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Those views appear to be from last fall/early winter based on the trees and development of other buildings in the shots. Very nice views from the upper floors. Triton, I haven't seen that angle before. Uptown and Greenway kind of merge together and look really cool from that perspective. Thanks for sharing.

This was on a link that Tory Gattis posted on HS. Actual color footage of downtown Dallas in 1939. And... wow. All the people. The storefronts. The GFR. I'm not even a Dallas fan, but watching this was quite moving for me. I'm sure if there were footage of Houston in 1939, it would tell a similar tale. Go to the 3:39 mark.

I saw it roped off today

According to the Master Plan, the international arrivals concourse currently under construction can be expanded to a total of 12 gates. The wing on the opposite side of the terminal is beyond the master plan time horizon (i.e., beyond 2030) and there is no indication that it is planned to be for an international concourse (but as it is beyond the master plan horizon, they are probably not even attempting to identify it as either international or domestic). Further info from the Master Plan: They anticipate needing 10 international arrival gates by 2020, and 12 by 2030.

I disagree. If your largest tenant decides not to renew the lease in full, that's when you start shopping around for interested buyers. You're not so keen on selling when you have a steady revenue stream. But if all of a sudden you need to market to get new tenants, pay commissions and TI allowances, you might as well sell your property.

A rendering from a different angle http://www.hines.com/property/detail.aspx?id=2542

2014-07-05 11.29.07 by marclongoria, on Flickr

Here's another look at the views from the building.

i get it. i understand that ir occurs, but i don't understand the logic behind it. Naming it Six Flags Fiesta Texas doesn't necessarily mean it's "Texas" themed; I haven't been there however. Do they have western themed things, like cowboy and rodeo motifs? When the "grand texas theme park" was looking at property at crighton road and i-45 in south conroe, nearby established neighborhoods were freaking out a bit. why build or stay in a 400K custom home if you're going to hear rollercoasters until 10 or 11 at night, and share the road with theme park people day and night. i'd be so out of there. theme parks are a hard sell and must be a handful to manage and keep profitable. i'm happy with theme parks in florida...for vacations. i'd rather not have them too close. the pleasure pier in galveston and the kemah boardwalk are more than enough; just passing fertitta's overrated neon abomination downtown turns my stomach.

each time i see posts in this thread i get a little queasy; i loathe this project. it's been given way too much press and only because we do not have a theme park in houston and because they are naming it a "theme" park which it isn't.really. it's more like some rich guy's grandiose idea for a playground on a ranch. texas isn't a theme in TEXAS. we are IN TEXAS. japan can have a texas themed park. north dakota could have a texas theme of something, but texas is already what it is. moronic. simple minded (not in a good way). i'm sorry, but i hope this project doesn't happen. i'm sure the neighborhoods nearby are hoping the same thing. the grand parkway is going to breathe life into this part of the region but a "theme" park next door will ensure your home values stay low.

Will this replace the apartments at the NW corner of Post Oak & Uptown Park Blvd? http://powersbrown.com/urban-design-mixed-use/mixed-use/rd-uptown/#/

so today was the 6th.. does anyone know if the lot was fenced/closed off or not?

Oh I forgot about the 5 story. I liked that one too. Is that between the 2007 and the townhouse apartment things? I agree, it's a shame we are losing old homes, but obviously the demand for living in the museum district and near a rail line is desirable. If it weren't Hines building a residential tower on 1/2 a block, it could of been a developer bulldozing multiple blocks to build the equivilent amount of mid rise apartments, similar to the development just west of this (though I don't remember what was on those blocks prior to the midrises).

Try searching for the current owner (available from hcad) on google, adding the search term wysk as well. The property address is 1144 Yale. Wysk provides information on corporations.

Completely agree. I'm going to miss these beautiful homes, whether the owners agreed to it or not. I remember the first day I rode my bike down Caroline years ago and marveled at the massive 5-story home there at Oakdale. I can't even imagine how many rooms the home has. The thing is you can just tell there was so much history in that home that's now going to be gone for a city that could care less about preservation, especially well-maintained beautiful homes such as these. Almost everyone likes Hines here and I certainly do as well, but out of all of the locations for this great tower, I honestly wish they picked somewhere else.

I really like the park idea. It's very Mr. Smith goes to Washington.Would you have a Glorious fountain with statues to greet the entrance of the station in the park? Would you have oaks, or pines, or both? Paths? Or open lawn concept? I also like how the commuter rail extends all the way from Conroe to Galveston. These satelite cities will become more centers of local activity for jobs, shopping and entertainment. Connecting then to the mother unit (Houston), is important.

Actually, Monty Galland (the ringleader) told the press that he intends to model Grand Texas after Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. Go online and check out what those parks have to offer if you want to get an idea of what the developers of this project have in mind. I know that both those parks are considered to be very good old west style theme parks from the reviews I've read. But, yes. It's a theme park. Heat, sunburns, mosquito bites, vomit, 4 hour lines, painful rides, screaming babies, incompetent teenage workers who don't know the meaning of the word "service", nasty bathrooms, overpriced tickets, disgusting food, smelly people...ect. - the whole works! The good news is that it's not like there will be any SS Nazis rounding people up and forcing them against their will at gunpoint to be there. If theme parks aren't your bag and you find yourself in the middle of it, you have no one but yourself or your own kids to blame. BTW, I think most parks serve alcohol these days.

Along those lines, one young sportswriter's near-brush with greatness: http://30daysout.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/rock-moment-fear-loathing-at-the-super-bowl-1974/

Corgan's website has some nice renderings of the Hobby International terminal.

more than a little disappointing. no turrets! the roof is different. is that the same property as the rendering?

I am swept away by the Parisian street scape. The most romantic block in Houston. I eagerly await the headlines around the world, "Houston teleports a block from Palais Royal".Sorry I got carried away. It's not too terrible but in true Houston fashion this project is watered down from rendering.

i wonder if there will be a house of horrors or a freak show? bearded lady maybe? they will definitely need alcohol for it to be worth taking the kids; "sorry kids, daddy can't handle grand texas theme park without a buzz."

A couple of photos from inside Huckster House

Currently enjoying less violence (per capita! gotta love that exploding population, flatters us in the stats, 'cuz babies don't tend to hurt people!) than ever before is the received wisdom since Steven Pinker explained it all for us -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Better_Angels_of_Our_Nature ... but then, hitting the reset button at 1945, "there really wasn't any other direction." Maybe the undeniable pleasure many of our fellows take in depictions of violence is just a way of keeping their hands in. In case we need to pivot, as the business gurus say. Maybe that's why, arche_757, despite your heroic efforts to return us to the topic, after it devolved to whether individuals have TV remotes, you could not find any common agreement that there was a line we ought not, or need not, cross. There was no line to the imaginary violence, because the only line is actual violence. The Bomb ushered in this era of peace. I'm pretty sure that's the very pattern of a Faustian bargain. Something just read in another context: "The Dream and the Shadow were the best of comrades."

Heck with shrubs, but plenty of cities accommodate mature trees. The more I travel the more I realize that Houston's "libertarian" and "free market" philosophy is just an excuse to go cheap. You would think with how well Montrose has been doing this past decade they would have similar TIRZ management districtt to Midtown or Kirby, but they seem to be utterly corrupt.

San Felipe and Braeswood are good examples of this. On Braeswood some driveways are pull in/back out, and people are driving 50mph passed the houses. I've noticed several homes convert to horseshoe shaped driveways.

A lot of people tend to moan and groan about "why did we tear down our downtowns for parking lots?" but what is often missing is why they were torn down. For the most part, it wasn't "to create new parking", a lot of it (I know this was the case in Cleveland, and likely others too) was because those buildings were simply abandoned, creating blight, much like an empty strip mall or two. Parking becomes a placeholder, not an ultimate destination: that's why you can see on some blocks where buildings were originally. That's why parking becomes the prime choice for building again...and we are seeing that in Houston.

(*sniff...*) oh Gawd I do miss the over the top stereotypical Houston of the sixties. Every now and then. To feel better, I go out and get me some nice 'Nese or tandoor or a big azz CFS or whatever. And I then remember that Hunter S. Thompson came up with "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" at the downtown Hyatt, and realize that all that crazy is still here. FWIW, he was County Judge when it was built - Ed Emmett's job. He freakin' resurrected ​the idea of publicly built sports palaces (from the Romans, of course).

Uncivil discourse will be removed. Please use the Off-Topic threads to rant or go off. A simple statement of fact is all that would be necessary to make a point. Cursing politicians and "going off" is not appropriate here.

http://www.messynessychic.com/2014/07/04/the-guy-that-built-his-house-in-a-sports-stadium/

Nobody's saying this is going to be a better experience than getting laid on prom night, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that shaded areas are a little more comfortable in the southeast Texas summer than unshaded areas unless you are a reptile. As long as GT doesn't clear cut the trees (and they say they won't) it will be shadier, EVER-SO SLIGHTLY cooler and a LITTLE more comfortable than a park that was surrounded by a sea of cement and NOT built under thousands of pine trees. It has nothing to do with the area, but I have some doubts that they can build this park too. They keep delaying construction which sounds depressingly and eerily familiar. My only real point is that IF they build it the way they say they are going to build it, it will probably be a better overall experience than that old, neglected, thin-treed, albeit beloved and much missed park that the Six Flags Corporation ran into the ground 10 years ago - and that there is no reason to hate on the plan.

2014-07-05 11.10.11 by marclongoria, on Flickr 2014-07-05 11.12.45 by marclongoria, on Flickr 2014-07-05 11.13.20 by marclongoria, on Flickr

2014-07-05 11.45.53 by marclongoria, on Flickr

2014-07-05 11.43.31 by marclongoria, on Flickr

2014-07-05 11.18.09 by marclongoria, on Flickr

Yes, it is still open and serving the Greater Heights, Timbergrove, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest area. I buy tools and such there, plus many of our appliances came from that location.

No Comparison? Bob Russ, you are passing on some BAD INFO. Shame on you. I understand that AW can never be replaced in our hearts to those of us who loved it, but Grand Texas certainly has more potential than AW ever did. Here are some facts - all can be verified in a simple google search. If they build GT to the plans they released, it will beat AW in almost every category. AstroWorld had 1 "roller coaster" on opening day (Alpine Sleighs). GT will have 5. It took AW over 10 years to get to 5 roller coasters. Monty Galland has told the press that GT will have a wooden coaster over 150 tall (Texas Cyclone was 92 ft) and one of the tallest loop coasters in the world when it opens. It is also planned to have a runaway mine coaster built into a fake mountain and a modern day version of Greezed Lightnin'. AW had aprrox 15 rides on opening day. GT will have about 25. AW was approx. 50 acres of actual park land on opening day. GT will have 71 AW was built in a shadeless, treeless plot of coastal prairie - just about every tree was planted and rather small. It took DECADES to get what little shade they had. GT will be surrounded by a shady, cooler pine forest. AW was built on a plot of land that was 104 acres (this included the park, the offices, the water park and storage areas. GT is to be built on over 600 acres which will include the park, the offices, the waterpark, storage areas, hotels, baseball fields, shopping areas, r.v. park and a bunch of other things. CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE. In the later years AW had no room to expand. GT theme park will have up to 150 acres to expand on. AW was the SMALLEST park in the Six Flags chain. In the last 20 years AW existed, most of the coasters were hand-me-downs with antiquated technology. AW was surrounded by power lines, freeways, giant parking lots, warehouses, car dealerships, big box stores and urban blight - all visible from many places within the park. GT is going to be completely surrounded by a tall pine forest, a more natural environment, streams, lakes and set back from the freeway. Mosquitos? Show me a place in Houston that doesn't have to spray for mosquitos. I really don't get all the hate for this theme park at this website. It's a theme park. It's mostly for kids. If theme parks aren't your bag or if you think an old west theme is too unoriginal for you to enjoy, you should probably stay away. This place IF BUILT will bring a LOT of joy to the public. I really feel sorry for the generation growing up in Houston who didn't have a theme park to escape to. Why try and ruin, trash and bash a place that will put Houston back on the map in the theme park business, and IF BUILT, will do it in a way that AstroWorld was incapable of doing due to it's limitations and HORRENDOUSLY INCOMPETENT upper management. Haters need to go check their facts before they post. It's not that hard to get answers on the internet. If they build this theme park anything close to their plans, Houston will be VERY VERY lucky.

IMG_1017 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMG_1015 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr

Right. Just like how Sears/Fiesta site is being handled. Refresh my memory about that, if you would.

Update: End-of-June(ish)

Update: End of June-ish.

Which came immediately after the most devastating conflict in Human history... Vlad the Impaler was an exception, not the norm. Today we still execute people, we just don't do it publicly - at least not in the square - though we still watch killers die. The Middle Ages were hard not because of the violence, but because of the everyday things people had to deal with - sickness, lack of cleanliness, child mortality, lack of food, and life expectancy. Is war less hard today because we have guns and not swords? I doubt it. Again, my point is not that violence need be left out of films or tv, but that graphic violence is usually not needed and serves little purpose. All art is subjective, I suppose?

I wasn't trying to get you. I was just trying to be factual. You left off quite a bit from Memorial Park's list of amenities. Quite frankly, I love Memorial Park as is. I think it is the perfect balance between nature and activities. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Asakurarobinson got the study and is set to start work in August. Hopefully make Waco/hirsch bridge more friendly to cross

I think this is one of those poorly planned projects that we'll be talking about that never comes to much if anything at all. It just sounds a little hokey and from the drawings that I've seen, the whole thing looks like its going to be a second class park with not enough excitement to attract the numbers the need to survive. Besides who wants to spend your day in the summer fighting off giant mosquitoes in the woods in 100 degree temps with 95% humidity. Doesn't sound too inviting.

Stone going on...

Great find! Thanks for posting. I've seen images of DT Houston from around that era and the throngs of people would make even Slick Vic spit out of sheer joy. A shame we completely abandoned that form of living and are now paying to try and recover that which was lost 70 years later.

Exterior being bricked up. Looked like cinder block. Looks like I had my phone in square mode, apologies for getting mostly pole.

Guess this is the best update I can provide... Nada! 2014-06-07 16.52.47 by marclongoria, on Flickr

Sheikh Zayed Road is a freeway lined with Office Buildings and it's pretty badass. I've spent alot of time there.