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Two 3D spin around renderings are now on the sales site: 1550 on the Green

Several new updates in the Retail Leasing Brochure, a few new renderings and views and glimpses more of Phase 1 as well as Phase 2, if you look close. Slight update to the central Plaza and Traffic plan. Seems to me that Building F has move a bit north, away from the Bayou, and has squeezed the small stand alone Plaza Pavilion out. It is, also, indicated which retail spaces are "in negotiation". East River 9 & Riverhouse are now shown on the Masterplan. https://eastriverhtx.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/210628-East-River-Retail-Brochure.pdf

Video posted this month from WeBuild, the company contracted for construction. https://texashighspeedrail.webuildgroup.com/en

I have been spending time in Galveston recently and it amazes me that Metro, Houston, Galveston, and the smaller municipalities have not prioritized commuter rail from Houston Hobby area to Galveston. The cruise terminal in Galveston is such a big business on the island and brings thousands to the island. Then there are the beaches and restaurants that locals like to go to in the Houston and Galveston area. There should be a commuter rail going from close to where Hobby is to Galveston most noticeaby at the old train station that is across from the cruise terminal and the Island Trasit hub parking garage. Thousands of people fly into Hobby who are going to go on one of the cruise ships that in the Galveston port, yet passengers once at Hobby have to take a cab or rent a car to get to the cruise terminal. There is so much built in ridership right there of cruise passengers that would be profitable for the commuter rail. Then you have all the local Houstonians that drive down to Galveston and have to pay for parking when they could be using a commuter rail that is much more convenient then taking a car down especially since the station in Galveston would be right next to the island transportation hub. Houston would just need to connect one of the new planned transportation lines to a commuter rail station in Houston. During the summer months especially a commuter rail would get good ridership and be very profitable. If Dallas can build a light rail that goes from Dallas to Denton, then surely Houston and Galveston should be able to find a way to get a commuter rail going between the two cities, especially with all the rail lines that exist in the area. It would just take some planning with the rail lines to coordinate commuter trains with the freight trains going and comming from Galveston. This is such a no brainer and should be a priority project. Get this thing going!

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/multifamily/like-a-light-switch-that-went-on-houston-multifamilys-recovery-from-pandemic-woes-in-full-swing-109343

The concerns of Harris County are not necessarily the same among all of its residents. People who live in Champion Forest are probably less likely to put a high priority on sidewalks and the homeless, whereas people living in Midtown and Montrose may be indifferent to traffic congestion on freeways. To suggest that a poll of Harris County residents is representative of all of them, or that @j_cuevas713is alone in desiring a livable urban environment (including wider sidewalks) is absurd.

Sums it up quite nicely. My brother is a very well known and accomplished blues musician in Austin and has made his way as a professional musician in Austin since arriving there in 1990. In August the Mayor will be declaring a day in his name. However, a couple months ago he had to leave the city and moved to Buda. He can no longer afford it in the city. Very few of the musicians can. Last month, he started playing music in front of live audiences again...and it was in over here in Galveston (Old Quarter), Woodlands (Dosey Doe) and two shows at Mucky Duck. My brother works very hard at keeping Austin vibrant and alive, but he is also are reading the writing on the wall.

UH Downtown has the Gators as a mascot for a reason.

FWIW, nobody, least of all the City, has ever voted to demo the Astrodome.

Polk St/ The Tenderloin is anything but an urban dream. That’s urban decay. I love SF but like every city, it undeniably has its own issues. Sidewalks work there when you have the microclimate to keep things cool and comfortable. Here in Houston, not so much. Also there is the fact that the peninsula is only 49 square miles compared to our sprawling city. What I would like to take from SF is implementing Muni trains on heavier trafficked thoroughfares inside the loop like Montrose, Westheimer, Shephard/Durham, etc. Not sure how much cost savings there are from repurposing old trains from Eastern Europe but it could be a cheaper way to get more mass transit routes.

Not even close to that. I'd heard the same and had to see it for myself. There were very few homeless, very little trash anywhere to be honest. The city was super clean. It has much more than just "some" natural beauty, it's freaking gorgeous. Even the grand entrance on the Golden Gate Bridge made you feel like you were entering a very special place. Literally every building in SF was beautiful. I actually had a hard time finding an ugly building. And the urbanism was great. Easy to catch transit in any direction. Super reliable and frequent. The ONLY negative is it get's cold. Mid day it will get in the 80s but morning and at night it get's pretty damn cold.

Please don't Austin my Houston.

Sharp looking facility for Intuitive Machines! Can't wait to see what Axiom's facility will look like.

I've been saying this forever. Commuter rail from Downtown to Galveston would be huge for the area.

LMAO! You're trying to relate two completely different things. Of course residents in our city want less crime, and less traffic. As far as city infrastructure the residents have already said they want a more walkable Houston. Otherwise they wouldn't have approved a massive transit bill. You're naive to think this city doesn't want to be able to walk more. Why would the city even invest in new sidewalks and infrastructure upgrades if people didn't want it? You think we all just want to be in our cars all day?

Downtown surface parking lots may have to be placed in an "endangered species". Their boom times were the 1970's through the 1990's. They appear to be disappearing. My concern are the hideous high rise garages which bludgeon the eye, such as one can sees at Main and Walker. The ideal would be high rise garages such as the one at Preston and Louisiana.

I would so love for a high rise residence to be built on the other half of the lot that the Houston Ballet school is on. Basically I dream of Hines having at least one 40+ story residential under construction at all times near market square.

There would be no legal or constitutional basis for doing this. Part of the right to own property is the right not to sell it. This was a natural right before a lot of other things that people consider natural rights. On the other hand, the city has condemned property in this part of town when it was needed for the Toyota Center.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/austinites-you-have-permission-to-move-to-houston/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Just to fill in a bit of context... Dallas didn't exactly build "a light rail" that goes from Dallas to Denton. To get from Dallas to Denton, one actually has to take DART light rail to the end of its line and then switch to the Denton County Transit commuter rail. Minimum trip time from St Paul station downtown Dallas to Denton: 1 hour 32 minutes. That's from the time the train leaves St Paul station to arrival at Denton. This is for a trip similar in length to the drive from Hobby to Galveston. FWIW, pre-COVID, the entire Denton County A-Train line, 21 miles long with 6 stations, service every 30 minutes all day (roughly 32 trains per day in each direction) was carrying less than 1500 people per day.

Appreciate the shout-out but...

So basically with all the comments in the above thread would it be more cost effective to just implode the building and start from scratch to build something more to spec of what a client wants? I so wish that the City of Houston would just order that the Holiday Inn building is not up to code enough for purchase and remodel and have the thing imploded. This is city government and when they want something done they usually can find loops holes and ways to get it done. At least get one of the empty buildings that is an eyesore out of the way. As far as the old Exon building, there are options it just needs someone to take action.

There already is a tax penalty - they have to pay a bunch of property tax every year on the land as it sits there. And there are positive incentives, as BeerNut mentioned. You can't really do much more without endangering Houston's reputation as a good place for investment. We want more foreign money flowing into Houston because it benefits us, on the whole. We don't want to scare away what foreign money we have. We also aren't anywhere close to a point where we need Golconda's land to continue growing and improving downtown. Skanska has a pretty big chunk of land that will take them most of a decade to develop to its highest potential. There are numerous sites around Market Square, Jones Plaza, Minute Maid Park, and all along Main Street that are ready to be developed. By reducing the supply of available land, you actually get better projects on the remaining land, something that Austin has experienced with its Capitol View Corridors. So don't worry.

You could create tax incentives or penalties that could help push development though.

I just got back from San Francisco and we simply need better wider sidewalks across the entire city. SF felt like an urban dream.

People keep focusing just on the ticket sales but I believe there is also development component to this project.

I'm willing to bet that this will probably be the shortest building in the development. You know, the city should really penalize property owners who own surface parking lots or undeveloped lots downtown and refuse to develop them or sell them.

I wish we could just throw some chlorine in Buffalo Bayou 😭

Skanska reveals plans for downtown office tower When a collection of surface parking lots on the southwest edge of Discovery Green went up for sale in 2019, executives at Skanska, developer of downtown’s Bank of America Tower, could immediately see the possibilities. Robert Ward, the chief executive of Skanska USA Commercial Development, could imagine the site as home to a mixed-use development that interfaced with the park, similar to the scenes surrounding city parks he had seen in Sweden, where Skanska is based. “Being close to a park is great,” he said. Skanska moved closer to realizing that vision on Thursday morning, breaking ground on the project’s first phase, a 28-story office building at 1550 Lamar St. The building is expected to be completed in 2024 and will be anchored by Norton Rose Fulbright, the third-largest law firm in America. The firm’s name will adorn the building, which until completion will be called 1550 on the Green. On HoustonChronicle.com: CBRE lands leasing assignment for Skanska's new downtown tower The first floor of the 375,000-square-foot office building will feature 7,000 square feet of retail. Renderings show cafe seating spilling out of ground-level restaurants onto wide sidewalks shaded by lines of trees. Altogether, Skanska is planning a three-block master plan in the area featuring apartments, restaurants, retail and green space in addition to the office tower. The Swedish development and construction giant acquired a 3.5 acre site, of which 1550 Lamar St. is a part, for $55 million in October 2019. The acquisition included the full block just east of the Four Seasons Hotel, bordered by Dallas, Lamar, LaBranch and Austin, as well as the property just to the east of the block, surrounding the Embassy Suites Hotel, and property just to the south. Ward said that when Skanska held sessions with architects and downtown community organizations to envision the possibilities of the site, they asked themselves not only what tenants want today, but also what tenants will value in the future. He said a design focused on the outdoors, wellness and convenience answered both questions. The office tower features two tenant-exclusive rooftop terraces, sweeping views of the park, lots of natural light and a touchless system that allows tenants to move through turnstiles and guests to register over app with ease. Also with an eye to the future, the project was built to be sustainable. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Sylvester Turner lauded that effort, reminding the audience that the energy capital of the world is going through an energy transition, and that major cities must help fight climate change. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com; twitter.com/raschuetz https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Skanska-reveals-plans-for-downtown-office-tower-16272686.php

CURRENT VERSION: v0.5 - Beta by: Luminare Hello Everyone, I'm proud to reintroduce the HAIF Development Map and Spreadsheet, as PROJECT ASTROPOLIS. This thread will be the new home for updates, improvements, announcements, and discussions about both the Project Astropolis Map and Spreadsheet. Previously due to COVID, and other circumstances pertaining to my work, I had to take an extended hiatus from both the forum, and this project. After a nice break from putting the original map and spreadsheet together, I decided to give the project a reboot, and start off fresh with a new thread, new name, new image, touched up sheets, and several additional sheets with more to come! (NEW) Link to Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/drive?state={"ids"%3A["1uy6qAEQioisw7lKYbZoJNDrl2k6Ef8ck"]%2C"action"%3A"open"%2C"userId"%3A"100367964234737055652"}&usp=sharing (NEW) Link to Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1787Aeyg1wyVCuV5pVMzP4ButKIU7UMTvtdS-fvUQPIw/edit?usp=sharing MISSION STATEMENT: The primary aim of Project Astropolis is to track every project in and around the greater Houston Area. The secondary aim of Project Astropolis is to bring greater awareness to laymen about new or upcoming development, architecture, and construction around them, so they can be better informed about their built environments, and how they might affect their communities or properties. Houston is growing, and is progressing forward, why not feel like you are a part of it? The third aim of Project Astropolis is to someday be, potentially, a valuable resource for those who work at architecture firms, development firms, and marketing firms to assist in future planning, and for a city with no zoning, possibly create synergies between projects to create better communities and a better city. Knowledge is power, and with that knowledge, better future development can come forth. STAFF: Founder Luminare Editor-in-chief Purdueenginerd Admin (TBD) Agents Source Agents (TBD) Neighborhood Agents (TBD) Field Agents (TBD) Industry Agents (TBD) Media Agents (TBD) Source Agent - Contributor who typically works with sources to gather information on a project. Might be specific, or might be general info. Neighborhood Agent - Contributor who typically operates in a particular neighborhood, and understands whats happening in a more local context. Field Agent - Contributor who typically travels to job sites to take photographs to chronicle progress of projects, or talk with those on site to gather further information. Industry Agent - Contributor who typically knows the in's and out's within a particular industry which provides valuable info on upcoming projects, etc... Media Agents - Contributor who typically knows the right publications, or news outlets (and has access to articles), or various social media to get new info on projects. ***Currently looking for candidates for positions listed as (TBD), some have already been reached out too. If you haven't, but would like to contribute please contact either myself (Luminare), or Purdueenginerd via private message on the forum, or you can email the project at: projectastropolis@gmail.com *** FAQ: (TBD) Will fill out once I get questions. CHANGE LOG: (TBD) DISCLAIMER! Project Astropolis should not, under any circumstances, be viewed as an official and/or definitive source of development news and information. Project Astropolis has been put together by development/architecture/construction enthusiasts, therefore it should not be seen as a replacement for actual official and/or legal documentation. All info for Project Astropolis was pulled from readily available public sources or was donated to us via industry sources who were given permission to provide us with such info. While we try our best to keep our info and sources up-to-date as much as possible, due to the fact some sources are pulled from the HAIF forum (among other things) from enthusiasts who are not industry professionals, some info might be speculative, and if this is the case, it will be clearly identified as such. About Projects: In order to not intrude on the privacy of individuals, Project Astropolis will not plot: - individual single family homes - individual single family townhomes As an industry professional myself (Luminare) I understand the private and personal nature of these types of projects, and value the privacy of these project types which individuals undertake. While we will eventually aim to plot large scale townhome and single family tract housing developments, single instances of these home types are special, and should not be the subject to public knowledge. For Property Owners: If you are a property owner of a speculative development, or someone who owns property next to a speculative/potential/proposed development, please do not contact myself (Luminare), or anyone on my staff, for further information regarding such speculative information. These questions should be directed to actual authority figures whether they be in the public sector or private sector. We here only deal in info and tracking of projects. We do not have the authority to change nor halt a potential project, nor will we take down speculative or potential developments as doing so will only harm discussion of future projects within our enthusiast community. For Architecture Firms, Design Firms, Artists, and Developers: If you are an architecture firm, design firm, artist, or developer (among many other industry professionals not listed), please do not contact myself (Luminare), or anyone on my staff, for further information regarding such speculative information. These questions should be directed to actual authority figures whether they be in the public sector or private sector. We here only deal in info and tracking of projects. We do not have the authority to change nor halt a potential project, nor will we take down speculative or potential developments as doing so will only harm discussion of future projects within our enthusiast community. With that being said, if you are an architecture firm, design firm, artist, or developer (among many other industry professionals not listed), please feel free to contact myself or an admin if you see a project on Project Astropolis which was added on here without permission or consent, and you would like to see removed. Unless its one plotted due to the speculative nature of discussions on an internet forum, actual potential or proposed projects, which are not ready to be viewed by the public or have not been published either by yourselves (on your own websites), or via 3rd party publications, should not be on here, for as an industry professional, I (Luminare), understand fully the ramifications a half-baked, incomplete, or a project which has yet to be fully realized, could potentially be damaged, tarnished, or even dropped if subject to the public eye too early, or when your client isn't expressly ready to present it to the public at large. These will be taken down immediately upon request. @Urbannizer @Triton or any other mod. Could I please get this thread made into a sticky thread? I also need someone to take away the old links to the previous map and spreadsheet from the Development List Thread. Thanks.

You are very correct, as we found out three days after we moved to our house bordering Lake Houston. What a surprise that was. Don't see that in Kansas.

Any body of fresh water in the Houston area could potentially have alligators.

I do completely agree with you, however, one note would be that Carnival does offer shuttles from Hobby to the Cruise Terminals. But again...totally agree.

Brockman Hall for Opera page on the theater planner's (Fisher Dachs Associates) website Brockman Hall's page on the engineers' (Collaborative Engineering Group) Brockman Hall's page on the acoustical engineer's (Threshold Acoustics)website

For someone who was raised in the no-man's land of between 610 and Beltway 8 on the south side, Montrose was already full of amazingness and great development. I guess yeah, compared to upper kirby and uptown/galleria area it hasn't gotten that level of development but to alot of Houstonians like myself its still pretty damn great. This development alone and the new park on Westheimer are blowing my friends' minds who hadn't been drinking in Montrose in a year and a half and went in the last two-three weeks. This development, skanska's, and disco kroger's re-developments will elevate Montrose to rare air in htown. I'm happy Montrose is getting some development love but its a great place already (and arguably the best in town for the combo of living, eating, drinking, the arts, and chilling/exercising in some green spaces). Edit: glad to see Lum is posting more consistently!

Architectural Plans:

"Missed Opportunity" is the unofficial motto of Houston.

There is still a retaining wall that hasn't come down from the old parking garage. I still see some rebar poking up on a portion of the dorms.

Here's the listing: https://www.us.jll.com/en/investorcenter/land-development-site/212-milam-houston-tx-unitedstates

Just to clarify, hindesky is saying no they have not fixed it and there has been no murmur of funds moving anywhere near such a project. It’s craze.

I've decided to believe that this is being designed by professionals who know what they are doing, know how to spot risks and know how to mitigate them. It's the same people who decided not to populate the Eastern Glades lake with Crocodiles and chose crushed granite rather than crushed glass for the running trails.

If and when it gets built.

An extremely positive review of both the building and the installations in the National Review (with a few brief right wing asides). https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/hallelujah-houston-mfa/

Finally made it to the museum last week. The glass tubes have grown on me, mainly because I know there's a function behind them, and because I have accepted that this is the facade, it's not going to change. The inside of the building is a true marvel. I am not a person who loves post-structuralist architecture, preferring symmetry and a visible logic to the building form, but with this building there is nonetheless a sense of majesty and aspiration that translates to any architectural language. It is the type of building that you find yourself pulling out your phone compulsively and taking pictures as you discover new angles, new little surprises in the juxtaposition of forms, new interesting spots and corners that you wonder if anyone else has discovered. I love the central well, the staircase, and of course the roof. The pod-like nature of the galleries, where you can't travel very far before being pushed back out into the common area, is both a strength and a weakness. It allows many separate themes and collections to be juxtaposed without needing to connect them, but it lacks the adventurous labyrinth feel of the Beck building's second floor. The central well or atrium gives Houston a monumental interior space that will be the most memorable space of any of its museums and one of the defining spaces in the city. I could only wish that there was a little more light from the top, as at the Guggenheim in New York; the space has a slight dismal feel, especially since the bright windowed spaces on the first floor outcompete the light of the central space, leaving the sense of a weak center. In contrast, the main atrium of the Beck building is lit just right, and one emerges from the darker entrance/ticketing area with a triumphant feeling. Of course, walking into the Beck atrium now after seeing the Kinder building, the space feels small and a little dingy by comparison. It is no longer MFAH's living room; more like the guesthouse or mother-in-law wing. An unexpected surprise is the benefit to the streetscape along Binz, and the Carolyn Wiess Law building across. Now that there is a defined streetscape, the Law building looks better than I have ever seen it. It feels intimate in a way that it never did before, when it felt like you were walking up to a big box store from the parking lot. The interior of the Law building is another matter. The old entrance area now that the doors are closed off looks like a vacant space in a mall. The giant interior space just feels pointless altogether. I don't think I've ever seen an exhibit there that made me feel like it deserved so much of the building's volume. Especially now that the building is devoted to collections of artifacts from world cultures, more anthropology than art, those collections are being robbed of space, particularly the Islamic collection which feels like it is pushed into closets on either side of the entrance space. I know Mies did this building, but at some point I think a remodeling of the interior has to be considered. Lastly, it is nice that the American art collection has a larger space on the first floor of the Beck building, but you wonder if every single placard for a Western painting needs to remind us that the land was taken from the native Americans and their culture was appropriated. The placards for the Islamic collection for instance do not tell us that Persian (Sassanid) and preexisting polytheist Arabic cultures were appropriated, or that land was taken from Christians and Jews. The Romans also I think were rather ruthless appropriators of Greek culture, and so on. But it's 2020, and this too shall pass. It did seem like a couple of the familiar Remingtons were missing, paintings that helped put MFAH on the map. There are not too many artists for which MFAH can say that they have some of their very best work, instead of say the 90th best Rembrandt or the 200th best Monet, so it might be well to keep these together. All in all, this has become an extraordinary museum campus, the kind that you can spend days at. It is time to get the word out; just absurd that 95% of their visitors are still from the Houston area. I think with the quality of what they have, it is only a matter of time.