COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOPING THERE’LL STILL BE RIDES AT WHATEVER REPLACES ASTROWORLD “They might even put in a sweet gondola system. Or maybe a high-speed, elevated, rail-based shuttle system with small, open-air, 2-to-4 passengers cars to get you from building to building. And maybe they could incorporate some steeply banking curves and a loop or two along the route.” [Benjy Compson, commenting on Green and Wiggly AstroWorld Redevelopment Plan Coulda Been a Contender]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: PUBLIC MEDIAN FRUIT-FOR-ALL “Private property should be respected, but I was really happy the time I saw a person gathering the fruit from a Mexican plum tree on the median near the Judiway post office.” [mary t., commenting on The High-Security Fruits of West University]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE FINE ART OF GROCERY BAG ARCHITECTURE “I will freely admit to being a bag snob, I was a bag boy at HEB in high school. Growing up in HEB’s hometown of San Antonio spoiled me as far as grocery shopping/bagging is concerned. Moving to Houston was quite the eye-opener. HEB sent all new hires to Bag School for two entire shifts to learn the obvious (no heavy cans on top of bread, no bleach bagged with grapes) and the not so obvious (creating walls, stacking soda bottles sideways). Most of the baggers were high school students and hadn’t had to buy our own groceries and therefore had no reason to care about how this stuff was placed in a grocery bag. (Most high school baggers I worked with also hadn’t had any pain in their life since the doctor slapped them on the ass, but that’s a different rant.) The Bag School taught a necessary skill for a vital employee: the last employee a customer has contact with before leaving the store. . . . Yes, I will come right out and say it: I’m one of those freaks who politely but firmly lies to the baggers, “no thank you, this is going to 2 different houses and I need to separate them.†Let your grocery bagging OCD freak flag fly.” [Matt, commenting on Heights Kroger: Okay, Now We’re Really Big]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: KICKIN’ BACK AT THE I-10 AND STUDEWOOD BAYOU LOUNGE “Park or Strip Club? You make the call!! Before this gets out of hand, please rest assured that all attempts have been made to the Houston Parks Board, Annise Parker, Bill White, Ed Gonzalez, Greater Houston Offroad Bike Association and the list goes on and on. I have been working for 2.5 years to make this a public-use site. I urge ‘you people’ to, instead of defacing property, get the facts first and please take this up with the “Parks and Woods†people you speak of. Make it happen. Therefore, go at it: *City of Houston* -CouncilMember Ed Gonzalez – 832.393.3003 -Mayor Annise Parker – 713.837.0311 *Houston Parks Board* -Exec. Director Roksan Okan-Vick – 713.942.8500 -Chairman Tom Bacon – 713.533.5860 -Whatever does happen with the site, I can ASSURE you that it will be in good taste and a benefit to this great City of ours….as long as I have anything to do with it. Feel free to email me with thoughts, suggestions….or with money! -Now that I am done pursuing greenspace, I am leaning towards a nice place to sit on a deck and relax with a toddy, look at the skyline from the best angle imagineable. Perhaps walk down the bike trail in the AM, grab a cup of coffee and read my paper . . . Ohhhh there will be plenty of trees left on site since I will need a place to mount my hammock. How does that sound to ‘you people’??” [JEzer, commenting on This is Woods. Park Is Not Available Right Now. May I Help You?]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE EASY ASTROWORLD REDEVELOPMENT PLAN “A giant farm. Organic local produce, chickens/eggs, goats for milk. Some cows. A pavilion for events. Call it Astro Village Acres. Moo.” [Miz Brooke Smith, commenting on Comment of the Day: 104-Acre Vacant Former AstroWorld Site Is a Developer’s Dream]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: KEEPIN’ IT REAL IN CARLTON WOODS “few know who’s at home – Audis and Benzes inside fences – in The Woodlands. Pro ballers, TV talkers, all that Laying low Playing holes Paying assessment in The Woodlands. In the cages on off days The party cue, kids with a tutor, in The Woodlands.†[movocelot, commenting on A Look Inside The Woodlands Mansion Chamillionaire Gave Back to the Bank]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: 104-ACRE VACANT FORMER ASTROWORLD SITE IS A DEVELOPER’S DREAM “Can’t wait to see the giant box rolled in and opened to reveal a strip center with: 1) Starbucks on the corner 2) Bed, Bath & Beyond 3) Borders|Barnes and Noble (choose one) 4) High-end Dentistry office not covered under any mere mortal’s dental plan 5) Wine bar 6) $6 ice cream place 7) vitamin/supplement retailer 8) standard set of strip center restaurants (Chinese, Italian, Tex-Mex deli, etc.) 9) if the place is classy enough, may graduate to having Next Tier of ethnic-themed restaurants (Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Greek, etc.) 10) Starbucks on the opposite corner” [SL, commenting on Fort Worth Developer Buys Himself an Empty AstroWorld]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE “. . . Tricon Homes, if they are not the number one builder in terms of number of units in the Heights, they are definitely in the top two. Since the 90’s they’ve built over a hundred units a year, with the majority of them located in the Heights. If you think their construction costs even sniff $100/sqft, you simply do not know what you are talking about. I sell land for a living to top builders in town, and work for a home building company that builds from the $150’s to $1.8M. A $1.8M house in Memorial will average $120/sq.ft in direct costs for construction. Are you trying to say that it costs more per square foot to build a bungalow with siding in the Heights than it does a brick/stone mansion in Memorial or River Oaks?? If so, again….go find a better builder cause you’re getting ripped off.” [MCoerver, commenting on Comment of the Day: The High Cost of Building Small]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE HIGH COST OF BUILDING SMALL “As a homeowner in the Heights I agree that scale is a factor in new construction but I would like to point out one important financial reality. It is next to impossible to finance the new construction of a smaller home. Given that the average lot costs $250,000 and the average cost to build new is another $135 per square foot, a new 1200 sf “Bungalow†will set you back $412,000 plus. You are now sitting in a new bungalow with a total cost of $343 per square foot. The average appraised value of homes in the Heights is around $200 – $225 per square foot. Banks will not finance this project unless you make up the difference in cash, so your looking at bringing $162,000 to the closing table plus a 20% down payment. Hopefully the HAHC realizes this reality and continues to allow larger homes to be built. There has to be a happy medium square footage wise. It is also important to point out that it is not cheap to do a major renovation to an existing bungalow. If you want to redo the plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheet rock etc you soon find yourself spending more for the renovation than you would spend on a new home. Many of the “remodels†are simply saving the studs and the sub floor, I don’t see the value in such a “preservationâ€. And once again, the banks simply will not finance a project that is not in line with the local comps.” [chester, commenting on Big Changes for Houston’s Preservation Ordinance? Mayor Parker Wants a Temporary Ban on Those 90-Day Exemptions]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: PUMPING THE HEIGHTS “I grew up in West University in the 1980s and watched it change from a shabby lower middle class neighborhood to what it is today. I now live in the Heights, and the area is remarkably similar to the way West University was during my childhood. The similarities include everything from housing stock, neighborhood amenities, and eclectic mixture of residents. The location is also similar to West University, in that it is convenient to all of Houston’s major destinations. Mr Kelley’s prediction that the Heights will follow the same upward trend as West University is probably correct, and I think investing in the Heights is a wise move. As the Heights continues to improve, the demand to live in the area will continue to increase and real estate prices will reflect that. If I had more cash right now, I’d buy another house in the area and hold on to it.” [Obsolete, commenting on Comment of the Day: Priced Out of the Conversation]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON PAD SITE JUNKIES, JONESING FOR ANOTHER FIX “Woo hoo! Hopefully the other site will be a Chase. I’m in desperate need of more banking solutions. If not I can settle for an Arby’s.” [jb3, commenting on Swamplot Street Sleuths: Nestled ’Neath the Costco Oaks]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: PRICED OUT OF THE CONVERSATION “The fact that ‘many’ people think the Heights is overpriced is meaningless – if other people besides yourself think that home prices in the Heights are spot on and actually buy the homes, it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks. For the record, the way you feel about the Heights is how I feel about West U. I think the neighborhood is completely overpriced and I would never pay the going rate for West U. But – clearly, many people disagree with me, as those houses continue to fetch what I consider to be ridiculous prices. I can argue as long as I want that West U is overpriced and I can take my money elsewhere, but all that means is that I’m clearly out of step with hundreds of people who feel differently.” [LT, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: The Heights of 2-2ness]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LOCAL EXPERTS “Wow, these comments are amazing…quite obviously you aren’t the target audience for a renovated Heights bungalow. Not to sound like Jeff Foxworthy but if you don’t like subway tiles, craftsman style, small (to Houston) homes or high prices per square foot you aren’t a good person to guess on the price of a house in the Heights. Similarly I wouldn’t make a guess on a Katy home because I wouldn’t ever have the desire to live there. . . .” [Wannabe, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: The Heights of 2-2ness]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: TRYING TO CLEAN UP IN THOSE MONTROSE BUNGALOW BATHROOMS “I can’t tell you how many bungalows, Victorians, and other 1910-1940 houses I’ve looked at in Montrose in the past year where the remuddlers have totally destroyed the character of the bathroom with the ultra-trendy stone floor and walls with the disgustingly unsanitary jetted whirlpool tub.” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: The Heights of 2-2ness]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT I LEARNED EARLY IN THE HOUSTON REAL ESTATE BIZ “In 1993, I was with a firm that looked at buying many of the run down apartment complexes in Greenspoint. Our intent was to renovate them, thinking that the many class A office buildings contained many potential residents. Greenspoint was an enigma: awful multi-family and beautiful office development. You don’t often see the two side by side like this. When we got into town and started touring the area, we immediately saw the two critical falacies of our plan: 1. we needed to own and renovate all of the multi-family to turn the neighborhood. One holdout property would serve as a sanctuary for all that was bad about Greenspoint. Unfortunately, not every property was available for purchase. 2. Some of the properties, in particular those developed by Fred Rizk, were functionally obsolete. For example, sliding glass doors opening directly into parking lots–no way to easily dress this up. We never spent much time on the deals after that. On a more positive note, my boss at the time corrupted my by taking me to the St. James Club, and since that time I have considered it the best strip club ever.” [LandMan, commenting on Waiting for the Renaissance: What Could $32 Million Buy at Greenspoint Mall?]