Federal Reserve Bank was constructed there was little in the way of new development along Allen Parkway.  Now, this is the point where some make the argument that “…if Houston had proper city planning/zoning controls…”

Of course then we would also be looking at the ridiculous obstacles often created by the well intentioned, but heavy hand of city planners with regard to zoning.

Edited June 9, 2022 by arche_757

[samagon]

2 minutes ago, arche_757 said:

When the Federal Reserve Bank was constructed there was little in the way of new development along Allen Parkway.  Now, this is the point where some make the argument that “…if Houston had proper city planning/zoning controls…”

Of course then we would also be looking at the ridiculous obstacles often created by the well intentioned, but heavy hand of city planners with regard to zoning.

and who's to say that the city in an attempt to increase property values wouldn't have created a variance for them anyway?

we can only guess based on our individual experience, and optimism/pessimism. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by samagon

[Houston19514]

4 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

Weird they didn't build a high-rise like most of their buildings are - on an empty lot Downtown. Would leave this huge area for better purpose fronting a premier park in a highly expanding/densifying area. 

Actually not weird at all, since most of their buildings, especially with regard to Federal Reserve Branches (which Houston's is one of) are not high-rises.  Except for a few that have been reduced to small leased space in commercial office buildings and thus are housed in high-rises, the Branches are all very much low rise buildings. Presumably it has to do with the functions of the Branches as compared to with the functions of the 11 Federal Reserve Banks.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Houston19514

[Montrose1100]

19 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Actually not weird at all, since most of their buildings, especially with regard to Federal Reserve Branches (which Houston's is one of) are not high-rises.  Except for a few that have been reduced to small leased space in commercial office buildings and thus are housed in high-rises, the Branches are all very much low rise buildings. Presumably it has to do with the functions of the Branches as compared to with the functions of the 11 Federal Reserve Banks.

🙄 Allow me to rephrase. Weird that a Federal Reserve Branch in an urban environment, was built in such a suburban style. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, all just fine. Charlotte's only takes 1 Block. Denver & San Antonio's are a "block", but half surface lot.

Columbus & Baltimore are the only examples I see similar to ours. Sprawling across a large chunk of land.

[Houston19514]

25 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

🙄 Allow me to rephrase. Weird that a Federal Reserve Branch in an urban environment, was built in such a suburban style. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, all just fine. Charlotte's only takes 1 Block. Denver & San Antonio's are a "block", but half surface lot.

Columbus & Baltimore are the only examples I see similar to ours. Sprawling across a large chunk of land.

To be fair, when the Federal Reserve was built that location was not really a very "urban" location.

FWIW the Portland Branch doesn't even have a building, or as far as I can tell, an office.  It seems to only exist virtually, if at all.

Here is the Seattle branch:  

[SMU1213]

1 hour ago, Montrose1100 said:

🙄 Allow me to rephrase. Weird that a Federal Reserve Branch in an urban environment, was built in such a suburban style. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, all just fine. Charlotte's only takes 1 Block. Denver & San Antonio's are a "block", but half surface lot.

Columbus & Baltimore are the only examples I see similar to ours. Sprawling across a large chunk of land.

Dallas' Federal Reserve is built at Pearl and Woodall Rogers, catty corner from Klyde Warren Park (so in the best real estate in the city). It takes up much more space than ours, although they do have a tower element and a more modern design. 

[Texasota]

...what could be more modern than postmodern...

[astrohip]

16 hours ago, SMU1213 said:

Dallas' Federal Reserve is built at Pearl and Woodall Rogers, catty corner from Klyde Warren Park (so in the best real estate in the city). It takes up much more space than ours, although they do have a tower element and a more modern design. 

The Dallas Fed is one of the Federal Reserve BANKS. Ours is a branch, and technically a part of the Dallas Fed.

I remember the brouhaha when our branch initially had wording on it stating it was a part of the Dallas Region. With Houstonians love for Dallas, it was non-stop complaining until it was removed.

Edited June 10, 2022 by astrohip

[Montrose1100]

19 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

To be fair, when the Federal Reserve was built that location was not really a very "urban" location.

That's not fair. When the Jeff Davis Hospital was completed in 1929 on this land, it was very much an "Urban" location.

Apologies to the forum for dragging this off topic. Just complaining about the suburban layouts of this development's neighbors. 

[sapo2367]

Some news on Allen Parkway Village -- people are being asked to relocate temporarily for renovations. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Allen-Parkway-Village-tenants-express-fear-hope-17231805.php?

[mattyt36]

55 minutes ago, sapo2367 said:

Some news on Allen Parkway Village -- people are being asked to relocate temporarily for renovations. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Allen-Parkway-Village-tenants-express-fear-hope-17231805.php?

Well that's quite the development.

[arche_757]

2 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

That's not fair. When the Jeff Davis Hospital was completed in 1929 on this land, it was very much an "Urban" location.

Apologies to the forum for dragging this off topic. Just complaining about the suburban layouts of this development's neighbors. 

Shame on you @Montrose1100 for not posting pics of this versus discussing it and the neighboring buildings architectural merit.  Tisk-tisk!

I think the issue could be addressed if the Fed sold the land to this developer and then they built another 1-2 high rises and additional walkable low/mid rises.  I’ll keep looking for my rose colored glasses in the interim!  I don’t see how the Fed could have drastically reduced its footprint given the nature of what it is.

[Ross]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:54 AM, arche_757 said:

Shame on you @Montrose1100 for not posting pics of this versus discussing it and the neighboring buildings architectural merit.  Tisk-tisk!

I think the issue could be addressed if the Fed sold the land to this developer and then they built another 1-2 high rises and additional walkable low/mid rises.  I’ll keep looking for my rose colored glasses in the interim!  I don’t see how the Fed could have drastically reduced its footprint given the nature of what it is.

Here's the previous Federal Reserve building, now the Cathedral Center for the Houston-Galveston archdiocese. The building still has the FRB features, which is kind of weird. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7497408,-95.3676946,3a,75y,36.22h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sa1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Da1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D82.52848%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ross

[freundb]

9 hours ago, Ross said:

Here's the previous Federal Reserve building, not the Cathedral Center for the Houston-Galveston archdiocese. The building still has the FRB features, which is kind of weird. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7497408,-95.3676946,3a,75y,36.22h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sa1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Da1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D82.52848%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

lets move it back there and tear down the current one!

[Ross]

14 minutes ago, freundb said:

lets move it back there and tear down the current one!

The Catholic Church would argue about that. They use the old building for most of their education and such.

[editor]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:24 AM, Ross said:

Here's the previous Federal Reserve building, now the Cathedral Center for the Houston-Galveston archdiocese. The building still has the FRB features, which is kind of weird. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7497408,-95.3676946,3a,75y,36.22h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sa1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Da1bYtFh15yK42gl3RAgI3A%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D82.52848%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

I love that building, but had no idea it used to be the Federal Reserve.  Very cool!

[BEES?!]

Nice shot!

Even though it’s really hot outside, I love how green it is at this time of year. 

[saabarch]

On 5/11/2009 at 9:10 AM, kylejack said:

Jeff Davis hospital, then an empty field afaik.

Jeff Davis sat where the Fed Reserve is now, not where this building described above has gone up .   I was on my front porch and watched as they imploded JD--mid to late 2001 as I recall.

[sapo2367]

Where the new development is going in used to be one of the city incinerators. Also the fact that and incinerator and a hospital were built next to each other is wild. 

[hindesky]

There is a crew that is raising the curb and lengthening the left turn lane onto Gillette St.