Heights - River Oaks - Montrose Edition | Sept. 2020

NEIGHBORHOODNOTES

COMPILED BY EMMA WHALEN

WHITE OAK BAYOU

W A S H I N G T O N A V E .

BUFFALO BAYOU

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1 FIRSTWARD Local, state, federal infrastructure proposals converge An upcoming feasibility study on renovating or relocating the Hurricane Harvey-damaged Central Municipal Courts Building in First Ward is the latest in a series of signicant infrastructure proposals in the area. Houston City Council approved a $200,000 allocation for the study Aug. 19 to fulll a requirement for using Federal Emergency Management Agency- designated funds for Harvey-related repairs, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. The study comes alongside the design phases for both the $7 billion overhaul of I-45 led by the Texas Department of Transportation and the $250 million North Canal ood mitigation project led by a combination of local, state and federal ocials. A Houston-Galveston Area Council work group is developing the next steps to attempt to resolve I-45 design issues with TxDOT. Meanwhile, the North Canal Project, which will reroute White Oak Bayou along downtown, could have a design rm chosen by the end of 2020, according to an Aug. 6 brieng. 2 MONTROSE After legal resolution, management district takes steps toward comeback After years of lying dormant, the Montrose Management District could soon resume operations after a legal battle led the district to dissolve its board in 2018. In a letter to the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone dated July 9, district board Vice Chair Steve Madden said the board is interested in partnering with the TIRZ to support projects in the area. The management district is restructuring its board, he said, and will conduct community outreach meetings as it develops a service plan with a maximum proposed assessment of $0.10 per $100 of

valuation of commercial properties in the area, as well as a prorated assessment on some mid- and high-rise apartments. If successful, the district could resume services by 2022. The district voted to dissolve its board in 2018 while appealing a county judge’s ruling that the district had improperly assessed some property owners. That case was dismissed by state and county courts after the district and the plaintis agreed to reach a settlement in May 2019.

The Victor Street shotgun home renovations began in mid-August.

3 FOURTHWARD Victor Street home renovations delayed After announcing in October 2019 his plans to rehabilitate the last consecutive row of shotgun homes in Fourth Ward, local developer Neal Dikeman began the project in mid-August. His plans to renovate the homes following strict historic standards aim to honor the history of the Freedmen’s Town neighborhood, which was established by freed slaves after Juneteenth. Dikeman’s plans hit a snag throughout the fall and spring, he said because of permitting delays that also set him back on two of his historic rehabilitations in the Heights. After completing those projects, Dikeman said he had crews begin work on the shotgun homes, which he plans to rent out at market rates. While historically accurate renovations can be expensive, Dikeman said his expertise allows him to do so while keeping costs down.

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