Trebly Park At 1515 Fannin St.

[wilcal]

Renders released:

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/What-Downtown-Houston-s-next-park-will-look-like-13808234.php

 

* rotating gateway art isntallation

* seating, bike racks, and bike repair station

* 2,400 sq ft fast casual restaurant

* dog run

* operated/maintained by downtown district

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cspwal]

Here's some tidbits I picked up from the meeting

- The park has a 30 year lease, with 2 10 year extension options.  

- They will be redoing the sidewalks on the whole block, including the sidewalks in front of the South Texas College of Law's parking lot

- Apparently a 2 way bike lane is planned on Bell street; that's why they're including the bike repair station

- They are talking to B-Cycle about getting a station there, but nothing definitive yet

- Restaurant RFP asks for one that is open breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week

- Apparently there's a TxDot project to redo all the sidewalks downtown.

 

Timeline they had in the presentation:

Start Demolition - May 2019

Design Phase - Jan 2019 - Nov 2019

Select restaurant - July 2019

Permitting - Nov 2019 - Feb 2020

Construction - March 2020 - March 2021

Grand opening - March 2021

 

They said that "Southern Downtown Park" is a placeholder name, so what names can we come up with?

 

[Luminare]

14 minutes ago, cspwal said:

Here's some tidbits I picked up from the meeting

- The park has a 30 year lease, with 2 10 year extension options.  

- They will be redoing the sidewalks on the whole block, including the sidewalks in front of the South Texas College of Law's parking lot

- Apparently a 2 way bike lane is planned on Bell street; that's why they're including the bike repair station

- They are talking to B-Cycle about getting a station there, but nothing definitive yet

- Restaurant RFP asks for one that is open breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week

- Apparently there's a TxDot project to redo all the sidewalks downtown.

 

Timeline they had in the presentation:

Start Demolition - May 2019

Design Phase - Jan 2019 - Nov 2019

Select restaurant - July 2019

Permitting - Nov 2019 - Feb 2020

Construction - March 2020 - March 2021

Grand opening - March 2021

 

They said that "Southern Downtown Park" is a placeholder name, so what names can we come up with?

 

 

Southern Downtown Park Presented by Goodyear?

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

Parky McParkface... lol

[dbigtex56]

Nice While It Lasts Park

 

[wilcal]

 

 

 

2

37 minutes ago, cspwal said:

- Apparently a 2 way bike lane is planned on Bell street; that's why they're including the bike repair station

 

That would be news to me, as I haven't heard any of the planners talk about that being an upcoming project, but if park opening is 2 years away, then they could certainly make that happen (certainly if Downtown District is paying).

 

Here is the park location on the "updated" (it's not really) bike plan map.

 

 

Blue = dedicated on-street.

Fuschia = shared on-street (sharrows/signage only)

 

The two blue north/south lines just to the east of the park are Caroline and Austin, and they've decided to run a bi-directional lane only on Austin due to construction on Caroline in Midtown that is going to last another 1.5 years. 

 

I think that's the timing for the Bagby redesign in the Theater District, so maybe they could time that portion to wrap from Bagby down and around?

 

 

[nate4l1f3]

I can’t stop looking at the parking lot 

[cspwal]

10 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

I can’t stop looking at the parking lot 

It's a shame the college of law wouldn't sell or at least sign a ground lease.  I can see their point of view - they would need to find replacement parking, maybe even have to build a small garage on a different lot, while this park will only make their parking lot more valuable for when they do want to sell

[Alec]

5 hours ago, wilcal said:

 

That would be news to me, as I haven't heard any of the planners talk about that being an upcoming project, but if park opening is 2 years away, then they could certainly make that happen (certainly if Downtown District is paying).

 

Here is the park location on the "updated" (it's not really) bike plan map.

 

 

Blue = dedicated on-street.

Fuschia = shared on-street (sharrows/signage only)

 

The two blue north/south lines just to the east of the park are Caroline and Austin, and they've decided to run a bi-directional lane only on Austin due to construction on Caroline in Midtown that is going to last another 1.5 years. 

 

I think that's the timing for the Bagby redesign in the Theater District, so maybe they could time that portion to wrap from Bagby down and around?

 

 

 

Bell has dedicated in-street ROW in the Interactive Bike Plan Map. It is in the "Potential Short Term Implementation Opportunities" layer. 

 

Edit: I buried the lede here; the relevant info is that this section is relatively high on priority list for bike infrastructure. I agree that this is a very realistic addition in the next few years.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Alec

[wilcal]

2 hours ago, Alec said:

 

Bell has dedicated in-street ROW in the Interactive Bike Plan Map. It is in the "Potential Short Term Implementation Opportunities" layer. 

 

Edit: I buried the lede here; the relevant info is that this section is relatively high on priority list for bike infrastructure. I agree that this is a very realistic addition in the next few years.

 

Interesting that the one you linked has the Leeland side stretch all of the way to Louisiana. 

 

It's hard to tell where their priorities really lay though. Polk should be getting revised lanes this summer, but no idea about leeland east of 59. 

[cspwal]

I think bike lanes across 59 on Leeland would really open up that part of east downtown - right now it just feels far away from the heart of "eado" because the train and bike lane are all north of it

[Alec]

Chain link has been up around the site for a week or two and now the green fence "liner" is up as well.

[adr]

RFP for the onsite restaurant: http://www.downtowntirz.com/downtownhouston/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Southern-Downtown-Park-Cafe-Operator-RFP.pdf

 

Highlights:

• Cafe set to open March 2021.
• Indoor seating for 56; patio seating for 40.

Exhibits for RFP: http://www.downtowntirz.com/downtownhouston/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Southern-Downtown-Park-Cafe-Operator-RFP-Exhibits.pdf

[mattyt36]

On 5/8/2019 at 10:38 AM, adr said:

RFP for the onsite restaurant: http://www.downtowntirz.com/downtownhouston/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Southern-Downtown-Park-Cafe-Operator-RFP.pdf

 

Highlights:

• Cafe set to open March 2021.
• Indoor seating for 56; patio seating for 40.

Exhibits for RFP: http://www.downtowntirz.com/downtownhouston/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Southern-Downtown-Park-Cafe-Operator-RFP-Exhibits.pdf

 

Does the area really need another restaurant?  

 

The Downtown District should focus efforts on getting convenience stores like a 7-11 downtown . . . that is an absolutely glaring gap.  But Houston is not a convenience store city . . . we seem to be all about CVS and Walgreen's.

[dbigtex56]

10 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

 

The Downtown District should focus efforts on getting convenience stores like a 7-11 downtown . . . that is an absolutely glaring gap.

Something like this? 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by dbigtex56
added photo

[mattyt36]

12 minutes ago, dbigtex56 said:

Something like this? 

 

 

 

Um . . . yeah.  Let's open another branch of that (in)famous store.

 

Are you saying implying this is enough?

Edited May 10, 2019 by mattyt36

[Highrise Tower]

 

[dbigtex56]

On 5/10/2019 at 11:57 AM, mattyt36 said:

Are you saying implying this is enough?

 

Not really. I understand that convenience is the operative word in "convenience store", and that close proximity and extended hours are their selling points.
I'm not an expert by any means, but the impression I have is that the Holy Trinity (beer, cigarettes, lottery tickets) make up a substantial portion of their profits, and that the hoi polloi often indulge in these items.
These stores seem to attract a grittier crowd than the national branded stores but heck, isn't a bit of gritty to be expected in a downtown urban setting? 
Replacing them with shinier versions with stricter standards won't have much effect on the street denizens other than an increase in nicotine fits and the DTs.
But yes, I agree - it would be nice if there were more clean, well-stocked, non-scary convenience stores downtown. In the meantime, these places are better than nothing.

[UtterlyUrban]

Additional “convenience stores” selling beer, wine, cigs, and junk food are not needed IMO.  

[mattyt36]

5 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Additional “convenience stores” selling beer, wine, cigs, and junk food are not needed IMO.  

 

Well given the prevalence of such stores in the downtown areas of major cities around the world, I’d say you’re in the minority.

[Houston19514]

A nice description/review of the conceptual plans for the southern downtown park from OffCite:

 

http://offcite.org/southern-downtown-park-plan-unveiled-a-response-by-ernesto-alfaro/

[Alec]

The Goodyear building is no more.

 

[hindesky]

[wilcal]

Update from the Downtown District's Sept board meeting:

 

Not much new. Opening date still the same.

 

Quote

This capital project has been in design since November 2018. A 30% Construction Document milestone package was submitted by the consultant on August 30, 2019 with staff review currently in progress. During May-June, construction staff managed the demolition process to remove the Goodyear building and site paving. During June-July, marketing staff managed the café operator procurement process with an announcement of that operator pending Authority approvals in September. The design process is slated to run through November 2019 followed by contractor procurement through February 2020, and an estimated construction start in March 2020. The park’s opening is slated for March 2021.

 

[cspwal]

The planners of the park tried that, no go

[BeerNut]

2 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

There's a LLC for Tout Suite SODO registered earlier this month. SODO, I assume, stands for South Downtown.

 

It has begun... Downtown just too big for one name now...

[Luminare]

19 hours ago, cspwal said:

The planners of the park tried that, no go

 

As someone who is in the industry and is privy to a small project in our commercial department discussing parking issues, the politics of parking and positioning of parking is very real, and a tad ridiculous. I'm glad we are finally lifting the mins in some areas because parking in this town literally can make or break a development/project.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Luminare

[Triton]

5 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

A LLC I found gives some credence to the rumor of the cafe or restaurant operator for the new south downtown park in downtown Houston.

 

There's a LLC for Tout Suite SODO registered earlier this month. SODO, I assume, stands for South Downtown.

It's not hard evidence Tout Suite is the cafe operator for the new unnamed park ( going by the name South Downtown Park for now). 






 

This makes a tremendous amount of sense since the owners have been talking about relocating since their current location will be torn down for the I-45/69 expansion in the next couple of years.

[mollusk]

23 hours ago, Toopicky said:

 

LOL ..... well, I am pretty sure that South Texas College of Law would be more than happy to swap it out with a closer lot to their building .... I don't see that happening

 

When I went to South Texas we had to fend for ourselves with parking, most of the classes were in the evening, and anything east of Caroline was more than a bit gritty (as in someone would get mugged every month or so).  Dang soft kids these days... they also need to get off of my lawn.

[urbanize713]

7 hours ago, BeerNut said:

 

It has begun... Downtown just too big for one name now...

 

Noooooo...I was in Denver recently and this renaming of areas has run amok there. In my opinion, we should avoid it anywhere we can.