bachanon Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Westchase Districtby Rives Taylor, AIAPROJECT Westchase District Long Range PlanCLIENT Westchase Municipal Management DistrictARCHITECT Powers Brown Architecture with SWA GroupCONSULTANTS Robert Charles Lesser & Co. LLC (real estate); Spillette Consulting (urban development); Walter P. Moore (infractructure); Knudson & Associates (economic development)DESIGN TEAM Powers Brown Architecture: Jeffrey Brown, AIA; Baldemar Gonzalez; John Cadenhead; SWA: Scott Slaney; James Vick; Kinder BaumgardnerAt twice the size of downtown, the 4.2-square mile Westchase District is one of the aging "edge city fragments" from the 1970s and '80s that now compose the milieu of Houston's rapidly multiplying town center precincts. This area, fairly indistinguishable from the city's other car-centric suburbs, encompasses the typical mix of boulevard strip shopping centers, two-story apartment complexes, and mid-rise offices buildings (with more than 17.5 million square feet of commercial space). Local landowners ultimately decided to organize and consider how the west-side district's prospects could be made more attractive to re-investment. What was missing, they realized, was a distinctive identity for the district that would induce development over the next 20 years. link to full article 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGraspo Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Intresting. If only Downtown and other business districts can do the same. We would be heading in the right diriection as a city Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 The blasted westside is getting everything good these days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Intresting. If only Downtown and other business districts can do the same. We would be heading in the right diriection as a city <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Downtown and other districts ARE doing the same. This long range plan is similar to the plans drawn up by TIRZ' in Midtown, Galleria, and Upper Kirby. The only difference that I see is that a TIRZ wasn't mentioned. There needs to be a funding mechanism for all of the features to take hold. This might be a TIRZ, or it might take the form of an improvement district, similar to the one downtown. Certainly, like a 30 year old home, a redecorating project can bring new life to the area. But, I don't get the impression that this will be some glitzy new development, merely a much needed redesign of the existing area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasboy Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 I cannot honestly say I am excited about this. Houston has too many edge cities to possibly compete with the center city, specifically downtown. I am not even that excited when I hear of urban projects coming to the Galleria area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 its just a master plan - and we all know those never go anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_oneal Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 I cannot honestly say I am excited about this. Houston has too many edge cities to possibly compete with the center city, specifically downtown. I am not even that excited when I hear of urban projects coming to the Galleria area.has anyone looked at houston from say out on the northern edge of the beltway? if you look towards the galleria area you would be hard pressed to distinguish it from a modern downtown area. it has skyscrapers and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 (edited) Edited November 5, 2007 by jgriff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo58 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 There are many visible signs of new developement in this area. Seems like on every other block something new is going up. Especially around Beltway 8/Westheimer/Richmond areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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