George R. Brown Convention Center Redevelopment, Office Building & W Hotel

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, PD_1 said:

On page 7 of the proposal form it shows "Owner's Expected Substantial Completion Date". The date listed is 05.15.17. It doesn't appear to be for the "Big Game".

 

can you provide a link to the particular form you are speaking of, or give us the exact name of the form?  Found it.   Interesting and a little surprising.  Elsewhere in the documents it says construction must be completed in 150 or 180 days.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Houston19514

[tigereye]

Our first look at the view beyond the big new windows...

 

 

[BeerNut]

6 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

 It's a restaurant and live music venue.  It's being done by Free Range Concepts.  You can get an idea of the types of places they do here.

Interesting...I went to college with one of the founder's wives.  She is always advertising their places on Facebook.  

[Luminare]

From looking at those drawings....yeah thats a temp structure.

[UtterlyUrban]

2 hours ago, Luminare said:

From looking at those drawings....yeah thats a temp structure.

You may well be correct but the plans in Dropbox include a fairly comprehensive landscaping plan.  Seems to me like a frivolous expense for a building that will be used for a week.

 

and PD_1 above suggests a 5-17-17 completion date is listed somewhere in the docs.  

 

I guess we we will know for sure in May.

 

 

[Luminare]

45 minutes ago, UtterlyUrban said:

You may well be correct but the plans in Dropbox include a fairly comprehensive landscaping plan.  Seems to me like a frivolous expense for a building that will be used for a week.

 

and PD_1 above suggests a 5-17-17 completion date is listed somewhere in the docs.  

 

I guess we we will know for sure in May.

 

 

Most projects you will have a landscaping budget big or small. I haven't seen these docs though so you would know more than me. What makes it "comprehensive" in your opinion?

[UtterlyUrban]

8 hours ago, Luminare said:

Most projects you will have a landscaping budget big or small. I haven't seen these docs though so you would know more than me. What makes it "comprehensive" in your opinion?

It seems that they are removing some existing trees and planting, in ground, a list of plants including  (9) 12'-15' trees.  They are also adding an irrigation system it seems.

 

Would that expense be undertaken for a building that will be used for a week?  If so, I am going to raise cane at the frivolity of the expense.  If the building is permenant, then, it makes sense to me.

Edited July 28, 2016 by UtterlyUrban

[tangledwoods]

project is NOT temporary. I work for a general contractor that thought about bidding on the thing, we had people at the prebid.  This is designed to be a permanent structure.  With that being said, there is a good chance this thing doesnt get built.  Their schedule is too tight and their budget is too small.  It has already been put on the market once and NO ONE bid the stupid thing.

 

My guess is that they take bids, its over budget and then it goes away for another 6-12 months.

[Mab]

Quote

Heavy rain turned the construction on Avenida de las Americas into a mud pit Thursday, but beautiful views across Discovery Green unfolded from above, through the dramatic glass walls that are giving the George R. Brown Convention Center a friendlier face.

Views inside are improving, too.

While crews shimmied up scaffolding in the atriums, veteran artist Ben Woitena stood atop a small cherry-picker at the center's north end, doing final touch-ups on his three-panel installation, "The Brown is Green."

 

Woitena's piece is one of ten new artworks that Houston First, the center's operator, has commissioned to make the walls of the renovated lobbies feel more human and give them a stronger sense of place.

"So when you walk into the George R. Brown, you don't just feel that you're anywhere," said Christine West, Houston First's cultural programs manager. "We want to reflect Houston's culture."

The art program is part of a Houston First initiative to create a dining and entertainment hub - Avenida Houston - that connects the center's lobbies with a new promenade along the Avenida de las Americas and Discovery Green Park.

Last week Houston First announced eight new restaurants that will open this winter at Avenida Houston. Chef Hugo Ortega's new concept, Xochi, joins five other eateries coming to the soon-to-open Marriott Marquis Hotel, where Craig Biggio's sports bar is also sure to be a big draw. Also arriving soon to the area: A new take on Grotto, by Tilman Fertitta; plus Bud's Pitmaster BBQ, Kulture and McAlister's Deli.

But first, it's a focus on the art.

West, who previously directed Lawndale Art Center, sent out an open call for art proposals that interpreted themes such as space and technology, native flora and fauna, reuse and recycling, cultural diversity and the city's entrepreneurial history.

"I wanted to leave the artists the freedom to express themselves as they would, with the type of practice that they have," she said. "But ... it is a public space, and we are trying to promote Houston through our convention center, so we had to rein it in a tiny bit."

She awarded the commissions, which total $80,500, with help from a committee that included Texas Southern University's Alvia Wardlaw, Houston Arts Alliance's Sara Kellner and others.

Five of the works are murals fabricated in a variety of media. Several will entertain people by offering unusual ways to "experience" views of Houston. For instance, Shane Albritton's "Earth and Skyline" will combine multiple images of Houston environments from multiple days as a single gesture. Joe Aker and Tami Merrick's "Skype Scape" is a take on a three-dimensional lenticular photograph, with a series of images that floats within a contrasting color-field background

Street artist Gonzo247 is creating "Lifting Off, Houston," a Pop art-inspired mural with a space shuttle element, while Britt Thomas' "Metallographic Cosmos" enlarges microscopic images of particles into "planets."

Smaller works by Reginald Adams, Pablo Gimenez-Zapiola, Lorena Morales and Page Piland will hang in four phone-charging nooks.

Woitena, who is best-known for beefy, abstract sculptures, has delivered a surprise: His three panels feature cut-out black and white paintings of a great horned owl, a hummingbird, a monarch butterfly and flowers.

He has drawn and painted since he was a student at the University of Texas-Austin in the early 1960s, he said. "You never lose it. It's like riding a bicycle."

His paintings, made on masonite, are screwed to forest-green backgrounds framed in cream, with black corners, so each panel mimics a photograph in a vintage album. Visitors are already posing there to take selfies.

West said the other artworks should be complete by mid-October, and there's more to come. "I want to fill up the whole GRB," she said.

Two unrelated, monumental civic artworks are also under construction: Ed Wilson's "Soaring in the Clouds" will hang in the central atrium, and the kinetic "Wings Over Water" by Joe O'Connell & Creative Machines will hover above the new Fountain of the Americas outside.

Installation begins in September on Wilson's piece, a commission that stirred intense controversy when it was awarded in 2014. O'Connell's work will be installed in November and activated in December when the fountain is complete.

1

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Artists-give-George-R-Brown-Convention-Center-8471875.php#photo-10664275

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cspwal]

Is that 609 Main fourth from the left?  Or am I imagining it?

4 hours ago, Mab said:

 

 

[monarch]

^^^ @Mab outstanding work!  props....

[Elseed]

Below is an article from swamplot that talks about Free Range Concepts possibly setting up shop @ Polk St.

 

http://swamplot.com/bowling-and-dog-park-restauranteurs-look-to-serve-drinks-in-a-downtown-parking-lot/2016-04-27/

 

[Nole23]

*Just bumping a page worth of threads ahead of all of the spam*

[hindesky]

182 days

[Sunstar]

 

Looks like the grass has recovered quite a bit. Also notice the fountain base has been installed in front of the GRB. 

[monarch]

^^^ @Sunstar SUPERB illustration pal!  this is what we have been wanting to see.  should you acquire any more of this burgeoning area, please post...

[Urbannizer]

 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

http://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2016/8/12/discovery-green-requests-all-pokemon-stops-lures-and-creatures-from-the-park

[nate4l1f3]

16 hours ago, monarch said:

^^^ @Sunstar SUPERB illustration pal!  this is what we have been wanting to see.  should you acquire any more of this burgeoning area, please post...

You can check this shot out everyday I'd you'd like, that's a screenshot from the webcam.

[ryrohtx]

On 7/24/2016 at 4:19 AM, Urbannizer said:

Entertainment venue for the Super Bowl in the bidding process.

 

http://www.houstonfirst.com/static/media/uploads/attachments/houston_venue.pdf

 

 

 

 

I went to Bowl and Barrel at CityCentre this afternoon and met a construction manager from Free Range Concepts. He came up and asked how we liked the place. It really was cool and I will definitely go back. 

 

I asked him about this project and he confirmed that this block is going to The Rustic - their live, outdoor music venue, kitchen and bar concept. Had no specifics on the time, but they are really excited to bring it to Houston.

[rayjay]

Wow that's great! I love The Rustic in Uptown Dallas and it's always super busy, great atmosphere with the live music. Looking forward to it!

[HoustonMidtown]

The road work has been completed

[UtterlyUrban]

Only in front of this building or the entire stretch of the GRB?

[HoustonMidtown]

2 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Only in front of this building or the entire stretch of the GRB?

 

Just in front of the new building

[monarch]

^^^ @HoustonMidtown outstanding illustrations my pal!  please post more of these..... perfect!

[hindesky]

168 Days Till  Houston's Super Bowl

[hindesky]

The driveway is finished but will be deadly to bicycle riders, ankles and people who wear high heels. Why would they make these gutter covers that have such wide openings to them? It's a pet peeve of mine being a bike rider, so many places have have the wheel eating covers installed in their driveways that is just asking for someone to get seriously hurt.

[UtterlyUrban]

WOW!  Where is that grate?  That could cause all sorts of issues!

[Triton]

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

The driveway is finished but will be deadly to bicycle riders, ankles and people who wear high heels. Why would they make these gutter covers that have such wide openings to them? It's a pet peeve of mine being a bike rider, so many places have have the wheel eating covers installed in their driveways that is just asking for someone to get seriously hurt.

 

Yup! Samething almost happened to me biking around that area this week trying to catch Pokemon. 

[phillip_white]

At the very least, they could turn the grates so that the lengths of the openings are perpendicular to the path.