Downtown update (San Antonio, Lubbock, Howe: hotels, construction, quality of life)

[shoe01]

McDougal shares downtown Lubbock updates | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Biggest news is probably the new 161-room hotel next to the Wells Fargo Building. The old Radisson renovation was announced a few months ago.

Anything like what McDougal hinted at is an improvement. Like the commenter in the article said, the Overton redevelopment seemed "impossible" to accomplish when it was first being discussed, but it looks 50x better now.

[case44]

Depending on how many rooms that new hotel will have on each floor, I'm not expecting too much where height is concerned. What's not known yet is what brand the new hotel will get. And don't be surprised if it ends up being something that Lubbock doesn't currently have.

Still needed in Downtown: 30 and 40-story high-rise buildings (usually with office space, but I'll take anything at this point), just anything that will dwarf the NTS Tower. Downtown needs more of an identity, a distinctive personality. A skyline has to be part of the equation. Kudos to what McDougal has delivered up to this point, but more work has to be done.

[shoe01]

https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...te/4460967001/

I drove by the Cotton Court on my last visit, and thought that it was impressive. It’s just that a good portion of the immediate surroundings could use work (although Dirk’s Chicken gets high marks). Buddy Holly Hall is likely one of the best performing arts centers in the state. However, aside from LHUCA, the next-door vicinity is largely unremarkable. Hopefully the planned convention hotel and the new grad student housing complex change that.

The writer mentions how the arts district on the far north side and the Depot District on the far SE corner are a mile away from each other. To add to that, the Cotton Court, the Doubletree, the MCM Elegante, and other hotels are in the far west/NW area. Citizens Tower, upscale housing, and some of the more popular restaurants are close to the center. If the Lime scooters were still around, that might be less of an issue, but it’s still an obstacle.

Still, good to see the optimism from those in charge.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by shoe01

https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...te/4460967001/

I drove by the Cotton Court on my last visit, and thought that it was impressive. It’s just that a good portion of the immediate surroundings could use work (although Dirk’s Chicken gets high marks). Buddy Holly Hall is likely one of the best performing arts centers in the state. However, aside from LHUCA, the next-door vicinity is largely unremarkable. Hopefully the planned convention hotel and the new grad student housing complex change that.

The writer mentions how the arts district on the far north side and the Depot District on the far SE corner are a mile away from each other. To add to that, the Cotton Court, the Doubletree, the MCM Elegante, and other hotels are in the far west/NW area. Citizens Tower, upscale housing, and some of the more popular restaurants are close to the center. If the Lime scooters were still around, that might be less of an issue, but it’s still an obstacle.

Still, good to see the optimism from those in charge.

I remember talking about one of those Downtown plans on here over a decade ago. I didn’t realize none of that plan was being implemented.

From the article:

Mayor Dan Pope agreed with the investments that need to be made now. Pope has long been an advocate for downtown. He says downtown is for everyone, and everyone in the city should be wanting a revitalized downtown. Pope talks a lot about quality of life and making Lubbock an attractive city for young adults — this starts with a vibrant downtown.

This is unusually on-point for a Lubbock Boomer. He’s exactly right.

Granted, the aquifer and topsoil depletion are occurring at rates that I genuinely believe Lubbock will depopulate within my lifetime, but it seems like all that’s needed to attract private capital interest to Downtown for now is to designate a special tax district. Lower taxes for the district and earmark the revenue for improvements for Downtown-specific infrastructure.

Avenue J between the arts district and Depot District should be shut off to regular traffic, narrowed for wider sidewalks and greenery like they talk about in this article, and the city should set up a cooperation between Depot businesses and events centers to subsidize a free bus between the two districts on event nights. Same with Tech on game nights and weekend nights.

The brick roads are actually very durable and historic. Very few other cities have brick roads in the quantity seen in Lubbock, and they should be celebrated. As their target demographic perfectly qualified to comment on this sort of thing, I think the bricks could be celebrated by putting them anywhere you want to designate a pedestrian plaza like I mentioned with Avenue J. Many of the streets Downtown aren't particularly needed for traffic flow because it’s a near-perfect grid.

Finally, as part of this special district designation, parking lots should be disincentivized. Parking lot space should be taxed at higher rates than occupied buildings, and any city parking codes shouldn’t apply to Downtown. That whole area is so vacant that there’s more than enough room to have free street parking everywhere to meet demand.

I can’t tell if the hesitation by city council is laziness or deliberate neglect out of misguided priorities, but I just gave them a couple thousand bucks’ worth of free advice here. Maybe I could build my solo portfolio by doing discount consulting and design for them.

[shoe01]

https://www.kcbd.com/2021/04/28/lpl-...tems-downtown/

So if my math is correct, 49/55 LP&L lines should be invisible by the end of next year.

[shoe01]

New civic park approved just SW of the Metro Tower (formerly NTS Building), along Broadway:

https://www.fox34.com/2021/09/29/lub...-park-project/

The land is currently occupied by the LP&L Building.

[case44]

Here's a new website from a new group of people who want a hand in helping Downtown Lubbock get to the next level. The McDougal folks have some competition now.

https://www.overlandpartners.com/pro...k-master-plan/

Thoughts?

[shoe01]

Originally Posted by case44

Here's a new website from a new group of people who want a hand in helping Downtown Lubbock get to the next level. The McDougal folks have some competition now.

https://www.overlandpartners.com/pro...k-master-plan/

Thoughts?

Don’t know if it’s competition, as much as an architectural consulting firm (I think) hired by the city to provide ideas that were impressive, but not cost-prohibitive. Overland Partners is based in San Antonio, while McDougal Companies is headquartered in Lubbock.

[shoe01]

New road construction on Ave. Q

Saw on another article that 19th St. improvements could follow.

[shoe01]

Downtown civic park could open in 2024:

https://www.everythinglubbock.com/ne...ntown-lubbock/