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Bank Of America Tower At 800 Capitol St.


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28 minutes ago, urbanize713 said:

 

I do not disagree with you on the overall project. However,  the two story lobby into the tunnels appears to be turning into something unlike anything else downtown. 

 

I completely agree. I don't get why a lot of people on here are so obsessed with height. I'd rather have a shorter tower with excellent ground floor connectivity with the street and the surrounding area than a taller tower that is completely isolating it's self. After all we walk and spent the majority of our time at street level not 50 stories in the air. 

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2 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

 

I completely agree. I don't get why a lot of people on here are so obsessed with height. I'd rather have a shorter tower with excellent ground floor connectivity with the street and the surrounding area than a taller tower that is completely isolating it's self. After all we walk and spent the majority of our time at street level not 50 stories in the air. 

 

Also agree. Right now in downtown would rather have two 30 story buildings that knock out two parking lots (or twelve 5 story buildings) than 1 single 60 story building that knocks out 1 parking lot. 

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8 minutes ago, downtownian said:

 

Also agree. Right now in downtown would rather have two 30 story buildings that knock out two parking lots (or twelve 5 story buildings) than 1 single 60 story building that knocks out 1 parking lot. 

 

Agree as well. At this point in the cities growth we are looking at specifically infill and density. Once you get that I think a new round of taller buildings will follow as less real estate occurs in downtown. This has always been the case for denser cities like New York. At some point the squeeze happens and thats when its gets more practical to build taller again.

Edited by Luminare
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15 hours ago, downtownian said:

 

Also agree. Right now in downtown would rather have two 30 story buildings that knock out two parking lots (or twelve 5 story buildings) than 1 single 60 story building that knocks out 1 parking lot. 

 

If we are only trying to improve the streetscape and pedestrian life, 3 story buildings are better than 30 story buildings. They don't have parking garages and don't add significant traffic to the streets. They typically have more detailed and variegated facades than their brobdingnagian neighbors. Of course, due to land costs, they aren't feasible to build for the most part, so we have to keep the ones we have.

Edited by H-Town Man
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It isn't going to happen in Houston. Folks here love their AC. I find the tunnels useful on rainy days or excessively hot days. I agree that, in my opinion, the tunnels are used excessively, but so what? People will choose what they prefer. 

 

When I  walk through Uptown I see very few pedestrians there also even though the area is replete with apartments and no tunnel system. I suppose the good side is I never get jostled when I walk.

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It was a 6-7 block walk for me from the bus stop to my office downtown. On rainy or extremely hot days it’s a life saver. If the tunnels weren’t there I would have driven to work everyday instead of using mass transit. I didn’t really have to use them that often but it kept me from having to carry a slicker suit and umbrella to work everyday. For me, without the tunnels, mass transit in downtown Houston would have been unusable.

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As a proud mole person... I'm on the street level when it makes sense (like taking a more direct route), and in the tunnels when that makes sense (like avoiding 97 degree heat or torrential rain).  They're both routes to get from A to B.

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The tunnel system serves a legit purpose. Overall, I'm glad we have it. I've used it during inclement weather myself, and it's a great option to have. I just think that 80% of the retail down there would have created an entirely different atmosphere downtown if it was on street level instead.

 

Fortunately, the street level landscape downtown is changing despite the tunnel system. There are a lot of developments and renovations with more street level retail on the horizon. 

 

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There’s a bit of security in the tunnels also. The homeless are generally kept out. I stood on corners waiting for buses downtown for many years and was accosted a few times, once seriously threatened. I didn’t feel in danger in the tunnels wearing an expensive Swiss watch, on the surface I slipped it into my pocket in some areas. The biggest annoyance in the tunnels were the Lyndon Larouche people. I’d go to the surface just to avoid them.

 

Bottome line though, I always preferred walking on the surface. Most days, even in Houston,  the weather is nice for walking as long as it’s not too far.

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1 hour ago, por favor gracias said:

"Lyndon LaRouche people"....lol. They're what telemarketers look like in person. I know nothing about the guy, but his goons' antics have given me little reason to inquire.

 

Exactly... I wrote a long post about how much I agree but then realized this is going too far off topic. I’m out on the evils of tunnels and fringe politicians! :)

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I’m no “fan” of the tunnels, either. But they admittedly serve their purpose, and it seems a bit naive to simply ignore the thousands of office workers who utilize those tunnels every day (and utilized them well before this tower was ever a thing). IMO, any attempt at opening up the tunnels/mole people to the street level is a win by me. 

Ive long wished there was an entire block in western downtown that was essentially a sunken open air plaza, down at the tunnel level, with connectivity to the street level at the corners/cross walks, with retail facing inward along the 4 sides, along with tunnel connections, as a way to help open the tunnels up to the street level.

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2 hours ago, cloud713 said:

I’m no “fan” of the tunnels, either. But they admittedly serve their purpose, and it seems a bit naive to simply ignore the thousands of office workers who utilize those tunnels every day (and utilized them well before this tower was ever a thing). IMO, any attempt at opening up the tunnels/mole people to the street level is a win by me. 

Ive long wished there was an entire block in western downtown that was essentially a sunken open air plaza, down at the tunnel level, with connectivity to the street level at the corners/cross walks, with retail facing inward along the 4 sides, along with tunnel connections, as a way to help open the tunnels up to the street level.

They have that in Chicago and it’s great! This will really open the two up to one another. 

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12 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

They have that in Chicago and it’s great! This will really open the two up to one another. 

 

14 hours ago, cloud713 said:

I’m no “fan” of the tunnels, either. But they admittedly serve their purpose, and it seems a bit naive to simply ignore the thousands of office workers who utilize those tunnels every day (and utilized them well before this tower was ever a thing). IMO, any attempt at opening up the tunnels/mole people to the street level is a win by me. 

Ive long wished there was an entire block in western downtown that was essentially a sunken open air plaza, down at the tunnel level, with connectivity to the street level at the corners/cross walks, with retail facing inward along the 4 sides, along with tunnel connections, as a way to help open the tunnels up to the street level.

 

And maybe we could put a gondola in there too for when the next flood happens.

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16 hours ago, cloud713 said:

I’m no “fan” of the tunnels, either. But they admittedly serve their purpose, and it seems a bit naive to simply ignore the thousands of office workers who utilize those tunnels every day (and utilized them well before this tower was ever a thing). IMO, any attempt at opening up the tunnels/mole people to the street level is a win by me. 

Ive long wished there was an entire block in western downtown that was essentially a sunken open air plaza, down at the tunnel level, with connectivity to the street level at the corners/cross walks, with retail facing inward along the 4 sides, along with tunnel connections, as a way to help open the tunnels up to the street level.

 

there's a really great parking lot across the street from one shell plaza. that's very central to the tunnel system. I imagine that land is probably getting preliminary drawings right now for a tower in the next round of downtown building expansion.

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13 minutes ago, samagon said:

 

there's a really great parking lot across the street from one shell plaza. that's very central to the tunnel system. I imagine that land is probably getting preliminary drawings right now for a tower in the next round of downtown building expansion.

 

Who owns it?

 

That is quite a speculation if not founded.

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23 minutes ago, samagon said:

 

it's pure speculation on my part.

 

of the location of whole empty blocks (surface parking lots) in downtown, that one is situated very well.

Isn't that the "Bank of the Southwest Tower" lot? I've always been perplexed as to why that block has sat empty for so long. You'd think Hines would grab that block for a really big signature building (BOTSWT was supposed to be 1400 feet) instead of opting to buy a lot that a building was already occupying, having to pay to tear it down, etc. 

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7 hours ago, Timoric said:

We need one brash oil CEO to say they hell with it, I am building something big for Houston, no more of this understated campus crap to look humble.

 

That, and having WTI at around $100 for like 10 years, is our best chance for a supertall.  

Edited by democide
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  • 1 month later...

Looks good, more open and cold than some of the other downtown food halls but it is also functioning as a gateway from the tunnels. Seems like it will probably lack the intimacy of some of its competitors for this reason. But it probably won't need it to be successful due to the sheer volume of traffic.

 

Michael Hsu did a similar food hall in Austin that was below-grade in a downtown office building, opening up to the first floor lobby above. Like there he has used a lot of wood to soften the corporate atmosphere. This one feels more successful because the surrounding architecture of the building is contemporary versus the 80's architecture of the Austin building, but in both cases you get the feeling that he doesn't really enjoy the office tower environment and wants to collect his fee and move to the next project.

 

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11 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

Looks good, more open and cold than some of the other downtown food halls but it is also functioning as a gateway from the tunnels. Seems like it will probably lack the intimacy of some of its competitors for this reason. But it probably won't need it to be successful due to the sheer volume of traffic.

 

Michael Hsu did a similar food hall in Austin that was below-grade in a downtown office building, opening up to the first floor lobby above. Like there he has used a lot of wood to soften the corporate atmosphere. This one feels more successful because the surrounding architecture of the building is contemporary versus the 80's architecture of the Austin building, but in both cases you get the feeling that he doesn't really enjoy the office tower environment and wants to collect his fee and move to the next project.

 

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. The pictures of the updated progress immediately made me think about the Austin food hall on Congress & Cesar Chavez. 

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