I'm thinking small tornado, since only one side of the Chase Tower was badly damaged.

It wasn't a small tornado. Many buildings Downtown have damage on their east facades.

I heard the building across from chase had rocks/pebbles for its roof and so they got picked up by the wind, and well we can see what happend. But then again its what i heard, i dont know how much truth is in it. Still it could have been a lot worse...

^^ not nearly as severe as jpmorgan chase tower. the news was reporting for a while that it was a small tornado. who knows?

here are other buildings that also sustained damage:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...b/IMG_0257.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...b/IMG_0253.jpg

Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture (that's part of the roof):
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...b/IMG_0218.jpg

It wasn't a tornado, but it was a somewhat similar effect caused by the wind tunnel in the streets.

Considering only 4 buildings DT sustained any major facade loss on any part of the building (with others losing a few windows or sustaining damage at the street level), I'm genuinely impressed. Even more so at the fact that so many people were back to work in the buildings just days after, while they were working on cleaning the district up.

This week is even more surprising. It looks like there are more people out and about in the shops that are open and on the streets as a whole. Traffic is back to normal, and it makes the hurricane seem like a distant memory. Can't say I've seen that kind of turnabout in such short time before.

disco tower:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMAG0047.jpg

They are making some progress. Its good to see Down Town almost back to normal after Ike. Even better that these projects didnt see much of any set backs...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ppfrom4501.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ppfrom5901.jpg

Some updates from today.

Main Place...

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/1233c26e.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/6c6d5e14.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/c7da0596.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/89778dc8.jpg


Discovery Tower...


http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/5e5ba39c.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/d5e5e860.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/3790244e.jpg


Coming along nicely...

:yes:

Thanks for the update Complex! Discovery Tower is rising much faster than I thought it would.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...559/hpav01.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...559/hpav02.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...559/hpav03.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...559/hpav04.jpg

what's the name of this building being built here?

^^^That would be One Park Place a 37-story residential tower that will be 501 ft tall!!!

From about a week ago, oh how I miss thee Houston

I really hope this development works out. I like the little walking through the middle of the complex. It looks like it will be a cool place to chill and meet people once completed. That side of town really needed this, in fact downtown really needed this. Does anybody know what all is going in here, like restaurants and such.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/...3706cc42_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2393/...b0f99d9c_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/...75026690_o.jpg

Go to houstonpavilions.com and there you will see all the restaurants and shops.

Some restaurants and shops are now open and the rest of them are gonna be opening through out this months

nice

anybody know when one park place will be move-in ready?

I think first quarter 09.

Exciting!!! Main Place is officially off of the ground.

Turnberry cancels planned luxury condo tower

Turnberry Ltd. confirmed this week that it no longer plans to build a 34-story luxury condo tower by the Galleria Mall that had been in the works for more than three years.

The 184 proposed condo units, priced from $1 million to more than $3.5 million, were to be located west of Post Oak Boulevard, between Hidalgo and W. Alabama.

Buyers were notified of the developer’s decision last week, and have been refunded their deposits plus interest accrued on the money, according to Turnberry.

Jim Cohen, a vice president of sales for the prolific development firm, said in a statement released this week that the project was cancelled because the firm could not get a construction loan during the current financial crisis.

“With great reluctance we have decided to suspend development operations for Turnberry Tower, Residences at the Galleria,” Cohen said in the statement. “This is the first project Turnberry has had to discontinue in more than 40 years in the real estate development business.”

The Aventura, Fla.-based company has developed more than $7 billion in commercial and residential property, including 20 million square feet of retail space, 7,000 apartments and condo units, 1.5 million square feet of office space and 2,000 hotel and resort rooms.

Turnberry’s splashy marketing effort in Houston began in September 2007 with the unveiling of a 12,000-square-foot, multimillion-dollar sales center/model home near the development site.

The sales center closed last week, and the developer has not decided what it will do with the property.


http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...l?ana=from_rss

HP heads to Hockley with land deal

Hewlett-Packard Co. has acquired 97 acres near the small town of Hockley for a $250 million facility that will be 18 miles from the firm’s primary campus in Houston.

HP bought the acreage last month for an undisclosed sum from John Beeson of Beeson Properties and Monzer Hourani of Medistar Corp.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP — which established a major Houston presence through the 2002 purchase of Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp. — has an option to buy another 100 acres as well.

The technology company is the first to buy land in a new 389-acre industrial park that Beeson and Hourani are planning northwest of Houston. The property is located near State Highway 290 and Betka Road, close to the boundary between Harris and Waller counties.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...27/story4.html

Whoa... too bad they didn't move closer in. As long as they dont up and leave.

City approves variance for TIAA-CREF building

The City of Houston’s Planning Commission has granted a variance to TIAA-CREF to accommodate a 30-story office building it plans to construct in the Galleria area.

TIAA-CREF intends to build an office tower at 1300 Post Oak, in place of an existing two-story 24-Hour Fitness. The office building will be located next to the Four Oaks Place office complex that is also owned by TIAA-CREF.

The owner needed city approval to build the structure 15 feet away from Post Oak instead of the standard 25 feet. The setback change, granted last week, applies on Post Oak from Four Oaks Place Drive to West Briar Lane.

The building will be located closer to the street in keeping with guidelines being developed for the future rail corridor. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County plans to construct a rail line down the middle of Post Oak.

Houston-based Transwestern is development manager and leasing representative for the proposed office building, which has been on the drawing board for more than a year.

With more than $435 billion in combined assets under management, TIAA-CREF is the leading retirement system for people in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...l?ana=from_rss

A 30-story office building will add some nice density to that part of Uptown. Also, I am glad to hear about the 15ft setback to accommodate the future rail line. Uptown may have the best chance to become Houston's best walkable, urban area.

I found this out today that apparently about a month ago they started work on the East Corridor metro light rail line. I got this from metros website

"Construction crews will begin work at Hagermann St. starting October 6th. This crew will be installing mainline duct bank. They will be in this area for three weeks.
A second crew will begin work between Eastwood St. and Super St. This work will continue across Super St. to Lockwood through October 24th.
Super St. will be a full closure beginning Monday the 6th of October. During the construction hours of 7:00 am to 6:00 pm please use Garrow St. as an alternative route into Harrisburg"

Has this actually occured? If so thats awesome! I had no idea that they were going to start work on another line this soon. I would check for myself but seeing as I am 10 hours away, it wouldnt be all that easy ;) I hope someone can confirm the statement put out by metro.

Heres the website http://metrosolutions.org/go/doc/1068/112324/

Yes they've been doing the utility work since august... slowly moving down Harrisburg. As for the four other lines, I'm not sure if any of them have started yet :(

No, none of the others have started yet, but I believe the uptown line is in its final stages of approval and the university line is also near its final stages of approval/completion. So construction on those two lines should start soon, probably sometime early next year or so. The East Corrider should be completely finished by late 2011 or early 2o12.

Tidbits on Embassy Suites near DG, Early Leasing at One Park Place & The end of repairs at Chase Tower.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...f/6126669.html

Well thats great news, sort of. I would find it hard to believe that One Park Place wont find enough tenants when the city is that freakin huge. Its a shame that people are buying some of those apartments just as second homes though. I was hoping most would be full time residents who would enliven downtown after hours.

great updates. it is also nice to hear about the incentives.

Let us hope for the best.

From yesterday, which was 40 minutes ago.

Development in the medical district. I dont know what this tower is or how tall its supposed to be but it looked pretty sweet. Im sure someone on here knows the name of it
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/...92941c71_b.jpg

I guess Houston Pavilions is pretty much down, heres how it fits in with the city. Its better than parking lots at least.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/...9fb1c16f_b.jpg

Its the Outpatient Care Center.
25 stories.
http://www.whrarchitects.com/_fileli...hodist_002.jpg
whrarchitects

and thanks for the update:)

Source: TheHaif
http://www.discoverytowerhouston.com...l_northcam.jpg

Embassy Suites
One Park Place
Discovery Tower
New Convention Hotel
and other Projects on going..

Fill 'em up!:banana: Great pics!

Are those actually going to for sure get built or are they just our hopes and dreams at this point?

Well Embassy Suites is approved. Construction to start in March 2009

last I heard of the convention hotel it was going to happen.. not sure if its approved yet.. looks pretty detailed... and it looks the same as other pictures I have seen of it..

The other buildings behind Discovery Tower I am not sure what they are..

Well from this map they maybe towers with retail, lobby and office space.One will be right beside dt parking garage and the other two on the next block...One is a La Quinta but I don't know what the other two are because the words are too small..
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2132/...5abf98.jpg?v=0

The Outpatient Care Center is super kewl. I really like the top.

The last pic of downtown looks super sharp. It will look different in another year or so. Very Nice...

:tup:

Some pictures from yesterday of random projects I found whilst driving around town.

The Mosaic at Hermann Park. The tower on the left is done I believe and the other is almost completed.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/...b7d6e756_o.jpg

The newly opened House of Blues at the Pavilions. It is pretty awesome.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/...8fc46516_o.jpg

Houston Pavilions is going to be pretty nice if they get it filled out with stores and such. Right now there is hardly anything there but there a few new stores opening soon. I hope this project is really successful. It will be like a mini Galleria downtown.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/...ff754fc7_o.jpg

H town is super sexy these days and it will only get better in the coming months and years if all goes to plan.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/...d4fd6ed5_o.jpg

Highland Tower near the Galleria is just starting, Ive never even heard of it, just saw the cranes while driving near it so I thought Id check it out.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/...a8eb84d7_o.jpg

Another development I know nothing about, its right near the Museum district and along the metro rail. Anyone know anything about this?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/...ace7668d_o.jpg

2727 Kirby is almost done me thinks.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/...503a162f_o.jpg

Main Place at night when the weird hobos come out to play. To my right while taking this picture a hobo was taking a leak on one of the metro rail benches. It was nice.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/...dab76e6b_o.jpg

Another photo of The Mosaic.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/...2f9e41c7_o.jpg

There were so many cranes everywhere that I just didnt have the time to go take pics of all of them. There must be a good 30 new towers going in around Houston, if not more. In the Medical District there looked to be about 10 new ones going in alone. WOW!!!!!

Ill be back in 2 weeks for a month and hopefully I will score that job at the Museum of Natural Science so I be down there almost everyday for a month! Man, Houston has gotten a hell of a lot better since I left 2 years ago.

Very nice photos

Sick Shots, photolitherland. You do the city well! :tup:

wow, those are great shots.

I took this photo today, all foggy and what not. I loved it. Disco Tower on level 6. Rise Houston Rise...

:wizard:

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/dt121708.jpg

umm I can't see the pic:(

I see it. Can anyone else...

:shrug:

yes I see it and I like......Where's the rest of Chase? lol

Pictures from The Woodlands, which to anyone who doesnt know is located about 25?? miles north north west of downtown Houston. The area is booming and its where The Woodlands Mall and Waterway is located. These are pics from yesterday.

Just a few years ago there was nothing but urban sprawl BS out in this area but now it starting to look like an actual city!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/...d337d144_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/...1945ef5e_o.jpg

Heres an on site proposal for the Waterway. The tallest building is already under construction and looks to be about 20 stories tall. A few of those buildings are already completed. The whole site a guy that was working on site told me it was supposed to be mostly done by 2010.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/...2d7b822d_o.jpg

A low rise under construction in The Woodlands Market Square. If you havent been there, go, its fascinating the amount of detail that have put into that area.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/...65ac9c3a_b.jpg

Some more development along the waterway. The white building on the left is the new Marriott Hotel.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...3b19f1ca_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/...1042820e_o.jpg

I will be going downtown tomorrow, so some more photos will be on the way.