I believe the reaction is to the loss of a busy, popular gay nightclub and the realization that something far more sterile and less interesting will replace it, regardless of how well they do the ground floor retail.
By all means -
In all sincerity, I had read two separate threads of thought going on above, and did not at all mean to imply that what might come of that parcel could be better than what was there.
I was specifically referring to:
A drab research building filled with a few hundred of the most boring people you'll ever meet. Just a hunch.
...and all I was trying to say is that not every lab building in the area is 100% labs
But a fast casual restaurant bro, that's tough to beat. There's also a fitness center.
I couldn't agree more with your sarcasm. Again, this was not a comparison to the prior establishment. Meant it only as a comparison to the Kendall area lab buildings that are 9-5/all work/not open to public/etc. My point in mentioning the range of businesses was solely to highlight the 18hr/day site utilization of the counter-example, because a common critique in this area is that entire blocks shut down outside of 9-5.
I do think there are two sentiments here:
1) loss of key establishment
2) how awful most of the lab buildings are
My commentary was solely meant as a counter example to #2.
EDIT: btw, Paradise is at the Central-Kendall borderlands, so obviously what one is thinking about in terms of the neighborhood depends on whether you're conceptualizing it as Central or Kendall...from kmp's comment, I assumed s/he was critiquing greater Kendall (e.g., "drab research building")
