Tag: Midtown

Midtown, Quicklink, Townhomes

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: INVASION OF THE CAR SNATCHERS “Itâ€™s a mystery to me who lives in these new construction [townhomes]. I make considerably more money than the average wage earner in Houston, and I sure donâ€™t live in one. Look at The Fink and then look at the monstrocity next to it, with the huge a/c unit in front, constantly kicking on and off. I think pod people live in those things and they keep their pods there. Think about it . . . do you ever really see someone who lives in those kinds of townhomes? You may occasionally see the huge garage door open and shut, but never see the people.” [Darogr, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Apartment Hunters]

77004, Comments, Midtown, Townhomes

02/23/12 1:14pm

Post Properties Says It’s Ready To Build Those Richmond Ave Apartments

First Montrose Commons, Midtown, Proposed Developments

16 Comments

A mere four-and-a-half years after it first announced the project, Atlanta REIT Post Properties says it’s just about ready to begin construction on a somewhat revised 5-story, 242-unit apartment building on Richmond Ave, just west of the Downtown Spur. The latest First Montrose Commons Newsletter features these black-and-white images of the project, along with a few more details that were announced to the neighborhood organization last month. Unlike the Post Midtown, this building on the 5-sided block surrounded by Richmond, Jack, Colquitt, Garrott, and Milam won’t include any retail space. A parking garage tucked into the structure will have 1 1/2 spaces per bedroom and point driveways toward Richmond and Colquitt. The Wheeler light-rail station sits 3 blocks east of the construction site, on the other side of Spur 527.

77006, Apartments, First Montrose Commons, Light-Rail, Midtown, Neartown, Proposed Developments

02/15/12 9:08pm

Nixing Milhaus Retail: Why These New Midtown Apartments Won’t Have Shops on the Ground Floor

Midtown, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing

28 Comments

A real-estate firm out of Indianapolis with a keen interest in developing mixed-use projects plans to build a midrise apartment complex on 2 vacant blocks in Midtown, just south of the Pierce Elevated and 4 blocks east of the light rail line running down Main St. Like almost every other recent residential development in the area built before or after the Post Midtown Square about a dozen blocks to the west, though, the Milhaus Midtown won’t include any lease spaces for stores or restaurants. If you’re wondering why not, the company has a detailed explanation ready.

77002, Apartments, Financing, Midtown, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing

Houston Architects

02/06/12 3:52pm

The Midtown Collaborative Arts Yurt That Got Away

Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments

10 Comments

Here’s a scheme for the Independent Arts Collaborative building in Midtown that won’t get built. It’s one of at least 2 concepts developed for the block bounded by Main, Travis, Francis, and Holman streets by Morris Architects — the same firm that had earlier put together the first round of “initial concept drawings” for the IAC center, helping the fledgling arts organization sell the concept to city officials and local arts groups. What’s the big idea here? An inverted yurt. Filled with people and art. A garden and light on top. Like so:

77006, Art, Design Competitions, Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments

Art

02/03/12 5:53pm

A Second Round of Initial Concepts for Midtown’s Independent Arts Collaborative

Attractions, Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments

7 Comments

Wait — haven’t we already seen “initial concept drawings” for the Independent Arts Collaborative building planned for the corner of Main and Holman in Midtown? Well, yeah, but those initial concept drawings were prepared by Morris Architects as part of a study just to sell folks on the idea. Since then, the IAC bought the former city parking lot at 3400 Main St. and Morris lost out on the actual commission to a mix-in combo of San Antonio’s Lake Flato Architects (best known in town, strangely enough, for 2 inner-loop grocery stores they’ve designed for H-E-B) and Houston’s own Studio Red (fresh from its work on the renovation of an old Downtown warehouse into the new Houston Permitting Center). So we’ve got a whole new batch of initial concept drawings to look through, this time from the building’s actual architects.

Shunning the typical secrecy surrounding not-ready-yet designs, the new arts organization has decided to show them off on its Facebook page — even before floor plans are ready — with a simple “let us know what you think.” What a concept!

77006, Art, Attractions, Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Theaters

Art

12/19/11 9:55pm

Architects Agree To Collaborate on Main St. Arts Collaborative

Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Proposed Developments

2 Comments

The local architecture firm responsible for designing the city’s new permitting center on Washington Ave (which is currently doing well in the voting for one of this year’s Swamplot Awards) and the San Antonio firm behind the recent Buffalo Speedway and Montrose H-E-B Markets will team up to design the 85,000-sq.-ft. Midtown building for the new Independent Arts Collaborative at 3400 Main St. between Holman and Francis St., the organization announced today. Earlier, Studio Red and Lake Flato Architects had been listed separately as finalists for the commission on the organization’s website.

The building — shown above in a concept drawing produced by Morris Architects, one of the finalists that did not get the job — will contain shared exhibit and performance space for several local arts groups, as well as rehearsal and workshop areas, classrooms, and offices. Houston’s city council agreed to sell the site — which served as a surface parking lot for the city’s previous permit office — to the brand-new arts organization last summer. Among the organizations listed as probable tenants of the new building: Fotofest, Diverseworks, the Houston Arts Alliance, Musiqa, Catastrophic Theater, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Main St. Theater.

Previously on Swamplot: Independent Arts Collaborative Buying Midtown Lot for New Main St. Arts Center

Rendering: Houston-Galveston Area Council

77006, Art, Houston Architects, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments

10/12/11 1:56pm

New Midtown Apartment Building Hopes To Extend the Calais’ “Headlights on the Street” Safety Formula

Midtown, Parking, Proposed Developments

10 Comments

A new 6-story apartment building is being planned for the now-cleared Midtown block surrounded by Elgin, Smith, Rosalie, and Louisiana streets — one block north of the Calais at Courtland Square apartment complex and a block west of High Fashion Fabrics. A variance request for the 147-unit building doesn’t name the developer or show any renderings, but indicates that the bottom 2 stories of the building will consist of a parking garage, topped by 4 floors of apartments wrapped around an interior courtyard.

That’s similar to the configuration of some sections of the Calais — notably the dramatic arched streetfront along Smith St. (shown in the photo above), which contributes a dynamic tableau of headlights, bumpers, license plates, and the occasional hood ornament to passersby at street level. (The view changes daily.) The developers of this new apartment building are looking to recreate some of that Calais streetside magic, according to the variance:

77006, Apartments, Building Setbacks, Midtown, Parking-Garages, Pedestrians, Proposed Developments, Retail, Variances

Demolitions

08/22/11 4:57pm

Isabella Courtiers Watch the Gallery Walls Topple Across the Street

Fires, Midtown

2 Comments

Thanks to some fun-loving neighbors in the Isabella Court apartments just across the street, we have this brief video documenting the wild final moments of the former Simpson Galleries building at the corner of Main and Isabella in Midtown. The building burned Friday night; the Spanish Colonial storefront structure facing onto the light-rail line has been vacant since the Simpson Galleries moved to a new location near Fountainview and Westpark in 2007. Demolition crews knocked down the remaining structure the next morning.

Video of Teardown of Simpson Galleries After Fire Friday Night, Fire Ravages Simpson Galleries, and
Fire Strikes Third Antique Store This Year [Hair Balls]
Fire destroys vacant building in Midtown [abc13]

Video: Eleanor Williams/Jeff Balke

77004, Demolitions, Fires, Midtown

Midtown

06/30/11 2:10pm

Artisans Filling Out the Mix in Midtown

New Construction, Restaurants

4 Comments

Two sets of self-proclaimed artisans are hard at work on the southernmost space in Midtown’s super-urban Mix building at 3201 Louisiana. First, there’s Artisan Builders, now building out the 4,800 sq.-ft. restaurant space on the corner of Stuart St., which a source at the construction company says will include a small outdoor patio in front. Then there’s the French restaurant getting ready to move in 4 to 5 months from now, which will now be called Artisans Restaurant. (That’s a change from an earlier name: Chef’s Table.) In charge of the interior: Austin’s Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, of Austin and Houston Uchi fame. Hsu and Artisan Builders also collaborated a few years ago on Sushi Raku at the other end of the building.

New Restaurant Coming to The Mix @ Midtown [InnerLooped]
Previously on Swamplot: A Look at the New Midtown Restaurant in the Mix, Going Up in Midtown: The Calaisâ€™s New Neighbor

Photo: InnerLooped

77006, Midtown, New Construction, Restaurants

Buying and Selling

06/24/11 12:12pm

Independent Arts Collaborative Buying Midtown Lot for New Main St. ArtsÂ Center

Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Redevelopment

27 Comments

Planned for the Midtown block surrounded by Main, Travis, Francis, and Holman streets: a new 90,000-sq.-ft. multi-tenant performing arts center that might look something like this. And after a city-hall vote this week, it seems more likely to be built: Council approved the sale of the property at 3400 Main St., currently a surface parking lot for the soon-to-be-former city permit office one block to the north, for $2.5 million.

The buyer and developer of the new building is the Independent Arts Collaborative, a consortium of local arts organizations — including Fotofest, Diverseworks, the Houston Arts Alliance, Musiqa, Suchu Dance, Opera Vista, Catastrophic Theater, Nameless Sound, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Main St. Theater. Also part of the deal: Another one of those 380 revenue-sharing agreements: This one will allow the developer to receive up to $6 million in reimbursements from increases in tax revenue resulting from the project.

Details of the building — as well as plans for several projects proposed nearby — were included in a study produced last year for the Houston-Galveston Area Council:

77002, Buying and Selling, City Council, Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Redevelopment

Art

06/06/11 11:42am

A Short Houston History of President Obama, in 3 Photos

Graffiti, Midtown

52 Comments

Okay, well at least it’s a history of the mural version of the Shepard Fairey poster based on Mannie Garcia’s photo, painted back in February 2008 onto the West Alabama side of the former Obama campaign headquarters at 3710 Travis St. Candace Garcia’s photos show the mural as it appeared a few days after the 2008 election (top) and shortly after the President’s midterm shellacking — and the mural’s Midtown spattering — late last year (middle). The bottom photo shows the result of a little rehabilitation work completed late last week, clearly meant to cover up and gloss over all the wear and tear Obama’s image has suffered over the last several years, and put it in brighter shape for the 2012 election season.

Hope Mural [YouTube]
Obama Mural On Building Defaced [Click2Houston]
Houston, We Have a “Splasher” – Obama Mural Defaced [Art Attack]

Photos: Candace Garcia

77006, Art, Graffiti, Midtown, Murals, President Obama

05/12/11 1:25pm

A Couple More Walkable Blocks: Post Properties Wants To Expand Midtown Streetlife

Fourth Ward, Midtown, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Retail

16 Comments

Atlanta’s Post Properties has announced that it’s ready to get started with a third phase of its Midtown Square mixed use development, notes Houston’s InnerLooped blog. A rendering of the project on the front cover of a recent company financial report (above) may not be the latest, though — that looks like a 2005 date scribbled in the bottom right corner. The $21.8 million development will include 124 apartments and 10,864 sq. ft.Â of street-level retail and should begin opening mid-to-late next year, the company says. The apartment units should run a little smaller on average than those in the existing Post Midtown Square complex at 302 Gray St. Post Properties hasn’t responded to our request for details about the development’s exact location, but the rendering appears to show the view looking east from the narrow corner of West Gray and Webster in the Fourth Ward, a few blocks west of Post’s existing outpost of street activity.

Post Properties Announces First Quarter 2011 Earnings and Development of Post Midtown Square(R) – Phase III in Houston, Texas [Post Properties]
Post Midtown Phase III [InnerLooped]
Post Midtown Phase III [HAIF]

Rendering: Post Properties

77019, Apartments, Fourth Ward, Midtown, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, REITs, Retail

Buying and Selling

05/11/11 10:35pm

Decoding the Code Building Sale

Midtown, Public Buildings, Quicklink

16 Comments

DECODING THE CODE BUILDING SALE City council today approved the sale of Houston’s code enforcement building at 3300 Main St. to the Midtown Redevelopment Authority, for $5 million. The 57,899 sq.-ft. structure and parking garage on a full Midtown block, which also houses the city’s Green Building Resource Center, received several sealed private-sector bids before the February 17th due date. Last week, Mayor Parker declared that the Midtown TIRZ had submitted the high bid, but 2 council members disputed that, claiming the group hadn’t submitted a bid for the property at all. (One of them, Anne Clutterbuck, was the lone dissenter in today’s vote.) Chronicle reporter Chris Moran hasn’t been able to get a straight answer yet, but interprets a staff report to mean that the TIRZ did not submit a formal bid — the city simply determined a purchase from the government entity would be “the most advantageous.” What’s all the fuss? “The city built the sale of 3300 Main into its FY 11 budget, and it is now depending on that sale to help it bridge a $21 million projected budget shortfall for the fiscal year that ends June 30. There is still no information on what the Authority might do with the property, which remains off the tax rolls as long as it is owned by a public entity.” [Houston Politics]

77002, Buying and Selling, City Council, Mayor Parker, Midtown, Public Buildings, TIRZs

Midtown

04/06/11 9:27am

The Great Houston Street Life Simulation

Streetscapes

24 Comments

Urban-design nerds, street-festival fans, and earnest neighborhood do-gooders will converge on a block of Holman St. near LaBranch this Saturday to play a little game of make-believe: They’ll be imagining what it might be like if Houston had some sort of street life. From 10 am to 10 pm, they’ll be hanging out on a ~~Third Ward~~ Midtown block quickly made up to look as if it did: with painted-in bike lanes, instant street trees in planters, a pop-up cafe in a portable building parked on the street, food trucks, and maybe even a farmers’ market. And they’ll be smiling pedestrian-friendly smiles.