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https://www.2415westheimer.com/

https://issuu.com/midway2/docs/230720_east_river_office?fr=sMjM0ZDY2NTEzNDU

I spotted 12 brick mock up stands and core drilling barrels.

Looks like the tower crane is running out of room and will have to be jumped soon. Turner's Cut.

I read a press release this morning that the developer has decided to work with the "tower of terror" people and will be removing all work done to date, and making a private park only accessible by people who have faithfully had yellow yard signs for over a decade. oh, and happy April fools! build baby build!

Little extension toward the east end of the trail in Mason Park. North bank.

Construction started on pedestrian bridge. still allows thru traffic on the main bayou trail.

I do believe the podium is completed. Now there is a retaining wall forming. From the rendering, it appears there's a small area before the hospital floors. The stacking diagram says mechanical? Construction photos from today.

I'm not ultra-close to the 11th project, but this statement - along with similar ones about the Montrose Boulevard project - is deeply frustrating to me. Do people not realize how insanely hard it is to get anything done for non-drivers in this city? It took six 311 calls to get the knocked-over school speed limit sign outside of my school moved a few inches off of the three-foot sidewalk. Not fixed, not even cleared away. Moved a foot and a half. I know that's a pretty stretched anecdote, but my point is this: every piece of infrastructure built for pedestrians and cyclists is the product of years - usually over a decade - of begging, clawing, fundraising, desperate (and mostly ignored) public outreach, and compromise with the twelve angry NIMBYs who default to opposition on everything. It may or may not be true in this instance, but the paradigm of bending over backwards to appease every opposing voice has been strangling this city (the whole country, really) for too damn long.

This week's construction update. I believe the podium is completed and now they're going to start on the hospital floors. Just an amazing building. It's so stout.

I am of the opinion that a satellite gallery for the MFAH would be a wonderful addition to downtown close to Discovery Green Convention center area. Perhaps it could be a shared space between the CAM, MFAH, The Craft Museum and the Menil. They could alternate exhibitions. It would be a great place for the Museums to expand their audiences. Give visitors an opportunity to see an exhibition close to their lodgings or downtown workers to go during their lunch break.

I’m counting at least 12 permits pulled so far for 3030 Buffalo Speedway (parcel 1), 3070 Buffalo Speedway (all wastewater) and 3425 West Alabama Street (parcel 2). The latter puts it in a different zip code. I also heard that the new utility poles on Alabama that were moved for the COH Alabama restoration will be removed and the lines ran underground, at the RO’s expense. They don’t want a bunch of power lines running in front of their new buildings, which is a big plus. The UK portion of the Alabama Reconstruction could start as early as July, but since these things never start on time it will likely be by the end of the year or first of 2025.

hindesky- Awesome! Love the lighter colors. All the brick choices are very elegant. Let's go!!

Photos via Architect Farshid Moussavi's Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/farshidmoussavi/

Architect - https://www.fsdesignbuild.com https://www.fsdesignbuild.com/projects/tsu-academy-of-aviation

An architectural barriers project filing for East Blocks was registered yesterday with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The filing is for a parking garage at 2215 McKinney St. Details from the filing: Estimated Start Date: September 1, 2024 Estimated Completion Date: January 1, 2025 Estimated Cost: $16,000,000 Type of Work: New construction Scope of Work: New 7-story precast parking garage with approximately 481 spaces to include retail and other amenities to serve the East Blocks district development. Scope to include the perimeter landscape design tying the building into the surrounding neighborhood Square Footage: 209,646 sf Design Firm: Gensler https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Print/TABS2024015552

Wolfgramm, Tannos developing condos in East Montrose - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Hines' new Levit Green life sciences campus near Texas Medical Center adds tenant Apr 15, 2024 https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/04/15/hines-levit-green-life-sciences-pranax-tenant.html Houston-based Hines has landed another tenant for Levit Green, a 53-acre life sciences campus near the Texas Medical Center. Pinehurst, Texas-based PranaX inked a lease for a 7,400-square-foot, turn-key lab space on the second floor of Levit Green’s Building 1 at 6420 Levit Green Blvd., Hines said April 15. PranaX’s business focuses on using exosomes, or membrane-bound extracellular vesicles, to confer regenerative therapies aimed at treating aging, inflamed and damaged tissue and organs. The company recently entered into a technology licensing agreement with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to commercialize exosomes as therapeutics, natural supplements and wellness products that can promote healthy aging.

The gorgeous One Dynamic Way seems to have gotten a paint job. The lower portion of the building, that's supposed to connect to Two Dynamic Way, has been painted this week. I really like the color, or texture.

The barriers are great. It's always fun to watch some idiot not paying attention hitting one of those barriers and destroying a tire and wheel, and hopefully a lower control arm. I saw that just East of Shepherd where a Honda Accord driver tried to speed up and get into the left lane rather than waiting their turn. Bam! they paid the price.

A plan to transform a historic Third Ward church into a mixed-use development is a step closer to fruition after the city of Houston received a $4.1 million Housing and Urban Development grant for the project. The new development — Gospel Square — will offer a live-work community, café, recording studio, courtyard and new affordable housing units, according to the city's Housing and Community Development Department. There are also plans for a proposed four-floor building adjacent to the church with a 10,000-square-foot ground floor to house retail space and parking. The second floor will have an office conference space and co-working areas for lease and rental units, and the third and fourth floors will be for the residential units, the department added. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/houston-former-wesley-church-development-19399191.php

Below is a rendering of Chardon's dining room shared in a Facebook group. Chardon is a French brasserie that's planned for Thompson Hotel / Thompson Houston. It's scheduled to open this summer at 1717 Allen Parkway (address may also be 1711 Allen Pkwy.)

The HUB. UH Football Operations Center.

Stormwater grids have been installed and are now being covered with porous covers and white rock.

Reminder that this Saturday is the annual Art Car Parade, on Allen Parkway, in front of The Allen (keeping this on topic). Cars roll at 2pm, but as always, the best viewing is getting there early, maybe noon-ish, and just walking along Allen Parkway looking at all the cars up close, and interacting with the owners, and all the off-beat Houstonians who come out for this. Look for me in the Hippo Car. Come say hi!

Homeless project near Beyoncé-backed complex sparks debate (houstonchronicle.com) Article in the Chronicle. Provides a good overview of the project: "13 floors of housing for the formerly homeless. To do so, the nonprofit is asking Houston for permission to build closer than 25 feet from the property line." Each studio unit would be around 340 square feet. The article then brings up the people opposed: "But lawyers representing the owners of a block of land nearby have protested that the variance would make the area less pedestrian-friendly, which is the purpose of the city rule limiting how close buildings can be to property lines. The permission could also curb the possibilities for any potential park that could take the place of the bordering Pierce Elevated, which is slated to be removed as part of the Interstate 45 expansion, they said." Personally, from the renderings above, I dont really see how it would be negative for the pedestrian experience. This actually would provide more eyes on the street and I think it would actually make that area of Midtown feel safer because there will be a development with windows and lights and not an empty grass patch near an underpass.

River Oaks Name Exploitation

This is art deco now. I dont make the rules.

https://www.hcp1.net/BraysBayouPedestrianBridge

The dump trucks are coming and going in droves. I noticed what looked like a core drilling truck to the right in the 3rd pic.

It is not possible to eliminate all opposition with *any* project, and road diets in particular always have opponents. You don't like this project. We get it. That doesn't make it unsuccessful. 11th St was unsafe and uncomfortable and now it is much less so. Is it perfect? No. But it does a much better job of prioritizing human life and was able to be implemented relatively quickly and cost effectively.

Bertner Avenue building signage is now up! TMC3!! Notice the Baylor College of Medicine building signage in the background. Just perfect! Those Elkus Manfredi fins are fantastic.

That looks straight up beautiful. Flawless development as of now. My dream is for every strip center inside the loop to be replaced with something like this.

I am being told: "We are working through contract reviews on this now. Short answer is that we will start design this spring, that will take 12-18 months, then another 12 months of permitting and then construction (another 12-18 months). We are at least three years out. These projects take forever. "

These types of installations are for all ages and imo are pretty cool. There’s one in Tokyo that has many interactive experiences and definitely worth the price of admission.

I could see a large AT crane off in the distance from downtown and I was racking my mind as to what it could possibly be lifting. The building trapped the portable tower crane and it had no way to get out. Crane Master Inc. showed up to remove it. I asked one of the workers when the Charles and the smaller building would be finished, he said probably in about 3 months.

The Houston Methodist Centennial Tower sure is becoming imposing at street level. It's just massive. You would think this is an office skyscraper but it's a hospital.

SCRB5. SOPH. SCG2.