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Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/news/2007/10/05/houston_hillel_exodus

October 5, 2007 > News > New high-rise construction forces Houston Hillel exodus

New high-rise construction forces Houston Hillel exodus

By Margeux Clemmons | For the Thresher

Houston Hillel will be displaced if a planned 23-story high rise project north of campus comes to fruition.

Lauren Henderson, Rice Student Board President of Hillel, said Hillel directors are already searching for a new location because the proposed Ashby high-rise which, would be built the street from Hillel, will block-off student access to the facility.

Over 100 local residents and protestors gathered at 1801 Bissonnet Wednesday to protest the high-rise that will be built at the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby Street.

“Hillel voted last night to formally oppose the project,” Henderson said. “It wasn’t contested at all.”

In addition to Hillel, the high-rise will also displace many off-campus Rice students.

Jones College junior Alex Mrozack, a resident at the current Maryland Manor apartment complex that Ashby high-rise will replace, said he and fellow Rice students have only signed a lease through November. After that, he was told leases might or might not be available on a month to month basis.

Members of the Boulevard Oaks Civic Association and Southampton Civic Club said the environmental advantages of the high density building are secondary to the problems it would create. They took their concerns to the street, shouting, “The people have the power to stop this tower!” and hoisted signs reading, “Tower of Babel; tower of greed.” Drivers passing by honked horns in support of the neighborhood’s cause, and nearly every yard sported a sign reading, “Tower of Traffic: Stop Ashby high-rise!”

If the high-rise, designed by developers Kevin Kirton and Matthew Morgan, is built, it will feature restaurants, shops, parking and at least 187 apartments. It will also be Houston’s first Silver Level LEED Certified residential high-rise, according to a presentation posted on www.stopashbyhighrise.org.

Although the Ashby High Rise plans to have 467 parking spaces, the concern is that traffic caused by the residential and commercial features of building will clog the already automobile-laden Bissonnet.

Anne Clutterbuck, Houston City Council Member of District C, said she was concerned about the access capacity for emergency vehicles.

Clutterbuck said Boulevard Oaks and Southampton residents were prepared to appeal to state law if necessary to delay the high-rise plans.

“We have the authority under a Texas local government code to issue a 120 day temporary moratorium that would enable us to enact an ordinance to address [the Ashby high-rise],” Clutterbuck said.

Nearly 100 residents attended a Houston City Council session backed by state representatives and Mayor Bill White Tuesday evening to voice the concerns.

Some residents said it was not the high-density living they opposed, but the scale of the 23-story building in comparison to the 30-foot-high homes surrounding the 1.7-acre building site.

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