Houston City Council rejects Ashby high-rise mixed use appeal

Project remains in limbo

Jay Blazek Crossley, Dec 09, 09.

Houston City Council rejected an appeal from Buckhead Investment Partners to allow them to pursue their original plans for a 23-story, mixed-use development at Ashby and Bissonnet, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The city approved a version of the plans in August that did not include the mixed aspects, but the developers claim they submitted that version of the plans only to see what the city would do and have no intention of building anything other than their original proposal, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The Ashby high-rise proposal and the city’s reaction have provided fire for the planning debate in Houston for the past several years:

Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, whose district includes the site and who has joined neighbors in opposing the project, said rejecting the appeal was important to preserve the city’s authority to impose reasonable regulations to prevent new developments from having adverse effects such as extreme traffic congestion.

Between July 2007 and August of this year, city officials rejected applications for the project 11 times on grounds that traffic it generated would increase congestion on nearby streets to unacceptable levels.