YakuzaIce

Looks like we were all pretty close.

I'm a bit surprised how close we could get. Though I guess the building isn't especially big. Still though, it was about half the distance of the last couple demolitions I went to.

And my video since I seem to have been in the wrong thread before.

Well, today was the day they demolished the Ben Milam Hotel. Fairly light turnout compared to some other demolitions, but it didn't seem to have as high a profile. Kind of a shame they couldn't make some use of it, it only takes up about an eighth of the site.

Here is the video I took.

Before. What is left of the sign on the north corner.

Looking down Preston St. afterwards.

I glance at this website from time to time out of, well, I suppose nostalgia is the word (though it doesn't seem quite right!) for my Houston childhood.

Are you suggesting that Houston needs less open space?!!!

Pretty sure he's just saying that a golf course is a very inefficient use of open space. There are only 48 tee times a day for a maximum of 4 people. Even if every time is taken with the largest party possible, that is only 192 people per day (although it could be more with the driving range and other ammenities). So even assuming it operates at maximum capacity year round, the zoo still averages 22.8 times more people per day despite using less than half the space. As a comparison Discovery Green saw an average of 850,000 visitors per year in its first two years ("over 4 million" since it opened, but I don't know as of when.), and that's just a 12 acre park.

While it's nice to have a golf course so close into the city, I have to agree that it is wasted space in its current form.

Some pictures from this morning. Seems that it's topped out, and the cladding will probably be going on soon.

From this morning, there is some equipment on site now.

Pictures from this morning. This one seems to be going up pretty quickly.

Some updates from this morning. They seem to be about a floor and a half higher than the last pics.

I'm not seeing that.

(Full size http://i.minus.com/ilbhOk6Julk8r.JPG )

And, what it used to look like.

Much bigger crowd than I was expecting for early on a Sunday morning. Although it wasn't that early by the time it finally came down. Here's a video of the demolition.

Also some pictures

Around 9:30 can't see a damn thing

Fog has cleared up, can see the full building now (I have a lot more and in higher resolutions if anyone is interested).

The aftermath as people flee the dust cloud.

Cant remember exactly but I believe 600,000 square feet of office space is about the same size as Main Place/BG Group Place tower that recently finished in Downtown Houston. Either BG Group Place or Hess/Discovery Tower, one of them.

Main Place is quite a bit bigger at 973k square feet. Discovery tower is just a bit under 900k square feet. I don't think this will end up being very tall. Especially being on a 5 acre lot. Although the streets surrounding it are private and I believe they are partially included as part of the lot. A very rough estimate for the area they would be building on would be around 138,000 sq ft. A good chunk of that could be taken up with drop-off areas or landscaping though.

Some pictures from this morning. Tower crane is still being put together. The back of the lot seems to have gotten underway.

Some new pictures from this beautiful rainy day. The crane is quite a bit taller now. Couldn't really get good site pictures because it started pouring when I got there.

In the old days and homeless in movies they would say ...Hey buddy can you spare a dime? Now it's give me some money. If you refuse, get ready to be cursed out or worse. Most do not care if you are with a wife or children. Just try it and see. Please report back.

That's odd, my experiences are pretty much the same as RedScare's (at least concerning Downtown). For the most part when I don't give any money they will just say "God bless" or "Have a nice day", and that's that. Can't say it's the same for along 59 however. Several times I have had my windshield struck when I say I don't want them to wash it. Even so these experiences are few and far between.

^interesting find, kind of ugly building though.

If you cannot see them, then how do you know they exist to be the 1st and 2nd pics?

Well they seem to exist now...two years later.

absolutely...there have been large crews there for a long time now..i drive by every day

Is this what you are seeing?

(stolen from Gary)

It just seems to me that when that money is spent, it should be done on street level, at storefront locations. Maybe that's just me though.

Pavillions, Park Tower and the park aren't going to be malls. I guess you are talking about the Park Shops in Houston Center which doesn't really have anything to do with the new park, and they have been there for years. So why make a hoopla now?

It's a disgrace compared to the park that was there.

And what was planned there a few years back...

I wonder where shell would rank if it was an American company. Granted the worldwide headquarters is in the Hague.

Thanks for the info! That's awsome!

[off_topic]kimberly, isn't that a picture of Dallas in your avatar? Or was that on purpose?[/off_topic]

And they are both by you . But I still say there should be some setup where a group of editors can take care of the database of buildings. Something like SSP. It usually works well (though some areas aren't represented well, but that wouldn't be a problem here).

No, this block faces the western boundary of the park.

Is this the block next to 5 Houston Center? Isn't that part of the Houston center gardens?

February 10, 2006 - Houston apartment developer Marvy FInger has taken a land position in downtown Houston for what likely will be a high-rise residential tower, acccording to the Houston Chronicle. The Finger site, bounded by Lamar, LaBranch, Austin and McKinney...

Good news, but isn't that block part of the park? Perhaps they meant Lamar and Dallas, not McKinney.

...Border's Books,...

Well that is probably going to kill B. Dalton's (I think that is the name). Better location, and probably a larger store.

Yes, because we all know that flying airplanes into buildings is the only tactic that terrorists have ever used or will ever use, so that's the only thing we should defend against...

While that is true, a bomb (at least one meant to take out the entire building) would be much more devastating in a lobby than in a skydeck. Just as an example, one of the reasons that the North tower was able to stand for almost 50 minutes longer than the South tower is because the South tower was hit much lower. Thus a greater load was put on the weakened supports. Not to mention the size of any device would be quite limited due to the fact you would have to get it all the way up. There is not much of a chance to stop someone willing to kill themselves if they just burst into the building. Also you could drive a truck or something of the sort into the bottom of the building or garage beneath it (1993 WTC bombing). You couldn't bring that up to an observation deck. Worst case scenario (besides a bomb) for an observation deck is if all the people there are taken hostage, or someone with a sniper rifle is able to secure it and then target people on the street. Even then the person would be easily picked off once they come to a window to start shooting.

The one advantage I see of closing observation decks is that you could restrict the number of random unknown people coming into the building.

I heard that there were three 80 story skyscrapers going up where Astroworld used to be, and that they were being built there because of FFA height restrictions down town. I doubt this is a seriouse topic but if any body has any info i would appreciate it.

I don't think an 80 story building would be affected by any height restrictions enforced by the FAA downtown. Also it does not seem very rational to put an 80 story tower on such cheap land (relatively) much less three. It would make more sense to have more or larger shorter towers. Either way though, this sounds completely and utterly fake.

Just to clear up anything about the location.