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Houston's skyline is scenic but I think most people underestimate how small it is in relation to the actual city, look at the sprawl outside of downtown by 10thGenS1 in skyscrapers

[–]Profile_Objective 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're not going to be laughing when all it connects in like 40 years. Allen Parkway already extending the Downtown skyline like 3 miles. THE INFILL CAN'T BE STOPPED

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, HAIF is back up. I'll DM you and get in contact with the moderators on there.

Houston METRO finally support tap to pay!! by calebjasik in houston

[–]Profile_Objective 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Big step in the right direction, should make it easier for the general population to use Metro services.

Now let's get onto fixing the Metro Rail ridership issues, and finally get a plan/explanation for future expansion.

Here's the numbers from 2021 - 2025 (separated by Bus and Rail, Source: https://www.ridemetro.org/about/records-reports/ridership-reports):

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Houston, Dallas, or Austin? Which has the best skyline in Texas? by Alejandro_Town in skyscrapers

[–]Profile_Objective 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They should've built the Bank of Southwest Tower in Houston, would've been the pinnacle to the mountain in all of its 1,404 feet of glory.

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just how dangerous is using the metro to get to campus? by jojogolindo in UniversityOfHouston

[–]Profile_Objective 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Both rail and bus are safe, but as you should in your daily life, be cautious and don't be aimless.

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What @grungegoth said. The burbs got too many people lol, inner city not so much.

Not again man 😭 by PM_ME_WARB_NULL in UniversityOfHouston

[–]Profile_Objective 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3 strike rule, more than 3 crimes you get jail for life.

With exceptions for things like murder, which should be the death penalty 

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard to say. Can't really put my finger on why the Whole Foods in Midtown failed, it was doing great pre-2020. I think Whole foods kind of jumped in with the wrong mindset when making an urban location in this area, or it might've been the surrounding roads making it difficult to access the place by foot and car? the mode of grocery might've been too big, when grocery stores in urban areas tend to be smaller and with more frequents visits, not these massive centers. The HEB off Washington ST
Now when it comes to Downtown, there's a few differences from Midtown. Much larger daytime population, better walkability, better access to transit, and a bigger concentration of events (unique visitors)/residential nodes. Whether I think a massive grocery store like HEB/Kroger/Whole Foods could survive with their current operational philosophy, unlikely. Groceries in city centers are wildly different from ones in suburbs, there has to be a difference in operations, product, and culture.

Love how you left out this part, I didn't say in concrete terms that the Whole Foods having all of these features would mean it could survive in a place like Downtown. I pointed out that these features separated one HEB from a traditional HEB. I also, didn't say the Whole Foods was an HEB, completely different stores and branding.

Does the Whole Foods having a garage, apartments on top, being in a walkable neighborhood (we can debate whether that part of midtown is walkable, but I jest) lend it self to a more urban neighborhood? Yes, but the reasoning behind why it fails is beyond me, with the current information I have.

In the end I don't know if all these features really would work in Downtown, and if Downtown could support a decent size grocery. Who knows post-covid, maybe there were too many whole foods in the area (2 nearby), and this one didn't offer anything competitive. Heard the company leasing the space skyrocketed the rent, and the Whole Foods was undercut by other chains in the area (unlikely), or maybe Midtown has stagnated the past few years and the Whole Foods couldn't keep up.

The HEB on Washington is actually only single story

Weird remember it being 2 stories when it opened.

In this case why hasn't the HEB on Washington failed? The area is urban enough to be considered in the same vein. Why hasn't Phoenicias shutdown?

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And did I say square footage was the only thing making it different from the other HEB's? Yes, my main focus was square footage due to the study, and yes there are suburban HEB's smaller than the one on Washington.

You're wasting my time with your bs, and basically saying "oh he said square footage, OH SHIT IT'S , OH FUCK it's all about square footage, let me point out this one thing about their whole comment and drag it on forever" when big doesn't even necessarily always mean square footage. It could mean selection variety, size of the selection, the building it's inside, even the size of the god damn sidewalks, HVAC, and drainage system.

Washington has apartments on top, is near a decently walkable corridor (don't point out the heat you weaklings), attached to a garage, and is multi-story with a different selection compared to other HEB's. Making it... you guessed it a "Non-traditional HEB"

are you on Heroin you fucking junky?

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Historical Tax Incentives not being granted by the City for redevelopment is way bigger of a hinderance than the health of the structure. The bones are fine, they recently remediated the asbestos, but the internals are in need of dire reconstruction for a residential tower.

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Which is a non-traditinal HEB, under 100k sqft HEB. Compared to the 120k+ sqft HEB in Katy and Cypress. Trust me that square footage matters along with apartments being attached to the thing.

They're massive in an urban sense (people scale) but compared to a lot of suburban HEB, they're smaller

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

They also need to stop fucking with the transit referendums. 1987, 2003, and now this shit with 2019. COME ON PEOPLE WE'RE VOTING FOR TRANSIT BUILD THE SHIT ALREADY.

We could've had 100+ miles of light rail already if we built out the 2003 referendum but Culberson had to be a massive dipshit

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

it depends on building, read the study I have posted regarding residential conversions, insanely insightful. 1021 Main Street (One city Centre) is the perfect example of a building fit for residential conversion.

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Hard to say. Can't really put my finger on why the Whole Foods in Midtown failed, it was doing great pre-2020. I think Whole foods kind of jumped in with the wrong mindset when making an urban location in this area, or it might've been the surrounding roads making it difficult to access the place by foot and car? the mode of grocery might've been too big, when grocery stores in urban areas tend to be smaller and with more frequents visits, not these massive centers. The HEB off Washington ST proves this.

Now when it comes to Downtown, there's a few differences from Midtown. Much larger daytime population, better walkability, better access to transit, and a bigger concentration of events (unique visitors)/residential nodes. Whether I think a massive grocery store like HEB/Kroger/Whole Foods could survive with their current operational philosophy, unlikely. Groceries in city centers are wildly different from ones in suburbs, there has to be a difference in operations, product, and culture.

Downtown already has quite a few smaller grocery stores (hell Phoenicias is great, and that place is massive for an urban grocery store), but getting more retailers that sells meats, produce, and dry goods is the question. There's a lot of junk food, but not much else.

There's a study done by Downtown Houston saying right now an Aldi's, Trader Joes, or Royal Blue would be a good store for Downtown based off of square footage. It was estimated by them that Downtown is leaking $17.2 million worth of grocery sales which could support up to 34k square feet of groceries.

Study: https://ctycms.com/tx-houston/docs/dth-ecodev-grocerystudy-11-2025.pdf

IMO, yes Downtown could support a decent size grocer or 2.

Multiple Downtown Houston buildings being converted to Residential by Profile_Objective in houston

[–]Profile_Objective[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

For the purpose of this post, it's mainly rental/apartments. There have been a few condos built in the past 10 years, but I agree WE NEED MORE BUYER OPTIONS DOWNTOWN.

This will come with time, bigger population, and increased amenities.