I've blogged before about the impending development in the Rice Village that would close off a block of Bolsover and replace the little strip center there now with a high-rise mixed-use thing. The picture above gives a brief view of the coming attractions, and it's got some area folks a tad bit worked up.
"The bohemians and hippies might not be so bad, if they don't drive," a caller from Southampton Place said. "But, this community simply can't handle any more lawyers -- with or without cars." Perhaps fearing litigation from a future neighbor, the source asked not to be identified.While construction of the project awaits the establishment of a sales price from the city of Houston to complete the street abandonment, Randall Davis, who is handling the disposition of the 225 condominiums, said a sales office will open March 1.
[...]
According to Davis, work on Phase 1 of the project along the north side of Bolsover will tentatively begin in late July and be completed in January 2009. When finished it will be comprised of 80,000 square feet of retail space and 125 condominiums.
Phase 2, which be located on the opposite side of the street, has no current timetable and will add 50,000 square feet for merchants and 100 living spaces.
Asked about the "bohemians, attorneys and hippies" reference in his sign, Davis said, "it means whatever you want it to mean."
He declined to comment on how many bohemians and hippies he thought could afford to live in Sonoma.
"I think advertising is about making people read a sign," Davis said.
Well, it worked, and whatever it means (Lord knows I couldn't tell you) it's done the job of making people look. Whether it gets them to buy or not, we'll see.
In related news, the Chron somewhat belatedly came out against the proposal to close off Bolsover. I'm not sure why they wrote about it at this time, and I'm not sure I agree with them. The problem in that area is more with north-south traffic - Kirby is a mess and it's going to get much worse in the short term - not so much the one block of east-west traffic that stretch of Bolsover represents. The project includes some improvements on Kelvin and Morningside, which would help the north-south traffic flow a little bit. I can't say I'm in love with the idea of selling off public streets, but I don't think the traffic concerns the Chron raises are the issue here.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 30, 2007 to Elsewhere in Houston