Proposed Developments

Apartments
08/18/09 11:37am

Redeveloping Kennedy Place

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Fifth Ward, Proposed Developments, Public Housing, Redevelopment
20 Comments

Right on time for tonight’s public meeting, Swamplot’s “Bottom” of the Fifth Ward correspondent Vaughn Mueller sends in a bit of information about the proposed redevelopment of the Houston Housing Authority’s Kennedy Place apartments:

It is located in lower fifth ward, bounded by Bayou, Gillespie, Meadow and Baron streets. According to the HHA, it was built in 1982 but in its current condition, it looks reminiscent of a 1950-1960 1-story development. There is currently no central AC or heat in any of its 60 units.

In mid July a sign was put up out front describing the construction. Soon after, we received a notice of public meeting in the mail also describing the construction. The meeting is set for August 18th. The new development will contain 108 new apartments, 88 of which are going to be government assisted while 20 are going to be market rate.

The proposed site plan:

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Camp Logan
08/12/09 6:18pm

Latest Diversion for Onion Creek: Camp Logan

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Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Wanita Place
47 Comments

And now, a view of the scene at the former Westcott Bar by the entrance to Memorial Park, where Swamplot’s Rice Military correspondent is ready at the camera. The address: 6603 Westcott, at the corner of Durford.

That banner at the front is announcing a new location for the Onion Creek Coffee House.

Two more views:

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Comments
08/03/09 4:00pm

Comment of the Day: Another Grand Parkway Revenue Study

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Financing, Freeways and Toll Roads, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Sprawl
2 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: ANOTHER GRAND PARKWAY REVENUE STUDY “I think it’s time to feature just which entities have acquired land adjacent to this boondoggle. List which individuals hold controlling interest and then we can discuss interesting sidelights like contributions to various elected officials.” [devans, commenting on Investing in the Grand Parkway]

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Proposed Developments
08/03/09 12:04pm

Where Commuter Rail Might Come From

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Quicklink, Transportation
3 Comments

WHERE COMMUTER RAIL MIGHT COME FROM “We may have commuter rail to Galveston and Hempstead as early as 2012,” declares rail watcher Christof Spieler. So who’s gonna make it happen? How about . . . the Gulf Coast Freight Rail District? “The GCFRD just advertised for and received qualifications for firms to do $2 million in engineering studies, to be completed by June 2010, for 90 mph commuter rail lines sharing freight rail tracks along 290 from Hempstead to just inside 610 and from Galveston to just inside 610. This spring, the Texas Legislature expanded GCFRD’s mission to include intercity passenger rail; despite its name, the district has already been empowered to build commuter rail. Waller and Galveston counties are now joining the GCFRD, making the district the only entity short of TxDOT that covers both of those lines.” [Intermodality]

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Pierce Junction
07/31/09 9:22am

Pierce Junction Barbecue Camp

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Proposed Developments, Transportation
13 Comments

Frankie Mandola and Bubba Butera, the former owners of the shuttered State Grille, tell Houston Business Journal reporter Jennifer Dawson they’re planning to open an large, outdoorish event space just southeast of the former AstroWorld site:

Bayou City Event Center Pavilion will occupy 11 acres at 9500 Almeda in a primarily industrial area. Mandola says the site is near his customer base — the Texas Medical Center, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Rice University and University of Houston.

Darryl Schroeder and Robert Steele, who owned the vacant land, are joint venture partners on the development.

The project includes a 15,000-square-foot covered pavilion that will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 people for crawfish boils, fish frys, barbecue dinners and the like. The open-air facility is slated to be finished in November. Phase II will be a 40,000-square-foot banquet facility with multiple rooms that can hold 100 to 1,600 people. Construction will start in October and is scheduled for completion in May 2010.

Here’s a plan of the compound, from the website of Houston’s Andria Design:

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Attractions
07/30/09 8:11pm

Building That African Forest in Hermann Park

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Hermann Park, Landscape, Proposed Developments
5 Comments

Sure, “immersive landscapes” — where visitors are supposed to feel like they’re just hanging out with the chimps and rhinos and giraffes in the wild — are the latest craze in zoo design. But what’s really the most innovative aspect of the new 13-acre African Forest the Houston Zoo is planning for its southernmost quadrant, at the intersection of North MacGregor and Golf Course Dr. in Hermann Park?

The project

. . . will feature closed-circuit TV connections with area hospitals, allowing patients to view animal keeper presentations or simply to watch animals in their near-natural habitats.

[Houston Zoo President Deborah] Cannon said the programs first will be made available to children’s hospitals, then expanded. Ultimately, they may be made available to local schools, she said.

At last, an effort to capture some of that technological synergy swirling around the Houston Zoo-Med Center nexus! Best of all is the Chronicle‘s own map identifying the project’s location, which is a gift to the city all by itself:

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Downtown
07/24/09 11:43am

Places, Everyone! Houston Ballet Center for Dance Starts Digging in Downtown

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Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Theater District
3 Comments

Shhhh!!! The curtain hasn’t gone up yet on the new Center for Dance the Houston Ballet is constructing at 601 Preston St., between Louisiana and Smith, at the northern end of Downtown. There have been no big public announcements about the project, no local news stories, nada. But it looks like preliminary construction work on the building has already begun.

Yes, the new Ballet building is the mystery construction project Abc13 reporter Miya Shay posted in her Twitter feed yesterday, prompting an impromptu guessing game here. After some smart guesses from Swamplot readers and Tweeters, Shay revealed the answer this morning. In a later tweet, she gave a few more details: that fundraising for the building had reached more than 50 percent of the organization’s goal and that the building’s skybridge — which would connect it directly to the Wortham Center, so performers’ ballet shoes wouldn’t have to touch the street — was “def[initely] in.”

Shay also posted a second photo showing work going on at the construction site:

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Apartments
07/22/09 9:21am

Rejected Again: The Ashby Highrise’s Latest Failing Grade

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Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton, Traffic
44 Comments

Wondering what’s been going on with the Ashby Highrise? Developer Matthew Morgan tells the River Oaks Examiner that Buckhead Development intends to respond to “the city’s attempts to reach an agreement” with a new submission for the proposed 23-story residential tower on Bissonnet, next to Southampton.

But the city rejected the highrise’s plans again yesterday . . . for the 10th time. The city said its own analysis showed the project as currently proposed would result in an “F” level of traffic at the corner of Shepherd and Bissonnet:

However, “A significant reduction in peak-hour trips, including appropriate trip offsets, could have a potential to address heightened concerns,” a city engineer, Mark L. Loethen, wrote in his comments.

Computing traffic level involves a formula that rates intersection flow from “A” (no traffic) to “F” (very slow).

The rejected plans were submitted April 7, making the three months until they were returned to the developers unusually long.

Rendering of proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet: Buckhead Investment Partners

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Proposed Developments
07/16/09 10:39am

Picking the Texas T-Bone: Not Number One with That Bullet

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Quicklink, Transportation
23 Comments

PICKING THE TEXAS T-BONE: NOT NUMBER ONE WITH THAT BULLET Texas may be way behind other states vying for chunks of the $8 billion in stimulus money the feds are handing out for high-speed rail projects, but it’s getting in line: “Texas is asking for $1.7 billion to speed development of a super-fast passenger train linking Dallas to Austin to San Antonio, and with a spur to Houston. Federal guidelines for the funds make it unlikely that such a big amount will be awarded to Texas, given how little preliminary work — such as environmental studies, feasibility reviews or right of way acquisition — has been done on the bullet train proposal. Still, TxDOT spokeswoman Karen Amacker said today, “it never hurts to ask,” and noted that the guidelines for the grants released in June are themselves in draft form. . . . [U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray] LaHood said even states, like Texas, who have so far done little to advance high-speed passenger rail will be considered for the grants.” [Transportation Blog, via Off the Kuff]

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Development Restrictions
07/15/09 11:54am

Treemont Homes: Bad Karma or Just Bad Spelling?

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Midtown, Proposed Developments, Townhomes
26 Comments

A reader writes:

A new development sign went up recently in Midtown. It’s a variance notice regarding a lot bounded by Chenevert, Anita, and Hamilton streets adjacent to Baldwin Park.  The developers name on the variance notice (#53 on the July 9th variance meeting) published at Houston P&D is “Treemont Homes”. Interestingly, no such builder seems to exist either in the business directory or with an online presence. Tremont Homes, however, does exist and, I believe, was involved in the Tremont Tower fiasco a few years back in Montrose.  I am currently trying to determine who “Treemont Homes” is and who the principals are and if this could be another mortgage fraud/shoddy building/screw the people type of project.

Any help you could offer is appreciated.

The variance request is for a 5-ft. setback along Hamilton St., the 59 feeder road — which typically requires 25 ft. Hamilton Court would consist of 20 single-family lots on an L-shaped 0.78-acre property. The item was deferred until the July 23rd planning commission meeting, on the request of the planning staff.

Photo of sign at Chenevert and Anita: Swamplot inbox

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Houston Architects
07/10/09 1:19pm

Main Street Theater Reaches the Renovation Stage

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Institutional Buildings, Leasing, Proposed Developments, Rice Viillage
2 Comments

Main Street Theater’s lease on its Rice Village building — which it’s held for 27 years — went month-to-month last year. So the 34-year-old company has announced it wants to buy and renovate the building at 2540 Times Blvd., near Kirby. (The theater also stages productions at a separate facility in Chelsea Market, at 4617 Montrose Blvd.)

This dramatically lit rendering from Studio Red Architects is meant to attract donors to the organization’s $3.5 million capital campaign. It shows what a theater-owned and renovated building might look like shortly before an evening performance — if, say, no one decided to park in front of it.

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Attractions
07/09/09 1:13pm

Grand Texas Theme Park in Tomball: Bringing Some of that Texas Frontier Spirit to Texas

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Land Sales, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing, Tomball
99 Comments

A California real estate agent who relocated to The Woodlands 5 years ago has plans to build a “Texas”-themed theme park on a foreclosed and forested site in Tomball currently zoned as a subdivision. The 100-acre attraction, which developer and EZ Realty broker Monty Galland envisions as “a combination of an adventure park, museum, retail center and agricultural classroom,” will strive to encompass and celebrate “all that is Texas, Texas History and the Old West.” Yesterday he showed abc13 reporter Sonia Azad a few rough sketches from his architect, out of the back of his SUV.

Grand Texas is Galland’s brainchild. “Met with the architect today,” Galland — or maybe somebody updating the project’s Facebook page for him — wrote on June 25th:

Project is moving along NICELY! We got to see the first of several sketches. It’s kind of like seeing your baby’s first ultrasound picture!

Galland tells the Tomball Potpourri he plans to open the first phase of the park at 11598 Holderrieth Rd., between the railroad tracks and FM 2978, by next April. This would include an indoor entertainment center with rock climbing and a mechanical bull, a play area with pony rides and petting zoos, and a “family-friendly” paintball facility. Planned for the following year:

Wild Texas Frontier, an island filled with activities for all ages, including high ropes courses that traverse a river, canoeing, catch & release fishing, and a giant maze; and The Mansion, a reception hall reminiscent of the Texas State Governors Mansion, which can be used for a wedding reception of up to 400 guests or more intimate business functions.

Where’s all the financing going to come from? Best of all: You can invest!

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Attractions
07/01/09 11:51pm

Comment of the Day: Galveston Offshore Platform Eco-Gambling Escapes

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Comments, Galveston, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: GALVESTON OFFSHORE PLATFORM ECO-GAMBLING ESCAPES “. . . a ‘Santa Monica’ pier at The Flagship location would be golden, would be the DESTINATION for a lot of folks! But couldn’t there ALSO be an offshore gambling venue?? Imagine an elevator takes gamblers to a secret bullet-train in a tube, which whisks them to an oil derrick with gaming (no horse-racing, of course, haha!) The Island needs an injection of edgy intrigue since The Balinese is gone. Also, George Mitchell is another Player on Galveston; the gambling train could offer eco-tours to see Gulf habitat and thus receive some federal matching funds or something…” [movocelot, commenting on Roller Coaster on the Pier: Crunch Time for the Flagship Hotel]

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Demolitions
06/30/09 11:59am

Roller Coaster on the Pier: Crunch Time for the Flagship Hotel

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Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
18 Comments

There may be a buyer for Galveston’s Flagship Hotel, reports Laura Elder in the Galveston County Daily News. The hotel suffered about $7 million in damage from Hurricane Ike last year. But Landry’s Restaurants, the current owner, has a fallback plan in case the sale doesn’t go through:

If the 225-room property at 25th Street and Seawall Boulevard doesn’t sell, Landry’s likely would demolish the hotel and develop a “pleasure pier” with amusement rides, officials say. . . .

Landry’s is pricing demolition for the hotel, built in 1965 as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla, Jeff Cantwell, senior vice president for development, said.

Perched on a pier overlooking the Gulf, the Flagship fell into disrepair on its own after 1990, when The Flagship Hotel Ltd. took over management.

Landry’s paid the city $500,000 for the hotel in 2004, saying it planned to spend $15 million transforming the property into an entertainment plaza with amusement rides, including a roller coaster.

Landry’s attempted to move ahead, but was stymied by agreements that gave Daniel Yeh, head of The Flagship Hotel Ltd., control of the hotel until 2031.

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Apartments
06/26/09 5:15pm

Solar-Powered Shipping Containers Flee; It’s Apartments for the Mirabeau B.

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Buying and Selling, Condos, Development Strategies, Green Design and Development, Houston Architects, Hyde Park, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing
1 Comment

Hey, what’s happening to those fancy solar-powered recycled shipping containers on the corner of Hyde Park and Waugh, meant to attract eco-minded buyers to the $400K+ condo units in the Mirabeau B.?

Up and away they go! Did the Mirabeau B. meet its sales target? Nope . . . but it’s time for construction anyway, developer Joey Romano tells Swamplot:

Our financing is in place and we have signed our contract with Mission Constructors who have commenced work on the site. If all goes to plan at the City, the building work will begin in the next few weeks.

How’d that happen? With a little switch: to rental. But Romano says none of the project’s “green” features will be changed:

We’ll still plant our green roof; our 15 KW solar PV system will still power all common areas; and our rainwater retention system will still irrigate our native Gulf Coast plants. Our units will be large, open, and spacious, offering unique, high-grade finishes, high-end energy efficient appliances, and natural light in every bedroom.

So where are the shipping containers headed?

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