Oct. 18, 2006, 6:19PM
Developer of Bolsover site gets approval from Houston council
By JENNIFER FRIEDBERG
Chronicle Correspondent
Houston City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with sale and abandonment of the 2400 block of Bolsover Street in Rice Village to make way for a condominium and retail development.
Developer Lamesa Village Ltd. intends to create a project with an open pedestrian plaza. The next step is to get an appraisal of the street, after which the final contract would go back to council for final approval.
A group of nine residents and Rice Village business tenants attended council's Tuesday public comment meeting to oppose the abandonment.
The project on Bolsover between Kelvin and Morningside streets would have retail stores facing into the plaza. Above the shops would be 230 to 250 condo units costing about $500,000 each.
Julie Tysor, vice president of developer The Appelt Co. and of the general partner of Lamesa Properties, described the plan as, "a true mixed use development similar to East Coast and West Coast developments you've seen in dense urban areas."
Parking would be hidden behind the stores and underground with 500 spaces for residents and 400 spaces for retail visitors. There also would be some street parking.
As the plan stands, Lamesa is creating 160 more parking spots than what is required by city ordinance.
"We are long-time owners and landlords in the village," Tysor said. "It is a unique community in Houston that isn't replicated anyplace else. It is ripe for redevelopment to benefit the surrounding residents as well as the University and Medical Center. The current trends in Houston all call for a development like this."
At the Tuesday meeting, residents said parking and traffic were among their primary concerns.
Ronald Stein, a 30-year tenant of the village with a real estate office in the 2400 block of Times Boulevard, told council the development was a detriment to traffic and safety of the village.
"It's a very, very unique and very, very small parcel of Houston. It's two blocks by five blocks," he said. "This large project proposed on Bolsover will do nothing but harm.
"I don't think an adequate study has been done regarding traffic, safety and parking," he said before the meeting.
Resident Sallie Hightower of the 2200 block of Robinhood Street said she has lived in the Rice Village area for 40 years and would like to see the developer do the right thing for the community.
"I understand that individual rights are important and the developer does have the right to develop that property," she said. "Just because you have the right to do something, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."
Southampton resident Robert Glaser of the 2100 block of Tangley said, "I understand there is urbanization going on but there is no way the infrastructure in place can handle the increased density in this area."
Judith Snively, a lawyer whose practice is located in the 2400 block of Times, said she also doesn't trust the traffic study Lamesa had done.
"I'm on that street almost every day myself right now," she said. "I don't think we're against a building being put in, but closing a street that is so precious to us ... how is that going to benefit the city? That is just going to make traffic worse."
Lamesa hired Traffic Engineers Inc., a 35-year-old Houston company, to perform a study as part of the abandonment request. The Department of Public Works and Engineering asked for a supplemental study, which was done.
After reviewing both studies, the department recommended abandonment, given several conditions.
The conditions include:
•Installing left-turn lanes on Kelvin and Morningside at the Rice Boulevard intersection;
•Adding right of way space to the east side of Kelvin Street and west side of Morningside Street, where angled parking spaces would be added; and,
•Constructing a four-foot wide sidewalk on Kelvin and Morningside between Bolsover and Dunstan streets to comply with American with Disabilities Act standards.
District C council member Anne Clutterbuck said not closing Bolsover Street would make for a very different development without green space.
Of the study she said, "I'm satisfied the counts were accurate. Traffic is always going to be a problem in the village and it will continue to be whether we approve the abandonment or not."
Bolsover would not be the first street in Rice Village the city has abandoned to a developer. Part of Amherst Street was ceded to Weingarten Realty for parking.
Clutterbuck cited the Amherst Street abandonment Tuesday in promoting her amendment to the motion for abandonment, which allows council to specify the approved use of Bolsover. The amendment passed.
"We have been burned in the past," Clutterbuck said of Amherst Street.
She said Weingarten originally told council the parking garage would be free to the public, but it is now paid parking.
Clutterbuck said there also would be provisions in the contract for the sale and abandonment, saying if Bolsover Street were not used as specified, the city would get to keep the money from the sale and get its street back.
"This amendment amplifies that," she said.
Tysor said the amendment is fine with her.
"We intend to build what we've proposed to the community so this doesn't present a problem to me," Tysor said.
Before the vote Wednesday, at-large council member Peter Brown said he supports the project because it "provides some civic public space that we need so desperately in our city."
Clutterbuck said the issue was of particular interest to her not only because Rice Village is in her district, but also because she lives five blocks from the proposed development.
"I have put more time into this particular issue than probably any other since I've been on City Council," she said. "When I look at this project, I look at what is in the best interest of not only Rice Village, but also adjoining communities and the city as a whole."
She explained why she supports the project saying City Council cannot regulate the height or density of developments, but it can regulate parking, green space and setbacks.
Given those limitations, Clutterbuck said this proposal exceeds the city's requirements for parking, meets the setback and "I like that it's going to turn a large portion back into green space."
Clutterbuck said density is coming to the inner core.
"(The development) will satisfy an increasing need for density and may forestall additional development," she said.
Tysor said tenants of the current building on Bolsover are being relocated and some might come back to occupy the new space.
Current tenants include Nit Noi Thai Restaurant, Café Rabelais, Creations From the Heart Flowers and Gifts, and the Eastern Carpet House.
Tysor said Lamesa would not have commitments from new retailers until the plans are finalized, but the space would include approximately 100,000 square feet of retail space, which could hold about eight to 10 businesses.
She said she expects, "a few restaurants, hopefully a boutique, a grocer and some high-end soft goods retailers" such as shoe or clothing stores.
Once the appraisal is done, the proposal goes back to Houston council for final approval.
Tysor said construction would likely begin in spring 2007 and it would take 18 months to complete.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/4269484.html