HoustonIsHome

And that is exactly what we need more of in the city's core of Downtown is to keep improving. I know this is an architecture forum but most conversations delve into urban design/ planning and functionality. Pretty buildings check the architectural aspects but function pleases me more. Yeah we wet or undies fantasizing about supertalls, Mandarin Orientals, Ritz... But to me a beautiful building that adds to the residential population excites me way more. Workers love suburban campuses because there is more parking, the homes near by are newer and usually more affordable. There is usually talk about less traffic... If we want all these vacant lots and decaying buildings to be made into better use we need to change that line of reasoning. But if all the housing is higher priced units like the bulk of new developments popping up around downtown in all directions then what is there for the everyday man? The corporations are who benefits the most from suburban campuses. The land is far cheaper, building low- mid rises are more feasible on the larger plots and lower buildings are cheaper to build. Plus the cheaper land allows for abundant surface parking which is loads cheaper than garages. So these corporations boost the benefits of the suburban campuses. A renewal of urban housing stock however increases the critical mass required to attract more grocery options, bars, restaurants, retail... Business cannot thrive on just the upper earners and occasional visitor to downtown. You can clearly see the difference between before and after 5pm downtown. We won't be getting the Exxons and other part companies back in downtown but the smaller relocations can breathe new life in downtown. But it starts with bringing the people closer to these jobs. I miss my easy commute to downtown. Working on the westside is killing my soul. Yes it's newer, lots of parking etc. But the traffic is horrible, the culture is lacking and the outdoor activities are near zero. To me, the more people who can walk, bike or take a quick bus ride to work means less cars on the street during rush hour= less time looking at the rear of the car in front of me while such in traffic. So while the flashy ROD developments or the fancy hotels may wet other posters undies, I for one would rather a pleasant looking building like this one that makes it easier to attract the fancy developments. Sometimes we luck out and manage to make the cart before the horse work but we can get there easier if we put the horse first.

With ~ 100 degree temps day after day recently I would be be dancing on the ceiling right now if an 80 foot building cast a shadow over my property. FYI there are many many plants (including natives) that grow very well in full shade. Heck a lot of the vegetation in my yard are not doing well due to the lack of shade and infrequent rain

I thought the same. I thought it looked unfinished. I was expecting to see it extend all the way down the next couple of days

I saw lights on in the central units tonight. Are tenants moving in already?

I have come to the realization that supertal office buildings in low population density areas greatly hinders the urban growth of the area in several ways. That thing would require buckets of parking. Rush hour entry and exodus from said parking will choke the area. Unless we are in a huge boom the market for new buildings will be choked. I would much rather downtown gets filled with 10 to 40 storey buildings first and then an upgrade to mass transit and when that becomes super popular then maybe we can start knocking down those garages to build supertalls. Give me a Texas Tower plus a Preston over a Chase monolith anyday

Then they wonder why some projects fail. In my dream world this would be best Main Street square. Maybe across from forever 21 on that corner of Dallas and Main (Food store). Near Root square would be good too. Extend the activity further south. For someone who spent tons of freetime in and around the galleria, I unfortunately don't get excited about new things there anymore. The vehicular congestion on Westheimer and post oak blunts the excitement for me. I don't want to drive there and don't want to take a bus there. Walking across the street there is out of the question. Easy highway access? Ha!!

I went to the galleria the offer day and it is thriving. The outside looks like crap; nothing new there. It has looked like that for decades, but it was just as packed as always. Not all malls are going the way of the DoDo bird. Was at the Town Center in Pearland and Baybrook too and both seemed to be packed

How I see it is safe keeps the lights on. Houston got to how it is over 200 years; it is not going to be how many of us want it to be over 20 years. Give it time. If this phase takes off we can definitely go further. Sometimes we have to think big and other times we have to think smart. A development like Greenstreet did neither. In these times a downtown doesn't mean the same as it did when cities were cities. We have a constant population density 20+ miles in every direction from this thing. A fraction of the population will ever do more than drive past it on the highway. Yes more people are moving to downtown and around it, but we don't have that active core that we all dream about. We need more of a collaboration of developers and encouragement from the city to tie it all together. Hoping that one developer gets out and the others follow is a risk that is kind of unfair to expect one developer to carry. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Let's hope that that Australian is super successful.

How do the blocks downtown compare in size to other cities? I kinda like rectangular blocks over square ones. Imo our blocks are not long enough but a bit too wide. The way they are now make for a very neat and regular core. But I'm a fan of irregular and chaos. That's my favorite thing about a set up like say Boston. Are the blocks downtown smaller than uptown Nola? I think the narrower streets there change the whole feel. In Houston with the order you know exactly what to expect when you turn the corner. I guess you are right, the super blocks in midtown at least mixes things up a bit, but downtown is a bit too orderly for me. You can move a lot more people in and out quicker, but maybe those people should be staying around for awhile.

Downtown's buildings are huge in termd of floor plates. I wonder how downtown would feel with multiple towers per blocks with alleys in between and narrower streets

I agree Triton. I pulled up my lawn and planted a forest around my house. Sunday I found a praying mantis and a walking-stick bug in my bathroom. Creepy, but that's a small price to pay for enjoying my food forest. Luminare great photos. I wish they would do that with the old Exxon/ Humble Oil building downtown

I don't think there is enough there there to justify a pedestrian promenade just yet. Maybe it can serve double duty where at a certain time the street converts to a pedestrian promenade. Kinda like how certain streets ( Bourbon, Royal) in NOLA are converted after 5

I am still holding out hope for a light rail line. I take the bus on Bellaire a couple times a year and the quickline to me doesn't make that much of a difference and I only usually see one or two other people on there. Granted I don't think I have ever gotten on during rush hour so I might be underestimating it. Any idea where the stops will be? There used to be a Westheimer bus that got unto 59 and got off at Greenway and went down Richmond. That was a little bit quicker than the Richmond bus regularly but during rush hour there wasn't much of a difference. The volume of traffic on our east - west streets and on 59 warrants something more. I don't want to focus on public transportation in this thread, but this development just adds to the wealth of amenities and the number of people that will be traversing Richmond/wheeler so I'm hoping that light rail on this corridor is revisited

In relation to the article, I think she is looking at it in terms of the past and present and not what The project can do for the area in the future. Yes there is only a Jack in the Box note but what options would the district bring in the future? Yes there is loads of stuff right now in uptown but pound for pound how much effect would this have in uptown compared to the effect on this area? In Houston terms uptown is getting kinda overbuilt. This area is a prime location in no man's land. Uptown right now could probably supply all the food needs of the entire district without having to solicit new options. Building in this area would definitely attract new options. The way I see it markets attract markets; jobs attract jobs; services attract services. Another thing, when I was at UH I participated in programs that were a collaboration with Rice and Baylor. This thing is close to all three. In fact it is close to all major colleges except Houston Baptist. Uptown isn't as well located in relation to the universities. In terms of location I think this is the best in the state. The only two locations that come close are Southeastern downtown and east downtown. Midtown is on its way up while uptown is already up. I just down see opportunities in uptown with as much land in an area that convenient. There are sure to be more ROD type developments in Uptown, but shopping districts are self sustaining. This project will be deeply integrated with the schools, TMC and Downtown. One final thought. Houston has never been one to cluster all dense developments in one area. Houston builds in an area and then the market reacts. We build in pockets and over time the pockets connect. Rice knows what they are doing. They do not need to overpay for amenities when the amenities are converging in that direction already. This project will only speed the merging treck of Downtown and TMC to each other. That's not even considering UH's new medical center development on Wheeler.

I am kinda disappointed that the new building looks like it's going to be strikingly different from the original, however I do like that rendering and I'm very happy that this was at least an upgrade rather than a complete tear down. It has me wondering what the completely new buildings will look like. If the bottoms of all the buildings are similarly matched then this is going to be an excellent area for pedestrian activity. Bring on the blue line.