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One Park Place: Multifamily At 1400 McKinney St.


GovernorAggie

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I don't think you quite understand what my criticism is about. It has nothing to do with building highrises near public amenities. That's entirely justifiable and when it is done, wherever it is done, nobody is saying that they're doing it just to emulate NYC...because it isn't an NYC style. That's what is done because it makes good sense.

My criticism is that the building's facade tries to emulate architecture on Central Park in NYC rather than be avant garde and cutting edge. There is a reason it is done, of course: a huge part of the highrise market in Houston is comprised of former NYC residents, and Finger wants to appeal to them. It is that simple. Someone asked my opinion; I don't care for it. But that shouldn't be surprising because it wasn't built to appeal to me.

Nah, I think it's a good blend with the architecture on Downtown's Northeast side. It's of similar height to the visible buildings (the "old Chase bldg, the Espersons, etc.). Houston has something of a two face look to it's skyline... from the west it looks sparse and very modern/futuristic, but from the east, it looks like a more traditional city. One Park Place is a good integration of those ideas.

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Houston has something of a two face look to it's skyline... from the west it looks sparse and very modern/futuristic, but from the east, it looks like a more traditional city. One Park Place is a good integration of those ideas.

Agreed. The east just looks powerful to me--"traditional" is a good word for it. The west looks very clean and even a little peaceful in a way to me.

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^^

It would almost be like.....gasp...Victory in Dallas!

They put those walls with lights around the electrical substation a couple of years ago. At least it somewhat hides it from the street level viewpoint.

By the way - that was the crappiest setting on my camera - I didn't want it to take up too much space on the memory card!

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It might not look bad to you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't look bad. Too bad that thing couldn't have been placed away behind the stadium or somewhere more hidden instead of right in front of it.

It was there long before the stadium. I don't think it looks bad either. It is what it is, and they've done a decent job of dressing it up. It will be there until the land is valuable enough to make it worth moving and incorporating its replacement into a new structure.... does anyone know if that can be done? I presume so because I've never seen and electrical substation in Manhattan or downtown Chicago and they have to be somewhere...

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I don't know why people have such a problem with the power station. If it can be relocated, then I'm sure they will, but it will definitely come with a cost since it's located there for a reason. Yes it's life's little unpleasant sights, but it's a necessary one.

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This and Disc. Green are in pretty good locations. I was trying to get a better feel for downtown by driving all around it today and felt good about where it's at. Although it's not in the middle of downtown, it seems to be in one of the denser spots. It's good that that shopping center is just across the street too.

But I think downtown is still a good ways away from being a residential hotspot. There are just so many undeveloped lots. Not only that, but there are so many potential building sites in midtown and on the east side competing for the developers.

Edited by lockmat
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But I think downtown is still a good ways away from being a residential hotspot. There are just so many undeveloped lots. Not only that, but there are so many potential building sites in midtown and on the east side competing for the developers.

Yes, and downtown's land values right now are driven by office development potentials, so I wouldn't anticipate any (profit-driven) residential developers breaking ground anytime soon. Midtown and East Downtown not only compete for residential demand with Downtown proper, but also amongst themselves--and yet even their land is overpriced for much in the way of new apartments in the immediate future. East Downtown seems to have the edge right now, if only on account of townhome construction.

...but I desperately wish that someone would put together a survey of all the new development in East Downtown (as I define it, 77003). Despite the existence of a management district and a small TIRZ in that area, each of which should be actively trying to keep track of what's going on in and around them, its just hard to know what's going on.

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Yes, and downtown's land values right now are driven by office development potentials, so I wouldn't anticipate any (profit-driven) residential developers breaking ground anytime soon. Midtown and East Downtown not only compete for residential demand with Downtown proper, but also amongst themselves--and yet even their land is overpriced for much in the way of new apartments in the immediate future. East Downtown seems to have the edge right now, if only on account of townhome construction.

There are so many prime spots it seems in midtown. It seems as if land sellers don't have a realistic view of what the market is like b/c I didn't see much development going on. I think they may be asking for too much. I wonder if they think they're in NY where land availability is scarce?

But then again, there might be possibilites as to why not much is going on.

Maybe there just isn't much land for sale?

Maybe developers aren't building b/c the demand isn't quite what we hope it'd is?

I made a comment in the 1717 Bissonett thread that I'm pretty sure I wish I could retract. I said their land is too valuable for single-family housing. After driving around more, I was way off.

When you think of people who want to live inside the loop, there are just endless possiblities for growth. Houston is supposed to grow exponentially in population in the coming years? We have plenty of space to accomodate it. If we do, I think we just need to be prepared in the way of infrastructure and allowing them to get around.

EDIT

I guess I read over your comment saying their land is over priced.

Why don't they smell the coffee and sell for less? I'm sure they'll still make a very nice profit. Or do you think they're hoping some other nut case will purchase other land, develop it, making their land more valuable?

Edited by lockmat
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