- Whitestone REIT Buys Williams Trace Shopping Center near Sugar Land Town Square [Houston Business Journal]
- Bakery, Restaurant, and Coffee Bar Weights + Measures Now Open at 2808 Caroline St. in Midtown [Eater Houston]
- A Preview of Transit Projects Scheduled To Open Next Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Public and Private Funding Will Pay for Development $500K Citywide Bike Plan [Houston Chronicle]
- Metro Turning Over Development of Park-and-Ride Service Along Texas 288 To City of Pearland [Houston Chronicle]
- Grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Will Allow Galveston Environmental Group To Preserve 154 Acres for Coastal Heritage Preserve [Houston Chronicle]
- Jewelry Exchange Center Leaving Sharpstown’s Jewelry Building, Owners’ Children Planning New Store in Sugar Land [Prime Property]
- Indiana Development Firm Buys 21.5-Acre Site in Sienna Plantation for Apartment Complex [Prime Property]
- Houston Has the Second-Largest Median Home Size in the Country — After Provo, Utah [24/7 Wall St. via Houston Business Journal]
- Fire at L.A. Apartment Building Deliberately Set, Officials Conclude; Vulnerability to Fires Prompting Proposals for New Woodframe Construction Requirements [Economist]
Photo of Post Oak Blvd.: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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Another apartment building under construction got ignited. No surprise. Casualty loss and liability risks are always higher during construction while the building envelope is open and before risk-mitigation infrastructure is installed. Its no reason to go changing building codes; it is a good reason to require insurance policies of the developer.
I’m saddened to see the last of the old retailers leave Sharpstown, but not surprised. The single family parts of Sharpstown are fine (a great deal for housing, provided you do have kids), and the offices in the area are OK for what ey are: well sited class B and C spaces. But the apartments and retail are really terrible. The Plaz Americas Mall is a giant dollar store. The small strip centers around it are even worse. And the apartments. Well I’ve gone on and on about them before so I won’t here. It’s a shame for people like me. Sharpstown is closer to my house, but all the stores I shop at are either in Meyerland or Sugar Land.
Erm. Provided you don’t have kids I meant to say,
Zaw: I went to that mall one time. There is a guy that will swap out the glass/screen on your cell phone. It was the first (and only) time I’ve been there. It was a total ghost town. Sort of creepy really. You could walk around and see nothing but empty/closed shops.
@zaw You can have kids in Sharpstown. You just need a private school. I’d send my kids to private as a first choice anyway, so less in taxes and housing is appealing.
The parks are good. The Houston Swim Club is convenient. All you need is schooling, and if private works you have good choices in the neighborhood.
Tetris, that’s true. The drawback with any private school is the cost. More than that, the private schools in Sharpstown are all parochial. St Agnes and Strake Jesuit are religious schools. Westbury Christian is a religious school. The Schlenker School and Beren Academy: religious. If you want a good, non-a religious education for your kid, you’re out of luck. The private schools in the area also seem to be overwhelmingly white. So if you’re into the whole diversity thing it can be tough – which is ironic since Sharpstown is one of the most diverse parts of Houston.
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Don’t get me wrong. I really like Sharpstown a lot. It’s a close in, affordable neighborhood that’s a lot safer than people think. As I said, it can be a great deal. It’s just that it won’t work with my and my wife’s goal of giving our son a top-notched, public school education.
I happened to be in LA the morning the fire erupted at the under-construction Da Vinci apartments. Reminded me of out own Axis fire in April. I’d just read an article about the developer in the Los Angeles magazine that was in my hotel room. Seems he does a lot of what we’d call Houston donut complexes there, giving each an Italian name. They are none too popular with some people out there because they are in urban locations but don’t include much ground floor retail, and are inward facing. Gosh, sounds like Swamplot commentary 2.0.
If you’re interested, here’s a link to the story I refer to: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/geoff-palmers-faux-italian-renaissance/
@zaw You do have to settle for religious education. That’s true. Having attended parochial schools, I’m fine with it. But, it isn’t for everyone — but it isn’t exclusively for Catholics.
There is probably more diversity than you think in those schools. Maybe not income diversity, but most Catholic schools are a mix of cultural backgrounds.
St. Francis has mass each week in 4-5 languages. It’s a diverse parish. The school shares that to some degree.