fwki

City spends $6 million creates 300 jobs, $20k per job, not bad.....compared to our current federal government sticking us for $400,000 per job.....http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/jeffreeves/2011/09/03/cbo_cost_per_job_between_$196,750_and_$562,000/page/full/

Doing some arithmetic, I figure this thing is going to cost $10-15MM all-in. That is roughly based on 80 units at 800 s.f. each over four floors, basically a 16,000 s.f. footprint with a $2MM land cost and $140/sf construction cost. How are 80 old folks/couples going to pay for that on top of the high operating cost of assisted living? I know on a lease basis these homes can cost a tenant upwards of $15,000/month. I do not think it works unless a prospective tenant owns his bungalow outright and has a real nice pension. So the plan could be to fleece the Heights old-timers on their homestead, flip it for a profit then squeeze Medicaid, Medicare and the pensions to run the place and payback the bank for turning the Fiesta into a future haunted mansion. I wonder if they are hiring.

Private equity-developed nursing homes are becoming a "big thing", but statiscally patient care suffers compared to non-profits. For-profit institutions are more accountable for patient liabilities when the property owner/developer also clearly owns the operating company (due to exposure of capital assets). So I would be most interested in the business structure before depositing my parents at the corner of 14th and Studewood.

OMG! 24/7 ambulance sirens up and down Studewood. And as soon as the dogs calm down, here comes the next code blue to continue the endless cycle.

The Astros better turn the corner before Marvy turns the Golden Shovel. My kids would only go to Friday games this year, and the Fire Chief might have a hard time signing a fireworks permit right next to a residential development. But seriously, look at what the city gave up for the downtown stadiums primarily to enable this type of development, and I am glad we haven't lost focus. And with that Reliant monstrosity sitting next to the Harris County Hemorrhoid to remind us why we gave all those incentives, I predict more on the way.

Our recent surge probably scared them. Mt Airy is tiny, so their only chance is to vote early and often, unless they start buying time on TVland during the reruns. For Heights to be victorious, we must use our hipster connections to spread the word, but not too soon. Moving too soon has two main drawbacks: time for My Airy to respond and the high prevalence of ADHD among Heights hipsters. October 1 just as well be in 2112 for most, so spreading the word now could backfire. Looking around at my work, I figure an email timed in last week of September may get us 3 votes from each, but the problem is October 1 falls on a Monday and we could get no votes from such a strategy. Does anybody know anything about setting off one of those flash mobs?

and don't forget Kroger....heck, I think the Conoco serves sushi now ever since the WHCA wrote it into the deed restrictions as "compulsory fare" along with the no new garage apartments clause.

First off, thanks for the article and also for jumping in here. I know as a reporter you must be objective, unbiased in your work, and that ideal must be difficult to achieve at times, especially when dealing with the loose association of artists, businesses and committee members involved in WLN. My read is that you were talking to some real crazies or at best some folks with long-held grudges and rivalries who would stretch the truth if given the chance. By opening with the local philanthropist Jacqueline Harris, I think you set the tone for doubt about the facts reported in the article. The woman clearly fits the above description as does her photo in the story, which incidentally follows the article text on every web page. By page three I had to hold my hand up to block it out so I wouldn't think I was reading The Onion. However, she did serve as a good hook, and on balance I think you got it right. After all this is still the Heights, and no matter how homogenous certain ordinances try to make it, all comers are welcome.

Compared to the cost of the property and rebuilding, the tank removal or abandonment is cheap - about $5,000-$10,000 per location. Since 1998 all tanks in use had to meet modern standards which is why we saw many old stations close in the early 90's. No doubt the purchaser did his enviromental due-diligence in any case. However, these guys didn't lift a brick for two years after purchase of the D'Amicos tract, so don't expect any action soon.

I agree. Lomax let this women sink her own ship. And did you see that picture of her he included with the article? The Thought Police could have arrested her on the spot for hate crimes. The first paragraph has her acting like a fool with a machete, calls the place a "cantina" twice with "unsavory" clientele, pins "Mexican Mafia " descriptor on the owner and questions his deed ownership status as "putative". Take a look at HCAD records and you'll see her business partner (at a minimum) Walter Shannon owning her "Sunset Heights Bungalow" next door since 1998 and the Boom Boom property itself 2000-2005. Since 2005 an LLC controlled by both Shannon and the woman owns the Boom property. The woman herself owned the Boom property1998-2000 and before that it was not a Mexican Mafioso but a white artist named Jesse Cougot from 1988-1998. So her whole story sounds like BS, and I bet Lomax had his doubts but couldn't pass up letting her reveal her own warped mind.

City records show transactions for two properties closed on April 11, 2012 from Burroughs Trust to 602 STWD LP (GP being NAV-Retail, LLC). The Conoco tract is 18,237 SF and the Ready Room tract is 9,768 both classified as commercial real estate. That is a nice chunk of land.

The property falls under the original Norhill Addition deed restrictions, but it is one of the originally designated commercial lots in Norhill Addition wherein the residential limitations did not apply. I do not know what commercial deed restrictions exist, if any, so a nice tall tower would really spark the forum!

I saw that Venture Commercial and Bryan Danna posted their real estate sign in front of the Conoco. These are the same developers of the former Burroughs property on the north side of White Oak (D'Amicos etc). HCAD Tax records still show the Burroughs trust as owners, but that data base is not current. Anybody hear anything about the site being in play?

A cunning plan, no doubt. Using the 11th, which serves as the demarcation between the Forbidden Zone and the Deeded South, will allow transit to go unnoticed until engaging the Germantown defenses at the weakest point. Their only retreat will be via the Quitman aqueduct into the hinterlands of the Fifth Ward. However, can you count on the Woodland Heights Reichstag to remain neutral? After all, they are ancestral brothers, and Germantown is actively being courted to join the Axis of Preservation and Self Righteousness. Such a move would curry favor with the High Priestess of Regulatory Land, and when the fog of war clears you may find her wantonly gazing eastward. And then your only defense will be the Wal-mart Castle and its ramparts of non-conformity.

Yeah, the good ole days like the way our society handled racial integration in the late twentieth century. For that problem we tried nooses and burning crosses, but that doesn't work on Mexicans. The only thing that works on those people are machetes and santeria curses. After she solved the Mexican parking problem with a machete, the Mexcian music and clientele still irked her. Now she's got a problem with a guy named Cohen. I think I see a pattern here.

Since this thread is about stereotypes, I wouldn't worry too much about the bayou-sipping, tree-dwellers in Timbergrove on the west, not with Germantown poised for attack on the east. They never got over the I-45 thing imposed by the DoT Treaty of Austin.

Nothing. I didn't read anything unusual about injuries or crimes, just a few merchants felt they got ripped off for a c-note by some Cohen dude, chaulk it up to experience and use your brain next year. I believe there were more visitors than last year with the increase being mostly twenty-somethings. The crowds seemed friendly and white (clothes) and we hung with them until near midnite celebrating a coincident birthday. Up north you had more white linen suits while down south it was more white shirts and skirts. Next year I am going to push for a toga sector to fully de-link from New Orleans White Linen Night. EDIT: Don't knock it, we could have had this instead: http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2011/08/white_linen_night_2011_may_hav.html "As always, fashion watching was part of the attraction and the streets were well stocked with splendid sartorial polar bears and snow foxes. There is an almost Zen-like wardrobe conundrum among many WLN attendees. If one cannot achieve both white and linen in one’s ensemble, then which should it be? This tribulation gives rise the occasional pink linen jacket or white seersucker mash up....."

D&Q did NOT have an on/off premises license such as a BG license. They have a BF license (BF635429) which is off premises only, and no open container (growler being filled) is allowed in such an establishment.

Yeah, I read that about D&Q in the Premium Draft thread on BeerAdvocate.com where one of the rumors was proximity to a school, so who knows. TABC has so much power they can just about do anything and they keep track of everything, police calls, fights, noise complaints....reach a certain limit and you're shut down.

I'll say! He's going to have a problem finding a parking spot for his own car, let's hope he bikes to work,

I don't think there is a lot of misinformation here. The link you posted is in the OP and is almost useless. Every bar in Houston with a BG license (hunderds if not thousands of licensees) can sell both drink-in and to-go,e.g. Antidote, Jimmies, but not the liquor bars. The interview link and earlier posts explain that city permit wrt parking is the real problem, so the owner's plan is to sell to-go only and not sell drink-in to avoid the parking requirements of the city permit, his TABC license is fine. I wish him luck with the CoH.

The business plan is retail to-go only; they'll santize Premium Draft growlers on-premise and fill any clean growlers you bring, currently waiting on City Permits....http://lushtastic.com/2012/07/19/houstons-newest-craft-retailer-premium-draught/

I have to agree, 74 pages of posts that amount to nothing, although I do appreciate the progress reports and photos since I have used alternate routes during construction. We used to call that neighborhood west of the steel mill Crackton. That mill made many of the bridge super structures around Houston until it got hemmed-in and couldn't easily transport the wide and tall loads to job sites. And Crackton made many of the crimes in the Heights. But here I go again waxing on about the good ole days.....

Heights-Norhill Little League sponsors, that's what. You don't hate kids too, right? Edit: And jobs! Got two teenagers who need gas money.

Awesome! More potential Little League sponsors are always welcome in our neighborhood! Many of our kids cannot readily afford the fees, but our HNLL policy is to accept all neighborhood youngsters, so sponsorships from individuals and businesses are an important part of a maintaining a first class organization. We can be proud of our Olympians every four years, and many of those champions started out in neighborhood sports leagues. More importantly kids "at risk" respond well to healthy activity and team sports and all kids respond well to the fun, new friends and role models. The future is determined by our kids, so if you really care about this neighborhood, put down your Walmart placards and spend time where it counts by sponsoring or volunteering at our local schools and kids' organizations. Sorry about the hijack Mr. Editor, but thanks for the link and the heads-up, my introductory letters will go out soon.