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busy day today at the Allen.

First restaurant has been announced, HaiDiLao Hot Pot. https://houston.eater.com/2020/7/14/21324131/haidilao-hot-pot-houston-opening-midtown High-end hot pot restaurant HaiDiLao’s Texas expansion continues with a second Houston location that’s currently under construction in Midtown, just north of the MATCH Theater. Construction permits filed in May indicate that HaiDiLao is set to open its doors on the ground floor of the forthcoming mixed-use development the Travis at 3300 Main Street, at the intersection of Main and Francis. That puts the restaurant in the middle of a quickly-changing neighborhood and neighbors with a number of wildly popular Houston Asian restaurants like Mai’s, Gen Korean BBQ House and Spicy Girl. Founded in China in 1994, the chain is known for its lavish hot pot spreads, a bounty of proteins to cook, and large selection of broths, along with over-the-top approach to customer service, including shoe shines, manicures and free snacks. As previously reported by Eater, the chain also has a location in the works in Katy that’s set to arrive sometime early next year. Yesterday, Eater Dallas reported that a location would be opening in DFW suburb Frisco. No timeline is set yet for the Mid-Main location’s opening.

Really impressed with those planters on the mock-up for the parking garage. Would really like to see those vertical garden walls that are really popular in Singapore be brought to Houston.

The view of this thing from the 59 SB entrance from 45 S is amazing. There's a second where all these new towers frame the Williams in the far distance. The medium density in Midtown is truly a site to behold as a foreground, because this is what Houston looks like now. Design wise it's nothing super hot or fresh, but it's just the right kind of infill.

I saw a neat one in Mexico City and always wanted one here. There is one on the backside of Tillman's car dealership at the Post Oak. It is nice for when you eat at his restaurants in the tower you aren't staring at a concrete wall. I think this parking garage will be amazing because of the size that the vertical garden will be.

There definitely is a lack of good rooftop bars in Houston. I miss Scott Gerstner's Skybar before it was torn down.

Velvet Taco will be going in here. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Project/TABS2020012935

Buffalo Bayou Partnership just sent this out regarding an informational session on the Buffalo Bayou East Plans: I don't know if we are allowed to post links to stuff like that here, but, I'm sure you can find info on their website.

Looks like this is finally kicking off... They've closed 2 lanes on Crawford, are in the process of fencing off the entire parking lot and have construction trailers set up in the vacant lot catty-corner from the site. Cheers to another 40+ floor multi-family development in downtown!

Talked to these two guys building the mock up, yes it is for the parking garage but no, they didn't know when it will start construction.

Grass is growing nicely.

That is the Greystar project the old Chase Bank

I'd like to believe they get their info here

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Rice-University-is-building-nine-outdoor-15407618.php Rice University plans to take some fall courses outdoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic and will build nine structures on campus to help maintain social distancing guidelines. Kevin Kirby, Rice’s vice president for administration and chair of its Crisis Management Advisory Committee, said in a release that as the college maps out the maximum number of people for every space on campus, it plans to construct nine outdoor spaces to use for in-person instruction, lectures and activities. Rice has purchased four temporary 50 by 90-foot structures that will hold 50 students and an instructor in an outdoor space. The structures, to be hosted on the open field next to university’s Hanzen College, will have light, cooling, heat and ventilation, and will have audiovisual capabilities, he wrote. Kirby noted that they are also designed to withstand hurricane winds. The spaces, which will be available before classes begin this fall, will be used for instruction throughout the day, academic lectures in the late afternoon, and for student meeting and study spaces in the evening. Additionally, Rice will host five 40 by 60-foot open-sided tents adjacent to its academic buildings and will purchase portable camping-style chairs for students to use outdoors. Kirby said Rice administration will also ask students who have portable chairs to bring them to campus. How the tents will be used has yet to be determined, Kirby said. None of the structures have been built yet. brittany.britto@chron.com

Phase II scope of work https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Project/TABS2020011812

Found a new vantage point. Definitely a great leg workout at 11 stories.

I'm old. I went to college before the amenity race took off. My freshman year all-male dorm had cinder block walls. Pretty sure they just used a firehose to wash the joint when Spring term was over. Sophomore dorm wasn't much better but there were coed bathrooms. Junior year I "won" a lottery and got a newer dorm (from the 70s) that had bedroom suites. Two doubles and two singles that shared a bathroom and a common room that had one couch and a table. That was considered luxury.

I can't, a moderator would have to do it.

I thought they were also going in on shepard and 20th... but that has sat there vacant for some time. anyone know why the either stalled or abandoned this?

Velvet Taco is really expanding...with this new location and the one coming to Uptown (former Zone D' Erotica bldg)...they are trying to get some of Torchy's business and i guess it is working! I have to say, i used to love going to Rice Village for all the cool stores but now all of them are gone...so to ME, Rice Village has lost it's appeal in that sense.

All but two of the properties are listed as navy/affordable versus their green/market rate. The other two are aqua/senior. Either way the newer properties don't look like garbage, especially in Austin. Have really nice pools too.

I mean, the Tower Theater. Unless it was a Blockbuster - I can no longer remember which was which.

According to their website... Our extensive range of projects and services includes: Luxury apartment homes Student housing Senior housing Affordable housing Single family urban development Property management Land development Design Budget development Project management Building construction Conceptual design General Construction They have a handful of properties in the Houston area. Mostly outside the Beltway.

Cleveland based multi-family developer https://www.nrpgroup.com/Home/About

5-Story, 367-Units with garage, developed by The NRP Group. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Project/TABS2020012825

Someone forgot to tell the Houston skyline that there was an oil bust.

I was thinking they should use that parking lot as their Supervisors trailer/laydown yard just the other day. I mean where else could they possibly go. But I was also looking in the parking garage next door to see if they might set up in there.This makes more sense as long as they have someone spotting for trains as they cross.

Houses on the property are demolished as of this weekend.

Not sure if this means anything but the shuttle buses are always parked in the eastern parking lot on the weekends when I ride by. Today they were all parked in the western lot.

They should name it Cougar Meadow.

Looks great! I'm eager to learn who the new new tenant is. Hopefully a relocation from out of state.

I vaguely remember there being a Hollywood Video somewhere in the Montrose area. Does anyone remember where?

Parking garage structure up to the sixth floor. I mistakenly posted two of the same pics, tried deleting one of them but couldn’t.😀

Well i will say that man i LOVE The Rustic...have been a few times now and just seeing live music again has made my whole day week month year with all this mess going on. They are super clean and i felt safe and seriously, its good food, especially the brunch. The patio is really awesome but for now best only at night until the weather cools down...but yep, love pretty much everything about it and we seriously needed this in our area of Uptown Houston! The future Hugo Ortega restaurant is in full on construction mode when i drove by this morning...and as usual Giant Leap is moving at a snails pace but hey there was a truck driving up this morning so maybe they are going to be installing a screw or nail into something then lunch! (in semi nearby related news, the old Willie G's on Post Oak will be opening anytime now as Salt Grass Steak House...the parking lot was completely resurfaced and new space stripes have been painted...final landscaping is being done at this very moment and will be done by days end. I think really all they need to do is put the signage up at this point!)

I love new vantage points! Thanks for keeping HAIF worth coming to Hindesky. You too, Highrise Tower. 👍 Same for all our noble, hard working photographers. Getting some of these shots is no small effort and I appreciate being able to see them. ❤️

Weird comment alert: that garage is v good looking. The stone pillars to the concrete with the black contract is such a handsome look. The look works well when going by, it really does vibe with the rest of the buildings on Montrose. I'm officially an HAIF'er, I am opining about a garage.

Yeah it might have been me, I took several pics there and then head to the Alliance Broadstone Museum district.

Hindesky, I absolutely love your photos. I swear, it's almost as if you print out a list of all the Going Up threads and then drive around taking photos of them. It's great for those of us outside of Houston who can't make it in to see the developments. Thanks!

This is part of a really hot-button topic... so I'm going to try my best not to stick my foot in my mouth... Maybe the statue should be removed from its prominent position and placed somewhere low key where William Marsh Rice is simply acknowledged rather than celebrated. To me, removing the statue all together seems like another way to continue ignoring the past, albeit a different way than just leaving a racist slave owner's figure looming in a central position of the quad. If the statue is erased completely, where does it end? Is the Rice family and their name still burdened with the sins of the father? Rice University is now a brand... Should the University be renamed, which would probably result in a very detrimental identity crisis? Sam Houston owned slaves... Should we rename our city because it's named after him? I would like to think that the Rice University name and the city of Houston name at this point so many years, students, citizens, accomplishments, and failures after their founding have come to symbolize and stand for more than just the person they were named after. If the statue could be placed somewhere else as part of an exhibit for Rice University's history, of which Mr. Rice's life is an inextricable part (including the terrible things he did), that could be more educational and cathartic in the long run. It might be a way of acknowledging the past while going on to explain that the university does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind and that the school supports people in all walks of life.