citykid09 Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 Oct. 9, 2004, 7:39PMFirst Ward gets Big Easy lookNew townhomes to feature design that's reminiscent of French QuarterBy NANCY SARNOFFCopyright 2004 Houston ChronicleWhen residential developers M.R. Lavin and Craig Baudier bought a small tract of land in the First Ward last year, they quickly discovered that they might be onto something big.A competitor wanted the land and offered them 40 percent more than what they paid.Instead of taking a quick profit, Lavin and Baudier decided to move ahead with their plans to build townhomes on the 10,000-square-foot parcel.The young developers have started French Quarter Homes to build upscale dwellings they say will resemble properties in New Orleans' Garden District.Located at the corner of Holly and Edwards, the roughly 2,000-square-foot homes are being marketed at $259,900.The First Ward, between Washington Avenue and White Oak Bayou, is just northwest of downtown."This neighborhood is one of the last undiscovered diamonds in the rough so close to downtown," said Jeff Trevino, a real estate broker who sells property in the area with the Michael Group.More competitionThat said, other developers are starting to move in. Along with French Quarter Homes, Tricon and similar townhome builders are buying small lots in the area to redevelop.At least one group has signed a contract to buy land on Houston Avenue for a project that would put the first new homes on the avenue in a while.Folks in the area say developers are drawn to the area's good access, cheap land and postcard views of the city's skyline."It's really starting to come on strong," said Bob Derr of Karen Derr & Associates Realty, who is marketing the French Quarter homes. "The more the builders go there, the more young people move in."But many of these new developments are within a stone's throw of abandoned buildings and ramshackle homes.The spottiness represents an area at a turning point.By contrast, the Sixth Ward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 that's awesome news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 So these are complete? If so does anyone have any photos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 So these are complete? If so does anyone have any photos?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Interesting...does anybody have a map/link outlining how the wards in Houston are divided? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Interesting...does anybody have a map/link outlining how the wards in Houston are divided?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>There was one in the Chronicle Lifestyle section a month or so ago. Roughly I think that First Ward is Washington Ave. to N. Main, Second Ward is east Buffalo Bayou to Harrisburg, Third Ward is Harrisburg to S. Main, Fourth Ward is South Main to west Buffalo Bayou, Fifth Ward is N. Main to East Buffalo Bayou, and Sixth Ward is Washington Ave. to west Buffalo Bayou.I wish there was some way, as these industrial tracts slowly give way to residential, for the city to extend the old street grid of First Ward westward between I-10 and Washington Ave., in other words filling in all the older industrial sites with new residential streets, and continuing this pattern all the way out to the West End/Rice Military neighborhoods over by Westcott. Then we would have an extended, continuous area of residential streets as opposed to gated apartment and townhome communities. There could be enforced setbacks to allow for trees and sidewalks. It would sort of be another Heights. Perhaps a landscaped boulevard could be created parallel to Washington Ave. that would take walkers over to White Oak Bayou, where it would tie in with a Bayou trail network. Washington Ave. could be the commercial corridor, and all would be served by light rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssullivan Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I wish there was some way, as these industrial tracts slowly give way to residential, for the city to extend the old street grid of First Ward westward between I-10 and Washington Ave., in other words filling in all the older industrial sites with new residential streets, and continuing this pattern all the way out to the West End/Rice Military neighborhoods over by Westcott. Then we would have an extended, continuous area of residential streets as opposed to gated apartment and townhome communities. There could be enforced setbacks to allow for trees and sidewalks. It would sort of be another Heights. Perhaps a landscaped boulevard could be created parallel to Washington Ave. that would take walkers over to White Oak Bayou, where it would tie in with a Bayou trail network. Washington Ave. could be the commercial corridor, and all would be served by light rail.Great ideas! I hadn't thought about the street grid issue, but you're right. It's going to be more difficult for traditional residential neighborhoods to develop in this area with the current street grid.I really like your idea for a boulevard parallel to Washington. Something like Heights Boulevard with a very wide, landscaped median and a walking trail down the middle with park-like areas would be nice. Another good example of such a boulevard is Boston's Commonwealth Avenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Excellent post H-town Man! A street grid is critical to creating urban residential districts, and your idea would be perfect to tie in the West End neighborhood. I like the boulevard idea too, although would it take a major landowner to own the land for a street? Maybe even Washington Ave. could be transformed into more of a boulevard with wide sidewalks, more trees and better landscaping. Since there's already some commercial and residential development along there, it might be easier to continue the trend. Imagine Washington with a lot of tree-shaded sidewalk cafes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Well, unfortunately you could never acquire enough right-of-way along Washington Ave. for wide, tree-shaded sidewalks. Maybe on Houston Ave., if you took a lane out on each side (since it's so seldom used), you could do something nice. Honestly I think this area is so far from being pedestrian friendly that expecting people to take the huge steps it takes towards urbanism in a city that has no experience or pattern to go by is asking too much. It's like giving a child a set of paints and some canvas and saying "Here! Paint the Mona Lisa!" The best bet for getting urban neighborhoods around this city is to make it work in one neighborhood - do it really well - and then everyone will understand what those of us who travel to other cities have been trying to tell them, and the people who buy and rent homes will demand to live in an urban neighborhood. Our best shot is Midtown. Unless there's a big turn-around, First Ward will just end up looking like the Rice Military area does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Well, unfortunately you could never acquire enough right-of-way along Washington Ave. for wide, tree-shaded sidewalks. Maybe on Houston Ave., if you took a lane out on each side (since it's so seldom used), you could do something nice. Honestly I think this area is so far from being pedestrian friendly that expecting people to take the huge steps it takes towards urbanism in a city that has no experience or pattern to go by is asking too much. It's like giving a child a set of paints and some canvas and saying "Here! Paint the Mona Lisa!" The best bet for getting urban neighborhoods around this city is to make it work in one neighborhood - do it really well - and then everyone will understand what those of us who travel to other cities have been trying to tell them, and the people who buy and rent homes will demand to live in an urban neighborhood. Our best shot is Midtown. Unless there's a big turn-around, First Ward will just end up looking like the Rice Military area does.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>These are some really interesting ideas. I like the idea of Houston Avenue reconfigured as a boulevard with a median... I think that is very doable. I could see that as being another smaller residential Heights Boulevard with nice old renovated houses. That would be appropriate since continuing north on Houston Avenue leads you into the beautiful Woodland Heights.Washington Avenue isn't really a good candidate for a boulevard since it's already maxed out on width... IIRC the existing buildings there are set so close to the street there is barely room for even much of a sidewalk now. You'd have to tear down a lot of old buildings in order to widen it any further.Regarding connecting the street grid north of Washington between first ward the west end, that could be cool, but I imagine if I lived in one of those neighborhoods I would enjoy being connected to a major thoroughfare on only 2 (rather than 3) sides, which cuts back on cut-through traffic making a quieter and better suited for a residential neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Speaking of street grids... the other night I was flying into Chicago. As the plane came down I looked out across the city, and over a huge, vast space you could see all of the streetlights forming perfect grids, with the major avenues forming evenly spaced lines of brighter lights, and all the smaller streets making perfectly uniform files of dimmer lights. This grid covered an area of land so big you could not help but literally gasp in wonder. There's something to be said for grand, uniform street patterns in a city... they make you feel like you're part of a much greater whole. Too late for Houston though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted August 23, 2005 Author Share Posted August 23, 2005 Whats new with this development? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Chicago formed a masterplan in the 1800s and followed it fairly closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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