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CrockpotandGravel, we truly appreciate your contribution to this site and your early info on a lot of these developments, but can you be a little nicer when people present these things? In a different manner, I think people would ok if you corrected them that you had posted that info before. I don't know, just my 2 cents.

Could you imagine something like this when driving down Montrose? I'm excited now. ..or this...

Star Architect chosen. Something beautiful and Iconic will be amazing here. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ismaili-Muslims-hire-rising-architect-Farshid-13592178.php

TIL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismaili_Centre The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Nizari Ismailis in the countries and regions in which they are established, characterised by the Aga Khan IV as 'ambassadorial buildings'. Each building is architecturally unique and functions as a jamatkhana (place of worship), but also incorporates spaces for social and cultural gatherings, intellectual engagement and reflection, as well as spiritual contemplation. They facilitate mutual exchange and seek to foster understanding between diverse peoples, communities and faiths. Collectively and individually, the Centres represent the Nizari Ismaili community’s intellectual and spiritual understanding of Islam, as well as the community’s social conscience, outlook and attitude towards the societies in which it lives.

I talked with someone who works for the McNair corporation and he said it is still definitely a go on the project. However he said they will have to modify the design slightly because of the land they had to sell to the city for the widening of Post Oak. Also when the hell is Post Oak going to be finished? I looks like its been 90% done for months now.

People who don't know where they'll be living in a few years. Let's say you have $3900/month to spend on housing, and plan on staying in the same place for four years. If you have $100k on hand for a down-payment, you can buy a $500k townhouse not too far a commute from here (probably EaDo, realistically) for a PITI of $3100. Add $200/month for maintenance, water/sewer and gas, and you're at $3300. Add in the foregone interest income on your down-payment, and it's $3600. Spread your closing costs over 48 months and you're at the same $3900 you'd be paying in rent. "But what about the equity you're building?" OK. After four years, you've paid off about $30k in principal. Guess how much a 6% commission is on the sale of your $500k townhouse? So it's pretty much a wash, UNLESS you see significant appreciation in the sale price four years down the road. Now, if you can live car-free in a $3900/mo apartment, but not in a $500k townhouse...

This is great news. I really thought this had just faded into space. I'm happy to see this moving forward and can't wait to see what she comes up with. Something that the article mentioned and Ive been working onfor the past twenty years, is connecting the Museum district with Montrose Blvd. down to the Bayou. I have proposed a special Calatrava bridge at Montrose and an observation tower(Claus Oldenberg Flashlight) with its beam of light shining into space, to tie Houston to the space exploration. You have to have a flashlight to find your way in the dark, and the energy connection with the beam of light. It would be a great place for an observation tower and restaurant. At Westheimer and Montrose I'd place a roundabout with more art and fountains, and at every major intersection there would be unifying art and lights to bring attention to the great art collections and institutions that find their homes along Montrose. At the other end of the Montrose axis in Hermann park, where Sam's statue and the obelisk and spire of the zoo building all line up with Montrose, I'd have a sculpture in the middle of Lake McGovern of the space capsule landing in the water with its parachutes dropping it gently into the lake. That would just tie into the space city theme, and the flashlight at the other end. This would not only make Montrose the signature Boulevard it once was, and should be, and bring recognition to this cities great art institutes.

Just hit escape on your keyboard before the page finishes loading. It freezes the loading of the page. The last thing loaded is the paywall stuff.

Groundbreaking https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wood-partners-announces-groundbreaking-of-alta-washington-avenue-300789347.html

So this is that empty patch on Allen Parkway at Montrose, correct? If so, that's a great spot for something impressive looking. Hope they build it way up above Harvey depth. People will clutch pearls over anything and broadcast their anxieties for the Kabuki Theater of outrage and counter outrage for everyone to feel good about themselves. I doubt this particular act lasts more than one cycle should the project progress.

The FAA documents include site elevation, height of the building above grade and total height above sea level. The 549' is the height of the building above grade.

Now if the McNair development at Post Oak and Richmond can get started...

The amount of machinery and man power on this site is truly amazing.

Sorry to bring this up now, but this has been bothering me for a while. I'm sure Mr. Gattis is a nice guy, but I can't stand his op-eds on public transportation. They all boil down to nothing but "rail bad, highway good, self-driving car future." The notion that we should stop building rail because self-driving cars are the future is kind of laughable in of itself. Sorry, but I can't buy the whole "self-driving cars and ubers will make traffic better" thing. Nevermind the fact that there's been studies that shows that Uber and Lyft have been shown to make traffic worse, but self-driving cars are something that likely won't come in about 15-20 years (maybe even later, considering the malfuctions that have been happening as of late). Why would we abandon rail expansions for something that isn't even a guarentee. Plus, he seems to forget about the fact that self-driving trains are a thing (heck, some transit agencies already have them). Wouldn't it be better to have self-driving trains than cars?

A look at her work, will definitely be something special https://www.farshidmoussavi.com/

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

Just heard a rumor that Mendocino Farm may be moving into 609 main. Will keep my ear to the ground for you guys.

C&G is feisty today.

Texas Tower https://www.hines.com/news/hines-and-ivanhoé-cambridge-name-revolutionary-office-development-in-downtown-houston

203 units

I think a cemetery lies across the street, and I doubt they'll be making any noise.

Hopefully, they'll be limited to the suburbs? But yeah, definitely my initial thoughts 😕

Anyone else not in love with this design?

I still wish the crown lighting was bolder. Based on my observations it's just a large atrium with lights pointed towards the ceiling.

This is another of those things that makes me feel like the major thing holding Houston back from urbanization and better neighborhoods is parking requirements. It's curious to me that more people do not enjoy living directly on a retail corridor. I personally have loved being able to open my window and hear the street conversations float up, when I lived in such a place. Of course, this was on low-traffic (two-lane) streets; doubt Washington Avenue would be as appealing.

The only thing I hate about this article is the "several years" part. I mean it's already been several years lol

Now where is that International Tower....come out come out wherever you are

The two new Hines towers are really going to transform the skyline. Coming in town from I-10 east and 45 south will look really neat.

Looks like Common Bond will setup shop here. http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/02-04-19-common-bond-new-locations-medical-center-heights-midtown-downtown-springwoods-village-george-joseph/#slide=0

We need a 504 footer.

From this weekend.

Don't know why I never saw this before. Guess this project really is going slow. If you are interested in learning how to model buildings then I would recommend Sketchup over Revit. Revit is great for when you have to work on Construction Documents and figuring out how a building will come together, but weak when it comes to design. Sketchup is very straightforward and easy to use, and many offices use it as a design tool when starting out with designs. You can always download the "Make" version for free.

Might be worth the wait - impressive stuff she's done.

Urbannizer sourcing Urbannizer. I like it.

Speaking of housing... Now that was a bubble. Speculative demand and building practices + people not being able to afford them unless they picked up even more speculative and risky mortgages. Multi-family is a more sound investment because its not all your money on just one building for one family, but many many families in one building. I also don't forsee people taking out loans or putting down a mortgage for a lease on an apartment. An apartment (even in more expensive cities than Houston) is meant to be easier for entry than a single family house.

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Loved reading the Almanac myself. Full of information and yes I would read the section on skyscrapers, populations etc.

This sure seems to be moving at a rapid rate . As the French say Tres vitesse

This would come with brand new wide sidewalks down all those corridors. It’s transit access on all levels.

In that case, we might be soulmates. All those years and I thought I was the only one... I remember the building height stopped at 450 feet for Houston, but other cities had buildings listed at 400 ft. Not sure if it's still the case, but I always felt like despite Houston having the 3rd largest "list," we were being somewhat shafted by their seemingly subjective criteria. Then again, I was like 12.

Would be nice to see a more comprehensive sidewalk program.

I was just thinking that coming home today from work. Like wow we only had cars and buses! All the more reason to vote yes to Metro’s plan this Fall.

https://ionhouston.com/

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Commie....😀 The one area Houston needs to improve is transportation. From the way we handle our road "repairs" and construction to mass transit, this is the only thing left standing in the way of that "world class" image some say we're lacking. And I guess after driving down Richmond Ave for 10 seconds, it's hard not to agree with that....but overall, we have made progress even in these areas over the last couple of decades. It's amazing to think we didn't even have light rail here until 2004. SMFH....

Damn, I like your list more than mine now. I can't believe Post HTX and KBR/East River sites didn't come to mind for me, but you're right....there are so many justifiable candidates for this list. It's a very exciting time for our city, no doubt. I love how Houston has invested more and more into downtown over the last couple of decades. It's already a sea change in atmosphere since then, and it's only going to get better over time (at least for those of us who want a more urban atmosphere). Could not agree more with your take on McNair, KBR and Allen Pkwy developments, as well as HSPVA and Capital Tower. They made my list because I like their individual impacts downtown (again, hoping that the street/tunnel interaction is as good as advertised for the Capital Tower). I made my list based on the "criteria" of projects that have their own thread on this site, but I like how you alluded to lumping certain areas together. That allows for more room elsewhere for a seemingly more and more prestigious list by the day. Again....lots of deserving candidates. The 59 reconstruction project might have the biggest impact of all outside of TMC Research. It's going to have an enormous "trickle-down" impact on future development around the upcoming Innovation District and the Convention Center areas. Is the Pierce Elevated scheduled to be demolished? I sure hope so....excited to watch all of these projects unfold.

To this list I'd add Caroline Street Reconstruction. (btw, does anyone know if the final plan and rendering is available online? My understanding is that the preliminary imagining of the project has been scaled back somewhat.)

There's a reason these all look the same, and there's a reason there's never any GFR. Five floors is the limit of what you can build with this style of construction. Any taller, you need to go steel frame or concrete. Five floors of apartments over two floors of parking means that for every 1000 sf of apartment, there's 400 sf of parking (let's assume the space for leasing office, amenities, hallways, etc. cancel each other out). Depending on the mix of 1BR (which require 1.33 spaces per unit) to 2BR (1.66), and the size of the units, that's about the ratio you need to meet the parking requirements. Once you add GFR, those numbers all change. Let's say they add 15,000 s.f of GFR, which means they lose 45 or so parking spaces, but generate a requirement for at least 60 more. Adding GFR will generally mean building a third layer of parking structure, all for the privilege of managing an entirely different set of tenants for a very small return (since it isn't really that much space). (Also, based on my experience from living in cities with a high proportion of GFR, when the option exists, people generally prefer to live a block or so away from major retail corridors rather than directly above.)

The intersection near where the bridge will be built is surrounded by apartment complexes that have spurred new development, including a nearby Islamic community center funded by the Aga Khan Foundation that some civic leaders expect to be an architectural wonder. I've seen this one mentioned a few times and the above is from the Houston Chronicle article . Does anyone have any further information or renderings on this one? Whatever the final design, I hope its woven into the urban fabric the area is deperately trying to create with the Fingers site, Regent Square, Archstone, new bridge, and the other proposals in close proximity to this location.