I came back from six days of vacation to find a surprising number of important stories about the built environment. Perhaps the biggest one is the approval of the controversial Ashby Highrise. Also, Houston City Council passed the Transit Corridor Ordinance. Wilshire Village is now demolished. The city and the county are reportedly close to a deal involving a legal workaround using the little-understood world of TIRZs that would save the Astrodome, fund a new jail, pay for a soccer stadium, and provide housing for homeless people.
Tuesday August 25
County may oppose storm recovery plan: Allocation of $1.7 billion to fix hurricane damage is called flawed [Houston Chronicle] "If applied at the county level, the formula would result in a 'damage factor' for Kenedy County in South Texas - population 388, according to the Census Bureau - almost as high as the factor for Fort Bend County, with more than 530,000 residents. 'You wonder what they were smoking when people put this together,' Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said Monday."
Galveston: Fishing may have bounced back, but the bay that anglers knew and loved is gone [Houston Chronicle]
Monday August 24
Deal on jail, stadium, dome in ‘home stretch': Talks between the city, county involve using tax zones for the major projects projects---Housing for homeless on the list [Houston Chronicle] "The negotiations, which have been under way for several months and are reaching their final stage, focus on the use of tax increment reinvestment zones, or TIRZ, as vehicles for the major capital projects."
Sunday August 23
Archaeologists search for Texas plantation remains: Site was also a staging area for Sam Houston [Houston Chronicle] "The project that started this summer seeks to detail and preserve remains of Bernardo, a plantation established along the Brazos River in 1822 by Jared Ellison Groce II, one of the 'Old Three Hundred' settlers of Stephen F. Austin's colony who received land grants from Spain."
Power move In praise of the University of Houston's electrifying Energy Research Park [Houston Chronicle] "Houston took a big step toward becoming an energy city, not just an oil city, this past week when the University of Houston officially closed the deal to buy the old Schlumberger Well Services property. On that roughly 70 acres, not far down the Gulf Freeway from the main campus, UH plans to launch its Energy Research Park: an ambitious place where all sorts of bets are being placed on The Next Big Thing."
Shoppers celebrating at H-E-Glee: Company designs fit the neighborhood [Houston Chronicle, Lisa Gray]
"We knew from the outset that we wanted to be striking," says William Triplett, H-E-B's vice president of design and construction. "We knew we could make it different from the competition on the inside." For early conceptual help, H-E-B turned to Lake/Flato, one of the best-known architecture firms in Texas.
The Buffalo Speedway building cost more than other H-E-Bs, but McClelland says that that's mainly because it's on expensive land and because it's smaller. (Paradoxically, smaller buildings cost more per square foot.) Though the building feels luxurious, it's mostly made of inexpensive stuff. The floor is polished concrete, and the striking patchwork of colored rectangles on the outer wall are corrugated metal, the kind used in shipping containers. The luxury comes mainly from thought and planning: It's in the soaring ceiling, in the sunlight coming through the smoky windows, in the interesting greens and oranges picked for the paint on the produce-section walls.
Nearly one year after Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc across Galveston Bay, the ecosystem is slowly recovering [Houston Chronicle]
This being Houston Some things are worth saving. Don't let the other Art Deco dominoes fall. [Houston Chronicle]
Saturday August 22
City OKs plans for Ashby high-rise: Apartment number reduced, but the height remains the same [Houston Chronicle] "Changes in the developers' latest plans, the 11th they had submitted since July 2007, reduced projected traffic sufficiently to meet the city's standards, said Andy Icken, deputy public works director. The latest plans reduced the number of apartments from 226 to 210 and eliminated a spa, retail space and executive offices."
UH opens new luxury lofts in a bid to change its commuter culture [Houston Chronicle]
Thursday August 20
Scenery along light rail lines could change: Council's vote aims to aid urban development [Houston Chronicle] "'On the whole, it's a teeny-tiny step in the right direction,' said Andrew Burleson, a development consultant and blogger. While the incentives for enhanced pedestrian amenities aren't sufficient, Burleson said, the measure makes progress simply by providing a good definition of 'quality urban development.'"
Sunday August 16
With her knowledge of lore, historian gathered anecdotes and ‘dreamed up' walking tours: Peterson, 63, interpreter of local history [Houston Chronicle] "At the time of her death, Peterson was project director for the Glenwood Cemetery Historic Preservation Foundation, a position she had held four years. Before that, she had been co-chair of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance's walking tour committee."
Thursday August 13
WORKSHOP HOUSTON Creating their own sense of style. Students learn to sew, repair bikes, invest time [Houston Chronicle] "The Style Shop is one of five shops making up Workshop Houston, founded in 2003 by Moser and three of his former classmates from Oberlin College in Ohio - Seth Capron, Katy Goodman and Benjamin Mason. Workshop Houston's mission is to provide youth with creative, technical and educational resources. The group's first project was the Third Ward Community Bike Shop, followed in 2006 by the Chopper Shop, the Style Shop and the Beat Shop. The newest addition is the Scholar Shop."
Museums in mall are set to close: Both venues plan to continue programs in area [Houston Chronicle] "The two museums located in The Woodlands Mall will close this fall to make way for a retail store. The Woodlands Xploration Station, operated by the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and The Woodlands Children Museum will close their doors on Sept. 7 and Oct. 2 respectively to make way for Forever 21, a new retail tenant."
The road to frustration U.S. 290 project concerns business owners: Expanding congested freeway is proving to be a slow process [Houston Chronicle]
