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  #61  
Old Posted Jul 1, 2016, 7:13 PM
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Court of appeals rules in favor of Ashby high-rise developers

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A state appellate court has reversed a portion of the 2014 judgment that would have required developers of the so-called Ashby high-rise to pay damages to residents in the neighborhood near Rice University should they build the controversial residential tower.
The judgment was based on a jury's verdict awarding damages of almost $1.7 million to nearby homeowners in a protracted battle to keep Buckhead Development Partners from building the 21-story tower.

The Chronicle reported in 2014:

The 12-person jury awarded damages to 20 of the nearby households - contingent upon the high-rise being built - agreeing that it's the wrong project on the wrong site. Only those living within about one block of the high-rise were awarded damages.
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  #62  
Old Posted Sep 8, 2016, 12:00 AM
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  #63  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2018, 3:09 AM
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We’re still waiting for Buckhead Investment Partners to start constructin on this one. They’ve just updated their website.

https://buckfund.b12sites.com/index#completed-projects

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  #64  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2021, 8:30 PM
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More than a decade after the first post..permit issued:



Completion expected by 2024.
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  #65  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2021, 11:25 PM
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Damn! I wish it was 50 stories tall just to piss all those NIMBYs off.
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  #66  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2021, 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Urbannizer View Post
More than a decade after the first post..permit issued:



Completion expected by 2024.

This is one that I've always been against. Bissonnet is only two lanes there and Ashby is nothing but a typical residential street even narrower that Bissonnet.
People whine and complain about no zoning in Houston and then champion this.
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  #67  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2021, 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by kingkirbythe.... View Post
Damn! I wish it was 50 stories tall just to piss all those NIMBYs off.
I live nowhere near it, and haven't lived anywhere near it since the early 80s, so I'm definitely not NIMBY-ing, but I still think it's a stupid place to put a high rise residential building. None of the streets there are even close to being adequate for the increased traffic. Houston is so often criticized for no zoning, by Houstonians ourselves (I no longer live in Houston (not by choice) but my heart is still in 77006) and this is such a prime example of what not to do...IMO, of course.

I mean, look at this. This is not a reasonable place for a 20+ floor residential tower. At least I don't think it is.

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  #68  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 5:24 PM
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Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
I live nowhere near it, and haven't lived anywhere near it since the early 80s, so I'm definitely not NIMBY-ing, but I still think it's a stupid place to put a high rise residential building. None of the streets there are even close to being adequate for the increased traffic. Houston is so often criticized for no zoning, by Houstonians ourselves (I no longer live in Houston (not by choice) but my heart is still in 77006) and this is such a prime example of what not to do...IMO, of course.

I mean, look at this. This is not a reasonable place for a 20+ floor residential tower. At least I don't think it is.

Where do people get the notion that high-rise residential buildings are massive traffic generators? I walk past multiple high-rises in this part of Houston every day and rarely see any cars coming and going or any noticeable traffic; I've NEVER seen anything resembling the massive traffic suggested by various NIMBYs and commenters.
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  #69  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 8:07 PM
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Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
Where do people get the notion that high-rise residential buildings are massive traffic generators? I walk past multiple high-rises in this part of Houston every day and rarely see any cars coming and going or any noticeable traffic; I've NEVER seen anything resembling the massive traffic suggested by various NIMBYs and commenters.
There are no high rises anywhere near that stretch of Bissonnet on any street as narrow and in such a predominantly SFH residential area as that. The nearest high rises are either over in the Rice Village area, near large capacity streets like Kirby, or over in the Montrose/Main/Binz/Hermann Park area. None of that area is predominantly SFH residential, either.

What is the attraction to disrupting the long-standing character of this neighborhood? Is it just to have another tower to admire from a distance? And a not all that attractive tower at that, in my opinion.

As for your NEVER seeing the "massive traffic" some think will be generated, some of that may be because you aren't near those high rises at all hours to see all conditions? More likely "massive traffic" is less of a worry than just "increased traffic." And, again, any high rises remotely nearby that you walk past every day are in very different neighborhoods. But regardless of that, traffic on Bissonnet is bad enough in that area at certain times of day and it has been for DECADES.

"NIMBY" is a very easy thing to accuse people of being when it's someone else's neighborhood that is being affected. And as I said elsewhere, with the urban design community so constantly (and often unfairly) criticizing what they believe is Houston's total lack of planning (which we know is not the case), I sometimes think the only conceivable reason for so adamantly wanting this building built is some fetish for tall buildings no matter what the cost to the surrounding community might be.
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  #70  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 9:01 PM
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Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
Where do people get the notion that high-rise residential buildings are massive traffic generators? I walk past multiple high-rises in this part of Houston every day and rarely see any cars coming and going or any noticeable traffic; I've NEVER seen anything resembling the massive traffic suggested by various NIMBYs and commenters.
Completely agree. These so called fears NIMBYs spout on never based off anything resembling reality, and never end up materializing. It's just how they justify their rabid anti-density paradigm.

You want better traffic? How about increasing density so Houston can get a functioning public transit system, for example.
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  #71  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 10:06 PM
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It's just how they justify their rabid anti-density paradigm.
And here I always thought I was being pro-density when I bored out-of-towners with endless aerial shots of all the new row houses in Rice Military, Jackson Hill, Heights and even Montrose plus all the new development in Midtown, Downtown and the Eastside. Anyone even vaguely familiar with what I post here knows I'm anything but anti-density... Newbie.
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  #72  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 10:19 PM
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Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
Where do people get the notion that high-rise residential buildings are massive traffic generators? I walk past multiple high-rises in this part of Houston every day and rarely see any cars coming and going or any noticeable traffic; I've NEVER seen anything resembling the massive traffic suggested by various NIMBYs and commenters.
By the way, I don't know if this is still the case, but the original design for this development included ground floor retail and restaurant space. That is probably where most of the increase in traffic will be generated.

That part of Bissonnet was originally completely residential. Over the decades it has been transformed to a large extent with small businesses occupying former homes. I honestly think this project is out of scale with the street itself. No NIMBY-ing. No rabid anti-density paradigm. I just think it's a bad spot.


PS... If I had magical powers, Houston would already have been turned into Chicago or Toronto. Shoot, even Los Angeles. I've been bitching to my best friend for 40+ years about how Houston's density is ridiculously low. That is how NOT anti-density my personal paradigm is.
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  #73  
Old Posted Mar 14, 2021, 5:59 PM
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Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
There are no high rises anywhere near that stretch of Bissonnet on any street as narrow and in such a predominantly SFH residential area as that. The nearest high rises are either over in the Rice Village area, near large capacity streets like Kirby, or over in the Montrose/Main/Binz/Hermann Park area. None of that area is predominantly SFH residential, either.

What is the attraction to disrupting the long-standing character of this neighborhood? Is it just to have another tower to admire from a distance? And a not all that attractive tower at that, in my opinion.

As for your NEVER seeing the "massive traffic" some think will be generated, some of that may be because you aren't near those high rises at all hours to see all conditions? More likely "massive traffic" is less of a worry than just "increased traffic." And, again, any high rises remotely nearby that you walk past every day are in very different neighborhoods. But regardless of that, traffic on Bissonnet is bad enough in that area at certain times of day and it has been for DECADES.

"NIMBY" is a very easy thing to accuse people of being when it's someone else's neighborhood that is being affected. And as I said elsewhere, with the urban design community so constantly (and often unfairly) criticizing what they believe is Houston's total lack of planning (which we know is not the case), I sometimes think the only conceivable reason for so adamantly wanting this building built is some fetish for tall buildings no matter what the cost to the surrounding community might be.
Your post to which I responded spoke only of traffic, and that is what I responded to. Now you seem to want to change your argument to one of "scale" etc. So be it. That's a rather different discussion. I stand by my observation that high-rise residential buildings are not the large traffic generators they are portrayed as being, and focusing on traffic to oppose such projects is disingenuous at best.
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  #74  
Old Posted Mar 14, 2021, 6:43 PM
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Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
Your post to which I responded spoke only of traffic, and that is what I responded to. Now you seem to want to change your argument to one of "scale" etc. So be it. That's a rather different discussion. I stand by my observation that high-rise residential buildings are not the large traffic generators they are portrayed as being, and focusing on traffic to oppose such projects is disingenuous at best.
My post just before this post of yours also mentioned the ground floor retail/restaurant spaces in the original and possibly current plan, which I had forgotten about when I wrote my first post. This proposed project has been around for a long time...easy to forget all the details after all these years. Strictly residential buildings definitely produce less traffic than when retail, hospitality is added. But anyway, I did not mean at all to change my argument, just clarify it.

I still think that a building of this size should have higher capacity streets to serve it. If only to make it easier for residents of the building to get in and out of its garage and for traffic already on the street to not be disrupted. (Edited to add) Bissonnet is not just a narrow street, it's a narrow street that already has too much traffic on it.

When the building was first proposed, a graphic was published that clearly showed the difference in scale between the building and the two-story houses that directly back onto the property. It was pretty astonishing. So scale is an issue to me.

But even more so, there are SO many locations within a half-mile, mile or two miles of this location that would be SO much better for this project. Better for the neighborhoods they could be in, and better for the residents of the building themselves. Think about it, residents of this building will have nothing but SFH neighborhoods surrounding them in all directions. Bissonnet is not much a pleasant street for walking. The neighborhoods are nice on both sides of Bissonnet, especially North and South Boulevards, great for walking the dog, but why live in a high rise if the surrounding area is all suburban-style SFH? The Museum District, Hermann Park, Binz/Midtown, Main Street/Midtown, Rice Village/Kirby, even Montrose/Westheimer are ALL so much more suitable for high rise, urban living. I would guess that residents of this building will be using their cars a lot more than residents of high rises in those other areas.

I think it's just a stupid spot for a residential high rise. Seems like a purely speculative money-making proposal for some developer who thought they got some prime property on the cheap.

Last edited by bilbao58; Mar 14, 2021 at 7:06 PM.
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  #75  
Old Posted Mar 14, 2021, 7:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
Where do people get the notion that high-rise residential buildings are massive traffic generators? I walk past multiple high-rises in this part of Houston every day and rarely see any cars coming and going or any noticeable traffic; I've NEVER seen anything resembling the massive traffic suggested by various NIMBYs and commenters.
It's cramming 20 stories with several hundred residents in the footprint of maybe 2-3 SFH lots. I could see where traffic would bottleneck around that intersection with people coming and going.
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  #76  
Old Posted Mar 15, 2021, 7:38 PM
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Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
My post just before this post of yours also mentioned the ground floor retail/restaurant spaces in the original and possibly current plan, which I had forgotten about when I wrote my first post. This proposed project has been around for a long time...easy to forget all the details after all these years. Strictly residential buildings definitely produce less traffic than when retail, hospitality is added. But anyway, I did not mean at all to change my argument, just clarify it.

I still think that a building of this size should have higher capacity streets to serve it. If only to make it easier for residents of the building to get in and out of its garage and for traffic already on the street to not be disrupted. (Edited to add) Bissonnet is not just a narrow street, it's a narrow street that already has too much traffic on it.

When the building was first proposed, a graphic was published that clearly showed the difference in scale between the building and the two-story houses that directly back onto the property. It was pretty astonishing. So scale is an issue to me.

But even more so, there are SO many locations within a half-mile, mile or two miles of this location that would be SO much better for this project. Better for the neighborhoods they could be in, and better for the residents of the building themselves. Think about it, residents of this building will have nothing but SFH neighborhoods surrounding them in all directions. Bissonnet is not much a pleasant street for walking. The neighborhoods are nice on both sides of Bissonnet, especially North and South Boulevards, great for walking the dog, but why live in a high rise if the surrounding area is all suburban-style SFH? The Museum District, Hermann Park, Binz/Midtown, Main Street/Midtown, Rice Village/Kirby, even Montrose/Westheimer are ALL so much more suitable for high rise, urban living. I would guess that residents of this building will be using their cars a lot more than residents of high rises in those other areas.

I think it's just a stupid spot for a residential high rise. Seems like a purely speculative money-making proposal for some developer who thought they got some prime property on the cheap.
You make reasonable points regarding the scale. But you are exaggerating when you claim there is nothing but SFH in all directions. As I believe you acknowledged earlier, Bissonnet has for some time been transitioning from more or less all single family to a mix of uses, including salons, restaurants, Houston Hillel etc, plus it's a short walk to Rice University, a reasonable and pleasant walk to the MFA-H, less than a mile to Hermann Park, it's a pretty easy walk up to restaurants etc on Richmond... FWIW, I walk along Bissonnet pretty regularly. It's a perfectly nice street on which to walk.

Last edited by houston19514; Mar 15, 2021 at 7:48 PM.
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  #77  
Old Posted Mar 15, 2021, 7:54 PM
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Originally Posted by houston19514 View Post
You make reasonable points regarding the scale. But you are exaggerating when you claim there is nothing but SFH in all directions. As I believe you acknowledged earlier, Bissonnet has for some time been transitioning from more or less all single family to a mix of uses, including salons, restaurants, Houston Hillel etc, plus it's a short walk to Rice University, a reasonable and pleasant walk to the MFA-H, less than a mile to Hermann Park... FWIW, I walk along Bissonnet pretty regularly. It's a perfectly nice street on which to walk.
You're right about it being close to Rice. I had forgotten about the angles which lead everything to basically converge just a bit east of there. But other than what is directly on Bissonnet, it's a pretty good walk to get into an area that isn't mostly residential...whether townhouses, apartments or SFHs. I still say Bissonnet is, IMO, not a great street for walking, especially when contrasted with the streets and sidewalks in the Montrose/Main/Hermann Park area.




I could actually see a residential tower with retail on Bissonnet anywhere west of Greenbriar. But not between Greenbriar and Montrose.

Last edited by bilbao58; Mar 15, 2021 at 8:04 PM.
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  #78  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2021, 12:04 AM
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As someone who lived in that neighborhood until 2018, I can tell you the reason for the opposition was the incredible inappropriateness of that project, for that spot. As many others have mentioned above, you couldn't pick a worse spot to put a high-rise. All that "development" you talk about along Bissonnet is old homes being turned into yoga studios and small one-off stores. There aren't any real "developments" along that stretch. For a reason! Small two-lane street, no lights, already crowded with people going into the various subdivisions, it just made no sense.

There are plenty of places to put a building like that, not even a mile away. On streets that can support more traffic.

I'm personally not against development, I was in residential construction and land development for forty years. But we always worked with neighborhoods, not against them. Plus I moved into a high-rise about 2-3 miles away, so in the right spot, density is wonderful.

My .02
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  #79  
Old Posted Oct 9, 2021, 1:32 PM
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As someone who lived in that neighborhood until 2018, I can tell you the reason for the opposition was the incredible inappropriateness of that project, for that spot. As many others have mentioned above, you couldn't pick a worse spot to put a high-rise. All that "development" you talk about along Bissonnet is old homes being turned into yoga studios and small one-off stores. There aren't any real "developments" along that stretch. For a reason! Small two-lane street, no lights, already crowded with people going into the various subdivisions, it just made no sense.

There are plenty of places to put a building like that, not even a mile away. On streets that can support more traffic.

I'm personally not against development, I was in residential construction and land development for forty years. But we always worked with neighborhoods, not against them. Plus I moved into a high-rise about 2-3 miles away, so in the right spot, density is wonderful.

My .02
Funny enough, a user with this same handle on HAIF had this to contribute this week...


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I drove by this site yesterday. They were drilling core samples, and there were a few other pieces of construction equipment on site, that I had not noticed before.
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  #80  
Old Posted Nov 17, 2022, 2:16 PM
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Somehow this thread has not been updated. 1717 Bissonnet is dead. The Langley is now being proposed for this space.

The Tower will be 20 Stories & 228' according to the FAA filing

From May...

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Exclusive-Six-years-after-Ashby-high-rise-17139055.php


Quote:
Exclusive: 6 years after Ashby high-rise controversy, a new luxury apartment tower planned for site

Marissa Luck,
Staff Writer
May 2, 2022
Updated: May 3, 2022 8:31 a.m.

Since a judge sided with developers of the so-called Ashby high-rise in 2016, the grassy lot at the center of one of the most closely watched land-use battles in Houston’s history has sat untouched, surrounded by chain-link fencing.

Now, the owners of the property are resurrecting efforts to build a high-rise residential tower at the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby Street near Rice University. They have brought in a new development team and a scaled-down version of the original plans they hope will win over neighbors who fiercely opposed the earlier iteration.

Hunt Companies of El Paso is partnering with Dallas-based StreetLights Residential to build a 20-story luxury apartment community called The Langley. They plan to break ground in November and complete construction by 2025. The tower is one story lower with 94 fewer units than a 2016 version of the project. The new proposal also features a smaller parking garage at three levels instead of five.

Fewer units mean fewer residents, which the developers hope will ease concerns over traffic on the two-lane streets surrounding the site — a key point of contention for the prior proposal.

The proposed 134-unit building features unusually large two- and three-bedroom apartments, mimicking the spaciousness of a single-family home. The Langley’s average unit size is 2,850 square feet, more than double the size of the average 888-square-foot apartment in Houston, according to RentCafe, an apartment search website.
Renderings from article









Permit for general buildout has now been issued w/ COH

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