The Pointe At Bayou Bend: Affordable Housing At 800 Middle St.

[samagon]

16 hours ago, thedistrict84 said:

$22 million seems like a lot for 89 units. But, the scale is reasonable, and this development wouldn't be immediately near another mixed-income development (closest would be the 55+ project going up at Scott and Clay).

That being said, I'm surprised that there have not been more market rate offerings announced in the immediate area, especially since HHA purchased The Circuit by BBVA and is transitioning 51% of the units to affordable (at 60% AMI if I recall). 

oh wow, you'd think they'd not need to do that with everyone living in the apartments being evicted for TXDOT would want somewhere close.

[ljchou]

18 hours ago, thedistrict84 said:

$22 million seems like a lot for 89 units. But, the scale is reasonable, and this development wouldn't be immediately near another mixed-income development (closest would be the 55+ project going up at Scott and Clay).

That being said, I'm surprised that there have not been more market rate offerings announced in the immediate area, especially since HHA purchased The Circuit by BBVA and is transitioning 51% of the units to affordable (at 60% AMI if I recall). 

I believe the development at Scott and Clay is being marketed as a senior living facility.

[ljchou]

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/3801-Garrow-St-Houston-TX/4699194/

3801 Garrow is now for sale. Hopefully that means the Aff Housing plans there will ultimately fall through for something more commercial. I feel like the Milby/Harrisburg corridor is primed for development.

[samagon]

primed, it is being developed pretty hard.

I think it mostly will hinge upon what happens to the former Maxwell House coffee plant.

from a perspective of bars (which is a great way to introduce youth and get people comfortable with the area that might not have otherwise exposed themselves), Voodoo Queen has been here for a few years, whatever Sigma brewing is called has been here a few years, more recently there's Land and Sea, EE Back Yard, White Rhino. there's that warehouse on Milby and Rusk that was completed right before Covid, 

the real question is, how long it's going to take for BNSF to decide that it's more profitable to remediate and sell that land (and rebuild somewhere out of town) than it is to stay there? that is one hell of an industrial site that can help keep growth from moving the needle too far.

[Urbannizer]

On 3/23/2021 at 3:42 PM, thedistrict84 said:

@ljchouasked an important question in another topic, and I figured it best to rehash it here to see if anyone knows: what is the latest on HHA's so-called "EADO" 800 development at 800 Middle St? I know there was a notice and comment period regarding an environmental impact study by the City of Houston which ended in October, but I haven't heard anything since.

 

. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/amp/City-Council-to-consider-approving-East-End-16099018.php

[thedistrict84]

The 800 Middle St. project is such an ill-conceived project for multiple reasons. Thanks for the heads-up, I just emailed Councilwoman Cisneros urging her to oppose this project--although from her quote in the article in support of affordable housing, it sounds as though her mind is made up already.  

[burt]

So according to this article, NRP plans to widen/extend both Middle and Kennedy St. In order to widen Middle St., they are going to have to tear down existing single family homes that have been there 70+ years. Not sure how it makes sense to remove those homes, occupied by mostly low income families, in favor of the new development. In order to extend Middle St. to Navigation, one would have to move the fire station. Seems unlikely. 

[Houston19514]

19 minutes ago, burt said:

So according to this article, NRP plans to widen/extend both Middle and Kennedy St. In order to widen Middle St., they are going to have to tear down existing single family homes that have been there 70+ years. Not sure how it makes sense to remove those homes, occupied by mostly low income families, in favor of the new development. In order to extend Middle St. to Navigation, one would have to move the fire station. Seems unlikely. 

I suspect they are talking about extending Middle Street to the north, not to the south. It's hard to imagine what improvements they would make to Kennedy Street;  seems likely they just plan to extend it to the east.

[burt]

31 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

I suspect they are talking about extending Middle Street to the north, not to the south. It's hard to imagine what improvements they would make to Kennedy Street;  seems likely they just plan to extend it to the east.

Not sure you can extend Middle much farther north. I think there is only one block (maybe two) to the north of the Middle St./Kennedy St. intersection before you hit the trails. 

If I remember correctly, the HHA also claimed this project would have direct access to Navigation as a major thoroughfare. That could mean that the ingress/egress will be on the Velasco side. Although that would conflict with NRP's statement. 

Completely agree with thedistrict84 that this project is ill-conceived. 

[BeerNut]

City Council to consider approving East End affordable housing project

Quote

Houston city council on Wednesday will consider approving a 400-unit affordable housing project in the East End that has drawn opposition from the area state representative and a local developer who says the land poses environmental health risks.

 

[thedistrict84]

City Counsel unanimously voted to approve the 800 Middle St. project yesterday, without discussion.

Edited April 15, 2021 by thedistrict84

[Houston19514]

On 4/14/2021 at 10:30 AM, burt said:

Not sure you can extend Middle much farther north. I think there is only one block (maybe two) to the north of the Middle St./Kennedy St. intersection before you hit the trails. 

If I remember correctly, the HHA also claimed this project would have direct access to Navigation as a major thoroughfare. That could mean that the ingress/egress will be on the Velasco side. Although that would conflict with NRP's statement.

An extension is an extension.  I don't think they said anything about how long the extension would be.  (FWIW, there are easily three blocks between the current end of the street (4 blocks from Kennedy) by which Middle Street could be extended to the North before hitting the trails.)

Would love to see the source of that alleged claim about "direct access to Navigation as a major thoroughfare."

Edited April 15, 2021 by Houston19514

[burt]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

An extension is an extension.  I don't think they said anything about how long the extension would be.  (FWIW, there are easily three blocks between the current end of the street (4 blocks from Kennedy) by which Middle Street could be extended to the North before hitting the trails.)

Would love to see the source of that alleged claim about "direct access to Navigation as a major thoroughfare."

An extension is an extension? The goal of an extension would be to improve connectivity, which extending to the north would not accomplish. The connectivity to Navigation was presented by HHA to HUD in their application (I'd have to go back and search for the PDF) as a way to facilitate bus traffic and access to the project. That infrastructure does not exist. The streets in this area cannot accommodate bus traffic.  The fact is, in order to accommodate the increased volume of vehicle traffic and bus traffic that this project will bring, long time residents will be forced from their homes should Middle St (and possibly others) be widened. 

[Texasota]

According to that article, the developer said that Middle and Kennedy would be "improved and extended", which pretty strongly implies extending the existing street grid onto the property. Nobody involved with the project is talking about widening any streets - the townhouse developer said the streets would need to be widened as part of his opposition. 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Texasota

[hindesky]

The southern portion of the 800 Middle St lot.

[hindesky]

Looks like a portion of this project has the TDLR to start building.

Architects - https://hedk.com

Developer - https://www.nrpgroup.com

Article from HouChron - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/housing/article/Houston-council-approves-East-End-affordable-16100730.php

Housing for Houston - https://housingforhouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/east-end-closing-news-release-draft_final.pdf

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by hindesky

[Amlaham]

Im not sure if this has been posted before (I didn't find another thread), but an apartment building is going in directly across the bayou of the East River development.

[hindesky]

[Urbannizer]

Bumped to 🛗 

[Urbannizer]

Threads merged

[Urbannizer]

Site plan of Phase I and future phases:

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/h/affordable-housing/EADO-800-Middle-Additional.pdf

[Triton]

Have there ever been plans to build a pedestrian bridge from this side over to East River? Checked Google Maps and it will be a bit of a walk to get to the other side.

[sapo2367]

12 hours ago, Triton said:

Have there ever been plans to build a pedestrian bridge from this side over to East River? Checked Google Maps and it will be a bit of a walk to get to the other side.

Yeah this has been shown in the buffalo bayou east plans and also east river’s mock-ups.

[hindesky]

398 apt. units, 5 story parking garage.

[Paco Jones]

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[thedistrict84]

I’m sure this will be a nice development (at least initially, hopefully HHA keeps up with maintenance, etc.) and the trail connections and expansion are welcome, but the access is an issue.

Kennedy St. provides access to Jensen but is a bit tight in places, with only 50’ ROW near where this development is going. Worse, Middle St. is much narrower, only 40’ ROW straight through to Engelke. There are no sidewalks along Middle St., and no room to expand the ROW without significantly encroaching on pre-existing homes. Also, Middle doesn’t connect directly to Navigation, but requires turning onto other side streets.

Unless they also put in access over to N. York/Hirsch (which I believe is part of the plan eventually, but not immediately), this will be a traffic nightmare and possible danger to pedestrians on Middle St.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]