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https://www.2415westheimer.com/

https://issuu.com/midway2/docs/230720_east_river_office?fr=sMjM0ZDY2NTEzNDU

I spotted 12 brick mock up stands and core drilling barrels.

Looks like the tower crane is running out of room and will have to be jumped soon. Turner's Cut.

I read a press release this morning that the developer has decided to work with the "tower of terror" people and will be removing all work done to date, and making a private park only accessible by people who have faithfully had yellow yard signs for over a decade. oh, and happy April fools! build baby build!

Construction started on pedestrian bridge. still allows thru traffic on the main bayou trail.

I do believe the podium is completed. Now there is a retaining wall forming. From the rendering, it appears there's a small area before the hospital floors. The stacking diagram says mechanical? Construction photos from today.

I'm not ultra-close to the 11th project, but this statement - along with similar ones about the Montrose Boulevard project - is deeply frustrating to me. Do people not realize how insanely hard it is to get anything done for non-drivers in this city? It took six 311 calls to get the knocked-over school speed limit sign outside of my school moved a few inches off of the three-foot sidewalk. Not fixed, not even cleared away. Moved a foot and a half. I know that's a pretty stretched anecdote, but my point is this: every piece of infrastructure built for pedestrians and cyclists is the product of years - usually over a decade - of begging, clawing, fundraising, desperate (and mostly ignored) public outreach, and compromise with the twelve angry NIMBYs who default to opposition on everything. It may or may not be true in this instance, but the paradigm of bending over backwards to appease every opposing voice has been strangling this city (the whole country, really) for too damn long.

This week's construction update. I believe the podium is completed and now they're going to start on the hospital floors. Just an amazing building. It's so stout.

Randall Davis Co. unveils plans for Rice Village condo tower - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com) “This is an area that is really underserved for condo living,” said Davis, founder and CEO of the Randall Davis Co. “There’s currently no opportunity for people to buy a lock-and-leave home. A lot of people in the Rice Village area, especially empty nesters or those wanting to downsize from a large house, want to stay in their wonderful neighborhood. So, that’s what this project hopes to do: give them an option that doesn’t currently exist.” He also threatens teases another project in the works... "That said, Davis is in the process of lining up yet another condo project, but he isn’t ready to share details about it yet. “Call me in six or seven weeks,” he said."

hindesky- Awesome! Love the lighter colors. All the brick choices are very elegant. Let's go!!

Photos via Architect Farshid Moussavi's Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/farshidmoussavi/

Architect - https://www.fsdesignbuild.com https://www.fsdesignbuild.com/projects/tsu-academy-of-aviation

An architectural barriers project filing for East Blocks was registered yesterday with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The filing is for a parking garage at 2215 McKinney St. Details from the filing: Estimated Start Date: September 1, 2024 Estimated Completion Date: January 1, 2025 Estimated Cost: $16,000,000 Type of Work: New construction Scope of Work: New 7-story precast parking garage with approximately 481 spaces to include retail and other amenities to serve the East Blocks district development. Scope to include the perimeter landscape design tying the building into the surrounding neighborhood Square Footage: 209,646 sf Design Firm: Gensler https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Print/TABS2024015552

I am of the opinion that a satellite gallery for the MFAH would be a wonderful addition to downtown close to Discovery Green Convention center area. Perhaps it could be a shared space between the CAM, MFAH, The Craft Museum and the Menil. They could alternate exhibitions. It would be a great place for the Museums to expand their audiences. Give visitors an opportunity to see an exhibition close to their lodgings or downtown workers to go during their lunch break.

Wolfgramm, Tannos developing condos in East Montrose - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Houston's Tony Marron Park is set to undergo major renovations at the end of this year. But before then, Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Aurora Picture Show are throwing one last big art fest at the east side park. Called Night Light, the festival features several visual artists who have created site-specific light installations that will be projected throughout the park on the evening of April 6. It's a continuation of Houston's long-standing embrace of light and space artists, from James Turrell Skyspace at Rice University to Carlos Cruz-Diez to Jean-Michel Jarre's Rendez-vous Houston, which famously lit up the buildings of Downtown in 1986. For Night Light, BBP’s co-presenter, Aurora Picture Show, has chosen mostly Houston artists, including Violette Bule, Ronald Llewellyn Jones, and duo Nick Vaughan & Jake Margolin, who will create site-specific works to be displayed in the park. This is the second year that the festival will take place at Tony Marron Park and will likely be the last event there until renovations at the park are completed in 2026. https://www.chron.com/culture/arts/article/night-light-festival-houston-18967660.php

Rendering shown on sales center. My thumb in the foreground.

The Chronicle says Federal Grill opened last weekend. Looks like just in time for all that juicy oil industry convention expense account money. Pro: The red umbrellas give a good pop of color to a fairly sterile space. Con: It doesn't seem the kitchen vents to the street, so no free smells like when you walk by Morton's.

No one tell the terrorists about Google maps, I guess.

The Houston Methodist Centennial Tower sure is becoming imposing at street level. It's just massive. You would think this is an office skyscraper but it's a hospital.

The gorgeous One Dynamic Way seems to have gotten a paint job. The lower portion of the building, that's supposed to connect to Two Dynamic Way, has been painted this week. I really like the color, or texture.

Reminder that this Saturday is the annual Art Car Parade, on Allen Parkway, in front of The Allen (keeping this on topic). Cars roll at 2pm, but as always, the best viewing is getting there early, maybe noon-ish, and just walking along Allen Parkway looking at all the cars up close, and interacting with the owners, and all the off-beat Houstonians who come out for this. Look for me in the Hippo Car. Come say hi!

River Oaks Name Exploitation

The barriers are great. It's always fun to watch some idiot not paying attention hitting one of those barriers and destroying a tire and wheel, and hopefully a lower control arm. I saw that just East of Shepherd where a Honda Accord driver tried to speed up and get into the left lane rather than waiting their turn. Bam! they paid the price.

This is art deco now. I dont make the rules.

The dump trucks are coming and going in droves. I noticed what looked like a core drilling truck to the right in the 3rd pic.

It is not possible to eliminate all opposition with *any* project, and road diets in particular always have opponents. You don't like this project. We get it. That doesn't make it unsuccessful. 11th St was unsafe and uncomfortable and now it is much less so. Is it perfect? No. But it does a much better job of prioritizing human life and was able to be implemented relatively quickly and cost effectively.

SCRB5. SOPH. SCG2.

Construction update this week.

Just spent the week in Kansas City for the Big 12 Conference tournament. The area around the Toyota Center is brutally awful by comparison. The Power and Light District built around the T Mobile Center has 3 modern glass condo/apartment towers, a massive covered plaza for DJs and big screen action with tons of cheesy bars and restaurants facing it. Then there are several pedestrian scaled blocks around it that are closed to traffic on game days. There are no visible open air garages in site. All parking is underground or hidden behind retail. It's really well done. If Houston could just start with that awful Tundra Garage,,, Also, the convention center is right across the highway there which is sunken. Makes for a much better pedestrian experience than walking under a freeway as our hotel was a beautiful new Loew's by the convention center. I was with my sister who lives in One Park Place and she kept saying the only thing KC was missing was a Discovery Green type park.

https://www.arch-con.com/divisions/hospitality/jw-marriott-houston-downtown-expansion/ 72,382-square-foot building conversion to add 56 rooms as well as the demolition and renovation of the storefront, entry vestibule, elevators, ballroom and restrooms on the first floor and meeting rooms on the second floor.

This mayor is a clown

I am being told: "We are working through contract reviews on this now. Short answer is that we will start design this spring, that will take 12-18 months, then another 12 months of permitting and then construction (another 12-18 months). We are at least three years out. These projects take forever. "

https://www.hcp1.net/BraysBayouPedestrianBridge

I could see a large AT crane off in the distance from downtown and I was racking my mind as to what it could possibly be lifting. The building trapped the portable tower crane and it had no way to get out. Crane Master Inc. showed up to remove it. I asked one of the workers when the Charles and the smaller building would be finished, he said probably in about 3 months.

Here are some more renderings from the Planning Commission Agenda: