Archive for the 'development' Category
A backup plan for the Astrodome
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 1st, 2007 on Houston StrategiesMost of you probably caught the story yesterday about the Texans and Rodeo coming out against the Astrodome redevelopment plan into a convention mega-hotel. The key problem is that they have veto power, so I’m sure they strung the whole process along …
WSJ on the Ashby tower and Houston development
Closed Published by Tory Gattis October 25th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesLast week the Wall Street Journal had an article specifically discussing the controversial high-rise residential tower proposed for Ashby at Bissonnet (details and FAQ), but also broadly talking about the lack of zoning in Houston. Unfortunately, the …
New Urbanism comes to Galveston
Closed Published by Tory Gattis September 20th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesTonight I want to pass-along a Wall Street Journal article on the wave of new urbanist projects coming to the Gulf Coast, especially Galveston (7-day nonsubscriber link, permalink).Beachtown, as Mr. Sherazi’s project is called, is part of a wave of New…
Trees for Houston vs. the Upper Kirby District TIRZ
Closed Published by Tory Gattis September 10th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesA battle is brewing between some quality-of-life nonprofits in Houston. It all starts with flood control. The city is in the middle of a long-term project to connect Buffalo Bayou to Braes Bayou with a very large storm sewer line underneath Kirby Dri…
What really preserves a neighborhood’s character?
Closed Published by Tory Gattis August 27th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesI went to a workshop tonight put on by the City of Houston Planning Department on tools to protect neighborhoods, with a focus on deed restrictions. There was a lot of good material, but the most interesting to me was an impromptu debate that occurred…
The fight over development regulations intensifies
Closed Published by Tory Gattis January 1st, 1970 on Houston StrategiesSpawned by the Ashby Tower controversy, the news and opinion as been coming fast and furious in the new year on the fight over planning regulations. Enough creeping regulations have been working their way onto the City Council agenda to finally raise …
Texas strength, planning debate, losing Kirby’s trees, Metro
Closed Published by Tory Gattis January 1st, 1970 on Houston StrategiesThe smaller misc items have been piling up quickly since last week:Just got the announcement of the new Metro Park-and-Ride in Katy. What makes it notable is that they’re using the parking lot for the Cinemark theater out there, which is a great way t…
I thought I might comment on some of the weekend Chronicle stories regarding development regulation. I think Mike Snyder’s article “Would more housing rules raise Houston costs?” did a fairly good job of being balanced, including input from Wendell Co…
The Center For Houston’s Future convened a panel of national Urban Land Institute experts this week to look at Houston’s current situation and coming growth; and, surprisingly, they recommend we do more of what the Center For Houston’s Future does (vis…
A simple rule for high-rise development
Closed Published by Tory Gattis January 1st, 1970 on Houston StrategiesThe ordinance being developed to target the Ashby high-rise is making no one happy, so they’re looking at a delay of many months to rework it. In the meantime, the city will pull out a 69-year old driveway permit law giving a city engineer power to bl…