[Subdude]

editor, on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 @ 3:59am, said:

It means the new building will reflect the subtle style and interplay that forms the nexus of downtown Houston's architectural heritage. It will be an homage to the pioneering spirit of the city's founding fathers and respectful of its mid-century aspirations while being LEED diamond pre-certified green eco-friendly hybrid 50% CF sustainable green roof friendly.

Sorry... I read a Hines brochure yesterday.

Oh yes, of course. Why didn't I see that?

[H-Town Man]

Subdude, on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 @ 4:22am, said:

I wish that just once a reporter would call people out on this kind of marketing nonsense.

Remember what newspaper this is.

[TheNiche]

Subdude, on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 @ 4:22am, said:

I wish that just once a reporter would call people out on this kind of marketing nonsense.

You know she can't do that. Nancy knows better than to overtly burn her sources. Otherwise they'll give the next scoop to Jennifer Dawson.

[Boris]

KPMG Reserves 108,904 SF in 1M-SF Spec Trophy
By Amy Wolff

811 Main St.
HOUSTON-KPMG LLP is the first tenant to take space in the one-million-sf MainPlace. The audit and tax advisory firm will take down the top four floors, totaling 108,904 sf, of the under-construction office building in the CBD.

http://www.globest.c...n/171099-1.html

[wxman]

Would anybody be nice enough to give us a photo update of this building?

On a side note OOP is bigger than I thought it would be. I'm not sure, but it is getting way up there now. Not really sure what I was expecting.

[swtsig]

wxman, on Monday, June 16th, 2008 @ 6:58pm, said:

Would anybody be nice enough to give us a photo update of this building?

On a side note OOP is bigger than I thought it would be. I'm not sure, but it is getting way up there now. Not really sure what I was expecting.

crown included (if you can call it a crown), this building is practically 40 stories.... that is nothing to scoff at.

[pm91]

new pics!
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">
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[ricco67]

Man, how deep are they going to go?

DT started a month later and they already poured concrete and have a crane up!

[HtownWxBoy]

ricco67, on Friday, June 20th, 2008 @ 4:19pm, said:

Man, how deep are they going to go?

DT started a month later and they already poured concrete and have a crane up!

Yea they seem to be moving along slowly w/ Main Place... oh well, as long as they are moving along .

[Houston19514]

ricco67, on Friday, June 20th, 2008 @ 4:19pm, said:

Man, how deep are they going to go?

DT started a month later and they already poured concrete and have a crane up!

MainPlace is approximately 50% taller, so one presumes they will need a significantly deeper and more substantial foundation. Plus, I would imagine that having the Stowers Building to work around (and protect) does not exactly speed up the process.

[TheNiche]

Houston19514, on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 @ 8:21am, said:

MainPlace is approximately 50% taller, so one presumes they will need a significantly deeper and more substantial foundation. Plus, I would imagine that having the Stowers Building to work around (and protect) does not exactly speed up the process.

Not only is it taller, but its structure will be concrete rather than steel. Upon completion, it'll be the heaviest building in Houston.

[HtownWxBoy]

TheNiche, on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 @ 8:27pm, said:

Not only is it taller, but its structure will be concrete rather than steel. Upon completion, it'll be the heaviest building in Houston.

Really? That's interesting.

[CasaNova]

TheNiche, on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 @ 9:27pm, said:

Not only is it taller, but its structure will be concrete rather than steel. Upon completion, it'll be the heaviest building in Houston.

Not only will it be taller and heavier. Since this place will actually have access to tunnel connection, I would imagine they have to configure and prep the land even more so, that DGT.

[bkjones98]

Not to mention they had to remove Hotel Montague.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Gee, seems the only thing this building is missing a large block letter 'S' surrounded by a shield placed smack dab in the middle of the building's facade.

That and a cape. Can't forget the cape.

[Highway6]

TheNiche, on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 @ 8:27pm, said:

Not only is it taller, but its structure will be concrete rather than steel. Upon completion, it'll be the heaviest building in Houston.

The majority of our buildings downtown, as in much the south, have concrete or composite structures.
Chase tower has a composite concrete structural system.
Why would this tower be any heavier then the dozen or so of its taller concrete bruthas ?

[TheNiche]

Highway6, on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 @ 3:12pm, said:

The majority of our buildings downtown, as in much the south, have concrete or composite structures.
Chase tower has a composite concrete structural system.
Why would this tower be any heavier then the dozen or so of its taller concrete bruthas ?

I get questions like these and wish I were a structural engineer. I distinctly remember that the guy from Hines mentioned something special about the concrete...but I can't place the exact verbage...whether it was "pre-cast," "poured," or something else. In any case, that was their conclusion, that it would be heavier than anything built previously.

[RedScare]

Highway6, on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 @ 3:12pm, said:

Why would this tower be any heavier then the dozen or so of its taller concrete bruthas ?

Perhaps it is because of its "Twin I-Beam Construction".

[JWW]

TheNiche, on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 @ 11:39pm, said:

I get questions like these and wish I were a structural engineer. I distinctly remember that the guy from Hines mentioned something special about the concrete...but I can't place the exact verbage...whether it was "pre-cast," "poured," or something else. In any case, that was their conclusion, that it would be heavier than anything built previously.

Is there anyone reading this who has an engineering background or can elaborate (here or in a more general thread) about building systems and thier characteristics (i.e. poured-in-place concrete vs. pre-cast vs. tilt vs. composite, etc.) ???

[citizen4rmptown]

any updates on this?
(gotten taller,ect.)

[lockmat]

citizen4rmptown, on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 @ 10:49am, said:

(gotten taller,ect.)

lol, has a building ever gotten taller? I wish, but I doubt it.

[Jax]

Last night I looked it was still negative height...

[kjb434]

I'm not a structural engineer, but i do have some background in geotechnical engineering (subset of Civil Engineering).

The deep excavations and large basements are build to offset the immense weight of a building.

The science behind this is that the lower level of earthen material has existed for a much longer time with either weight of just the existing soil above or other buildings. Engineers will design a large basement to remove as much existing soil, since the weight is now gone, the building's weight can replace it.

This will reduce the amount of concrete needed to form a foundation and/or footings.

The use of basements in large buildings is not just efficient land use, it's for engineering reasons too. Just look at how large the excavation for the World Trade Towers were in NYC.

[dmoneybangbang]

Probably doesn't help it rains a lot in Houston.

[citizen4rmptown]

Jax, on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 @ 11:38am, said:

Last night I looked it was still negative height...

oh well, for 47 stories , its gotta take a long time, just wanted to know the progress

[PAC]

FYI - the MainPlace website is up and running today. The video section will be complete shortly, as we're trying to find a good mix of quality and download speed for the building videos.

www.mainplacehouston.com

(and no, the building has not gotten any taller. Still 46 stories with a 2 story parapet wall on top)

[lockmat]

oh my freakin gosh...this is gonna be amazing up close

k, settleing down...

let us know when yall have the videos up??

thanks for the heads up

[citizen4rmptown]

PAC, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 9:13am, said:

FYI - the MainPlace website is up and running today. The video section will be complete shortly, as we're trying to find a good mix of quality and download speed for the building videos.

www.mainplacehouston.com

(and no, the building has not gotten any taller. Still 46 stories with a 2 story parapet wall on top)

I just had a chukle
Sorry, i shuld've explained myself more clearly..
I meant like if it's going up(construction-wise)
like if went

From this To this:

[lockmat]

PAC, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 9:13am, said:

FYI - the MainPlace website is up and running today. The video section will be complete shortly, as we're trying to find a good mix of quality and download speed for the building videos.

www.mainplacehouston.com

Also, it's got an exxon building vibe to it with the shades.

[Deut28Thirteen]

Great website cant wait for the movies. Mainplace will be one of Texas' nicest towers and improve our skyline greatly!

[Jax]

For those of you who were wondering where the retail would be located...
http://www.mainplace.../H...rtsV6__(p1).PDF

[kjb434]

Based on that, it'll probably be just a restaurant.

[rsb320]

kjb434, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 2:01pm, said:

Based on that, it'll probably be just a restaurant.

My thinking as well. It'll probably be a Skyline Cafe like the one in Hines' 717 Texas Building. They sell food, but stock some convenient store type things too. It'll probably close at 4:00 and not be open on weekends.

[rsb320]

I just remembered that this building will connect to the tunnel system. Is it going to hook up with Macy's?

Does anyone know anything about the bunkers under Macy's? I remember reading something a long time ago. Apparently, there are several floor levels beneath the store and can accomodate (say) 2000 or so people. This was, of course, built during the nuclear age. It would be so cool if they had tours and such.

edit
Sorry, Macy's is clear down the street. I wonder where they will beconnecting to. I'll have to go look at a tunnel map to see what's closest.

This post has been edited by rsb320: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 5:05 PM

[swtsig]

the video is very well done... this is gonna be a very nice building.

[MyEvilTwin]

This rendering makes me think of Denny Crane & Allen Shore smoking a couple of cigars & drinking scotch at the end of a Boston Legal episode. Cracks me up!!

It's a beautiful building.

[lockmat]

swtsig, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 4:55pm, said:

the video is very well done... this is gonna be a very nice building.

so you've seen it privately? cuz it's not on the website

[Trae]

swtsig, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 4:55pm, said:

the video is very well done... this is gonna be a very nice building.

Lies.

[swtsig]

[HtownWxBoy]

MyEvilTwin, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 8:37pm, said:

This rendering makes me think of Denny Crane & Allen Shore smoking a couple of cigars & drinking scotch at the end of a Boston Legal episode. Cracks me up!!

It's a beautiful building.

LOVE THAT SHOW!!

[capnmcbarnacle]

Jax, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 12:20pm, said:

For those of you who were wondering where the retail would be located...
http://www.mainplace.../H...rtsV6__(p1).PDF

I am so glad to see them putting that large piece of retail along main street.

I don't want to get hyperbolic, but this building could really do wonders for that part of downtown. Having a big Class A building that opens out to Main ought to bring a lot more foot traffic to the area and do wonders for the vibe you get as a pedestrian.

[totheskies]

This has GOT to be Houston's greatest current project.... HANDS DOWN. I'm so glad that there will be retail!!!!!!!!

[lockmat]

totheskies, on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 @ 2:26pm, said:

This has GOT to be Houston's greatest current project.... HANDS DOWN. I'm so glad that there will be retail!!!!!!!!

I disagree completely. Just a personal opinion though

[citizen4rmptown]

so , in your opinion, what is houston's greatest current project?

forgot to put in quote..well its for lockmat anyways

This post has been edited by citizen4rmptown: Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 3:34 PM

[pestofan]

PAC, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 @ 9:13am, said:

FYI - the MainPlace website is up and running today. The video section will be complete shortly, as we're trying to find a good mix of quality and download speed for the building videos.

www.mainplacehouston.com

(and no, the building has not gotten any taller. Still 46 stories with a 2 story parapet wall on top)

Thank goodness that they finally buried that stinking bayou. But I am NOT happy about all the stoplights added to Allen Parkway.

I wonder if that rendering was inspired by the old phone book cover drawings. Hours of entertainment!

This post has been edited by pestofan: Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 2:44 PM

[desirous]

pestofan, on Saturday, July 12th, 2008 @ 2:44pm, said:

Thank goodness that they finally buried that stinking bayou. But I am NOT happy about all the stoplights added to Allen Parkway.

I wonder if that rendering was inspired by the old phone book cover drawings. Hours of entertainment!

Ha! I didn't even notice. What the hell is that city in the background?

[Triton]

What in the world?? I think it's San Antonio in the background.

Edit: Oh wait, you know what I just realized? The whole entire picture is a model! It's not even a real photo of Houston. I just thought the colors on the buildings had been changed, but no... if you check the textures around all the skyscrapers, they all have a tan-fake sidewalk. How weird.

This post has been edited by Triton: Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 2:25 PM

[desirous]

They should've taken the opportunity to add more imaginary buildings then.

[marc]

i was wondering WTF happened to DT? i know i have been gone since around New Years, but good grief, no one told me about
the complete infrastructure remodel!

m.

[rsb320]

marc, on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 @ 4:30pm, said:

i was wondering WTF happened to DT? i know i have been gone since around New Years, but good grief, no one told me about
the complete infrastructure remodel!

m.

What do you mean?