14 Comment

• jeepers October 10, 2012 at 9:00 am

  could be a nice feature for the right buyer–it’s not for me–parking would be horrible and the smell?
• Purdueenginerd October 10, 2012 at 9:13 am

  The commentators in the “What Would Make You Live Downtown?” article are a little out there it seems…

  People are so… angry haha
• commonsense October 10, 2012 at 9:23 am

  RE: Oak Ridge North Development.
  I’ve met those guys and saw their presentation package, they’re not developers, they’re investment scammers. They’ve collected huge sums of money from Mexican investors on the so called EB5 visa progaram but haven’t actually done anything with it in several years. There’s a new excuse every week. (a friend of mine asked me to look over their package to see if it passes the smell test, it stunk more than a walking hippie in July.)
• Angostura October 10, 2012 at 9:39 am

  The pitch for living downtown has to target a pretty narrow demo: no kids, works downtown. This is a pretty narrow slice of Houston’s population.
  This demographic looks for a tolerably short commute and proximity to bars/restaurants and other services. These needs are already better served by Midtown, Montrose and Rice Military. If you have to have a car anyway (and you do) there’s little benefit from living within walking distance of work.
• Rodrigo October 10, 2012 at 9:42 am

  @commonsense, are you being hyperbolic or is this truly a hilarious backfiring of the buy-a-visa program for wealthy Mexicans and Chinese?
• commonsense October 10, 2012 at 10:03 am

  Rodrigo, I’m being serious, there’s another scam just like it where they’re trying to build a residential high-rise similar to the Cosmopolitan in the Galleria area. They’re trying to get wealthy Mexicans to “invest” 500k into the project to get the Investor Visa and then they happen to receive a finished condo when it’s done. In either case, it’s a perverse interpretation of the immigration laws, and many “investors” will be losing their money.
  P.S. The investors are being fed into such scams by local realtors who collect large fees regardless if the project materializes.
• John October 10, 2012 at 6:27 pm

  @Commonsense is this the building you are referring to ? I dont think Randall Davis would be involved in a scam.http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2012/01/27/randall-davis-galleria-tower-rising-on.html?page=all
• Charles October 10, 2012 at 7:42 pm

  Who bought the property that the Montrose Cafe Adobe sits on currently??
• commonsense October 10, 2012 at 8:24 pm

  John, Randall is looking for any finance options he can possibly get in today’s lending market, and someone approached him with this cocamame idea. I don’t think he intentionally would be involved in a scam but the parties funneling the funds toward that project are a tad suspect. Having said that, the high-rise project still has a pretense of a legitimate deal, whereas the Oak Ridge North documents are full of Bernie-Madoff-esque promises and Nigerian scam verbage.
• Aberdeen October 10, 2012 at 9:04 pm

  Hines
• Chris Litherland October 11, 2012 at 12:23 am

  What would make me live downtown? I lived downtown and moved out after 6 months since there was nothing at all to do after 5. Now I live up in The Heights and love it. I dont miss downtown at all. Well, I miss my view but that’s about it.
• movocelot October 11, 2012 at 9:21 pm

  RE: DOT I-45 IMPROVEMENTS:
  I wonder why North Shepard isn’t included as a “parallel route” for development ‘to add capacity & alleviate congestion.’
  It’s already a wide, straight corridor with a direct N-S orientation but (currently) too slow to be a viable alternative to I-45 (except under extreme crash/flooding conditions.)
  Many I-45 North drivers are headed to areas in The Heights, Galleria and points in-between, and, neither the Sam Houston/Beltway 8 Loop nor the Hardy Tollway are their paths of choice.
  Center lanes of Shepard could be elevated as an express route. Below it, neighborhood traffic would be unaffected and the area could rejuvenate (or whatever developers call it these days) to a residential/light commercial area. There is currently a multi-unit project planned for the area, on Rittenhouse…
• SJ October 15, 2012 at 9:59 am

  movocelot, you can’t be serious, can you?
• GlenW October 15, 2012 at 2:05 pm

  I think the best way to improve I-45 is to remove the Pearce Elevated for good. That would help make downtown a destination instead of something to drive by.