Swamplot Archives by Tag: East Downtown

Monday, May 18, 2009

Getting Around the East Downtown Soccer Blockstopper

May 18, 2009 – 5:07 pm

Worried the Dynamo soccer stadium planned for the superblock between Texas, Dowling, Hutchens, and Walker is gonna block traffic between Downtown and the East End? Citizen rail designer Christof Spieler solves the tangle:

There are two parts to this idea. The first is to make Texas alongside the stadium a two-way street. Instead of two eastbound traffic lanes and two light rail tracks, Texas gets two eastbound traffic lanes, two westbound traffic lanes, and two light rail tracks. That all fits in the existing right of way. The second part is to use the “squiggle” in the light rail tracks for traffic lanes as well. This does two things: it gives the westbound traffic on Texas a way to go, and it cleans up those messy intersections.

So now, to get from the East End to Downtown, you simply follow Harrisburg, which flows right into Texas, and then you make a left turn onto Capitol. And you will not hit an awkward intersection or have to cross the rail line to do it.

Map: Christof Spieler

5:07 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Streets, Traffic, Transportation
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Monday, May 4, 2009

Dynamo Downtown Dinghy: All Aboard, Quick!

May 4, 2009 – 11:14 am

The giant inflatable-boat-like structure shown here afloat in an otherwise-empty East Downtown six-pack superblock is the latest rendition of . . . the new Houston Dynamo soccer stadium! The Houston Chronicle’s Bernardo Fallas has details:

The Dynamo want to have the roughly $85 million, 22,000-seat stadium ready for opening day 2011. They envision an all-round two-level, all-seater venue with 34 suites, 86 concession point-of-sales, a 3,000 square-foot club level and a party deck on the southeast corner.

Loving that subtle “soccer fans on a life raft” imagery? It gets better: The open-air stadium’s playing surface will be a full story underground!

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11:14 am | 20 Comments | Read more about Attractions, Financing, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Proposed Developments
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

And How’s Our House Doing This Week?

April 29, 2009 – 8:51 am

Swamplot reader Scott Broschart sends in a photo he took last Monday from the roof of the Herrin Lofts in East Downtown, looking west toward the GRB Convention Center. “Take a look in the windows of the yellow town houses across the street,” he says.

Okay . . .

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8:51 am | 11 Comments | Read more about Construction Problems, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Real Estate Marketing, Townhomes
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Monday, March 16, 2009

Openings and Closings: Chili’s Chills, Movie Munchies, Green Performers

March 16, 2009 – 5:23 pm

Hey, what happened to Monday? Swamplot spent most of it fighting off a few tech demons. But hey, here’s some news!

  • Opened: The new and expanded Children’s Museum had its grand opening this weekend. Now twice its original size, the 90,000 sq. ft. museum features exhibits of children in various states of play. Also inside: an expanded branch of the Houston Public Library.
  • Opening: Backe’s Bullpen, a fine drinking establishment in Dickinson, will open with the backing of Astros pitcher Brandon Backe, reports the Galveston Daily News’s Laura Elder. Last October, Backe was arrested after a run-in with police at a Galveston bar.
  • Closed: Mike McGuff notices that the Meyer Park Chili’s, once “the big teen hangout in southwest Houston,” shut down in February.

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5:23 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: Dickinson, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Neighborhoods: Meyerland, Neighborhoods: Museum District, Neighborhoods: West University, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Openings and Closings: Super Happy Baking Brothers

March 4, 2009 – 11:16 am

As the retail churns . . .

  • Reopening Soon: The original Three Brothers Bakery next to Brays Bayou in Linkwood, closed since Hurricane Ike, has a permit in hand to rebuild. Cynthia Lescalleet reports in the River Oaks Examiner:

    While the exterior of the building, 4036 South Braeswood Blvd., will retain the colors, 60s-vintage architectural elements and windows of its past, the inside has been reconfigured a bit to be “cozy,” with a more efficient layout.

    Among the tweaking are the addition of a small room for wedding consultations and staff offices that look out over the interior so they can see and connect with the customers they’ve missed since Hurricane Ike damaged the business, [co-owner Janice] Jucker said.

    “We’re almost like therapists over the bakery counter,” she said.

    But: no plans to return to the River Oaks Shopping Center or Sugar Land.

    Any future expansion would likely be into properties the bakery would own and build itself, she said: “We want control over our destiny.”

    Near the end of the 10- to 12-week building project, the building’s crooked sign will be re-set. If you see a straight sign, that’ll mean the bagels are almost ready.

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11:16 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Neighborhoods: Linkwood, Neighborhoods: Museum District, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
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Friday, February 20, 2009

Allen Stanford’s Downtown Houston Loft Legacy: Tell it to the Arbitrator

February 20, 2009 – 1:36 pm

Allen Stanford’s international “banking” empire is falling apart. How’s his work as a Houston real estate developer holding up?

Stanford Development Corporation still owns a couple of units on the top floor of the Stanford Lofts, the 5-story East Downtown condo building topped with a starred tiara that the company completed in 2002, just a few blocks east of Minute Maid Park. But owning the condos didn’t prevent the condo owners association from filing a construction-defect lawsuit against the Stanford Lofts developers and builders in 2007, charging Stanford Development with “breach of contract, Deceptive Trade Practices, breach of warranty, fraud, and negligent design, construction, and supervision.”

The summary of problems with the building included in the original complaint is 9 pages long, and includes failure to meet building codes, wall cracks and leaks, structural movement, and a series of defects causing continuing problems with water infiltration. The repair estimate: more than $2 million.

The case has dragged on for some time. Attorneys for the Stanford Condo Owners Association complained that Stanford Development was dragging its feet, arguing last year in response to a stay request:

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1:36 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Buying and Selling, Condos, Construction Problems, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: East Downtown
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Thursday, February 5, 2009

A First Glimpse of the New Dynamo Stadium

February 5, 2009 – 4:55 pm

11 News is showing some rough images of that new Dynamo soccer stadium planned for a site just east of Downtown, bordering Texas, Dowling, Hutchens, and Walker:

“We think it’s about an $80 to $85 million stadium. (It will have) 21,000 seats, but nothing fancy though. It’s very functional,” said Dynamo GM Oliver Luck. . . . “It’s gonna be much more fan friendly in terms of concessions and restrooms and some of those things that we just don’t really have over at Robertson Stadium. Most importantly, it’s going to be much easier to get to in terms of the parking and access. A rail line will literally run right next to the stadium,” said Luck.

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4:55 pm | 19 Comments | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Proposed Developments
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Thelma’s Bar B Que: Smoked Out

February 5, 2009 – 10:42 am

Thelma’s Bar B Que — on the corner of Live Oak and Lamar in . . . oh, all right: EaDo — is closed, after the restaurant was singed by a fire last Friday. Robb Walsh from Eating . . . Our Words reports from the scene:

The front of the business appeared as ramshackle as always, but a sign on the door announced the bad news. The rear of the building where the barbecue pit used to be was badly damaged as was the kitchen area. The old-fashioned cinderblock barbecue pit used at Thelma’s had a small metal door on the outside where the wood was loaded and a grate with a steel door inside the building where the meats were cooked. The fire appears to have originated in the fire box or chimney as that part of the building has been torn away.

Photo: Flickr user Jennifer Lynn

10:42 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Hazards, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Older Names for Houston’s Naughty Bits

February 3, 2009 – 5:13 pm
   

The East Downtown Management District rolled out its new EaDo identity package last month, but John Nova Lomax prefers the older and rougher neighborhood names: “The 400 block of deep Milam was a sink of vice and sin called Catfish Reef. Lower Washington Avenue was a swanky district called Vinegar Hill. A good chunk of Fourth Ward, or FoWa for short, was given over to Houston’s Red Light District (ReLiDi) and was known as The Reservation, while the toughest corner in Fifth Ward (FiWa) was known as Pearl Harbor. Mid Lane near the non-yet-built Galleria was a Mad Men-like seen of whiskey-fuelled poolside soirees that earned it the name Sin Alley. Even the Richmond Strip seems evocative compared to these moronic, truncated, New York-wannabe handles.” [Hair Balls; previously in Swamplot]

5:13 pm | 10 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

The Super Happy Fun Land Sock Monkey Rescue Plan

January 7, 2009 – 4:52 pm

Former Heights landmark Super Happy Fun Land may reopen in its new East Downtown EaDo location soon, writes Omar Afra in the Free Press. What’s happened since we last checked in?

To give you a brief synopsis, Houston’s favorite uber-eclectic outsider arthouse and music venue SHFL operated out of a house in the Heights for 5 years until the property owners squeezed them out. Well, the silver lining was that they found a new home in a gigantic warehouse just east of downtown that could facilitate larger shows, more art, and crazier antics. So we at Free Press Houston decided to have a giant shindig at the new venue to celebrate our 5th anniversary and the opening of the great new spot. The place was packed. Err, too packed. The fire marshals came and, lo and behold, SHFL did not have adequate occupancy permitting to permit such an event. They of course got ticketed out the watoozy and have since been jumping through all the municipal hurdles required to submit building plans, acquire permits, and such to open their doors legit. It looked rather bleak for a while as the city does not exactly get excited about doing what it takes to get outsider-art venues open. After having their plans denied several times and given the run around for nearly a year, the good folks at SHFL have got their chance. Their plans were recently approved and they are set for a final inspection in early January to get their occupancy permit. Problem is, they need help.

How can you help Super Happy Fun Land open again?

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4:52 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Attractions, Development Strategy, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

East Downtown’s New Abbreviation

January 6, 2009 – 10:03 am

Remember that naming contest for East Downtown? A reader writes in:

I got an email from the East Downtown Management District saying that a name has been chosen for the district and the new website will debut on January 19th the website is www.eadohouston.com so I’m thinking the new name is EaDo?

The East Downtown District registered that domain name in July. Plus, EaDo would jibe with this little comment left on Swamplot last month.

So what were the runners-up? Perhaps: Edo, E.D.O., E-Do, or Eat-O? Next up: More naming competitions, for West Houston, Lower Kirby, and North Norhill!

Photo: Jackson Myers

10:03 am | 6 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Downtown, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Neighborhoods: East End, Real Estate Marketing
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Man Living in Billboard: No Film at 9

July 16, 2008 – 10:41 am

Man in Billboard over 59, Downtown Houston

And now you know the kind of thing that gets left out of the evening news: Fox 26 TV reporter Isiah Carey spots a man “just hanging out” inside a billboard over 59 near the George R. Brown downtown, grabs a camera, and . . . reports it in his blog a week later.

What’s that say on the billboard?

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10:41 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Attractions, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Neighborhoods: East Downtown
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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Aerosol Warfare Declares E.D.O. the Street Art District

July 3, 2008 – 2:16 pm


Maybe the East Downtown Management District should just Give Up on those other names.

2:16 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Art, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Public Art, Real Estate Marketing
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Crossing Downtown: The Latest Plans for East-West Rail

May 7, 2008 – 12:28 pm

Diagram Showing Proposed Alignment of Southeast and East End Light Rail Lines, Downtown Houston

Christof Spieler returns from a Metro meeting with some new detail on the proposed Downtown routes for the Southeast and East End light-rail lines.

Spieler politely calls the latest plan a compromise. (”I doubt anyone is really happy with it,” he writes.) It has Metro siting the two lines — which will run on the same tracks for most of the crosstown trek — along the south side of Capitol (heading west) and the south side of Rusk (heading east). But unlike the trains that run down Main St. today, the new vehicles won’t have any right-of-way advantages over cars:

Like buses do now, the trains will share the curb lanes with cars, both turns and through traffic. . . . And the signals will be operated as they are on Capitol and Rusk today: trains will find the lights are sometimes green and sometimes red, and they will stop or go accordingly. There is no doubt that this will slow trains down and throw off schedules: for example, a line of stopped cars in the left lane on one block would force the train to hold in the previous block until the cars moved. It might also be a safety issue, but that’s not as clear.

The new lines will intersect with the Main St. line at a new Downtown Crossing station, which will likely require passengers to do plenty of street-crossing themselves:

there are 4 platforms — north- and southbound Main Street and east- and westbound East End/ Southeast — that can share one station name, making the system easy to understand. But the east-west platforms are a block away from Main Street, so some transfers will still involve a three block walk, with 3 pedestrian lights, from the center of one platform to the center of another.

After the jump: The end of the line!

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12:28 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Downtown, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Proposed Developments, Streets, Transportation
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

East Downtown District Wants a New Name

March 19, 2008 – 2:33 pm

Name the District Contest Graphic, East Downtown District

The East Downtown Management District has hired a Houston design firm to come up with a new name for the triangular area between I-45, Highway 59, and the railroad tracks that separate it from the Greater East End to the east. Apparently, “East Downtown” isn’t good enough. So the design firm, Good Project, has set up a contest. You get to name it!

The winning name will be chosen by the district’s board of directors and announced in a press release on the Name the District website sometime after the competition closes on May 15th. The district board expects the winning entry to become the official name of the district and be used on signage throughout the neighborhood.

Good Project was involved in naming both Sonoma and the Highland Tower, but this is the company’s first stab at naming an entire neighborhood.

So what do you get if you win the contest? Glory? Yes. Fame? No. A representative of Good Project tells Swamplot that there are no plans to give credit to any person who submits a winning entry:

. . . we are already getting multiples of many of the same names and if consensus ends up being the voice that names the neighborhood then it would be impossible to call out just one individual. Most people are content with being included in the process, this is an opportunity that is rarely afforded to the citizens of any city.

That’s right! Naming is a job usually reserved for specialists.

So how can you help? If you’ve got a great name for the East Downtown district, send an email with your suggestion to entry@namethedistrict.com. If you’ve got a great name but want some recognition for your efforts, add a comment below this message on Swamplot after you send your email to the contest — so everyone can see what name you suggested and when.

If your entry is chosen by the District Formerly Known as East Downtown and we’ve got evidence in our comments that you posted it below before anyone else, we’ll make sure you receive credit on Swamplot for your contribution!

2:33 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Neighborhood Associations, Neighborhoods: East Downtown, Real Estate Marketing
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