Vistana San Antonio

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Complex01

These are not the same colors as the Tower Life Building, The TLB is green at the top

The Tower Life Building is green at the top because the top (the dome) is made of copper. Copper oxidizes from a chemical reaction between the metal itself and the oxygen in the air which causes it to turn green. Copper can also be forced to turn green by adding a chemical compound to get the desired "patina".

More here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patina

About copper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper


One very well known hunk of copper resides in New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty. Also pennies made from before about 1981 are made of copper. The newer ones made after that time however, are made of zinc. They stopped making pennies out of copper because copper prices have risen over the years to make the amount of copper in a penny worth more than the penny itself. Zinc is a much cheaper material, however, it doesn't last nearly as long if left to the elements. My dad and I used to go screening for old coins and jewelery in the creeks downtown and you could always tell the difference between a copper penny and one made of zinc. The copper one would be black or green, while the zinc penny would just be an unidentifiable disk and would actually crumble in your hands. The reason pennies are still that familiar copper color is of course because they're plated/coated with it over the zinc.

[texboy]

WOW! I didn't realize how nit picked Id be on here...I mean honestly...complex referring to the green at the top of the tower life...Kevin, yer talking about "narrow strips" of material. All Im sayin is this building has similar colors to tower life...not EXACTLY...and yes ALOT of the buildings going up in Austin have ALOT of glass on them! I guess next time I can't be general, other wise Ill be masacred! I can really see how SA forumers can get slightly...um...hacked off on here...good grief! And comlex the Tower life is in the Deco style...of course it looks dated...by like oh say 80-90 years?

Wow...

[starvinggryphon]

Originally Posted by texboy

WOW! I didn't realize how nit picked Id be on here...I mean honestly...complex referring to the green at the top of the tower life...Kevin, yer talking about "narrow strips" of material. All Im sayin is this building has similar colors to tower life...not EXACTLY...and yes ALOT of the buildings going up in Austin have ALOT of glass on them! I guess next time I can't be general, other wise Ill be masacred! I can really see how SA forumers can get slightly...um...hacked off on here...good grief! And comlex the Tower life is in the Deco style...of course it looks dated...by like oh say 80-90 years?

Wow...

Sorry Texboy. I just have to say that the Tower Life Building is actually Neo-Gothic, not Deco. Didn't mean to nit-pick.

[texboy]

whatever..

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by texboy

WOW! I didn't realize how nit picked Id be on here...I mean honestly...complex referring to the green at the top of the tower life...Kevin, yer talking about "narrow strips" of material. All Im sayin is this building has similar colors to tower life...not EXACTLY...and yes ALOT of the buildings going up in Austin have ALOT of glass on them! I guess next time I can't be general, other wise Ill be masacred! I can really see how SA forumers can get slightly...um...hacked off on here...good grief! And comlex the Tower life is in the Deco style...of course it looks dated...by like oh say 80-90 years?

Wow...

Sorry. No offense, I didn't mean to nit pick or whatever. I just thought that it should be mentioned. This is actually the first time that Austin has seen so much glass. Ask any of the Austin forumers and they'll tell you they're glad to see it. We were starting to wonder if we'd only ever see stone facades. Of course I really like the stone facades. The material comes from right here in Texas, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, Marble Falls, Granite Shoals. So I do like it since it's local it gives off that sense of place.

Either way, I really like The Vistana and I like San Antonio's style.

[jaga185]

I am glad San Antonio is keeping an identity. Glass is good, but we don't want to be Austin now don't we? Austin can have it's glass, and we can keep our brown's mixed with modern looks, if that makes sense.

[21bl0wed]

Originally Posted by jaga185

I am glad San Antonio is keeping an identity. Glass is good, but we don't want to be Austin now don't we? Austin can have it's glass, and we can keep our brown's mixed with modern looks, if that makes sense.

So since we can't be like any other city we can't have one kick ass lookin all glass building? Yea lets stop the good from comin here, cause we don't want to look like other places.

We really should tear down all the marriots and other large hotel chains we have dt too...i mean shit other cities have those same hotel brands in their dts! oh no!

[ydoc14]

Originally Posted by 21bl0wed

So since we can't be like any other city we can't have one kick ass lookin all glass building?

We do, One Riverwalk Place

[21bl0wed]

Originally Posted by ydoc14

We do, One Riverwalk Place

It's all black and looks like shit..you know what i mean

[kornbread]

Originally Posted by 21bl0wed

It's all black and looks like shit..you know what i mean

So change the tint...

[ydoc14]

Originally Posted by 21bl0wed

It's all black and looks like shit..you know what i mean

Yeah I was just kidding

[matttwentyeight]

i'm glad everyone is as excited as i am to talk about vistana & the tower of life building... and yes i am being as sarcastic as can be, when i say that!

PERSONALLY (and y'all can nit-pick or say whatever you want about this cause it don't bother me), i think that vistana looks very much like the tower of life & SA express news buildings but with a more modern flair because of the amount of glass is more (not excessively) in vistana than the others, and the fact that there is chrome throughout the design.

the fact that austin is building many mostly-glass buildings is very cool and fitting for a city that is quite chic and hip... i mean, austin and san antonio have 2 totally different types of feelings when you are in either one of them! austin has town lake with its lush and clean banks; glass buildings add to a reflection already taking place. san antonio has its history and the riverwalk, both of which are prevalent in the skyline; the building's designs are more stone & ceramic which are materials more fitting for a history laden river city!

i do wish that san antonio did have more glass in its buildings designs though, but san antonio is very much so stalled in the past right now, both the buildings' and the people's mindsets... which i think (AND HOPE) is slowly changing as we speak!

and for anyone who says that that are glad that san antonio is keeping their unique look and is happy that SA isn't looking like any other city, i hope that you NEVER run for HDRC or the city council! i also think that whenever they talk about san antonio keeping its own style or whatnot, it's just a copout for the simple fact that we don't currently have any truly modern styled buildings that would have features such as sharp edges and mirrored crystal clean glass!

i have much more to say, but i have spent too much time on this topic... even though i will say i did like kevin's story about his father and him "treasure hunting..." that is really cool!!! made me think of when we would put pennies on the RR tracks to watch them get smushed, when i was young!

[KevinFromTexas]

I like that there are differences between Austin and San Antonio. It makes it interesting for me at least to visit San Antonio, a city that is much different than my own. Besides being a fun and cool city, wonderfully steeped in history and culture, it is also very different than the traditional Texas city and makes for an interesting time every time I go.

@ Matt, yep. My dad and I would go down to Shoal Creek and Waller Creek in downtown. He took 4 pieces of 2x4 about 2 feet long and built a frame and covered it on one side with a metal mesh to create a screen. You'd get in the water and take a shovel and scoop out the bottom. All the metals and "stuff" would collect in dips and holes in the creek bed. You'd scoop it up and dump it in the screen then sift it out to get out the sand. Things like coins and jewery would stay in the screen. Big stuff like larger hunks of metal and rocks would have to be thrown out. Then you'd look through for smaller items like gold chains and ear rings. We never actually found anything like that, though. We did however find silver coins and of course just change. One time my brother went with my dad and his friend and they made a deal with him that he could have all the change they found that weekend. They ended up finding 10 dollars in change. The greatest moment I remember was when I found a Clubhouse Saloon token. This is a token of course to an old saloon. Well anyway, I had dumped all the stuff into the screen and started digging through it and sifting it. I got down to all the coins and interesting items. I started picking out all the coins and pocketed them. Then there was this one that was a different size. The token is about the size of a quarter, but of course the markings were different. I had no idea what it was so I called my dad over. He comes over and his jaw drops and shakes his head. And tells me what it is. I still didn't quite get it, but he said it would be worth a lot of money. A few weeks later my godfather who also collects old coins and even stamps offered 200 dollars for it. I declined since I wanted to keep it. That was about 12 years ago and I still have it. We also found silver coins, mostly stuff from as far back as the 40s and 50s, mostly silver dimes and a few quarters. They quit making silver coins for circulation in 1965. So if you have a dime, quarter, 50 cent piece or a dollar that is dated 1964 or before that date, it'll be silver. I've actually gotten silver coins in change before. It's rare to see them in circulation still, but sometimes people just don't realize what they have. We also found a lot of wheat pennies and buffalo nickels. These date from the 1940s, (the nickels), and the pennies go back to about 1900. These were the penny designs that predated the modern day penny.

[jaga185]

Well, its not that its a copout, its just trying to optimistic in that we don't have modern looking structures. I mean I would love to have all the "modern flair", would I love to bring SA into the 21st century, hell yeah...but I'll just compliment the little gems we are getting right now. Like the Vistana, I like it.

[KevinFromTexas]

Fort Worth is doing a great job with new buildings reflecting the city's architectural past. I would like to see San Antonio do the same. San Antonio already has a great thing going downtown with its architecture. Play to that strength, build on it. Don't worry so much with trying to build more modern buildings. In my opinion the ones that have tried to do that thus far look out of place. More buildings like The Vistana would greatly compliment the older buildings and carry on the tradition of the city's architecture. I just hope that whatever buildings do come along that merely try to mimic that style actually pull it off. Some hotel chains can really mar up old styles. Here in Austin one that comes to mind is a 16-story Hampton Inn & Suites. The building was made to look like a 1920s/30s building, but it just looks cheap. The Vistana on the other hand does look authentic. My only gripe is that parking garage treatment, but that could be alright if they cover it up with vegetation as the rendering shows.

Go here to see a few of Fort Worth's new buildings. Some of these are modern, some aren't. Check out the Carnegie Building. Great design.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=135156

[EAC2]

Greetings from a long time reader. For the next few months I will be posting about the Vistana from my perspective as the developer. I will try to provide background regarding our concept, the team which is working on the projects, the architects (four) and the ups and downs of construction. As this progresses, you may want to refer to the project web page, www.thevistana.com. Pay particular attention to the web cam (button on the opening page, bottom left). this updates every ten minutes, so you can follow our progress in real time. The web cam is mounted on a roof soffet on the Santa Rosa Hospital, catte-corner from the project. Besides looking at it frequently myself, we intend to compile the images into a 3 minute movie of the construction. We are schedule to move the first residents in on November 1st and complete the building by December 31st.
One other note, please feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer promptly.

[sirkingwilliam]

Wow, another local San Antonio developer. Nice to have you here!

Does Cross and Co have another other high rise projects in the pipeline? I know you guys are doing Broadway Lofts, but is there anything else?

[EAC2]

in this Sunday's Express News, Paula Allen wrote about the history of the Vistana Site. here is the link:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/...enewal100.html

[sakyle04]

an insider tells me that the Sterling Bank lease stipulates that they have to able to occupy the building by October, meaning that the South facade would have to be complete by October, which - apparently - is not looking too promising....

the point of all of this: i think they are going to be under pressure to get the jolly thing completed and we might actually see it occupied by the holiday season.

[KeepSanAntonioLame]

Yesterday I noticed they're starting to put the brick on. It looks really good.