Sphere Cub At 3236 Summer St.

[hindesky]

Curious what would be planned here tucked away in the corner and next to a cemetery?

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Funeral home makes sense if there is any room left in the cemetery.

[hindesky]

Not going to be a funeral home like I speculated but instead it will be "Sphere Cub" a way to connect soccer and fitness. They are asking for an off street parking variance. The Planning Commission deferred it for further study.

https://www.sphere.club

It looks to be possibly one or two 5 story buildings with parking below them. Several neighbors spoke against claiming the traffic/parking is just too bad in the area. Developer claims a lot of the current parking is created by the construction workers building both the Alexan Junction and the Shell gas station and will lesson when they are finished. This will be Sphere's headquarters if it's approved.

 

[IntheKnowHouston]

5 hours ago, hindesky said:

Not going to be a funeral home like I speculated but instead it will be "Sphere Cub" a way to connect soccer and fitness. They are asking for an off street parking variance. The Planning Commission deferred it for further study.

https://www.sphere.club

It looks to be possibly one or two 5 story buildings with parking below them. Several neighbors spoke against claiming the traffic/parking is just too bad in the area. Developer claims a lot of the current parking is created by the construction workers building both the Alexan Junction and the Shell gas station and will lesson when they are finished. This will be Sphere's headquarters if it's approved.

Thanks for the updates as always, @hindesky. I look forward to future updates about soccer and fitness center Sphere Cub at 3236 Summer St.

I think Sphere Club will be a welcome addition to the area (though I'm not certain if it is in the First Ward, Arts District, Sawyer Heights, or Washington Corridor area - I can never get this area right).

 

[hindesky]

This was deferred a second time. The Planning Commission staff will visit the other location of Sphere on Bingle and other similar businesses to see the amount of parking spaces needed.

 

Sphere on Bingle. 

https://www.sphere.club

[hindesky]

This off street parking variance was deferred by the Planning Commissioners for a 3rd time. It has lots of opposition due the low amount of parking and being next to the historical Olivewood cemetery but the Planning Commission staff actually recommended passing it after a visit to their other location and similar places like it. Those places never used all the available parking spaces even at peak times. 

[IntheKnowHouston]

Below are additional details about Sphere at 3236 Summer St.

The details are from the summary of variance conditions included in an off-street parking variance request. This is from the latest planning commission agenda. The meeting will take place June 22. 


The project is a five-level fitness training center with an indoor soccer field at level two, a wellness center at level three, administrative offices at level four, and an exterior soccer field at roof level.  All of this is supported by a small reception area at level one.  The proposed facility is approximately 28,146 sf including the outdoor roof level soccer field.  26 vehicle parking spaces and 22 bike spaces are proposed within the property.  Based on initial analysis, the project would require 51 vehicle parking spaces per ordinance.  Research in to preceding facilities of similar use classification and area lead to the conclusion that the sum of proposed vehicle and bicycle spaces is appropriate for the success of the project.  Improvements to public infrastructure including widening the existing Court Street right-of-way are also part of this project. It is the developer’s intent to own the building upon completion for a long term while maintaining the uses described above for the life of the facility.



Additional details included in the application:

• The proposed new project will be the second location for a soccer training facility and is similar in size and scope to its precedent.  The demand for parking met by the existing facility is consistent with the proposal for this new location. The project also features two soccer training fields. If considered under the health club use classification in Chapter 26, these two fields alone will require nearly 40 spots whereas a fully occupied class would only contain 12 occupants on each field for a total of 24 at peak occupancy.  
  
  
   

According to the application, Sphere considered leasing parking spaces from surrounding residential complexes:
 

• The surrounding land uses are residential and preclude us from being able to lease additional parking. The owner has reached out to the adjacent apartment buildings to gauge interest in leasing spots in their parking garages; two of the three said no and the third would not respond. Furthermore, any additional viable leasing partners are beyond the distance requirements outlined in Section 26-499. The design team has explored parking structures, but the reduced size of the properties renders them both inefficient and unfeasible for this use. 

There could be a B-Cycle station on site:
 

• The owner has also indicated that they would be interested in supplying a B-Cycle station to support the facility and nearby apartments. 

[hindesky]

Deferred again.

[j_cuevas713]

Sphere has really blown up. Mike Chabala seems to being pretty well for himself after his Dynamo days. 

[Amlaham]

Jeez, why is the Houston Planning Commission being this aggressive with the parking when the parking mandates are eventually going to be lessened according to them???

[j_cuevas713]

On 6/23/2023 at 10:45 AM, Amlaham said:

Jeez, why is the Houston Planning Commission being this aggressive with the parking when the parking mandates are eventually going to be lessened according to them???

I wish we could delete comments . I saw the plans for reduced parking

Edited June 26, 2023 by j_cuevas713

[004n063]

Just a thought: gyms and other fitness centers don't need parking.

I'm not suggesting they be banned or anything, but I think a universal "fitness" and/or "green" business parking variance could be a nice bridge to the no-parking-minima future.

[editor]

23 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Just a thought: gyms and other fitness centers don't need parking.

I'm not suggesting they be banned or anything, but I think a universal "fitness" and/or "green" business parking variance could be a nice bridge to the no-parking-minima future.

I've always found irony in the fact that so many people drive air conditioned luxury farm machinery to a gym so they can sweat. 

[004n063]

1 minute ago, editor said:

I've always found irony in the fact that so many people drive air conditioned luxury farm machinery to a gym so they can sweat. 

And then get that sweat all over their seats. 

[j.33]

On 6/23/2023 at 10:45 AM, Amlaham said:

Jeez, why is the Houston Planning Commission being this aggressive with the parking when the parking mandates are eventually going to be lessened according to them???

They would grant the variance if there was not a lot of push back from the community. The past 2 meetings when this was brought up, there have been over 20+ speakers. The first meeting was mostly residents in the townhomes worried their narrow streets would be filled with parking since Summer St is already crowded, and then the second meeting has mostly volunteers from the Olivewood Cemetery talking about Summer St overcrowding and people parking in their small surface lot. What I dont understand is no one has brought up the idea of putting metered parking along Summer Street. That would then help solve the parking frustration that the community members and volunteers are bringing up. Looks like a lot of the parking it taken up by residents in the apartment buildings who are not using their garage that has more than enough parking spaces.

The next hurdle the gym will have to overcome is to make sure that their site does not have any human remains from the cemetery (which apparently could be likely). It will be interesting to see what happens next. 

[hindesky]

Planning Commission Denied the off street parking variance. They are worried about bodies being buried under the property.

[DotCom]

More background on the potential human remains.  https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/local/2023/07/13/456793/heights-community-members-worry-that-new-development-site-may-have-unmarked-childrens-graves-underneath/

[Amlaham]

At this point, they should just sell the land and find a new location. First, requesting less parking was an issue, now the parking itself and the building is an issue.  

Edited September 6, 2023 by Amlaham