I *think* I may have seen some last week. Think Turnberry. Generic. Not too flashy or drastic. Think... typical. Safe.

They haven't been finalized, yet.

:cool:

The story was accompanied by an announcement that Houston's job creation figures for last year were boosted by 40,000.:banana: There were as many as 100,000 jobs added to city payrolls, which appears to be tops in the nation. That will support a lot of high-rise development. :cheers:

Me, too. There's something about its profile that just doesn't seem to be, well, substantial. It looks like it should be in the Galleria area next to the Mercer, whereas 6 Houston Center looks like a part of the downtown fabric...

If we get more infill over by Discovery Park, OPP might start to look more in character. That, by the way, is a stunning addition to downtown; it should pay for itself in more convention bookings...

Is Discovery Green finished? Or are they still working on it? When will it be finished? I'm looking forward to checking it out when I'm in Houston the next time. I remember years back riding around on my bicycle over there and thinking how cool of a location it would be for a park given the views of downtown. One of Houston's strong points are great parks. Probably the best in the state.

*EDIT* Never mind, I found it: April of '08. Sweet.
http://www.discoverygreen.com/en/rel...eases_view.asp

When the park opens, someone let us know how the restaurants are
http://www.discoverygreen.com/en/cms/?276

It's technically not open, but they seem to be okay with people passing through some of the open areas during weekdays. The Crawford promenade and an entrance off Avenida de las Americas around the GRB seem to be open. Actually saw some families strolling through and some people playing frisbee near The Grove this afternoon.

I went down to the park last weekend and was planning on eating at The Grove; however, it looked too expensive and I called and the food prices are extremely high. Think like the cheapest thing was $20.

Those are DC prices!

Comes with having oil money...:D :cheers:

There are a bunch of things that are less than $20. Looks like a lot of people are willing to pay whatever though since it always looks packed when I've been by.

Lunch
Dinner

Yeah I saw those menus earlier... though the food sounds good, all of the dishes are pretty typical. The 9/11 of the reviews on citysearch were good... the 2/11 that weren't spoke about extremely bad service.

Hrm... I will have to check it out this weekend perhaps.

Here are some shots of Discovery Green, OPP, and 6 Houston just recently added to the Crescent Houston Center scale model in 2 Houston Center on Floor P2:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00344.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00345.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00346.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00347.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00348.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00349.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00350.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00351.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00352.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...9/IMG00353.jpg

Great pix, I'll have to stroll through and check it out myself.

And they couldn't at least put in a gray rectangle for Discovery Tower? Even HP & OPP are relatively detailed for things not even in their own complex! :haha:

I don't know why they didn't put in Discovery Tower, but keep in mind, as I've stated before in this thread, there was a proposed 6 Houston Center several years ago which was never built... and the model for that was included in this city-model you see up until just a few weeks ago (btw, the new 6 Houston design is a lot better than the old one, which was almost a twin to 5 Houston).

They didn't include the Houston Pavilions either.

:slob: I love scale models. Very cool! From that model it looks to be a little bit taller than 5 Houston Center. So maybe 400 feet or so. Still like that crown very much, and the lighting design will be very nice on that side of downtown. Most of the towers on that side of downtown are relatively dark, so some nice crown lighting will help with that.

I don't think those two are in direct competition for the kind of tenants 6HC is looking to capture. DT on the other hand, could be. :shrug:

Kewl model pics. Helps to see exactly were 6HC will be positioned on its block. I do like that top, it will be awesome to see it lit up at night. Very kewl...

:wizard:

Both are looking for people to occupy Class-A office space. Discovery Tower has a number of features that benefit it as 6HC does on it's own. They'll both be completed around the same time so any influx of workers, residents, retail, etc... is always good for the district. Especially since it is starting to concentrate in that area.

hmmm the hotel infront of Discovery Green I forget the name of it... humm is that the actual size of it? is it going to be taller than thr building next to it?...well I hope I make sence lol... love that there will be another building with green color in downtown...iono i like the green in dwontown:D

Huh?

Yes me too. More buildings of different colors would be cool. :)

Or maybe some multi-colored cubic look or some kind of colored mosaic.

I don't know about 6HC yet. It looks like two seperate buildings to me. It almost looks like the AIM proposal in Greenway mixed with 5 Houston Ccenter.

I'm sorry if someone already posted this. It is an announcement from www.trammellcrow.com

DISCOVERY TOWER ANNOUNCES GROUNDBREAKING

Discovery Green’s Neighbor Gets Sustainability GOLD-Light

Houston, Texas – March 3, 2008 – Trammell Crow Company and Principal Real Estate Investors are pleased to announce the groundbreaking of Discovery Tower, a 30-story, 871,000 square foot development located at 1501 McKinney Street in downtown Houston. The project will be the first LEED Gold certified office building ever constructed in the city’s Central Business District (CBD). Construction will begin the week of March 3, 2008 with occupancy in the second quarter of 2010. Located in the eastern entertainment district of the CBD, the Discovery Tower site sits adjacent to Discovery Green, Houston’s new, $122-million, 12-acre downtown park and will offer tenants
unobstructed views and pedestrian access to both the park and the surrounding area. The tower will feature two stories of retail and restaurant space overlooking a landscaped arrival court and water garden and will include 28-stories comprising 853,000 square feet of rentable office space. A 10-story parking structure on the adjacent block to the north of the building will service the parking needs of future tenants.

http://www.trammellcrow.com/tcwebwww...y_02-28-08.pdf

Good to hear that this building will include retail and restaurant space. Now we just need to get some more people to live in DT.

Don't forget about the rapidly exploding Midtown #2 to the east (future Harrisburg line). They might not be moving to DT proper, but will definitely take advantage of their nearest shopping districts and urban park.

:notacrook: And BTW guys.... Discovery Green has free Wi-fi :notacrook:

Free Wi-fi? Awesome.

More in a posting on the Medistar Project on Swamplot...

http://swamplot.com/houstonian-texas...-13/#more-1421

These are copies of renderings included in today's (3/13) agenda for the City Planning Commission. Looks to be a second Houstonian Hotel location.

Rough rendering
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...mc-bw-main.jpg

Cross-section
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...bw-section.jpg

Overhead View of model
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...c-bw-model.jpg

Rooftop Floorplan
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...w-plan-top.jpg

Lobby Floorplan
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...-bw-plan-1.jpg

Yay! A box.

Oh come on now, are you really surprised? What else would it be? ;)

/\/\/\/\ Hahahahah!!!!!

Yeah, I suppose it could have been a triangle. Or even worse, an oval. :yuck:

Or perhaps something more flashy. This is going to be good for the economy. :)

maybe more people will with the continued hike in gas prices!!! I can't imagine dropping all that cash to drive in from the Woodlands/Katy/Kingwood. I'll take my 5 minute walk commute anyday!!!!

I agree. I find it hilarious that humans complain about high gas prices from their hummers, insurance prices, pollution, and long commutes. They likely do not posses the insight needed to see that they are sharing the road from the woodlands/sugarland/katy to Houston with 875,000 other humans who think the same way they do. Ugh. Pretty laughable stuff really.

I drive in from The Woodlands daily. It takes me about an hour to get to work in the Sharpstown area. The burbs are so much nicer than the inner city IMO. Lower crime rate, quiet, lots of recreation, good schools and so on. There is a reason that The Woodlands will have 120,000 - 150,000 residents in the next couple of years. They can't build the homes fast enough. But again, that's my opinion.

On another note, why is Philadelphia getting a 1,500' tower???? They just got the Comcast Center which is just under 1,000'. They are losing population while Houston is one of the fastest growing and all we get are 30 stories. I don't get it.

Perhaps it's because Houston is growing outward and has land to expand upon while Philadelphia has no land and must expand upwards... besides that, I have no clue.

Hrm... Linky?

I don't mean to sound rude, but you live in The Woodlands, tout its attractiveness compared to Houston, and are surprised why Houston doesn't have a 1,500 footer? Actually, it's not as simple as that though. Houston has much more free land to build on. Philly's downtown area is surrounded on two sides by two rivers and the Jersey state border is nearby with Camden being just over the border. So there's not much room for Philly grow out, so they have go up. Also the city is very old. It was our nation's first capital. The 2nd largest city in the British Empire during the 1790s, and the largest US city at one time. The city's population had also hit 1 million people by 1890 and an all time high of 2 million in 1950. So as you can imagine the city is blanketed with very old buildings with many national landmarks. So again, to preserve those the city has to build up, replacing other less historic structures. With Houston, you have plenty of land and no restrictions on development basically. So there's no incentive to build up. The other thing of course is that downtown actually has a height restriction imposed by the FAA. Originally the JPMorgan Chase Tower was supposed to be 80 floors. They scaled it back to 75 floors because it would have been too tall and high into the flight path. That was the reason I heard. Also by comparison Houston hadn't hit 1 million people until about 1965. By that time Philly had over 2 million.

Post number 5461 is where the fun starts. Check out the renderings. Very nice tower.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...19627&page=274

What the hell?

Downtown's three large office projects seem to be in swing in some form or another. Main Place's excavation continues as the excavation for Discovery Tower is just beginning. Here are some photos from this afternoon.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSC02815.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSC02816.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSC02817.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSC02819.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSC02818.jpg

According to this article in the Business Journal (public in a few days), 6 Houston Center will begin less than 45 days from now. I also recall seeing a few men with hardhats on the site reviewing what looked to be floorplans on the site just this afternoon.

The article also goes on to mention that all three projects are working for a LEED Gold certification. I recall seeing Silver for each beforehand though. There are also a few details referring to the Brookfield Gateway Tract project. Apparently, it is planned to be 50 stories, all glass and working toward LEED Gold certification as well. It would sit on the surface lot adjacent to the Allen Center Garage/Racquet Club. Construction wouldn't begin until at least 50 percent of the building is leased.

A lot of things are going on out west too. The Memorial City Condo Building is actually starting to begin after some speculation the site hadn't succeeded. This afternoon, a smaller crane was in the process of setting up a tower crane on the site.

The Energy Plaza development is also being cleared out at the moment. This is the twin 17-story office & 14 story hotel project at Dairy Ashford & the Katy Freeway.

Signs have also started going up on the sites for Eldridge Oaks (14 Stories) & Three Eldridge Place (13 stories), both on Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor.

First of all, again, the City of Philadelphia, is losing population and has been for years. While I appreciate the history lesson (which I already knew), Philly is not building up due to historical markers. They are in the heart of the megalopolis. However, Houston is likely to pass Philadelphia in the next decade as the 5th largest metro area in the nation.

As far as the height restrictions go DT, that is no longer in effect (or so I've heard). They could build 200 stories if they want. The runways at Hobby do not line up with downtown and the flight paths take the plans safely to the southwest of the CBD. We have much nicer technology than we did in 1981 when Chase was built.

Thats a useless way of looking at things. Philly's metro area is half the size of Houston's and double the pop density. Why the concern over the building going up in Philly?

Since I'm in Houston I'm more concerned about why a 2 story mall is going up on main street. What a great use of a prime block.

Or maybe the design of buildings like the one going up by the park, complete with a porte-cochere, that looks like it belongs in the energy corridor with the rest of the BP buildings.

Ok, ok, let's not argue over it. I was just hoping to uh, indicate why Philly was getting it. And actually Houston has had some really nice tall buildings proposed. There were several proposals in the 80s that would have each been over 1,300 feet tall. I believe the reasons they weren't built ultimately was the economy and height restrictions because of Hobby thanks to the FAA. However, if I was going to expect Houston to get something that tall, now would be the time. The city seems to be doing very well. Residential highrises are springing up all over the place and downtown is in better shape then it's been in years. It's only a matter of time. By the way, I was in no way hating on Houston, if I had move out of Austin for some reason and I had my choice, I'd go to Houston.

How definite is the assertion that there is no longer a height restriction? Anybody know?

I think it's incorrect. The runways are oriented same as they ever was - directly at downtown. Which means the same concerns that the FAA had 25 years ago still exist.

Although I myself don't have a definite source, there has been an article that was discussing a past supertall skyscraper for Houston and it implied there was no longer any height restriction because airplanes are no longer allowed to come close to the central district especially after 9/11.

using our skyline as an excuse to limit our height is pathetic. If HKG could land 747 jumbos at the old Kai Tak airport, our little737's can land at HOU with a higher skyline.