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cloud713

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Everything posted by cloud713

  1. cloud713
    haha, one can dream... i know the FAA didnt like the idea of the Bank of the Southwest Tower back in the 80s, though i heard theyve changed flight patterns out of hobby since then or something, so it wouldnt be as much of an issue anymore. i wish our buildings had better lighting at night too. Wedge used to be all outlined in green but supposably nearby residents complained it was too bright and they were turned off. i hope thats not true. maybe when some of these skyscrapers from the 70s-80s are up for renovation they will implement some better lighting.
  2. cloud713
    im glad its going to be taller as well. the only angle it would of stood out in at 41 stories is the north/east side of town. ill go ahead and guess 850 ft (i hope its taller but im trying to be realistic and not get my hopes up). Houston needs some 800ish footers to fill in the void, though anything taller would be icing on the cake.
  3. cloud713
    its going to be taller. they said it was going to be "much larger" than the original 41 story proposal. its already got a podium on the base so unless they radically redesign the building or make it a lot fatter, its definitely going up.
  4. cloud713
    i emailed the city of Houston planning and development about it and they said the building plans for Exxonmobil building could be viewed at 1002 Washington. i still dont understand why all 4 lots around the tower have remained vacant for all this time.
  5. cloud713
    lockmat, was that a serious proposal? what ever came of it?
  6. cloud713
    The East End has plans for a street car system that would run through downtown, form a loop around the East End, and eventually connect to the KBR property, so by the time this would be developed they could have a street car service in place, connecting KBR, the East End, and downtown.
  7. cloud713
    haha agreed, with all of the proposed towers already vying for tenants, i dont see a supertall happening anytime soon (unless Hines wasnt kidding about Texas Sizing their tower), unless theres a corporate relocation where a big company decides to build a tower for themselves.
  8. cloud713
    heh. i see he only has 5 posts. i assume he was joking, but one can hope. didnt the Bank of the Southwest Tower proposal cause a lot of drama with the FAA?
  9. cloud713
    woah, ive never seen that before! yet again someone beats me to the punch... i was envisioning it to be less of a typical "park" though, but more of a submerged promenade with more retail and cafes with outdoor seating areas around the grassy central area. and large trees to provide shade (or some of those suspended horizontal roman shades to open in the summer time). an outdoor area you could envision a farmers market or something taking place in. i dont see a single tree/shaded area in that proposal, it gets HOT in Houston. was that planned for the parking lot/block to the east of Shell Plaza? when i was looking at the map of the tunnel system i noticed all four sides of that lot are surrounded by the tunnel system and that was my first idea for a submerged park location, but i felt that the lack of any vacant lots around the block took away from the parks ability to spur future development, and given the fact that all the buildings surrounding that property are office it would only get used during lunch break, so i decided it would be better fit for the south side of downtown where some residential activity is currently taking place and where the tunnel system could really use the street access and improvements.
  10. cloud713
    ugh, unfortunately i think this is probably true for the office market. especially with the Exxonmobil building up for vacancy after they renovate it starting in 2015 (unless Chevron ends up buying the property and relocating). i really wish Capital Tower was taller but at least were getting a bigger Hines tower. our only other hope is a major corporate relocation. i guess we will still continue to have new residential projects going up around downtown, with the Texaco redevelopment and others planned.
  11. cloud713
    Gensler idea? not sure what that is, you quoted all three portions of my reply.
  12. cloud713
    then why arent the 4 parking lots to the N/E/S/W sides developed with towers? it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when they built it. maybe they were worried about our soil being different or something and wanted to better anchor it? i hope those rumors are false so that those lots can be developed, but that info apparently came from someone affiliated with the Exxonmobil building. i was just thinking the other day the lot to the north of Exxonmobil would be a prime place to implement my submerged park idea linking the streets to the tunnel network, with the ring of retail/cafes around the bottom and openings connecting into the tunnel system (through Wedge, would also link to Exxonmobil, Travis Tower, and the plot to the north east of exxonmobil, on main street along the light rail line, where i envision the park spurring a residential tower). Mayor Parker was talking about wanting to better connect the streets with the tunnel level and that side of downtown isnt linked to the tunnel system very well, but its starting to sprout residential projects which will need the retail/dining. ive wondered this as well. it would be really awkward if Chevron bought the building instead of Shorenstein and leased it out to Exxon for the remainder of their stay, haha. and the tunnel connection isnt planned to happen until the renovations, correct? this source said Chevron would prefer to buy the building out from Shorenstein. it would be a shame if they tore it down, but if the 4 anchors rumor is true and its preventing those lots from being developed, maybe this tower coming down and Chevron rebuilding on the lot closer to their campus is better to open up new lots right off of the light rail line.
  13. cloud713
    great news! so it looks like they will be going forward with construction in the first quarter of 2014 without any tenants signed. im sure they wont have a problem finding tenants for that amazing location. i wonder why the redesign of the building is taking so long? i guess like you said they will be adding many first class amenities to the base/a podium maybe? i hope they keep the design the same, (taller of course) or it gets even better.. Hines isnt really known to cheapen their stuff so im hoping there wont be any Embassy Suites/Marriott Marquis lame redesigns to the final product. cant wait till the end of the year to see the new proposal. the 41 story tower was already taller than BG Place which is 46 stories, after the redesign the height of this tower is sure to be taller a 50 story building, putting this in Houstons top 10.
  14. cloud713
    not to mention Exxon will be moving out of the Exxonmobil building in 2015, leaving 1.2ish million square feet (or are they not the only tenant currently in the building?), though its scheduled to undergo renovations afterwards, and im sure no tenant is willing to sign a lease without renovation plans, and wait around till 2017 or whenever for the renovations to be done when they could just have a brand new building in the same amount of time. either way unfortunately unless the Chevron rumors come true and they buy out the Exxonmobil building for headquarters relocation in the next few years, there will be 1.2 million sq ft of vacant office space hitting the market around 2017 so i hope these new downtown developments get started soon.
  15. cloud713
    agreed, its not just a "groove" in the side of a flat/curved? wall. the whole middle section is recessed in on both north and south sides.
  16. cloud713
    here is a rendering of the base from the south east, showing the same recessed grooves on the south face of the tower as well. maybe they will implement some lighting in the grooves?
  17. cloud713
    true, i just keep seeing people say this building will break ground in 2014. Chevrons new tower isnt even expected to break ground until 2014 so im not sure how a tower with no tenants yet would be able to have that kind of schedule unless they already have all the building permits, ect. for the site. i really hope another boom is coming to downtown, its nice to see some companies looking to the future and trying to be more urban instead of moving to the suburbs like the current trend has been.
  18. cloud713
    true.. its just so much cheaper and more efficient to build a box and keep the floor plates the same shape all the way up the building. im sure the building will turn out much nicer than the rendering makes it out to me. that rendering does absolutely no justice to 1500 Louisiana or 1400 Smith and they are some of the nicest buildings in our skyline IMO.
  19. cloud713
    this thread is hard to find without the title "Marriott Marquis" to me it still looks like some of the architectural features are on top, they just shortened it and changed the cage-like covering that protruded from the top on the front side. edit. ugh, looking back on it they definitely removed some of the architectural features of the top. why does the city continue to let developers cheapen the projects around downtowns crown jewel? what happened to Embassy Suites was a crying shame.. i cant believe they are going to let the same thing happen again. at least they are still showing the texas shaped lazy river i guess. maybe the top will have some fancy lighting besides just Marriott lit up in red letters? wishful thinking..
  20. cloud713
    how sure are we that this tower will start construction next year? is there a tenant already signed or about to sign?
  21. cloud713
    i agree with this for the most part. is 2IFC in Hong Kong just a boring box? its corners are squared, but its sides are rounded and has some distinct vertical lines running up the tower. im not saying this will be a 2IFC because it doesnt have a neat architectural feature at the top, but the corners of this tower are rounded off and the sides appear to be convexed outward, with two recessed sections on the north and south sides of the tower running up the length of the building. not "just a box".
  22. cloud713
    im sure they are including the podium in that figure too, which looks to be quite large. if you count the floors on the tower, there are 50 floors ON TOP of the podium.
  23. cloud713
    ive heard a few rumors that this building will be bought by Chevron for a potential corporate headquarters relocation in the next 5 years, and either joined into Chevrons campus with a large podium-like structure on the parking lot between Exxon and Chevron, connecting the two, or torn down all together and Chevron builds another building. what do you guys think is the likely hood of this?
  24. cloud713
    What are the possibilities of the executives moving corporate headquarters to Houston in the near future? someone on another message board seems to be pretty sure it will happen within the next 5 years and those executives will be moving into the old Exxonmobil building, expanding Chevrons campus even further.
  25. cloud713
    yes it is, its the tallest/biggest building built in downtown in almost 30 years. with all this new development it would seem another boom time is here for Houston. the future is bright.. cant wait till 2017 to see the majority of the large projects complete. though who knows how many more projects will be announced between now and the superbowl that surely wont be able to be completed in time for the big show.
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