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-   -   HOUSTON | Development Thread II (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114123)

Complex01 Oct 19, 2010 4:51 PM

Fancy. Love the Houston...

:tup:

photoLith Oct 19, 2010 5:00 PM

How bad does Embassy Suites look from Discovery Green laten?

weatherguru18 Oct 19, 2010 5:39 PM

It looks awful. The renderings were very deceiving. I'd almost prefer nothing being built there at all.

kingkirbythe.... Oct 20, 2010 1:05 AM

Me too. It's horrific.

Llyod Banks Nov 8, 2010 8:34 AM

I noticed there was a construction site on Westheimer heading towards Highland Village..anybody have a clue on whats going up in that area...

weatherguru18 Dec 3, 2010 3:51 AM

The Houston Chronicle reports: 'Galleria area could get new office tower.' See story below!

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty...r_ponders.html

photoLith Dec 3, 2010 10:30 PM

Ok, I just found out some info while reading some stuff on HAIF.

From the Niche on HAIF
Quote:

The block is divided between only two owners. Embassy Suites has the land that Embassy Suites is on; someone else has everything else. Check out HCAD's facet map and also check ownership records.

Although the site is not rectangular, as per usual, there would be no problem at all with the physical feasibility of a tower with an odd footprint. Eyeballing it, I don't think that there is a single cross-section on the surface lot with less than 60 or 65 feet of width. In fact, the shape of a prospective floorplate and the placement of stairwells and elevator banks, etc., is pretty intuitive. The only limiting factor, if there is one, would be the layout and flow of a parking garage.
Thank magical flying unicorns that building could be covered up at some point in the future by another tower facing the park. Makes me feel a lot better.
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...y1/houston.png
The green outline I made is land owned by some other developer. Theres plenty of room to build another building, I envision a sweet curved glass building covering up Embassy Suites.

weatherguru18 Dec 4, 2010 3:18 AM

What? The proposed skyscraper is not for that block. It's in uptown near the Galleria. The two proposed highrises are back on the table per the Chronicle. The 'Ritz' and the highrise condo tower PLUS another highrise/skyscraper at BLVD. Place. None of the aforementioned is for downtown.

Article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/7321800.html

photoLith Dec 4, 2010 6:29 AM

^
Huh? I wasnt referring to any tower. I was just saying that at some point in the future some developer could cover up the architectural travesty that is Embassy Suites.

weatherguru18 Dec 4, 2010 4:32 PM

I am sorry. I thought you were talking about the possible new 'scraper in Uptown. :shrug:

Complex01 Dec 8, 2010 5:27 AM

A couple of pics from the weekend. Not the best but still nice. Main Place is just a beautiful buildings. Aww sure do miss my Houston. I even wrote a blog posting about it - Houston My Houston...

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...ex2501/158.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...ex2501/155.jpg

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/p...ex2501/152.jpg

:yes:

CALMSP Dec 9, 2010 4:38 AM

did Brookfield Properties cut off lighting up the top of Continental Center 1? Now all I see is the 3 levels that the building has lit up with a line of white lights.

ktk819 Dec 9, 2010 4:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CALMSP (Post 5086315)
did Brookfield Properties cut off lighting up the top of Continental Center 1? Now all I see is the 3 levels that the building has lit up with a line of white lights.

I've noticed the same thing.

photoLith Dec 22, 2010 3:00 PM

Picture I took while driving out to Austin last Wednesday.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/houto.jpg

Complex01 Dec 25, 2010 7:18 PM

Ooo fancy pic.

:tup:

annie himself Dec 26, 2010 9:50 PM

May I ask where you took that from?

weatherguru18 Dec 27, 2010 6:45 AM

38-story tower planned for BLVD. Place once again scrapped?

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/p...ace-never.html

photoLith Dec 27, 2010 4:08 PM

I took that picture from the off ramp into downtown from 59 south. It's the ramp that takes you right to minute made park

weatherguru18 Dec 27, 2010 6:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weatherguru18 (Post 5105911)
38-story tower planned for BLVD. Place once again scrapped?

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/p...ace-never.html

This is just a review of this past year's story. No news here. Sorry.

photoLith Dec 28, 2010 5:51 PM

Photos I took on Sunday evening.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...1/houstonr.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/.../houstonrr.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...houstonrrr.jpg
Im not digging the parking garage they made for Hess, wish they could have at least made it look decent, like clad it in glass or something. But oh well, just another bland boring street ruining parking garage. But at least we got a nice tower from it I guess.

MainPlace is damn good looking though, its actually my favorite tower downtown now, you just look at it and you know it means business.

CALMSP Dec 29, 2010 3:40 AM

I really wish we'd see some more work around Minute Maid Park. Its hard to believe that, unlike all the other cities in teh country, where downtown baseball stadiums were built, Houston is the only place that has yet to develop around the stadium. I really wish that 30 story residential place would have been built overlooking left field!!

photoLith Dec 29, 2010 4:00 AM

^
Hell, theres an abandoned hotel that has just been rotting since like the 80s and its right across the street from MMP. Its pretty pathetic to say the least, who knows, maybe it will change when the light rail goes right by there in the not too distant future.

JoninATX Dec 29, 2010 4:12 AM

agreed the City needs to focus on where density needs to be.

johnme Dec 29, 2010 7:37 AM

Downtown Houston December Nights
 
I took these photos throughout December; it is a shame that most of these lights will be off by New Years Day.

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/SAM_1198.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0781.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0779.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0734.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0732.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0707.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0690.jpg

JoninATX Dec 29, 2010 8:40 AM

Nice pixs..:D

weatherguru18 Dec 29, 2010 8:46 PM

I love the lighting on the Continental and surrounding buildings. I wish our skyline resembled Dallas' at night or Miami or Chicago. Houston's skyline: Beautiful in the daytime, dark and unwelcoming at night.

TexasPlaya Dec 30, 2010 7:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CALMSP (Post 5107652)
I really wish we'd see some more work around Minute Maid Park. Its hard to believe that, unlike all the other cities in teh country, where downtown baseball stadiums were built, Houston is the only place that has yet to develop around the stadium. I really wish that 30 story residential place would have been built overlooking left field!!

I agree, unfortunately and fortunately, Houston has slowly been converting and building new buildings downtown ever since the rape and pillage of downtown history to make way for surface lots from 1970-1990.

TexasPlaya Dec 30, 2010 7:21 AM

The new Houston Ballet Building in Downtown progression from Oct 2010-present by Barracuda:

OCT

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/IMG_1371.jpg

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/IMG_1368.jpg

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/IMG_1367.jpg

???
http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/IMG_1375.jpg
???Windowless east side??? Bwah?

Present

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...7/P1000101.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...7/P1000100.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...7/P1000098.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...7/P1000095.jpg

Overall, a very nice addition.

TexasPlaya Dec 30, 2010 7:26 AM

More updates....

Looks like Rice Village is getting a significant boast.

Rice Village: Hanover Plans Smaller Development in Place of Sonoma Screwup:
http://swamplot.com/a-plaza-view-for...up/2010-12-29/

"Hanover’s project, called Plaza View, is scheduled to include 385 “high-end” apartments, 14,000 sq. ft. of retail or restaurant space, and a multi-level parking garage, all in what its designers label a pedestrian-friendly design. What’s that plaza we’ll be viewing? An almost-17,000-sq.-ft. public space along Morningside, with a “water feature, grass lawn, large trees, and restaurant dining spaces.” According to Hanover executive veep John Garibaldi, 55,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 34,000 sq. ft. of office space, and an 8,000-sq.-ft. grocery store were cut from the earlier Sonoma plans....Along Kelvin St., Hanover’s buildings will reach 6 stories tall; 5 stories along Morningside and Dunstan."

"The City of Houston has reviewed and confirmed that the Hanover proposed development conforms to the existing Development Agreement issued for the closing of Bolsover for the Sonoma Project. . . ."

According to source on HAIF, groundbreaking July 2011.

ChiPsy Dec 30, 2010 1:52 PM

Superb materials on that Houston Ballet building -- I especially like how they broke up the rigid rectilinearity of the skywalk with gently curving, contrasting surfaces.

(Contrasted with, say, these images: http://www.google.com/images?q=skywa...iw=998&bih=593)

I agree about the blank wall, but otherwise it looks great, much better than the renderings suggested. :tup:

Cory Dec 31, 2010 5:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya
???

usually means they're welcoming to or expecting future development of the lot.

photoLith Dec 31, 2010 9:22 PM

Im digging the walkway on the ballet building. I dont know how much more traffic this will bring for downtown but Im glad we got something on that vacant lot.

photoLith Dec 31, 2010 10:53 PM

Photos I took yesterday from The Woodlands and downtown.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h1-1.jpg
This isnt really new but theres never any photos of the Woodlands on here and people should know that The Woodlands is becoming pretty sweet from an urban perspective.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h2-1.jpg
These are relatively new office buildings finished within the last year or so.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...irdboy1/h3.jpg
This area has been finished for probably 4 years now but theres still lots of hotels and condos being planned right around where I took this photo. A new 32 story hotel is hopefully going to break ground by 2012 and then another 8 story condo building across from it.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h4-1.jpg
Some semi new condos.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h5-1.jpg
Part of The Woodlands Mall.

Downtown

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...irdboy1/h7.jpg
MainPlace is looking damn fine.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h8-1.jpg
This terrible looking building is hopefully going to get the 1960s cladding taken off of it and it will be restored to the brick that lies underneath. Its located just across from the JP Morgan Chase Building. Theyve already taken some panels off as you can see form this picture. They dont really have funding yet though to restore the entire building.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/h9-1.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h10-1.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h19-1.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h12-1.jpg
You can see Embassy Suites in this photo :(

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h14-1.jpg
The newly completed Market Square Park, at least I think thats what its called. Anyways, its pretty cool and was packed during lunch hours. Its a hell of a lot better than the park that was there before.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...rdboy1/h15.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h17-1.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...boy1/h18-1.jpg

patriotizzy Jan 1, 2011 5:49 PM

Woodlands looks amazing. Reminds me of European cities, which is great. I love that trail along the river too :D

weatherguru18 Jan 1, 2011 11:48 PM

The hotel that is being planned was only supposed to be 20 stories or so. Where did you get 32 stories from? The Anadarko Tower is 32-stories and there is no way a hotel of that magnitude is going in on the Waterway.

AspiringCE Jan 2, 2011 1:32 AM

The Woodlands looks so awesome! It looks like it's in a totally different area.

johnme Jan 2, 2011 9:00 AM

Wells Fargo Tower Lighting
 
New Years Night; it appears the tower is finally getting the lighting fixed.

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0791.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0789.jpg

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMAG0796.jpg

Complex01 Jan 2, 2011 8:42 PM

Great pics. Houston is looking very nice. Welcome to 2011. Great things coming for a great city...

:wizard:

Urbannizer Jan 2, 2011 9:35 PM

3009 Post Oak:

Website



Video Link

photoLith Jan 2, 2011 10:01 PM

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/dest.jpg
from google earth.
I saw a few days ago they were tearing down this wonderful building across the Bayou on the right. Its the old Pedon Ironworks Building, I'm sure its destined to be just another surface parking lot. I loved this building too, it was very unique but oh well. Houston still hasnt learned its lesson I guess.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...6639e039_o.jpg
Photo by me from years ago.

The entire building will be gone in 13 days and it was 105 years old, such a shame.

Quote:

The commissioners court voted to approve an agreement among the Harris County Public Infrastructure Department, the Texas Historical Commission and the United States Department of Energy for demolition of the Peden/Iron Mountain Warehouse Building at 700 San Jacinto Street.
-from houston1973 on HAIF

Shasta Jan 3, 2011 1:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiPsy (Post 5108932)
Superb materials on that Houston Ballet building -- I especially like how they broke up the rigid rectilinearity of the skywalk with gently curving, contrasting surfaces.

(Contrasted with, say, these images: http://www.google.com/images?q=skywa...iw=998&bih=593)

I agree about the blank wall, but otherwise it looks great, much better than the renderings suggested. :tup:

Totally agree on the materials. Slightly playful and definitely artistic. A nice fit for the ballet.

As for the side with no windows... no worries. That section of the lot (the ballet only occupies half of a downtown lot) was rumored to have been purchased by a developer with an eye on a 20 story-ish apartment tower in the future. Would be a great location for a residential tower (Market Square area).

AspiringCE Jan 3, 2011 1:30 AM

Hey! Anyone know about River Oaks District, Regent Square, and BLVD Place?

photoLith Jan 3, 2011 5:48 AM

^
Sorry, havent heard anything on the first two projects for a long long time. But BLVD Place is kinda up in the air I think right now and the highrise planned for it is in some trouble quite possibly. Nothing is for sure with this crap economy, we'll probably just have to wait for the market to completely recover before we know anything definitive about BLVD Place and a lot of other stuff that was supposed to be coming soon to Houston.

Heres an interactive map on their website, still has the 37 story tower going in, dont know how close to reality that whole map is though.
http://www.blvdplace.com/InteractiveMap.htm

As for Regent Square, a Whole Foods was proposed, it still might go in, but last I heard, Regent Square is supposedly going to start groundbreaking in 2012, wouldnt keep my hopes up though, but who knows, maybe it will happen.

http://www.regentsq.com/indexFlash.html
Regent Squares website. Under their news section, the last and I believe only news article they have dates all the way back to January 2007.

But look on the bright side of things, what if all of these projects had been built before the economy tanked and then they just sat vacant, kinda like Houston Pavilions is doing now. It sucks they havent been built yet, but when the country recovers from this recession, land values will be high because no new large scale projects will have been built for almost 4 years. If all of these projects would have been built, than land values I would tend to think would be lower and we wouldnt see high quality developments like Regents Square etc being proposed. All we have to do is wait, sure these projects may not be completed how we and the architects imagined, but I believe they will be built eventually.

Sorry for using so many, I believes, and quite possiblies, nothing is for sure basically at this moment.

AspiringCE Jan 3, 2011 6:48 AM

Thanks for that!

Any more development news that you know of?

TexasPlaya Jan 3, 2011 7:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland (Post 5112014)
As for Regent Square, a Whole Foods was proposed, it still might go in, but last I heard, Regent Square is supposedly going to start groundbreaking in 2012, wouldnt keep my hopes up though, but who knows, maybe it will happen.

Not to nitpick but....

The Whole Foods is a separate project and is currently under construction.

There was a somewhat recent article about Regent Square (I'll see if I can find it again) about how the developers are committed to the project but still waiting for the economy to pick up. However, it did mention a 2012 groundbreaking, so take it for what it's worth.

Quote:

But look on the bright side of things, what if all of these projects had been built before the economy tanked and then they just sat vacant, kinda like Houston Pavilions is doing now. It sucks they havent been built yet, but when the country recovers from this recession, land values will be high because no new large scale projects will have been built for almost 4 years. If all of these projects would have been built, than land values I would tend to think would be lower and we wouldnt see high quality developments like Regents Square etc being proposed. All we have to do is wait, sure these projects may not be completed how we and the architects imagined, but we I believe they will be built eventually.

Sorry for using so many, I believes, and quite possiblies, nothing is for sure basically at this moment.
Very true, things are uncertain.

I think these projects will get built. Like the project going up in Rice Village, these potential projects will be scaled back.

photoLith Jan 3, 2011 7:34 AM

^
I didnt know the whole foods was under construction, has it actually started or are they just saying it will start soon?

Quote:

Any more development news that you know of?
Well, theres a few little things going on downtown right now, other than MainPlace being pretty much done. Theres the new park being built in front of the court buildings, I didnt get any photos of it but saw they had almost finished the entrance into the underground passage into the court and county buildings down near the county courthouse. And, the Harris County Courthouse is still being renovated and restored, seems like its been around 6 years since they started restoring that thing, glad they are though, it needed it real bad.

Then theres the Ballet Building, which is almost finished. Then sometime in the future, The Dynamo Stadium is supposed to start construction across from Minute Maid Park on the other side of 59. Dont know the status on that project. Oh, and the Astros may get bought out, so if they do, dont know how that would impact the Dynamo Stadium, maybe theyll just convert MMP to the new Dynamo Stadium?

Then, there was this gigantic plan to make the craptastic Buffalo Bayou into an amazing park, dont know the status on that anymore, probably fell through the roof too. But, heres the website and the PDF file about it, dates from 1st quarter 2005 though, so take it with a grain of salt I guess.
http://www.buffalobayou.org/residentialmarket.html

Its pretty cool though if it were to ever come to fruition, which it might someday. There was tons and tons of residential planned to go in along the park and a few residential towers along the Bayou downtown, one of those towers that was proposed was going to be called the Franklin Towers, guess that project died a long time ago, it was supposed to be about 30 stories and similar in design as One Park Place at Discovery Green. Heres some renders from the website of what was to be and might still be, like by 2030...

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...y1/EASTEN1.jpg
http://www.buffalobayou.org/thumbimages/EASTEN~1.jpg

This is just for fun, a vision of what Houston could look like in 2025, probably more like 2045 though, anyways this render was from quite some time ago, its not really on track to get this done by 2025, but who knows what could happen. Downtown was a hell hole 10 years ago for the most part, and since then weve gotten Discovery Green, which has done wonders for downtown. We havent got too much residential but a lot of old warehouses across from Minute Maid Park are getting converted into lofts, and then there have been a few new loft buildings built in the old warehouse district across from downtown on the other side of 59. Anyways, heres the sketch.
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...ng-525x401.jpg
http://tgullette.com/RecentWork.html

In transit development news, a lot of the light rail lines that have been proposed are under construction. Looks like the North Line, Southeast Line, and East End Line are getting fairly far along. I remember seeing East End Line construction going on about 6 months ago. They were tearing up miles of street east of Minute Maid Park, that line will have a stop right near Discovery Green. The line goes through some pretty terrible hoods, actually, the entire line pretty much runs through a ghetto, as does the North Line, and well the Southeast Line too. But who knows, maybe these light rail lines running through the ghettos will clean parts of em out and gentrify them. The Uptown Line will run all the way past the Galleria and a little north of 10, it will connect downtown with that whole area of town. Im pretty excited about that line, but that one wont be finished for years and years. The Uptown line will connect to downtown via the University Line, which runs through some pretty nice areas. Im afraid the other rail lines being built will be abused by people who dont pay their fares though since they run through some pretty rough and partially abandoned hoods.
MetroRails development news...
http://www.gometrorail.org/go/doc/2491/418119/

Urbannizer Jan 3, 2011 10:27 AM

New Renderings of the Houston Intermodal Terminal (Burnett Plaza)

http://assets0.eekarchitects.com/sys...iginal/950.jpg

http://assets3.eekarchitects.com/sys...iginal/952.jpg

Link

photoLith Jan 3, 2011 4:27 PM

Holy crap, that looks amazing! I had totally forgotten about the transit center.

patriotizzy Jan 3, 2011 5:12 PM

Holy cow, that does look bloody amazing. Same league as the one coming up in San Francisco. That's supposed to be built right? If so, anyone know when construction is supposed to be starting? What will terminal be used for? Light rails, buses,etc. I don't know much about public transportation.

photoLith Jan 3, 2011 6:52 PM

^
Its supposed to be a hub for future light rail, buses, and commuter rail at some point. Heres a wikipedia page about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston...Transit_Center


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