Development drama
In latest twist, area residents file suit against Ashby high-rise developer who claims to be "green"
Even as crews begin demolition of the Maryland Manor apartments at 1717 Bissonnet to make way for a mixed-use development, the vocal Ashby high-rise opposition group is still scrambling to keep the project from lifting off.
The latest? A group of area residents filed suit against the developer earlier this week, claiming that the 21-story "Tower of Traffic" will "cause harm to them and their homes" and interfere with the neighboring residents' ability to "maintain their gardens" by blocking sunshine and rainfall, as the Houston Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff first reported.
The seven neighborhood plaintiffs also claimed that the high-rise will affect the privacy of area homeowners and that the removal of an old oak tree will "further erode the character of the neighborhood and diminish surrounding property values."
Meanwhile, Buckhead Investment Partners, the developer behind the contentious project, is playing the walkability card. "The plaintiffs seek to stop a lawful project on unrestricted land that will replace a dilapidated apartment complex with a nationally-recognized "green" building that will promote walkable, transit-oriented urban living," officials wrote in a statement to the Chronicle.
