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From what my buddies father told me about the bid, the buildings were spec’ed around the original height in the original renderings.

471 ft for the "IMP Building" and 268 ft for the student housing building https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=446566214&row=288 https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=446566207&row=287 Overview Study (ASN): 2020-ASW-10281-OE Prior Study: Status: Work In Progress Received Date: 07/26/2020 Entered Date: 07/26/2020 Map: View Map Construction Info Structure Summary Notice Of: CONSTR Duration: PERM (Months: 0 Days: 0) Work Schedule: 08/27/2020 to 06/01/2023 Structure Type: Building Structure Name: TAMU Health Plaza - IMP Building FCC Number: Structure Details Height and Elevation Latitude (NAD 83): 29° 42' 31.41" N Longitude (NAD 83): 95° 24' 10.58" W Datum: NAD 83 City: Houston State: TX Nearest County: Harris Proposed Site Elevation: 50 Structure Height: 471 Total Height (AMSL): 521 Frequencies Low Freq High Freq Unit ERP Unit Overview Study (ASN): 2020-ASW-10280-OE Prior Study: Status: Work In Progress Received Date: 07/26/2020 Entered Date: 07/26/2020 Map: View Map Construction Info Structure Summary Notice Of: CONSTR Duration: PERM (Months: 0 Days: 0) Work Schedule: 08/27/2020 to 07/01/2022 Structure Type: Building Structure Name: TAMU Health Plaza - Student Housing FCC Number: Structure Details Height and Elevation Latitude (NAD 83): 29° 42' 33.49" N Longitude (NAD 83): 95° 24' 09.85" W Datum: NAD 83 City: Houston State: TX Nearest County: Harris Proposed Site Elevation: 51 Structure Height: 268 Total Height (AMSL): 319 Frequencies Low Freq High Freq Unit ERP Unit

No pictures, sorry guys/gals, but the concrete that is closest to 24 hour fitness is currently being busted up and shipped off.

i’m going to guess these have been posted before but here’s a nice refresher. Although, I don’t see the volley ball courts in the sports complex rendering.

About to eclipse 717 Texas from our vantage point! Selfishly hoping we'll still have a partial view of 609 Main...however this and the Preston will soon have a huge impact on the skyline coming in from the west!

I don't have a storage unit. Most people I know don't. When I peer into open garages I see some crammed with items. Other garages are spotless and vacant, but many just contain items along the walls. Suburban driveways are often crammed full of cars because there are multiple teenagers/young adults who drive as well. Also, I am a town home person and the ratio of vehicles on the street to homes around here is extremely low--mainly because very little street parking even exists. As for trucks, in my shared driveway, fewer than 15% of households contain a person who drives a truck. In the 10 town houses across the street its 20%. I'll be the first to admit that using just two examples in a metro area of 7 million+ people is not enough data to pipe out generalizations about basically everyone who lives here. That's baseless and tired. However, not everyone drives an over-sized truck, maintains a garage full of storage items, and rents a storage unit.

@H-Town Man everytime i see that photo i don't think of drains as much as i think about how if they ever need to block it temporarily they can have giant balls that they just roll up to the entrance or enormous corks haha! edit to say: ps..sorry for saying giant balls on a family forum... 🙈

Sigh....and here I was thinking I had stumbled on something new and undiscovered. This must have been how Columbus felt.

Milestones to come at LyondellBasell Tower: End of August Skybridge from Fulbright Tower to 4 Houston Center opens September Terrace area on P1 completed with new outdoor furnishings October New glass entryway located on the northeast corner of LyondellBasell Tower opens P1 south lobby finishes to be complete December Plaza, mezzanine, and amenity spaces, including the fitness center and conferencing venue to be complete The redevelopment of Houston Center aligns with our approach to creating and operating iconic mixed-use projects and focusing on the central theme of placemaking. Upon completion, Houston Center will be a modern and dynamic mixed-use office campus with amenities specially designed for you, our tenants. We look forward to unveiling the entire redevelopment once complete. Please note that there is still the possibility of delays for delivery of items that may be impacted by the pandemic, weather events or other unknowns. As construction continues, we will provide project news and updates through email and via www.HoustonCenter.com.

The Montrose Collective Steel beam assembly.

One of the lead engineers tweeted this: If Rodney Ellis is involved with the project, based on what him and his team and COH have been able to accomplish in 3rd Ward/Downtown/Midtown/East End/the Bayous, I would bet a lot of money that parts of this project will not only have legs, but a decent timetable for certain walking and biking components. You can now get from one side of downtown to the other, both north and south and east and west on protected lanes, which was a pipe-dream not too long ago. Adding on street bike lanes to Waugh and Hawthorne and expanded sidewalks around those areas? Seems easier by comparison, especially with community buy in.

I was at the park last night. They have installed fencing along the south side of Memorial through this area.

That’s fair. I just think I get a bit frustrated until I see some dirt turn and changes made. I’m just eager to see Houston become what we all know it has the ability to become. But I agree, this will help shape and change Montrose. My bad for the negativity fellow HAIFers.

The simplistic aesthetic design is likely the result of the limited budget rather than any engineering constraints. Civil engineers and architects can do almost anything given enough money.

Given the potential to develop that land, Beck's Prime must be a front for the Navarro cartel as a money laundering operation... Either that or I'm watching too much Ozarks on Netflix. But wow, that 40 year lease must have been astronomical to offset the potential value increase.

Bravo Brijon. Wonderful view, the bayous look so inviting, you can see the elevation in land, main street skyscraper canyon, construction on a shiny new tower next to other shiny new towers.

Not to drive this topic further off and into the burbs - but Town home people usually rent storage spaces. Or they park their over sized truck on the street because the garage is too small. Guest Parking is more of an issue. Or if there are Roommates. Nearly every suburb I've been in - affluent or not, has every driveway crammed full of cars because people use their garages to store all their junk. League City, the Woodlands, Katy, Cypress, Spring, you name it. That's on top of having a storage unit as well. Consumers like their stuff.

Aggressive... 40 years...

The study doesn't spend 200 pages to find out that the neighborhood isn't walkable. They started with that assumption. The study identifies, to the individual lot level, what the condition of sidewalks and crossings are in the neighborhood. Then, they worked with a transportation agency and neighborhood meetings to identify where major multimodal arterials can or should be built, using a variety of standards for walkable, bikeable, or neighborhood streets. THEN, the study organizes the most important improvements to be made, divided between short and long term projects. It also identifies likely sources of funding so the TIRZ knows what they can afford and what they need to seek grants for. If you take the time to at least read the abstract, you'd find the study was a pretty good use of time and money. It's incredibly granular, had good outreach, and attacks Montrose's walkability head-on instead of trying to dress up a turd . . . which would have been easy for Montrose to do, it's already the "most walkable neighborhood in Houston," if they wanted to sweep this under the rug they probably could have. Makes me want to move to Montrose personally.

Hanging multiple steel girders at the same time from the crane is called multiple lift rigging or " Christmas Treeing" . OSHA doesn't allow it except for steel erection. SUMMARY Multiple lift rigging, or “christmas treeing,” is prohibited for construction activities other than steel erection because of the hazards involved, including beams hitting other objects or people. OSHA’s Sub Part R 1926.753 addresses the use multiple lift rigging assemblies, and a 2005 OSHA letter of interpretation provides additional explanation. Because of the necessity for this work practice in steel erection, crew members should understand the dangers and follow best practices. According to the 2005 letter from OSHA, during the multiple lift procedure, the hoisted beams need to be attached to the rigging assembly beginning with the topmost attachment. That means that workers have to be under the already-attached members while continuing the attachment process. Also, the hoisted members are detached from the assembly beginning with the bottom member, so employees are under the remaining members during the unhooking phase of the operation, as described in Volume 66 of the Federal Register, January 18, 2001. OSHA states that the maximum length of a multiple rigging assembly is 35 ft. The minimum vertical spacing between each piece is 7 ft. The maximum number of steel beams allowed to be lifted in a multiple rigging assembly is five. Most steel erectors are familiar with the above rule; however, a general contractor may not allow five pieces to be hoisted at one time. If that’s the case, it’s prudent to increase the vertical spacing between beams, if possible. https://www.seaa.net/news/a-formula-for-safe-christmas-treeing

I’d recon at least half of the concrete that is in the parcel between Holcombe and Dixie drive has been removed. I can get pictures soon.

that second photo reminds me of a cult...i hope this isn't part of the new master plan 💀

I was listening to the memorial park people talk on some interview and it seems like the design is more worried about sustaining the weight of the land mass since they are using soil from the park and growing trees on top of it. A comment on the post said something like "this isn't just a rooftop garden" lol. So it seems like they need incredible support, aka all that concrete looking like drain culverts, to ensure the soil stays in place and the trees can grow. The new expansion is more than I could have imagined, the land bridge is some visionary type stuff that as a person born and raise in houston I could only dream of. Looking at those photos, it looks like the Arboretum in some places. So do you just park on the south side of the park and walk over there?

I definitely want better sidewalks in montrose so i can ride my bike without dying OR a bike lane would be awesome but i know that would be wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy down the line! i'm happy with all the progress coming this area's way!

Look at all that beautiful green! Including the water...

Becks Prime extends lease in Upper Kirby https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2020/08/07/kenny-ziggys-whiskey-cake-woodlands-becks-prime.html?iana=hpmvp_hstn_news_headline

I've gone ahead and grabbed the relevant section on projects from the study for everyone's convenience, and fun speculation 😁 These are pages 97 and 102-111, including Projects by Others and Short-Term Projects, excluding Long-Term Projects. On page 109, item 7, the Waugh and Commonwealth bikeways are listed as "Currently in Design," the only project to be listed as such. Especially considering Geoff Carlton's company's just done a bunch of bikeways, I think it's safe to assume that's the imminent project. I'd assume the Westheimer project would be right behind it due to how important it's rated, but as we all know the funding just got pulled so . . .

This just in from the Houston Business Journal: Developers said that in its place [former Sears building] will stand a new outdoor lifestyle and retail district within Memorial City.

Haha what you’re looking at according to the website is Memorial Groves A living memorial to the WWI soldiers who trained at Camp Logan, trees aligned in regiments will shelter gathering spaces for reflection and education among the 100-year-old remnants of the camp.

If you are asking literally how far down it goes, the answer is not at all. Memorial Drive will not be lowered. https://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/discover/master-plan/land-bridge-prairie-restoration-project/ https://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/discover/master-plan/ten-year-plan/?location=Land+Bridge+and+Prairie

I still don't trust it - it might just be a parking lot improvement. I won't believe it until I see a banner for 3 months free rent

Probably the first true beneficiary of the new market based parking in action. That garden was originally supposed to be parking, but this development got permission to be part of the first roll out of MBP. Already it makes a big difference.

The store is on my family’s property. It’s be defunct for many many years. My grandfather did use it to sell fireworks out of for several years. The family has attempted to have it saved as a historical building, but a fire in the 70s that required replacing a significant amount of the building made it so it no longer qualifies. The property is now on the commercial real estate market and we are not sure what the fate of the store will be.

Functionally you are 100% correct. Visually, the Civil Courthouse looks like it could be the Capital Building of Memorial City. Tack-a-rama. The Brown is the color of the giant leather Gallery Furniture couches the types of homes with rustic stars have inside of them (comfortable, yes, huge and ugly, also yes). The beige stucco arches perhaps inspired by the french country kitchen vent hood. The high contrast with the reflective glass is reminiscent of the 100% saturation & clarity images realtors take on HAR. The tiny useless columns... this thing is giant McMansion. Sorry Mollusk. Plenty of time to complain online during Covid.

I really hope the Civil Courthouse is gone before then. IMO it's in the top 10 worst for worst in Houston. The Criminal Courthouse is in the same realm, but it doesn't leave as sour taste.

This seems like one of the worst buildings ever built in Houston. I doubt it is still standing after 2040.

The issue with capacity hasn't been for juries, it's more of a hassle for defendants and their attorneys who have had to wait for an hour or more to get through the screening process and onto an elevator to get to the right courtroom. Judges didn't help by revoking bail for being late, even though the defendants had no reason to know how bad the lines were.

That place has had huge problems caused by a lack of elevator capacity since Day One, among other design flubs.

I must have slept thru this storm last night but reddit u/gibbons07 got some spectacular shots of the storm that passed just east of downtown.

Sawyer Yards Drive In by reddit u/_jviews