Midtown Restaurant And Bar Scene - More Coming

[TonyM]

So, I was just sitting in my front yard and watched as a bum urinated on my neighbor's fence across the street. Just openly, in daylight, like no one was watching. Should I call HPD when this happens? Very frustrating.

Or you could yell at the guy and tell him not to come back.

Ridding midtown of the trash isn't just the job of police or the city, us residents have to make it known we don't want this garbage around. Got thoroughly harassed by a bum toting a "four loko" outside Komodo this weekend. He then proceeded to stand in the street and hold up traffic until he wandered off somewhere else . . . trash.

[Nole23]

Yea, I live at Post, and there's always bums sitting/sleeping on the bench by the gate right next to Double Cross Lounge asking for money as i walk in/out and also bothering the people on the patio of the bar.

[DrLan34]

they are putting in 2 new vietnamese restaurants at the corner of milam and anita'

I think one may be a renovation (nga's).

Edited May 14, 2012 by DrLan34

[kylejack]

Nga's has been there a while. Great little place. What's the other?

[Nole23]

Got an email regarding the Independent Arts Collaborative facility with a link to more renderings and detail on their facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.413734285323804.96584.247032735327294&type=3#!/media/set/?set=a.413734285323804.96584.247032735327294&type=3

[woolie]

Screen Shot 2012-05-16 at 1.46.31 PM by wools, on Flickr

Something is going on at McGowan at Jackson. I presume new townhomes -- the current batch on the back side of this block at Bremond sat half-complete for a couple years before someone bought the project and finished it off. Now they have fenced in the remainder of the lot and started pouring foundations.

Actually, there are several new townhome sections going up. I'll ride around collecting some more photos to post this afternoon. Looks like East Midtown is finally coming back with some new construction. See also: Milhaus Development.

[photohunts]

Screen Shot 2012-05-16 at 1.46.31 PM by wools, on Flickr

Something is going on at McGowan at Jackson. I presume new townhomes -- the current batch on the back side of this block at Bremond sat half-complete for a couple years before someone bought the project and finished it off. Now they have fenced in the remainder of the lot and started pouring foundations.

Actually, there are several new townhome sections going up. I'll ride around collecting some more photos to post this afternoon. Looks like East Midtown is finally coming back with some new construction. See also: Milhaus Development.

There are also townhomes almost completed on Chenevert between Holman and Alabama just right by the on/off ramp to 288. I've also seen plenty of Urban Living signs posted around East Midtown.

[kylejack]

There are also townhomes almost completed on Chenevert between Holman and Alabama just right by the on/off ramp to 288. I've also seen plenty of Urban Living signs posted around East Midtown.

Toured those with a friend who is house shopping. Very nice.

[TonyM]

I've also seen plenty of Urban Living signs posted around East Midtown.

Yeah it looks like Urban Living is marketing a bunch of empty lots for development - just south of Gray/East of Taft. Shouldn't be too long until that neighborhood is 100% built out, only a few buildable lots left back in there (other than the derelict apartment complexes, but I expect those to remain for some time).

[barracuda]

Something is going on at McGowan at Jackson. I presume new townhomes -- the current batch on the back side of this block at Bremond sat half-complete for a couple years before someone bought the project and finished it off. Now they have fenced in the remainder of the lot and started pouring foundations.

Actually, there are several new townhome sections going up. I'll ride around collecting some more photos to post this afternoon. Looks like East Midtown is finally coming back with some new construction. See also: Milhaus Development.

I wonder if the builder disclosed the fact that those homes sat partially complete for several years with uncovered window and door openings. I would not be surprised if the owners eventually uncover mold damage, unless the builder replaced the materials in heavily exposed areas.

[brian0123]

I wonder if the builder disclosed the fact that those homes sat partially complete for several years with uncovered window and door openings. I would not be surprised if the owners eventually uncover mold damage, unless the builder replaced the materials in heavily exposed areas.

I wondered about that as well. Those townhomes were nearly falling apart and were torn up from homeless camping inside and the elements.

Edited May 17, 2012 by brian0123

[woolie]

Untitled by wools, on Flickr

The Jackson/Bremond/Chenevert/McGowan block, showing the completed-after-abandonment houses being discussed above. Closer inspection reveals they are all in fact nominally free-standing.

Untitled by wools, on Flickr

Dennis at Jackson

Untitled by wools, on Flickr

Other side of that block on Drew. I quite like both of the existing house types on this block. Hopefully the new ones will be of similar style.

Edited May 18, 2012 by woolie

[KinkaidAlum]

The townhomes in your first pic are going to be dumps in a short amount of time. Cheap materials. Cheap windows. Bad placement of windows. And, what in the world were they thinking by spacing them that way? Those side windows must offer some great views...

[barracuda]

The townhomes in your first pic are going to be dumps in a short amount of time. Cheap materials. Cheap windows. Bad placement of windows. And, what in the world were they thinking by spacing them that way? Those side windows must offer some great views...

I was thinking the same thing about the spacing. I would hate having to do any maintenance within the 3 feet of clearance between neighboring walls.

[woolie]

The townhomes in your first pic are going to be dumps in a short amount of time. Cheap materials. Cheap windows. Bad placement of windows. And, what in the world were they thinking by spacing them that way? Those side windows must offer some great views...

Obviously the developer wanted to add 50k to the price by calling them "detached, free standing."

[htownproud]

I know several folks that have detached townhomes like that. They all seem to really like those windows inbetween the houses. The are generally not really windows, but rather those translucent square bricks. Surprisingly, they bring in some decent light (I suppose any light is better than no light), and people enjoy not sharing walls with neighbors.

Not sure how you can tell that the quality is exceptionally poor from that one picture--they look like all the other townhomes in the area (albeit that likely suggests poor quality).

[woolie]

Not sure how you can tell that the quality is exceptionally poor from that one picture--they look like all the other townhomes in the area (albeit that likely suggests poor quality).

It's easy to tell the construction quality if you watched them go up. And they were abandoned halfway through, with the bare plywood sheathing exposed to the elements for years. Someone then bought them for 70k each, finished them, and flipped them within a year for 300+k.

Observe, before and after:

http://www.har.com/HomeValue/1706-BREMOND-ST-HOUSTON-77004-M16767394.htm

http://www.har.com/HomeValue/1706-BREMOND-ST-HOUSTON-77004-M85903774.htm

Edited May 21, 2012 by woolie

[jerrios]

It's easy to tell the construction quality if you watched them go up. And they were abandoned halfway through, with the bare plywood sheathing exposed to the elements for years. Someone then bought them for 70k each, finished them, and flipped them within a year for 300+k.

Observe, before and after:

http://www.har.com/H...4-M16767394.htm

http://www.har.com/H...4-M85903774.htm

I actually feel really bad for the people who bought those homes; they were actually originally built by Waterhill Homes, which had terrible build quilty to begin with. They actually got sued by several homeowners in Hyde Park at one time due to poor construction that did not have proper run off of water and caused mold. I believe they ended up filing bankruptcy which was the same time these homes (above) were going up so they stopped construction of those homes.

[Pleak]

I actually feel really bad for the people who bought those homes; they were actually originally built by Waterhill Homes, which had terrible build quilty to begin with. They actually got sued by several homeowners in Hyde Park at one time due to poor construction that did not have proper run off of water and caused mold. I believe they ended up filing bankruptcy which was the same time these homes (above) were going up so they stopped construction of those homes.

About 10 years ago, I lived closer in and one of my good friend neighbors was a self-employed roofing contractor. He had stopped doing run-of-the-mill tear-offs and had started doing custom metal roofing with copper etc. He was an excellant craftsman, but his real bread and butter came from repairing all the new townhomes that had begun sprouting up in the late 90's - early 00's. He said that some of them leaked as soon as they were finished. And a lot of it was due to bad design - where the roofs would drain to the middle of the building instead of the edges or to dead-end valleys with too small drains and then in a heavy rain, people would basically have several hundred gallons backed up on their roof. The roofs were designed soley for aestetics and not for practical purposes. By the time he was called it - the builder was long gone and people were having ruined intereriors etc. I remember he would come home well after dark 6-7 days a week. He had more work than he could do. Doesn't sound like a lot has changed in the townhome construction area since then.

[KinkaidAlum]

It's a real problem.

Builders/Developers OWN this State. Literally. Just look at how much Perry, Weekley, etc... have donated to politicians over the years. Consumers have almost NO protections against these guys and that's exactly how they want it to be.

Heck, some of the local builders actually plan on bankruptcy after a few years to protect themselves from angry home owners. They'll throw up hundreds of homes/condos, sell them, declare bankruptcy, and move on to set up another company under a different name. Some of the "biggest" names in the industry have this pattern in their history.

[LTAWACS]

It's a real problem.

Builders/Developers OWN this State. Literally. Just look at how much Perry, Weekley, etc... have donated to politicians over the years. Consumers have almost NO protections against these guys and that's exactly how they want it to be.

Heck, some of the local builders actually plan on bankruptcy after a few years to protect themselves from angry home owners. They'll throw up hundreds of homes/condos, sell them, declare bankruptcy, and move on to set up another company under a different name. Some of the "biggest" names in the industry have this pattern in their history.

We can all thank Rick Perry for this. Hasn't the TRCC been abolished yet? if so, then who is "in charge" of its responsibilities?

[DrLan34]

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Midtown-district-applies-for-arts-designation-3611193.php

[DrLan34]

http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Check-out-these-notable-urban-spaces-2970603.php

"From the semipastoral we turn to the strictly urban. The Independent Arts Collaborative in Midtown, where a still-undetermined number of the city's strongest mid-level arts organizations will join forces, will provide a unique platform for creativity and entertainment, a sort of multiplex for the arts. And private development will add to the idiosyncratic retail mix already there, creating the possibility that Houston will get its first 24/7 urban neighborhood. We've had to wait a long time for the Main Street light rail line to generate a significant urban development, but by 2015 that time will finally have arrived."

"Still more projects are underway. Houston Community College is redeveloping its historic Central Campus in Midtown."

[woolie]

They have forms up for foundations for four new townhomes on Jackson/Drew, as well as many more at the other site I posted above.

New spec townhouses is a very exciting development. This hasn't happened in years.

[editor]

Independent Arts Collaborative

Isn't that an oxymoron?

[photohunts]

Anyone know what's going on in 3621 Crawford? It's the property across the street from Luigi's. There's an excavator sitting on the empty lot next to the building. Demo?

[Fortune]

Yes it's scheduled for demo.

[DrLan34]

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/10-03-12-09-54-lastest-string-of-downtown-closures-point-to-major-real-estate-plans-at-811-dallas/

Fastsigns closed its doors on Sept. 22 and will open a new location in the coming weeks at 2929 Milam in Midtown.

[kylejack]

Parking lot is getting torn up at Elgin and Smith. What's up?

[DrLan34]

it's pearl midtown, 6 stories, first two are parking garage, the top four are apartments. there is another thread for it