Houston19514

They are pretty clearly installing pavers in that picture.

Excellent work. Not to mention that a not insignificant part of the structures are run-down strip centers with parking in front, which in other parts of town many posters on this forum would decry as being horrifying and destructive to the urban fabric (i.e., not much loss). Let's put a little more meat on these bones. The active operations that will be displaced (and relocated if they choose, not just eliminated; yes, in reality we get the better highway infrastructure, better pedestrian connectivity in our central area, AND the businesses; It's a win-win-win): Kim Son (which is built on a very suburban, anti-pedestrian, model) Valero station Concentra Urgent Care Appears to be some kind of office that may or may not have an "active" business. In any event, it's cowering behind a sturdy fence and not making any contribution to a walkable neighborhood. True Anomaly Brewing run-down suburban-style strip center containing: Smoke Shop Tattoos Huynh Head Honcho's Barber Shop Pizza Hut carryout Super K Food Mart Little Woodrow's Neil's Bahr Another run-down suburban-style strip center containing: COBO's Loaves and Fishes (homeless services) Search Homeless mission Studio 2020 Toute Suite Studio HTX (Club 2020 (green block at the corner of Leeland and St Emanuel, appears to be permanently closed)) (At the corner of Clay and St. Emanuel, there used to be a commercial appliance-related business. It appears to no longer be there, as the signage is all gone. Is there really an active business on this site?) (The NW side of St Emanuel between Preston and Congress is shown as green. This is the Cheek-Neal building that has been slated for renovation. (a) it is not an active business, and more important (b) it is not slated to be taken by the freeway project.) I'm counting 9, in a stretch maybe 12 active businesses in that entire 20 block stretch that currently contribute to the walkable urban experience in any meaningful way (and that's counting seven businesses in strip centers fronted by parking lots, which we are usually told destroy the urban fabric, not contribute to it). In short, the contribution to the urban fabric made by these 20 blocks has often been wildly exaggerated.

Was it really condemnation proceedings, or was it just by negotiation? (Interesting: it appears they bought the entire complex, not just the part NW of St Emmanuel) In any event, the acquisition of The Lofts at the Ballpark doesn't directly mean anything for True Anomaly, Little Woodrows, etc. BUT of course the coming freeway project does mean that those properties will also eventually be acquired and those businesses will be relocated or otherwise compensated.

Why would that be scary?

Do you really think developers ignore opportunity cost? Highly unlikely.

A few weeks after the proposal was approved by whom? I suspect what you are remembering is the final City Council vote granting Metro rights-of-way to use city streets, which occurred in November 2000. AFTER Metro had spent years planning the line and running it through various other approvals. Construction started in March 2001, 15 or 16 weeks after the right-of-way approval. (FWIW, the BRT and light rail projects included in MetroNext will also require city council approvals of rights of way for Metro, which approvals have not yet been sought or received.)

Decent article, but . . . "VA hospital parking lot"? Where'd they come up with that little factoid. The site of TMC3 was Texas Medical Center patient and visitor parking and contract parking; served by TMC shuttles. It was not a VA hospital parking lot. How do they come up with the nonsense they publish? Did someone glance at a map and see the big VA Hospital site somewhat nearby and just jump to that assumption (which in itself would betray a woeful ignorance of their city and one of its MAJOR entities/industries?) Again I ask, is it really too much to ask local news folk to have some basic knowledge about their city? SMH

Isn't that already the name of the complex down the street at Kirby and Westheimer??? I guess that one is Arrive River Oaks and this one will be Arrive Upper Kirby...

There doesn't seem to be any movement at all on the rail portions of MetroNext. Not sure why they are low on the priority list. But it is unfair to flatly say they are taking a while to start on any of their projects. Several of the MetroNext projects are well underway and several of the major (non-rail) projects are moving along about as fast as such things can move. (it's an unfortunate fact of life that anything using federal dollars takes a LONG time to get through all of the federal regulatory hurdles).

I think your memory is playing tricks on you. The very idea of a transit project putting shovels in the ground within a few weeks of a vote is fantasy talk.

Figuring out or allocating access to the terrace(s) doesn't strike me as being the least bit difficult. Per the floor plans shown on the leasing website, it seems the terraces (which are on the 4th floor, not the top floor) already contemplate the possibility of multiple tenants, since there are actually multiple terraces and there are multiple access points to the large terrace on the north side. Those elements, and the fact that they very early on leased more than half (but not the whole) top floor to Microsoft, suggests they contemplated multiple tenants from the start.

I thought the plan had always been to have multiple tenants, or certainly to have flexibility to go either way.

Only the Planned section of LA's is really impressive. And the size of that planned list leads me to believe that most of them will not happen, especially when compared to the "under construction" and recently completed lists. For example, the tallest "planned" tower on that list was first announced in 2018 and then The Tower development was placed on hold in 2019 due to corruption allegations between the developer and a council member. The second tallest "planned" in LA released new renderings for the "planned" tower in 2017! . . . Are either of these still "planned"? Who knows? Developers rarely announce project cancellations.

Rice/The Ion District has been putting up a bunch of clever signs around the Ion and the Ion District.

Trying to put a little more substance on a response for you: Per Emporis, those four cities have the following high-rises 375 ft and above completed 2018 and after/under construction/planned: Houston: Completed 2018 and after - 10: Texas Tower (735 ft); Bank of America Tower (579 ft); The Post Oak (496 ft); Aspire Post Oak (453 ft); Hanover River Oaks (450 ft); Latitude Medical Center (423 ft); Arabella (399 ft); Paula & Rusty Walter Tower (395 ft); Residences at La Colombe d'Or (393 ft); Hanover BLVD Place (375 ft) Under Construction - 5: 1550 on the Green (410 ft); 800 Crawford (468 ft); Texas A&M Health Science Center Horizon Tower (488 ft); Thompson Houston Hotel and Residences/the Allen (496 ft); Brava (549 ft); Planned -5: Hotel Granduca Residences (442 ft); 1661 Tanglewood (460 ft); Houston Methodist Centennial Tower (467 ft); Rosewood Hotel & Residences (751 ft); 1600 Louisiana (859 ft) Dallas: Completed 2018 and after- 6: AMLI Fountain Place (562 ft); The Victor (453 ft); Atelier (441 ft); Hall Arts Residences (440 ft); Bleu Ciel (400 ft); Residences at Park District (385 ft) Under Construction: None Planned - 1: Field Street Tower (600 ft) Chicago: Completed 2018 and after- 14: NEMA Chicago (896 ft); One Bennett Park (837 ft); 110 North Wacker Dr (815 ft); Wolf Point East (665 ft); Essex on the Park (620 ft); 151 North Franklin (600 ft); 465 North Park (535 ft); The Paragon (515 ft); 727 West Madison (495 ft); No. 9 Walton (491 ft); 235 West Van Buren (490 ft); Old Town Park III (447 ft); Cascade (438 ft); Old Town Park II (430 ft); Under Construction- 11: St Regis Chicago (1,191 ft); One Chicago Tower A (971 ft); Salesforce Tower (813 ft); 1000M (805 ft); BMO Tower (727 ft); One Chicago Tower B (574 ft); Cirrus (550 ft); 300 North Michigan Ave (523 ft); The Grand (452 ft); The Reed (447 ft); 352 North Union Ave (410 ft) Planned: Tribune East (1,422 ft); 400 Lake Shore Dr-South Tower ( 1,100 ft); Lakeshore East Site I (950 ft); 400 Lake Shore Drive - North Tower (850 ft); 130 North Franklin (751 ft); The Carillon (725 ft); 300 West Oak St (695 ft); Lakeshore East Site O (642 ft); 310 West Oak St (620 ft); Equinox Hotel & Residences (615 ft); 700 West Chicago Residential Tower (610 ft); 601 West Monroe East Tower (535 ft); 640 West Washington Blvd (515 ft); 170 North Peoria (495 ft); 205 West Oak St (475 ft); 601 West Monroe West Tower (465 ft); 1520-76 North Fremont Street (465 ft); 444 North Dearborn (455 ft); 1130 North State St (425 ft); 360 North Green St (425 ft); 1201 -1215 West Fulton Market (382 ft); 312 West Walton St (380 ft); 322 North Clark St (377 ft) Los Angeles: Completed 2018 and after- 8: Thea at Metropolis (647 ft); 825 South Hill (636 ft); Hope+Flower I (529 ft); AVEN (490 ft); Metropolis Residential Tower II (451 ft); Hope+Flower II (421 ft); Circa East (400 ft); Circa West (400 ft); Under Construction- 10: Oceanwide Plaza I (677 ft); 945 West 8th Street (654 ft); Century Plaza Tower II (600 ft); Century Plaza Tower I (600 ft); Eighth and Figueroa (530 ft); Moxy & AC Hotel Los Angeles (529 ft); Oceanwide Plaza III (497 ft); Oceanwide Plaza II (497 ft); Perla on Broadway (417 ft); 520 Mateo Street (390 ft); Planned: 333 South Figuera St (1,108 ft); Figueroa Center (975 ft); Angels Landing Tower A (854 ft); Olympia Tower I (853 ft); 1045 Olive Hill (810 ft); Fifth & Hill (789 ft); Olympic & Hill (760 ft); Olympic Tower (740 ft); 6AM North Tower (732 ft); 6AM South Tower (710 ft); BLOC Tower (710 ft); Times Mirror Square South Tower (665 ft); Wilshire Courtyard Tower 1 (655 ft); Olympia Tower III (653 ft); Tribune Tower (616 ft); Hollywood Center East Tower (595 ft); Wilshire Courtyard Tower 2 (565 ft); Olympia Tower II (550 ft); Angels Landing Tower B (542 ft); 1020 Figueroa Residential Tower (540 ft); Mirabel (521 ft); Westfield Promenade 2035 Southeast Office Building (502 ft); Times Mirror Square North Tower (488 ft); 350 South Figuero Street (480 ft); Hollywood Center West Tower (469 ft); Hyde Resort & Residences (460 ft); Lake on Wilshire (459 ft); Wilshire Gate (450 ft); 1020 Figueroa W Hotel Tower (430 ft); The Gayley at Wilshire (427 ft); 2143 East Violet (425 ft); 2143 East Violet (425 ft); 525 South Spring (420 ft); Residences at 333 South Hope Street (420 ft); The Star (420 ft); Bixel Tower (409 ft); 3700 Wilshire (400 ft);

Ahhh, so it's been defined as a "downtown" zone since 2019 or 2020. As I said, not areas that one traditionally thinks of as downtown Chicago. ;-) The point is, considering all of that area when comparing to just what we generally define here as downtown Houston is not really an apt comparison. (FWIW, I'm not suggesting we have built or are building more high-rises than Chicago) And it's worth reiterating that there is a huge difference between planned and under construction, even if building permits are in hand and all regulatory hurdles have been cleared. (Just ask the tenants of 6 Houston Center; oh wait, there aren't any.)

residential, yes, but I don't think we have any indication whether it is condo or rental.

To be clear, most of those stretch the limit of what one usually thinks of as "downtown Chicago" (and of course "moving through the permitting process" is very different from "under construction.")

Yeah, the same thing has been happening in Houston for at least 25 years. Maybe by "literally" he meant "figuratively". (A lot of people seem to think that's what "literally" means). 😁

Well, the handling of sewage (with separate sewage pipes/tunnels and sewage treatment plants is already a pretty huge difference that takes the project out of the "similar" category for me. But even more so, while the Chicago TARP project indeed shoves water underground and detains it until it can be dealt with in a better manner (hence the word "Reservoir" in addition to "Tunnel" in the project name; Houston's envisioned project merely conveys the water to a better spot. There is no detention or retention involved. Other than those huge differences, I guess we could say the projects are similar (i.e., they both have tunnels) ;-)

shopping center

FWIW, HCAD shows the property is owned by UWS Post Oak LLC, which is affiliated with UWS Developers. (Not real encouraging) https://uwsdevelopers.com/

See 3 posts above yours. In brief, the only similarity with Chicago’s TARP is that they both have tunnels. (And TARP is costing them more than 3 billion dollars.)

If anyone can find a link to the 2017 presentation, can you please post it?

So... what has changed?