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Houston19514

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Everything posted by Houston19514

  1. Houston19514
    I would enjoy seeing a list of the cities among the 100 largest where "most trips are either already done by other modes, or discretionary car trips can fall back to other . . . methods" [realistically] The list will be very short indeed, even among the much-hallowed, so-called "sustainable" European cities.
  2. Houston19514
    Good news. What building is that going in?
  3. Houston19514
    They are tearing down the building where The Gap used to be as well as where Harold Powell is (or used to be). Harold's will relocate elsewhere in the center before the buildings are torn down. Then there will be a new larger building, with underground parking. Could that explain what you saw? Highland Village plans
  4. Houston19514
    What or who are you talking about? If the new midtown CVS is your issue, how exactly has the city "bent over backward..." when the building code still requires X number of on-site parking spots and 25 foot setbacks? If the Costco at the former HISD site is the issue, that is a little disappointing. But I don't think it is going to be just a standard suburban Costco is it? I think there is still going to be some mixed-use there. In any event, that is one, ONE, of the many mixed use developments in various planning stages that has apparently disappointed. On what basis should we assume that City Centre, BLVD Place, West Street, River Oaks District, Houston Pavilions, High Street, and Regent Square will be equally disappointing? The idea that developers pay to have extensive site-plans and renderings drawn up for urban mixed use districts just to excite the media is pretty comical, as is your statement that no developers are interested in developing such things in Houston. (Our problem right now might just be that too many developers are developing such projects, thus dividing the retailers among too many projects and making it a little more difficult to get any of them built. But in spite of that, West Street is already under construction, as is Houston Pavilions, and I believe City Centre; BLVD Place is slated to start construction this summer...) I don't know what urban "nirvana" you are headed for after you graduate, but you might need to prepare to be disappointed.
  5. Houston19514
    Why wait? Surely, you could find a grad school in a city more to your liking. ;-)
  6. Houston19514
    Does "Westcreek Project" = River Oaks District? The developer of River Oaks District is quoted in today's Wall Street Journal to the effect that groundbreaking for River Oaks District will be in 2008. That is only Phase 1. There is a "potential" Phase 2 that would take out a LOT more apartments to the north of Bettis Dr. Could those be the ones being assured they are "safe" for three years?
  7. Houston19514
    Not at all. The condos are quite large. There are, at most, 2 condos on each floor. The upper floors have one condo per floor.
  8. Houston19514
    Patience, grasshopper... ;-)
  9. Houston19514
    The Brown line in Chicago has been around for a VERY long time (more than a century). Much of it is elevated. (I suspect you saw references somewhere to the "New Brown". That is referring to a capacity expansion project, not to a new line)
  10. Houston19514
    Yeah, we don't need no stinkin' retail cluttering up our downtown.
  11. Houston19514
    Reliable sources tell me HP has been quietly signing up some more interesting tenants, bringing a broader range of retail, such as: Lucho Boutique (high-end menswear) BCBG Max Azria (womenswear - I think fairly high-end) Journeys Shoes Old Havana (not sure what this is...)
  12. Houston19514
    WOW! I love it! Thanks for sharing.
  13. Houston19514
    08:23 AM CDT on Thursday, May 24, 2007 By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News stevebrown@dallasnews.com "After months of speculation, accounting giant Ernst & Young LLP confirmed Thursday that it will move its North Texas headquarters to the Victory project near downtown. Ernst & Young will lease about 150,000 square feet in the One Victory Park building which is under construction just north of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The company will move into the 20-story building, which is 85 percent leased, in July 2009. "We are very pleased to join other well established Dallas companies in making the exciting move to Victory Park," Ernst & Young Managing Partner Clint McDonnough said in announcing the planned move. Other tenants in the building will include law firm Haynes & Boone LLP and PlainsCapital Bank." Victory's gain is downtown's loss. E&Y is moving out downtown Dallas' 2100 Ross (formerly San Jacinto Tower). (Haynes & Boone is also moving from downtown Dallas.)
  14. Houston19514
    That would be true, if your premise were correct. But of course they are not "replacing a grassy area with surface lots." Prior to the BCM purchase / development plan, this was not just a "grassy area". Rather, it was an area with a lot of rooftops, streets, and parking lots, yes, surface parking lots. From the BCM site plan it appears that there might be more "grassy area" and undeveloped surface after BCM is done than there was before.
  15. Houston19514
    You must not have looked very hard: Just a few examples... Kroger on Montrose Kroger on W. Gray Kroger on N Shepherd Kroger on Buffalo Speedway Kroger on Old Spanish Trail and many more Krogers all over the metro area Randalls on Holcombe Randalls on San Felipe and many more Randalls all over the metro area
  16. Houston19514
    Both MMP and Reliant Stadium are specifically exempted from the Toyota Center noncompete.
  17. Houston19514
    I think that's the plan. The Vintage Park site plan already says "Vintage Market"
  18. Houston19514
    LOL That's probably by JCPenney's choice. They are building most of their new stores in the free-standing mode, rather than as part of shopping malls.
  19. Houston19514
    You misread the information in the Metro powerpoint presentation. They are applying for federal funding for three lines: North, Southeast, and University. (On slide 23 it says that they have submitted the draft EIS for the University Line. Then on Slide 24 it says they have concluded the EIS process for the North and Southeast lines. Then it proceeds to say that (the other corridors do not require Federal environmental process as Metro is not applying for federal funding for them.) They are applying for federal funding for all corridors on which they are conducting the Federal EIS process: University, North, and Southeast.
  20. Houston19514
    I believe Metro worked out a deal with the Feds allowing them to fully fund certain lines themselves and apply those expenditures as the matching money for the other lines. The Feds also agreed to consider the Red Line expenditures as part of Metro's match. So, basically, Metro is paying for 2 lines and the Fed money will pay the full tab for the other 2 lines, or something like that. I forget now what the advantage of that arrangement was supposed to be...
  21. Houston19514
    Nobody said it was a big deal, guys. I was just poking a little fun at the Dallas tendency to exaggerate. Now calm down everyone.
  22. Houston19514
    I agree; they are estimates and no more. But the real estimate numbers are quite impressive, so why not just report them honestly?
  23. Houston19514
    Not sure you got that right. The A380 first flew in 2005. I think more than just Dallas and New York were able to handle it at that time. In fact, I think IAH was ready for it in 2005. In any event, we know that, in addition to IAH, New York (not sure which airport it went to, but I think JFK) and LAX can handle it. That's where the A380s flew to in March.
  24. Houston19514
    Cool. So did Houston. Actually, as we have come to expect from the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, they stretched the truth just a bit. First, the actual growth was 180,924 (they oddly called this "almost 182,000"... why not "almost 181,000"?). 180,924 divided by 365 days in a year comes to a growth rate of 495.68 people per day. Very impressive and certainly "almost" 500 per day, but the Chamber, oddly, dispenses with the "almost" qualifier and just calls it 500 per day. The numbers for Houston: Total growth: 187,380. 513.37 per day.
  25. Houston19514
    The Discovery Green garage is being built to serve the park, the convention center and "other public parking needs in the area" and it will offset the combined capacity of the two existing lots that were demolished at the location. Every office building built either in that area or elsewhere downtown will have parking either built into them or adjacent to them. They will not rely on the Discovery Green garage to provide parking for their tenants. (Of course the hope is that the area surrounding Discovery Green will be more residential than office, but the same will apply to residential buildings.) Sidenote: Why would convention goers and park users not avail themselves of the parking spaces during business hours? Most conventions are held during business hours. And the park will have two restaurants in it that will no doubt operate during business hours. A convention of any size at all will fill that garage very quickly, especially when combined with the restaurant business and park activities. "Parking is an important amenity for the downtown park, which we understood clearly from the public input process," according to the Director of the Downtown Park Conservancy. When they set about to build the Discovery Green garage they clearly did not have in mind providing parking spaces for nearby office buildings.
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