32-New Townhomes - 3000 Lamar St.

[wilcal]

On the consent plat activity for this week. Lot between Lamar/Dallas and Ennis/Palmer:

 

I searched a ton to see if this was posted anywhere already and couldn't find it. Please merge if I missed it. 

[HoustonMidtown]

Work has started - not sure if it still the same plans as shown a couple years ago

 

[hindesky]

I asked the two workers what this was going to be and they said townhomes just like the ones across the street.

[Aalqalam]

Hey guys! I’m the project manager, I just googled our address and this thread popped up!! How cool is that. I’ll share some renderings with you soon. We’re finalizing marketing material 

Regards

[hindesky]

[Aalqalam]

Hey @hindesky thank you for the aerials those are great! Unfortunately we had to bring the site down a couple of feet for ease of garage entry for vehicles. Otherwise it would have been an uphill drive into homes

[Andrew Ewert]

On 3/23/2023 at 1:39 PM, Aalqalam said:

Hey guys! I’m the project manager, I just googled our address and this thread popped up!! How cool is that. I’ll share some renderings with you soon. We’re finalizing marketing material 

Regards

I can't wait for real sidewalks here! 🥺 Please plant nice trees!

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[Aalqalam]

Hey all 👋 I wanted to give y’all a quick update on our development. Here’s a sneak peak on the street view from Ennis St. I’ll follow up soon with some shots of the walkable boulevards we’ve implemented inside our development, Hence the name - Boulevard on Lamar. 
 

We added the red brick accents on the exterior to pay tribute to EaDo as an originally industrial area and created a modern industrial architectural feel to it. Hope you guys like it 

[Amlaham]

Beautiful townhomes, however, Ennis and Palmer will be all driveways? 

12 hours ago, Aalqalam said:

Hey all 👋 I wanted to give y’all a quick update on our development. Here’s a sneak peak on the street view from Ennis St. I’ll follow up soon with some shots of the walkable boulevards we’ve implemented inside our development, Hence the name - Boulevard on Lamar. 
 

We added the red brick accents on the exterior to pay tribute to EaDo as an originally industrial area and created a modern industrial architectural feel to it. Hope you guys like it 

 

[Aalqalam]

Yes, we will have homes facing Ennis and Homes facing Palmer, and then gated access driveway from Lamar to Dallas. 

[Texasota]

They look nice, but the driveways are a huge disappointment. 

[Aalqalam]

well we kind of did a mix of both shared-driveway and private driveway to encourage backyards facing each other and encourage future neighbors to connect with one another. See video. All homes will come with private wrought iron backyards short enough to not hinder open and inviting spaces but tall enough to keep pets and/or kids within reach. neighbors can access the walkable boulevards from their yards. Hopefully once I have more material I will share with you guys. 

[Amlaham]

Wasn't the walkable places committee/ TOD ordinance supposed to stop developments from making an entire street driveways? I wouldn't call this development walkable if the only walkable portion is in between backyards. Thats like calling garden style apartments walkable because there's a courtyard in the middle. You can even see the foreshadowing of cars blocking the sidewalks as depicted in the renderings 😂 

Notice how the townhomes surrounding this property has their driveways hidden, much people from this property and other properties can utilize their sidewalks to get to where they need to without having to walk past an entire street of just driveways. Also, from a car driving perspective, if you have guests visiting you with their car, they cant park on the street because now every one of those lots on the streets have their own private driveways. Based on the plat, it looks like these "boulevards"/ backyard alleys were created so that more homes could be stuffed in to the lot while using the word "walkable boulevard" to attract tenants. My honest opinion 🤷‍♂️ 

On 9/13/2021 at 1:53 PM, wilcal said:

On the consent plat activity for this week. Lot between Lamar/Dallas and Ennis/Palmer:

 

I searched a ton to see if this was posted anywhere already and couldn't find it. Please merge if I missed it. 

 

[Texasota]

Yeah I'm sorry that's not what back yards are for. I'm all for porch culture but I also want a back yard (or roof terrace) that feels like a nice, private oasis. Especially at this scale.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I really like about this project. But the site plan is a missed opportunity and will make Palmer and Ennis worse than they should have been.

[004n063]

I'm confused - are Palmer and Ennis being shut down? Or do you mean the driveways crossing the sidewalk? 

[Texasota]

Aalqalam, I do just want to say how thankful I am for your generosity in sharing about this development. I can be very critical but I really appreciate you being here. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Texasota

[Aalqalam]

@Texasota Thank you for your kind words. We definitely take criticism constructively. Hoping to better our future developments. I will share with you all details as they are released. 

[HoustonMidtown]

 

[hindesky]

They lowered it quite a bit but it's still higher than anything around it which will be good if it floods.

[Erik Asuncion]

Assuming each lot along Palmer and Ennis have their own driveway, on this square block I count 18 opportunities for vehicles to collide with passing pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles. Kind of a miss opportunity and disappointment.

[j_cuevas713]

6 hours ago, Erik Asuncion said:

Assuming each lot along Palmer and Ennis have their own driveway, on this square block I count 18 opportunities for vehicles to collide with passing pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles. Kind of a miss opportunity and disappointment.

The city hasn't adopted the ordinance change just yet. We'll see the changes soon enough in future builds

[cspwal]

Since the developer actually has posted on this site, it is possible they may be trying to keep this in mind or doing a change to try to minimize the curb cuts.  On Dallas and Lamar, there is only one curb cut (in the center of the block) on each street, which is pretty good.  The dallas curb cut will face another block with only one curb cut, and is a walking route for the neighborhood to get to the bike trail.  The lamar one faces basically a pad of concrete; it will be definitely the superior side of the block.  The North/South Ennis and Palmer are disappointing, but hopefully the developer is taking the feed back and will consider ways to reduce the total length of curb cuts even if the number is high - even if for the basic reason of preserving curb side parking spots

[Erik Asuncion]

11 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

The city hasn't adopted the ordinance change just yet. We'll see the changes soon enough in future builds

I understand that changes to the ordinance have not been adopted yet. Developers should not be forced by the City to create a pedestrian-safe and less car-centric subdivision. There are many existing features within Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances that the developer could have implemented if their priority was anything other than squeezing as many units in a block as possible. Looking at the plat, orienting the homes along Ennis and Palmer such that the garages face away from the street at shared driveways between Dallas and Lamar would have either reduced the footprint of the house or eliminated an entire row. Many, if not most, of the townhouse subdivisions in East Downtown have shared driveways, mine included. Inclusion of shared driveways in this new subdivision would have made it fit-in and be a safer block for pedestrians.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Erik Asuncion

[hindesky]

[HoustonMidtown]

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]