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From a friend

Hines sent this over today, so I thought I'd share it with the group. ----- 609 Main at Texas Opens New Bike Storage Facility The Bike Vault ready for Bike to Work Day MAY 15, 2019 (HOUSTON) – Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today the opening of a new tenant amenity at 609 Main at Texas, a 48-story, 1,073,075-square-foot office tower in downtown Houston. The new well-appointed indoor bike storage facility—called The Bike Vault—is a secured, conditioned bike storage area accessible directly from the garage with a building access badge. It has parking for up to 32 bicycles, changing facilities, storage lockers, bike repair stations, free refreshments and towel service. In addition, 609 Main at Texas will also be offering a Parcel Pending location directly adjacent to The Bike Vault, where tenants can have personal packages delivered to secured lockers in the building, including refrigerated lockers for food and grocery deliveries. The grand opening of The Bike Vault will take place on Friday, May 17 at 8:00 A.M., just in time for the Houston 2019 Bike to Work Day. Bike to Work Day, part of Bike Month, represents a unified day of celebration across the United States where the nation comes together to celebrate the bicycle – as a mode of transportation, a fun way to explore your city, get to work or just get around your neighborhoods in the town you call home. Hines Managing Director Philip Croker said, “As our tenants continue to look to alternative forms of transportation, combined with the initiatives of groups such as BikeHouston to provide more access to high quality bike lanes and trails, we are excited to provide an improved experience for these riders at the most amenity-rich, technologically advanced building in Texas.” Designed by the internationally recognized architectural firm Pickard Chilton, 609 Main at Texas’ north and south façade extend skyward, culminating in a dramatic diagonal crown, creating a new, highly visible downtown landmark. Amenities at the vertically integrated campus include a "hotel-style" lobby with a café and spaces for networking; a 7,000-square-foot high-performance fitness center and 8,000-square-foot conference center; full-height windows allowing for an abundance of natural light throughout the building; a sophisticated underfloor HVAC system; and private roof gardens in select tenant spaces. 609 Main at Texas stands at 86 percent leased. Notable tenants include EnVen Energy, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Orrick, Hogan Lovells, McKinsey & Company, PNC, Russell Reynolds Associates, Royal Bank of Canada, White and Case LLP, Goldman Sachs, and United Airlines. In addition, there are several transactions in progress which will bring the building to 94 percent leased. Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 214 cities in 24 countries. Hines has approximately $120.6 billion of assets under management, including $66.5 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $54.1 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 128 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,348 properties, totaling over 444 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 512 properties, representing over 223 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.

I live in the East End and they have to be the best management district out of all the neighborhoods in this city. They act quickly, they fix actual needs in the neighborhood, and most importantly THEY LISTEN. They have my full support for a street car given how much they do for my part of town. I remember talking to one of the directors and the plans they have for Telephone Rd and other streets is amazing. They aren't neglecting any part of the East End when it comes to improvements.

A nice description/review of the conceptual plans for the southern downtown park from OffCite: http://offcite.org/southern-downtown-park-plan-unveiled-a-response-by-ernesto-alfaro/

Gondolas

Was at Whole Foods today at lunch and Ninfa's took down all the paper covering the windows and looks awesome! They have signs up saying there is a job fair today so opening by end of month if not sooner is my guess!

Phase II is the proposed Asia City Plaza East Tower at 33 floors (estimated height of 438.85 ft), and Phase III, the Asia City Plaza West Tower also at 33 floors (estimated height of 438.85 ft) or vice verse depending which they choose first. Designed by architect Wen Zhongzheng. As mentioned his work contains the elegance of the literati, the innovative and harmonious design style, and the appearance and the interior as a whole give a sense of harmony and comfort. With that said, 33 floors would be the ideal number as it sounds alike "double" life, as literaly translated growth or reproduction (of wealth).

Lots of dirt being moved around on this site.

The cement pump tower. Yesterday Today

I'll let an architect comment and correct me on this, but doing my fair share of roof inspections for commercial office buildings I think I can explain.The energy code IECC requires a specific solar reflective index for the roof membrane. This is indeed for energy and temperature efficiency reasons. TPO roofs or Thermoplastic polyofin roofs are common roof membrane. Bituminous roofs arent dead though, now and days they coat them to meet the reflective values. If your really want to get into the weeds, heres a pretty decent explainer on 'cool roofs' by national manufacturer. (PDF warning) https://www.jm.com/content/dam/jm/global/en/commercial-roofing/brochures/RS-7651_Cool-Roof-Solutions.pdf

Heeeeyyy I actually like the idea. Most Starbucks are underground and this one will benefit some of the visitors who only look for a Starbucks when getting coffee.

Need a new "food hall" that is just Dunkin, Starbucks, Shipleys, and Krispy Kreme

As someone who worked next to a guy that was part of a "healthcare division" for a previous firm, I can certainly concur. Its not actually the "building" itself, but the equipment inside and then building elements that have to meet certain standards for said equipment. Its also one of the strictest and most highly regulated building types....which is also why its a very specified sector one works in as far as architecture goes. You either are into that sort of thing or not.

Agreed. Its not "required" to be white (as far as I know), but since white is the most reflective color in the spectrum its what it has to be. As far as the architecture side of things, firms I've worked at thus far always rely on a "Building Envelope Consultant", and someday whenever I start my own practice, so will I. You'd be surprised just how little thought goes into what the actual roof looks like from above since one rarely sees the roof from that perspective. This is like asking about what will interior of mechanical chase look like...nobody really cares (certainly not the engineers). All we care about is how water is getting off the roof and if that plays into the buildings aesthetics, and what the R-value is in the insulation used so we meet energy code. Thats it. There are other complexities involved, but without getting into really boring detail this is about all there is on our end of things. EDIT: Oh yeah and about color/reflecting into the eye. Honestly its not that much. However, @gene you have certain brought up the tradeoff for having an all white roof. While its good that it reflects light to lower the energy demands of the building the tradeoff is that it reflects and it reflects in all directions. Opps. Bituminous is a great solution for roofs and is easy/cheap, but the tradeoff is that it has a terrible "heat island" effect. Opps. I think I heard once that "Life is about tradeoffs". These are examples of it. Nothing is perfect even if people try to lie and tell you so. @gene @Houston19514

I saw this on a walk today: I hadn’t seen this before. It’s a block to the north of the Houston Center. I’m assuming it’s Block 97 given the email contact. Edit: To clarify, this is specifically to the north of the Fulbright Tower.

2 months from mat pour to street level is pretty darn quick.

I have a white TPO roof on my house, and all it really takes to keep clean is about once a year during a heavy rainstorm, go up there and sponge the dirt loose and let the rain wash it away. Or haul a hose up there and wash it off. You could pressure wash it, but you'd want the pressure set low so you don't damage the membrane.

I think they are now required to be white, for temperature, energy efficiency reasons.

East End MMD wants to do a streetcar on Clinton. Pending funding of course.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Lennar-s-apartment-division-buys-Galleria-area-13841951.php Conflicting account of where exactly the site is located: The Gables project is SOUTH of the parcel that's on the corner of Westcreek/San Felipe and across from Arabella. Based on HCAD it appears that the lot is in fact on the corner of Westcreek/San Felipe. See Parcel A (BELOW)

No, that's Block 95. Block 97 is between the Hess Garage and the Fulbright Garage.

I much prefer having a single large thread for this over a myriad of threads. Having a thread for each property is inefficient.

New Development on the McKee and Hardy road going North out of Downtown. Slow, but steady work on these pike paths is happening. The armadillos are coming soon, apparently.

Uncle Bean's coffee in Woodland Heights is doing a soft opening and will be open regular hours starting May 20. It is the conversion of the dry cleaners that was a conversion of a gas station on Houston Ave.

Downtown Starbucks locations: 1100 Louisiana (5 am - 5:30 pm, M-F) In the springhill/courtyard by marriott in the old Humble building (5:30 am - 6 pm M-F, 5:30 am - 7 pm Sat, 5 am - 3 pm Sun) In the Hilton Americas (6 am - 8 pm, everyday) There's one in GRB, but I don't know if its normally accessible if there's not event going on 3rd floor in Shops at Houston Center (5:30 am - 6 pm M-F, 9 am - 1 pm Sat) 4th floor in Shops at Houston Center (5:30 am - 6 pm M-F) Tunnels in one shell plaza (5:30 am - 5 pm M-F) Tunnels in Penzoil (5 am - 5 pm M-F) Tunnels Chase tower (5:30 am - 5 pm M-F) UH-Downtown (7 am - 7:30 pm M-R, 7 am - 5 pm F, 8 am - 5 pm sat) So there's only 2 that are open all week, and only 2 more that are open on Saturday Interesting thing is that there isn't a single Starbucks between Texas ave and buffalo bayou, and only 3/10 of them are in the tunnels

I meant “isn’t as bothered” as in “they don’t care as much about it.” No doubt the homeless people and some of the sketchier New Hope SRO residents frequently loiter around VooDoo, I go there maybe once a month and see it firsthand. But as I said, I’m not personally bothered by it and, due to walking in all corners of this city for years and encountering all types of people, I don’t have trouble interacting with even the most aggressive of transients. But, the typical customer who would be drawn to a wine bar might be more likely to be bothered or annoyed with that situation. That’s all I’m saying: the homeless and quasi-transients in the area (due in part to light rail and the New Hope SRO facility) might have a meaningful negative effect on business. I hope that’s not the case, and will definitely go to support it regardless, but until more new residential development occurs in the immediate area to provide a built-in customer base and critical mass of pedestrians to counter the negative effect of higher concentrations of homeless and transients (as is currently happening in the heart of Midtown), it is a real possibility.

Any chance of a wrecking ball put to use?

All that is interesting and I figured there were good reasons for the white roofs (mainly saying i figured it was temperature related...) but my god i would probably just pay someone myself if i needed to, just to climb up there and power wash it monthly if that was going to be my view!!! haha!

There is already one in the tunnels under 1000 Main. Seems to do alright.

This is Shipley territory and that is absolute heresy.

or someone driving by

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

As someone who works for United and works outdoors, if you guys want photos of anything specifically just let me know. I'd be sure to take photos or answer any questions you may have.

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Emancipation and McGowen might be a good location; its 2 major roads, as well as on a frequent bus line

Maybe they are going to make a building suddenly appear out of thin air, and are worried about collateral damage

IIRC, Mia Bella moved because of issues with the building - plumbing issues that whoever is the landlord there wasn't fixing

Site work underway today. Several flatbed 18-wheelers were lined up on Jensen dropping off large concrete culverts for drainage. It looks like work digging the trenches where they will be placed has started too.

Speaking of the former space.. https://shopcompanies.com/properties/pdf/1314-texas-ave

I get I went too far but NIMBY stuff just wears thin on me. I can't stand those with the haves pushing things on the have nots just because they can afford to lawyer up. They are basically saying the development is fine as long as it isn't in my prestigious neighborhood. If someone was to say hey this development isn't warranted anywhere period, that is one thing. But when it's not here but over there is okay even though it affects that area as much as it would affect us, that is where I have a problem.

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Too bad can't use a wrecking ball. Those things were fun to watch when knocking down something atrocious like this garage. Oh well.

One mile radius of Inner Loop grocery stores: Randalls, HEB, Kroger, Central Market, Whole Foods(included Pearl Midtown) Walmart Supercenter, Fiesta, Trader Joes, Phoenicia, Aldi Google Map

Not sure what this building is but it's across from the future Isabella Surge project.

Gonzo247's recreation of an old mural is coming along.