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HOUSTON | Museo Plaza | FT | 58 + ?? + 10 FLOORS

Developer: ?
Architect: Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie
Type: Mixed-Use (Residential, Office, Retail, Hotel)
Location: 3 city blocks in the Museum District
Construction Timeline: ?

Only tidbit of info for now:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/loca...er-6482739.php

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chron

And Ritchie and Dasigenis have another project brewing in the Museum District. Stay tuned.

http://www.pjararchitects.com/#!museo-plaza/cem1

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/712/2...0d54e395_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/574/2...0dcaf926_b.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5660/...f1c9ff40_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/725/2...71f51420_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/571/2...897917ac_b.jpg

Update: 54 floors. The smaller buildings that make up the rest of this project will be a 200 room hotel and a retail lifestyle center.

Wow. I like it. The different design (not a box) is appropriate for the museum district. It's sort of a modern twist on the Williams Tower. Sort of. If it ends up being built as these renderings show, it might just be one of my favorite buildings in Texas. I wish I could saw that parking garage off, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas (Post 7153627)

I thought the exact same thing.

Beautiful tower.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/725/2...71f51420_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/725/2...71f51420_b.jpg

Is the Museum district a low to midrise area? I see single family homes above & how far from downtown is it? Is there any light rail nearby? The tower by itself is quite interesting!

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas (Post 7153627)

Interesting take and I somewhat agree. Not surprising in that this firm has lineage from Johnson.

The major philosophical difference is that the Williams Tower culminates in that simple but memorable (especially at night) crown. Johnson's design inspiration was the Nebraska state Capitol, by Goodhue, who believed all the architecture in a skyscraper should culminate in the crown.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobdreamz (Post 7154303)

It will definitely stick out (in a good way in my opinion) as the immediate surrounding areas are low rise with a few midrises. It's along light rail (station being about 5 blocks away) between Downtown and the Texas Medical Center.

Old picture but it will be 5 blocks north of the small cluster of mid-rises in the midground of the picture.

http://www.americanthinker.com/legac...background.jpg
Texas Medical Center and Downtown Houston

^ ok thanks for the aerial. It does look like it will stand out in that cluster of midrises!

This will be within blocks of The Warwick (30 stories), the Southmore (under construction and 24 stories), The Montrose (22 stories), Museum Tower (20 stories), the Carter (under construction and 20 stories) and the midrise cluster of Park Plaza Hospital. It'll be 3 blocks away from the closest light rail stop (Museum District). It'll be the tallest thing around but won't stand alone.

The three blocks as of today.

Site of the tower @Fannin and Wichita:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/617/2...01faabf3_b.jpg

Southmore & Fannin:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5759/...f5bbd7d7_b.jpg

San Jancinto & Southmore:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/624/2...053cdd50_b.jpg

This is still on the table. The developer is asking the city to abandon Palm St. as shown in the renderings. Also word is that NIMBYs are forming together to fight it.

Now that's a beautiful design!!

Subdivision plat filed for the project.

https://edrc.houstontx.gov/edrc/DocD...16011_PLAT.pdf

The neighborhood association seems to be against the abandonment of Palm St, not the project altogether.

http://www.museumparkna.org/page-1212374/3798921

Massive mixed-use project planned for Museum District

Quote:

A mixed-use project with a high-rise component is planned in the Museum District, according to public records.

Excelsior Land Co. Inc. submitted a plat record to the city of Houston for the yet-to-be-announced project, located in part on two city blocks bounded by Southmore Avenue, Main Street, Wichita Avenue and Fannin Street.

Excelsior Land’s plat record calls for Palm Avenue, sandwiched between the two city blocks, to be closed off and for the two city blocks to be considered one site for redevelopment. The plat record is expected to go before the Houston planning commission on April 14.

From Aprils meeting, Trammell Crow is the developer. Also, the approval to abandon Palm St. for a pedestrian plaza/green space has been revoked by the COH due to neighborhood concerns. Another meeting was held today where the developer presented the project to Museum District residents.

More here: http://www.museumparkna.org/resource...%204.27.16.pdf

Quote:

The project is presented as a unique, one-of-a-kind mixed use neighborhood development on three city blocks bounded by Main St., Fannin, Southmore and Wichita. The project will include a hotel at the current site of Mann Eye clinic with 150-180 keys, a residential tower with 300 units north of the hotel, and a medical office building east of the hotel. All will be linked by a pedestrian plaza/”green space” replacing Palm Street. A restaurant is planned on Palm St. along with a Performance Pavilion on Palm St. facing Main. Green space is considered the primary driver for success because a successful green space gives more opportunity for restaurants and retail to succeed. Parking will be above ground and Southmore will be required to be widened by the developer for the length of the project. Private ownership should deter the transient population.

From cranky over on HAIF:

Quote:

Early stages of design - design will take another year
Development would be like City Center
3 buildings to be constructed in this order: medical tower, residential tower, luxury boutique hotel (the most luxurious in Houston or at least top 5)
Each building would have their own parking; underground is being considered but may not happen because of cost
All buildings would have first floor retail/restaurants with outdoor seating - this is why they want to close Palm street
The vision includes a performance stage
Palm street greenery would be open to the public but privately owned. One option they will explore is having the city turn Palm street into a public park
Palm street greenery would be enjoyable/designed to be used year round
Targeting all types of restaurants: family friendly, casual, fine, coffee shop, bars
Multiple entrances to buildings - all entrances will be attractive
Existing oak trees would be kept and additional trees and greenery would be added
Closing Palm street to make it all green space would be a beautiful entrance to Museum Park and would serve as a link between Museum District and Museum Park
Developers will continue to involve the neighborhood as plans progress.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...e960d24951.JPG

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...92bb79b7e5.JPG

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...a5554a438b.JPG

http://www.museumparkna.org/resource...%20Minutes.pdf

Quote:

Question 2: How would the traffic from the hotel and residence tower be handled?

Developer Response: That is still being worked on. All would have garages with access to Wichita, Main, Southmore and Fannin. The hotel would have 2 points of access to mitigate congestion. A traffic study has not been done. There would be no entrances on San Jacinto or Fannin.

Question 3: Where would service entrances be located?

Developer Response: Service entrances would be on Wichita and Southmore streets.

Question 4: How many rooms will the hotel have?

Developer Response: That has not yet been decided but approximately 150. It is possible that the garages could be both above and below ground but below ground adds expense to the project.

Question 5: What will happen to Southmore Street which we consider a “boulevard entrance” to the neighborhood?

Developer Response: The project façade on Southmore will look good. A lane will be added to Southmore for the length of the development, a requirement of the City. The land for the lane will be taken from the development property.

Question 6: What are the plans for retail and how will parking be addressed?

Developer Response: We plan for the area to be a 24-7 active environment with a mixture of casual and high end restaurants, coffee bars etc. We are designing garages to handle retail parking which is regulated by City of Houston ordinance – for restaurants 8 parking spaces per 1,000 sq.ft. of gross floor area. We are working to avoid running out of parking!

Question 8: What is the timeline for the development?

Developer Response: A lot will depend on required City approvals and permits such as building permits, traffic studies, platting to make sure nothing is outside the property lines. The first construction would be the medical office building which would take about 8 months. The residential tower construction would begin within one year after completion of the medical office building and the projected date for beginning construction on the hotel is 2018

Question 10: Will the residential tower be condominium or rental and how many parking spaces will it have?

Developer Response: it is currently planned to be rental. The number of parking spaces depends on how many one, two, or three bedroom units there are. The tower will have more than 300 units.

Great work koops65, as usual!