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MarathonMan

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MarathonMan last won the day on January 27 2018

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  1. MarathonMan
    Looks like they’ve got a looooooooong way to go before the piling is complete.
  2. MarathonMan
    Interesting that the recently finished TCH tower across the street is missing from this rendering.
  3. MarathonMan
    I’ve seen it in person and I think it looks much nicer than the renderings. It’s consistent with the overall vibe of the campus. Yes, the faux arches/keystones may be confusing/disappointing in their lack of purpose, but as a whole I like it. What I don’t like is it’s setting. It’s surrounded by a parking lot on two sides (I’m sure the eventual landscaping will help). And the front face is suffocatingly close to the existing music school. There’s no opportunity to take in the front of the building from any distance. The building is not showcased optimally.
  4. MarathonMan
    I understand you’re perspective, @Luminare. I, too, respect the intention of the illustrator to dramatize the image for effect. I also respect someone else’s attempt to show it slightly differently. I don’t think @MidCenturyMoldy thought his version was somehow better than the original, as he used the term “fixed” in quotations. He just wanted to show what he thought was a less-dramatized version. I interpreted your response to his post as a bit condescending — specifically the comment that his method “isn’t even clever”. If I read your intention wrong, I apologize.
  5. MarathonMan
    What’s with all the shade being thrown in this site as of late? One image may align with architectural standard practices, while the other may seem more pleasing to the eye. MidCenturyMoldy was just trying to provide a different perspective . Is it really necessary to belittle him/her for it?
  6. MarathonMan
    These look like the previous design, yes? Not the current one — at least as far as the residential tower is concerned.
  7. MarathonMan
    This project started long after Pearl Marketplace in Midtown did, and it’s opening long before it’s counterpart. This developer ran circles around Pearl!
  8. MarathonMan
    I agree that we don’t have the right geography, historical pedigree, or cultural significance compared to other tourist-dominated destinations. However, I would assert that we could create something significant that would draw people to our city, but we don’t think big. I’ve always thought that Houston could do something really grand — something comparable to the Eiffel Tower in its time — that could define the city and make people see us. Architecture is a great way to build an identity. It just seems that nobody here wants to stick their neck out to be bold. I agree that Houston has great food, museums and arts, but those are hard to sell to outsiders all by themselves.
  9. MarathonMan
    The area is not lacking parking now. . . But it will be lacking parking not too far down the road, especially with the parking requirements placed on developers being lifted in Midtown.
  10. MarathonMan
    In my opinion, putting a parking garage between Fannin and San Jacinto (i.e. where it’s planned) makes the most sense. Those are the two major thoroughfares serving this area and provide the most efficient traffic flow into a parking structure. As for proximity to the transit center, I don’t think that it is important. The parking garage and the light rail transit center serve totally different segments of the population with different needs. The garage, in particular, will be to serve people driving in to work at the Ion, not for people using it as a park-and-ride facility to access downtown or the TMC by train. That said, if someone WOULD choose to use the garage as a park-and-ride, the site where they plan to construct it is only two blocks from the Red Line. Not very far at all.
  11. MarathonMan
    My impression from the Chron article is that they are putting up one building at a time. If true, the build-out would take just under a decade for four buildings. That seems like a long time for a development like Laneways, which hinges on the concept of a cohesive ground-level pedestrian experience. If you keep the area a construction zone for years and years, that concept suffers. It seems to me like it would be more advantageous to get the whole thing done as quickly as possible. . . assuming funding is available.
  12. MarathonMan
    I think the facade testing has been up for months, if my memory serves me correctly. This one is taking a loooong time to get going.
  13. MarathonMan
    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/business/tax-opportunity-zones.html Houston made the N.Y. Times with the Texas Tower project as part of the “Opportunity Zone” tax incentive program the Trump administration instigated. I wonder how many Trump or Kushner developments will benefit from this program?? EDIT: The Preston is part of the Opportunity Zone incentive, not Texas Tower.
  14. MarathonMan
    I thought the developer was going through with the project even though the variance request was denied. There would be design changes, but the project would move forward, yes?
  15. MarathonMan
    I apologize because we’re getting off topic here. But I will add in just this one comment on what is an important side topic. I have traveled to Japan — most recently in late ‘18 — and see a very different picture. I have been all over that city and beyond. All kinds of neighborhoods. Rich, poor, touristy and local. I don’t remember seeing ANY homeless people. The sidewalks are clean. Their streets are safe (so safe, in fact, that people park their bikes on the sidewalk and don’t lock them). I’m guessing that Japan has its share of poor, mentally ill people. What are they doing differently to help these people so that they don’t live in filth on the streets, turn to drugs and resort to petty theft for money? Maybe the answer to the homeless problem at home has already been answered. Maybe we just need to study and adopt best-practices from others. Just a thought.
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