Swamplot Archives by Tag: Proposed Developments

Monday, December 14, 2009

On Top of Spaghetti: Video Preview of a New and Better Tangle at 290 and Beltway 8

December 14, 2009 – 11:46 am



Thanks to the reader who passed along this flyover video showing what a fat, happy, and rebuilt Highway 290 will look like as it wraps its newly grown tentacles around Beltway 8. The video comes from TxDOT’s fancy new my290.com website, which attempts to bring to the planned multi-billion-dollar highway widening program the feel-good vibe of a community barnraising. When construction begins in 2011, will we be able to follow the construction workers as they tweet?

The site features current maps and details of the plans for US 290 and the Hempstead Tollway. Notes the reader: “Looks like the NW mall is history, well, at least most of the parking lot.” Here’s a view:

Continue Reading This Story >

11:46 am | 10 Comments | Read more about Freeways and Toll Roads, Neighborhoods: Jersey Village, Online Resources, Proposed Developments, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Friday, December 11, 2009

The Lights of Post Oak: Two Dozen Stops Along the Uptown Line

December 11, 2009 – 12:03 pm

Once the new Metro Uptown light-rail line is built, Post Oak Blvd. could feature more than 23 stoplights along its 1.7-mile stretch between Richmond Ave. and the 610 Loop, reports the River Oaks Examiner’s Mike Reed. A report prepared last October by the group of companies contracted to build the new Uptown Line lists 21 stoplights and 7 stations.

But that information’s got to be out of date, right?

. . . in response to questions, a Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman said Tuesday that since the report was written, the number of potential signals has increased to 23, with an additional traffic light and an additional pedestrian light under consideration.

While the proposals contained in such reports are subject to change, the original document indicates the scope of the project combined with the density and development in the area would make substantial alterations to the plan difficult at best.

Reed also reports a few details on the rebuilding of Post Oak:

Continue Reading This Story >

12:03 pm | 25 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Galleria, Proposed Developments, Traffic, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , ,
Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ashby Highrise Developers: We Were Only Kidding!

December 10, 2009 – 12:08 pm

Hey, good one! Remember all those revisions Buckhead Investment Partners finally made to the Ashby High Rise plans — cutting out a bunch of the ground-floor retail space, enlarging the restaurant, and putting that big driveway loop on Bissonnet — so that the city might finally approve the Southampton-side tower? Yesterday the developers told the Chronicle’s Mike Snyder they were really just part of an elaborate fake-out maneuver:

Between July 2007 and August of this year, city officials rejected applications for the project 11 times on grounds that traffic it generated would increase congestion on nearby streets to unacceptable levels.

In August, the city approved a 12th application after [Buckhead's Matthew] Morgan and [Kevin] Kirton removed all the commercial uses except the restaurant and reduced the number of residential units. The developers said Wednesday that they changed their plans to test whether the city would approve their project under any circumstances, but never intended to build anything other than the project they designed in 2007.

Aw, c’mon: If you actually did go ahead and build the approved plans, that would be a great stunt too! But how did these fun-loving developers happen upon such a wacky strategy? Snyder provides some insight into their inspiration:

Continue Reading This Story >

12:08 pm | 15 Comments | Read more about Development Regulations, Development Strategies, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Southampton, Proposed Developments
Read more about: , , , , , , , , , , ,

John Culberson to Metro: Stop This Train!

December 10, 2009 – 9:20 am
   

After poring through financial documents on the Metro website that the organization’s chairman now says are outdated, Congressman John Culberson announces his opposition to federal funding for the light-rail University Line — because he’s concluded that Metro won’t be able to afford it: “Culberson filed a formal objection with the Federal Transit Authority late Tuesday, ahead of a deadline today for members of Congress to file any concerns. Otherwise the FTA would have given Metro the nod to begin preliminary engineering work on the line. Part of the 10-mile route lies within Culberson’s congressional district. FTA spokesman Paul Griffo said the agency retains the final say. ‘It is not a process that requires explicit congressional approval or disapproval,’ Griffo said. ‘The FTA will keep Mr. Culberson’s concerns in mind, as we do the concerns of all elected officials, as projects advance through our evaluation process.’” [Houston Chronicle; more detail in the River Oaks Examiner]

9:20 am | 44 Comments | Read more about Financing, Quicklink, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , ,
Monday, December 7, 2009

Allen House: The Apartments That Demolition Forgot

December 7, 2009 – 11:40 am

Driving around North Montrose, a reader is surprised to find the Allen House Apartments still standing. Weren’t those units part of the Allen House that was demolished more than 2 years ago — so the land could rest for a bit while Regent Square tries to get some funding?

I am curious as to why 2 buildings of the erstwhile allen house were left untouched. Was Regent square never expected to cover these lots or is this allen house a new entity with no links to the GID Urban Development Group ? Are these going to be demolished in the future?

Continue Reading This Story >

11:40 am | 7 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Cancellations and Delays, Demolitions, Neighborhoods: North Montrose, Proposed Developments
Read more about: , , , , , ,
Thursday, December 3, 2009

Dolce & Freddo Condo Towers on San Felipe: Left out in the Cold?

December 3, 2009 – 11:28 am

Just a month ago, an executive of Brooklyn’s Boymelgreen Developers was telling the Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff that the company was still committed to building those twin 28-floor condo towers at the very end of Woodway on San Felipe, next door to the old Dolce & Freddo gelato shop. Development director Sara Mirski reported that the firm planned to start construction on the Ziegler Cooper design next year, after completing a new market analysis in the spring.

The former shopping-center site, just a leap over Buffalo Bayou from Piney Point Village, was purchased by an Israeli company controlled by developer Shaya Boymelgreen 2 years ago, just days after another Boymelgreen affiliate flipped the property at the corner of Richmond and Post Oak — the site of the former Mason Jar and Steak & Ale — for a quick $24 million profit.

But those were the good ol’ days. Now Boymelgreen may have a few other things to take care of before he can get going on the San Felipe Condominiums:

Continue Reading This Story >

11:28 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Cancellations and Delays, Development Strategies, Highrises, Houston Architects, Neighborhoods: Charnwood, Proposed Developments
Read more about: , , , , , , , ,
Friday, November 6, 2009

It Didn’t Take, This Broken Wing: What the Developer of Wilshire Village Had in Mind for Bellaire

November 6, 2009 – 8:13 pm

Lauren Meyers, archivist of would-be Houston, digs up an earlier plan for a building at 4500 Bissonnet, on the corner of Mulberry St. in Bellaire. That’s the vacant property long in the possession of legendarily delinquent Wilshire Village landlord Jay H. Cohen, where Matt Dilick, the man who now apparently controls it, is planning to build a 2ish-story stucco mild-West meets retail-Tuscan strip center and sell off the rest of the land.

Back in 1946, Cohen’s father, who had developed the Wilshire Village Apartments on West Alabama and Dunlavy 6 years earlier, planned a 122-home subdivision on the 30-acre strip between Avenue A (now Newcastle St.) and Mulberry St. with a partner. And at the southern end of the property, facing Richmond Rd. (now Bissonnet St.), a sweeping, low-slung modern structure spanning Howard St.: the Mulberry Manor Community Center, designed by Houston architects Lloyd & Morgan.

Meyers quotes a Houston Chronicle report from September 1, 1946:

Continue Reading This Story >

8:13 pm | 8 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Houston Architects, Houston History, Neighborhoods: Bellaire, Proposed Developments, Retail, Strip Centers
Read more about: , , , , , , , , ,

First They’ll Need To Clear Out All That Vegetation That’s in the Way

November 6, 2009 – 1:44 pm
   

Nancy Sarnoff hears word that the owners of the 100-year-old Teas Nursery at 4400 Bellaire Blvd. near Newcastle are hoping to sell off the property for single-family homes: “The Bellaire business will be relocated, sold or liquidated, according to Tom Teas, president and manager of the landscaping division. Plans are for the nursery company to redevelop the five acres of land itself and then sell lots to builders. The project will start in January.” [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]

1:44 pm | 12 Comments | Read more about Houston History, Land Sales, Neighborhoods: Bellaire, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment
Read more about: , , , , ,
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Mixed Use for the New Uptown Corridor: A Better Perennial Portrait

November 4, 2009 – 2:54 pm

Here they are: More renderings of the Perennial, the mixed-use development the Redstone Companies is hoping to fit onto a block at 2200 Post Oak Blvd. just north of the Galleria — on the former site of the Compass Bank building, which was imploded in a small ceremony earlier this year. Does this thing look familiar? An earlier drawing of the project appeared on the SkyscraperPage forum and was featured on Swamplot in May. Now HAIF poster Urbannizer digs up a leasing brochure for the property from the development’s otherwise password-protected website.

What’s for lease? Two separate buildings: a 20-story office tower incorporating an 8-level parking garage as well as lots of retail space at the base; and a separate hotel tower to the north — combining just under 300 guest rooms and 100 residences. In all, the developers are counting just under 74,000 sq. ft. of retail space, including 3 levels meant to face the action on Post Oak.

Continue Reading This Story >

2:54 pm | 14 Comments | Read more about Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Galleria, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Transportation
Read more about: , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

On Bissonnet near Newcastle: More Pieces of the Wilshire Village Package

November 3, 2009 – 10:15 am

Let’s see . . . there was today’s planned foreclosure auction for Wilshire Village. What else does Matt Dilick of Commerce Equities have going on?

Swamplot’s neighborhood correspondent for Bellaire reports on Commerce Equities’ proposed development on one portion of a couple of long-vacant tracts at the northeast corner of Bissonnet and Newcastle:

The plots of land at 4400 and 4500 Bissonnet, between Newcastle and the Centerpoint service center, are being cut up and sold. . . .

Evidence of surveying and subdivision in recent weeks has recently given way to signboards indicating that the north third of the open land at 4500 Bissonnet will be cut up into six residential lots while the two-thirds fronting Bissonnet is reserved for commercial. The next block over, across Howard Street, commercial space is being developed to open before April of 2010. According to flyers on broker David Nettles’s website, approximately 62% of the 20,000-some-odd square feet of office space is still available.

But the two parcels — totaling almost 4 acres — have more of a connection to Wilshire Village than just the involvement of Dilick.

Continue Reading This Story >

10:15 am | 4 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Land for Sale, Neighborhoods: Bellaire, Proposed Developments, Retail, Strip Centers
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Comment of the Day: H-E-B in the Heights

October 28, 2009 – 2:46 pm
   

“. . . Other good Heights grocery news is that HEB is seriously considering opening a store on Heights BLVD. just across the street from The Art Car Museum.” [EMME, commenting on Expanded Heights Kroger: Now Wider Than Wide Angle]

2:46 pm | 25 Comments | Read more about Comments, Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Retail
Read more about: , , , , ,
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

On Heights Blvd.: Jacked Up and Ready To Go

October 27, 2009 – 3:55 pm

Snapped from the porch of Lola at 11th and Yale last week by a Swamplot reader: this photo of the 1903 Perry-Swilley House, formerly known to reside at 1101 Heights Blvd., and headed for 1103.

The city architectural and historical commission gave permission last year for the home to be moved one lot to the north. Swamplot reported on the owner’s plans for the site last November.

Why is the home being raised? So parking for that strip center planned for the corner can fit underneath.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

3:55 pm | 5 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Strip Centers
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Monday, October 26, 2009

Dilick: How About We Throw Up Some Townhomes Where Wilshire Village Was?

October 26, 2009 – 1:42 pm

The purported owner of the Wilshire Village complex at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy, who managed to stay out of the media spotlight while the 69-year-old 8-acre complex was emptied and then torn down after a sequence of peculiar events earlier this year, appears at the end of Nancy Sarnoff’s phone line to make a few pronouncements about the property.

First, that big Commerce Equities sign on the property that says “Available”? Well, here’s what it really means:

“We would consider an outright sale if the appropriate user was identified,” owner Matt Dilick of Commerce Equities said.

That’s right: Dilick might wanna do a little creatin’ there himself!

Continue Reading This Story >

1:42 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Development Strategies, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Lancaster Place, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Townhomes
Read more about: , , , , , , ,
Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ashby Highrise Loses Appeal

October 22, 2009 – 10:58 pm
   

The city’s General Appeals Board today rejected a request by the developers of the Ashby Highrise to gain permit approvals for the 23-story project’s original version — which includes a larger number of residences and more commercial space than the plans that finally received permits from the city. “Matthew Morgan, one of the two principals with Buckhead Investment Partners, said the next step would likely be to appeal to the Houston City Council. . . . Ironically, the prolonged battle that has been played out not only in the city bureaucracy but with yard signs, bumper stickers and vocal, packed protests did not draw any other media or public attention Thursday at this key city hearing.” [West University Examiner; previously on Swamplot]

10:58 pm | 38 Comments | Read more about Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Southampton, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
Read more about: , , , , , , , ,
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ashby Highrise Developers Want Their Original Baby Back

October 21, 2009 – 11:21 am

Thursday is a big day for the Ashby Highrise:

Developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton, of Buckhead Investment Partners, will appear Thursday before the General Appeals Board, a city panel that hears appeals of permit denials. They will ask for approval of a 23-story building at 1717 Bissonnet with more than 200 apartments, a restaurant, a spa, retail space and offices, which the city repeatedly said would worsen traffic congestion to unacceptable levels.

In August, the city approved modified plans that stripped out all of the commercial uses except the restaurant. The developers have not picked up the permit, however, and said Tuesday that they still want to build the original project.

What’s the difference between the plan approved by the city and the original design Buckhead is still pushing for?

Continue Reading This Story >

11:21 am | 55 Comments | Read more about Development Restrictions, Development Strategies, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Southampton, Proposed Developments
Read more about: , , , , , , , ,