Does anyone know the status of that huge building that was suppose to across the street? It started as Ballpark Place then I think became Strait Away Center But I havn't heard anything about it in a while. Maybe real estate in downtown still sucks.
The line about how the stadium was supposed to invigorate the area around it has been proven to be complete crap. We got a hotel (Ballpark Inn). That's it. Usually when real estate projects like Ballpark Place are delayed for 5 years, I think it's safe to say that it ain't getting built.
There have been other developments in that area. That area used to be crap before mmp. The reason it has been slow is because Enron went under so there were two huge high rises that were completly empty. It would be nice to see more stuff though
Because who the hell wants to pay $1500 bucks a month to live in that area? Don't get me wrong I'd love to live right across from the ballpark, but I'm not going to overpay for a small loft built right next to one of the busiest freeways in town for it...
The Ballpark Place was delayed due to financing issues with the owners. As for the rest, I'll just nod in agreement with Master Baiter on this one.
holy damn! $1500? that's like 1500 double cheeseburgers at Mcdonald's. well. probably more like 1380 double cheeseburgers b/c of tax.
I hear around 81 times a summer about 35,000 people make it to that area of downtown. That wasn't happening before 2000.
I pulled that number out of my ass but I imagine they are just like most other new lofts inside 610, and probably well over 1k a month for a decent one. They have some horrible ratings... http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/TX-Houston-Lofts-at-the-Ballpark.html
Jeff, you've got to admit that the area around MMP (I'm not talking about the entire downtown area, as you guys are trying to divert the attention to...) has not developed nearly like what was promised. Aside from a bar or two and a hotel, what else is there?
Because the development of the "night life" was stopped due to the fact that a couple of the churches by the ballpark are also "schools" so they can't build places that sell liquor within a few blocks of them. There are also some disputes over land value of the area to the NE of the park where there is currently run-down areas (towards city hall). The owners think the land is made of gold, when it's not.
Yeah...the Hilton next to the Toyota Center (uh, when was that built? After MMP?) is a piece of crap hotel.
Sadly, I completely agree. There is no where near the "life" around the ballpark I suspected there would be by now. No where near. One hotel...one bar. That's it. Parking lots as far as the eye can see surrounding the stadium, past that. The Ballpark Inn can't fill. It has ridiculously low occupancy rates...because there's NOTHING around it. Particularly during the baseball offseason. Visit Coors Field in Colorado...or the area around Camden. There is FAR more development there than we have here. And there was very early on in those places. Ballpark Place ran into funding problems...but the land was so drastically overvalued, it was silly. It makes development very, very slow. The good news is that it can change. That areas surrounding Fenway and Wrigley have been growing up around a park for 100 years. If we have that long with MMP, development will continue. But so far, it's hardly been what I expected in terms of spurring development.
that had to be publicly funded to be built, right? it's a great hotel. but it is there because of the convention center, primarily. not because of MMP. by the way..there is no bigger fan of MMP than me! I freaking love that place and I'm glad it's there. I've just been very disappointed in the development surrounding it.
C'mon bigtexx...even you can't be that shortsighted. The ballpark's existence is the reason Toyota Center exists. Those two together have created space for over 20 restaurants, 6 new hotels (including the Hilton), a massive renovation of at least a dozen buildings in the area and an expansion of quality living space within a dozen blocks - and, YES, that is close when you consider it is downtown. I walked from Toyota Center to Spaghetti Warehouse and back on a Saturday without any real fatigue. Like most downtowns, ours has begun to split into districts - theatre district on the northwest side, business distrct from city hall east through central downtown, entertainment along Main Street between Franklin and Foley's and the convention and large entertainment space on the city's east side. I don't know if you spent any time at all downtown in the late 80's or early 90's, but I did. I rehearsed in the warehouse district and played at a few bars down there. Compared to then, downtown is a freaking paradise with a million things to do. It is still growing and changing, but a lot of it happens organically - people have to decide where to congregate and business has to adjust. I can tell you though that no developer expected property values on the east side of downtown to go up more than 20 times and they have done that and then some. All of this was the result of the building of the ballpark and that one referendum in 1996 that passed by fewer than 2000 votes.
i agree downtown is far better. and MMP is a huge part of that. but the development in the area immediately surrounding MMP is disappointing. it's part of the baseball experience in other cities that we are still lacking.
