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http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Midtown-project-to-combine-Whole-Foods-luxury-6250297.php

This old warehouse will be converted to 80 residential units. A two-story building that was later an addition will also be converted to residential; with retail space as well. 810_Sampson_MATERIALS.pdf http://www.ghabriel.com/modules/catalog/products_images/000040_2.jpg http://www.ghabriel.com/modules/catalog/products_images/000040_4.jpg

Market Square Tower Houston by marclongoria, on Flickr

Peering between the building and garage, it looks like they are building in walkways between the two. Either that or they are taking all the space they can for those floorplans since the balconies would be extremely odd.

From the ground... Residences at Market Square Houston by marclongoria, on Flickr

The Hamilton Houston by Marc longoria, on Flickr

Construction will start early next year. The building will be 8 stories tall consisting of two levels for Whole Foods, 260 apartments, 2 levels for resident parking, and two levels of underground parking for Whole Foods customers. Rosalie will be closed between Smith & Brazos for development which will also spill onto the block north. The store will face Smith St. It will be a part of the pearl brand.

this is a much better location than on the rail line. at this point the focus shouldn't be to try and force these things to meet some sort of urbanist ideal, it should be geared to guarantee it's success which in turn encourages other similar developments. near the spur, near montrose, well established part of midtown.... this is exactly where it should be. people seem to forget that succesful projects beget future successful projects.

Oh Htown ur all growed up

saw this person almost fall off today

I don't see it happening. Maybe before, but now that I actually live somewhat in the area I really can't see that this was ever meant for large scale development. At least not now... It's really a "fringe" plot - absolutely nothing to the south to speak of, nothing all that desirable (at least to developers) to the east/northeast, and a vast ocean of parking lots to the north and (now) immediate west. Well, to the west is really more now a perennial grass parking lot with no trees and ugly storage sheds sitting there. Some decent demographics exist in the general vicinity to the west/north but this is nothing like the City Centre site. It does have good freeway access, great proximity to the medical center, and decent proximity to downtown. I don't think access to NRG stadium really does much, though that potential indoor park at the Astrodome would help. Anyway, I think at best we get some low-rise apartments ala "Connection at Buffalo Pointe". I seriously hope I'm wrong, but to me the fact that the rodeo grabbed ~1/2 the land really undermines the chance of getting anything decent here Edit: failed to mention that it does have good rail access, of course. That should also help but this plot is still an island in a sense. I can only see residential (low-rise apartments or more townhomes) here

Here's a first look at the revitalized basin and road extension that will run through the site, thanks to the Houston Planning Comission. We also have a name for this proposal - Energy Gateway District.

lol why even make a rendering of that?

I don't think it needs to be on Main, but a more central location would have benefited Midtown more as a whole. This is really on the fringe of Midtown, right next to a huge single-family area. While it is still a big-time boost for Midtown, I think a central location would have been better if the goal is to grow the entire Midtown area and to create a more walkable area. But it seems Whole Foods is trying to serve the single-family area as well, especially with placing it right next to the 59 spur. After all, their first priority is to make money, not create a walkable urban environment.

this is a much better location than right on the rail - and by a WIDE margin mind you - precisely for the reasons HTM stated above. no left turns, single lanes each way... bad for business. thinking that this thing would be better off on the rail line is pure romanticism at this point. i don't even think it's a "step in the right direction"... it IS the right direction.

50 shades of waiting on ramps.

By Mtt on Skyscrapercity

There will be a pocket park…

My wife and I were at Saint Danes on Wednesday evening and a girl was flying off the spur doing about 55 MPH it appears she was about to turn left and then corrected her path and slammed into 4-5 parked cars - it was a huge mess. Could you imagine the same senario - oh there's whole foods! whoops can't turn, very dangerous and I agree needs to be addressed. There were two cops doing speed trap on rosalie and had her in cuffs within 1 minute. Pretty sure she was sauced up, not Stubbs.

This is an awesome building. So excited to see this converted. Also, I like the windows

If this is successful, in a psychological sense this will be far far far more important than mid main. Mid main will transform a strip but will do little to influence trends. If this is successful it may be a model for multiple other developments in the area.

very impressive

88 story skyscraper over a new high speed rail terminal. Let's do this Houston.

and Texans like to pretend to be tough. The closest grocery store in Boston was about 10-12 blocks from my house and didn't even have parking. I walked in snow, ice, rain, wind, sun, heat, humidity, you name it. That said, the walking environment there was so much nicer. Wide sidewalks. Clear crosswalks. Drivers that paid attention to pedestrians. Other people out on the streets. Walking in Houston outside of a few areas just isn't pleasant. Weather aside, you often deal with disappearing sidewalks, angry drivers, vacant blocks, potholes, trash, glass, odd-smelling puddles...

¿Que?

OSHA? What's that?

oh wow 4 blocks....thats like...thats like 5-10 mins of walking! The horror!!!!

Yesterday. Most of the rubble is gone already

Honorable Mention: Marriott Marquis Developer: Rida Development Landscape Architect: SWA and Clark Condon Building Architect: Morris Architects Delivered: Under construction now, with estimated completion in September 2016 It’s not an apartment, but you can no longer talk about pools in Houston without mentioning the Marriott Marquis Convention Center’s Texas-shaped lazy river towering 110 feet above Downtown. The resort terrace also includes an infinity pool, full-service spa and fitness center, outdoor bar and grill, and group pavilion. https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/multifamily/10-sexiest-pool-decks-in-houston-44975

no words....should have sent...a poet..

I think it would be perfect for an Olympic grounds for future Olympics, or a Worlds Fair. Just my opinion.......still want a theme park T_T

The reason they're so wide is because it allows for a faster speed limit and they have to make it at least 45 mph. Anything tighter wouldn't meet standards.

The fact that that we still see the roof terrace from ground floor to roof even after going through the planning commission is encouraging.

It's nice to have a well defined district. The edges that are created may actually be beneficial to the neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown/Midtown in the sense that each is clearly delineated. You wouldn't put a 40 story office building up in the Third Ward or Northside, but removing the Pierce makes Midtown just as attractive an option as Downtown for that same building. The edges that are created are Houston's form of de facto zoning.

I've never been one to think that certain areas of town are immune to heinous crimes. That's why it kind of irks me when I hear people on tv say "I wouldn't expect something like this to happen here" in response to crime in their neighborhoods. This could've happened in any neighborhood, even River Oaks. It may be less likely to happen there, but certainly not impossible.

I agree, but at this point I don't think a large retailer like Whole Foods will want to be on the rail line, since they depend on people thinking it will be convenient to drive in and drive out. Not enough people riding the rail yet to outweigh that. It will be good though to let Main Street germinate with smaller retailers and not the big names that drive up rents and bring in tons of car traffic. Whole Foods positioned themselves astutely right at the gateway to Montrose so that they can catch the foot traffic of Midtown and the car traffic of Montrose. Perfect spot for them.

Smith @ Elgin is pretty far from either station - its 4 blocks to main, and then another 4 blocks either way to get to a light rail station

As cool as this is for Midtown, it's a damn shame WFs isn't going to be on the light rail line and/or closer to downtown. Oh well, it's a step in the right direction!

5/2 by Michi on SSP.

We spent too much tax money on arguing what should be spent on. Those strongly oppose rails just like people without kids saying no, use tax for school is a waste of money, and people never take flights saying no, you should not spend my tax on airport improvement... The thing is as long as government spend money on something not related to their life, they will object. And they will never accept new stuff not familiar to them. They will say, yes i know HSR does a good job in Japan, Europe and China, but we are in the US, we don't need it! Those people are just so reluctant to do any changes in life. In Houston we have a world record of the widest freeway (26 lanes in belt 8 and I-10 intersection, counting HOV, changing ramp, and frontage road), but it is still like a parking lot every workday 5pm. We used to be very proud of Interstate Highway System, but decades passed, it is no longer a good system comparing to highways in China and Europe, not to mention small countries like Japan.

ADR, this is a wonderful image. Good eye.

I remember that when One Shell Plaza was completed, it was described as being the tallest reinforced-concrete structure in the world. Recently, I read that, while the inclusion of steel rebars increases the tensile strength of concrete, it also (potentially, at least) can decrease the lifetime of a structure. Apparently, the problem is corrosion of the rebars. According to wiki.answers.com, the ACI (American Concrete Institute) says the typical design life for reinforced concrete is an average of 75 years. The normal range given in between 50-100 years. One Shell Plaza was completed (I think) in 1971, so the reinforced concrete in it is 41+ years old. I've been wondering if the 50-100-year figure is applicable to the way high-rise office buildings are constructed ...