Lowbrow

I personally see a huge difference between even low end Armani and high end Armani clothing. You could pay $200 for a pair of pants that will last you a year or $700 for a pair that will last you for 10 years. I buy what I buy for the quality not for the label. If I could find something I like that will stay with me for the next decade then the price just doesnt matter as much to me. Now on the other hand there are many items and retailers out there that are aiming for the label crowd. Weeding though all of that is an artform.

My comment on the "Class" thing is that other cities have alot of "crass" mixed in with "class" aswell. I've always been impressed with Houston for its amount of philanthropy, which is what I think the true measure of ones upper class should be. If it were, Houston would be ranked number one, period.

I dont care for this statement. Glass can be used to create a "high-tech"-like look but "lots of glass" does not make it "high-tech"ish.

Is this the same place that I, perhaps mistakenly, called the River Walk Cafe?? Just south of the old sound waves? <EDIT: it appears that it is. glad to see it opening again.>

Hospital replacing beer warehouse Old Miller distributorship will be razed to make way for new medical complex Nancy Sarnoff Houston Business Journal A defunct beer distributorship is being bulldozed to make way for a new healing center. Houston-based Simpkins Group has struck a deal with an Oklahoma medical management firm and a group of local physicians to demolish the former Miller Beer facility on the West Loop and build a $50 million hospital and office complex in its place. This fall, the abandoned warehouse at 5410 West Loop South will be reduced to a pile of rubble, paving the way for construction of two new buildings on the high-profile site just south of the Galleria mall. The project will include a four-story ambulatory surgical hospital, estimated to span 115,000 square feet, and an adjacent building to house doctor's offices. The size of the office building has not yet been determined. Two parking garages will be constructed to accommodate the buildings. Simpkins will develop the medical complex and lease it to Foundation Surgery Affiliates, an Oklahoma City-based firm that manages ambulatory surgical hospitals. The local real estate firm won the contract to develop the facility in a bidding contest late last year, beating out a handful of other companies. Last spring, Simpkins purchased the deserted 74,000-square-foot beer warehouse, which sits on roughly five acres of land on the 610 Loop, just south of Highway 59. "It gets rid of an eyesore and puts a prestigious hospital in its place," says B. Douglas Simpkins Jr., the firm's chairman. The developer has been working on the project for many months, but just recently received approval from the city of Bellaire to build the complex. The land is located within that city's boundaries. Historically, the property has been zoned for office or industrial use only. Construction is expected to begin on the hospital in September. Houston-based Browne Penland McGregor Stephens Architects Inc., which specializes in health care facilities, is designing the medical complex. Vaughn Construction, also of Houston, will serve as the project's general contractor. Medical consortium In conjunction with the Oklahoma management group, the hospital will be jointly owned by a consortium of as yet-unnamed Houston physicians. The facility will specialize in orthopedics and neurosurgery, says Jerome Mee, vice president of operations for Foundation Surgery Affiliates. Although Mee would not discuss specific details of the hospital's ownership structure, he did say the Bellaire hospital will mirror one of Houston's more successful physician-owned facilities, the Texas Orthopedic Hospital. "We want to take that model and make it better," says Mee. Founded locally in 1995, the Texas Orthopedic Hospital is a specialty surgery, rehabilitation and sports medicine facility located in the Medical Center. The group's surgeons practice in 12 subspecialties. The hospital is jointly owned by HCA Healthcare and Fondren Orthopedic Group LLP of Nashville. Foundation Surgery Affiliates was established in the mid-1990s. The firm operates several medical facilities in Texas and on the East Coast, with three new hospitals in the development stages. Each project is a joint venture with a physician's consortium. Although physician-owned hospitals have been the subject of much debate over the past decade, they are still prevalent in the health care industry (see related story). "The concept is attractive to doctors," says Simpkins. "With managed care, it's an opportunity for them to participate in an income stream they haven't been able to participate in previously." nsarnoff@bizjournals.com

WOMEN

I think that is the new Women's Hospital thing... lemme look it up...

Oh... and the tubes are new and yours if you care to walk with them.

Yeah I took my girlfriend in there one night... it was one of the only clubs in the area with music that was neither bump'n'grind nor disco. Dropped quick cash. Had a bad experience with some fruity scented air and a Apple Martini.... Jolly Rancher Hell. Wont be doing it again.

Did you check the penalty box/holy vestibule??

They are calling that thing at the top a "Lantern" for whatever that is worth.

I agree with Subdude. I think the change in design is tragic. It has a ephemeral quality about it, like many of the structures in Las Vegas. Seeing the before and after, I would think that the budget got wacked. Mind you I don't hate it. Although the dome just looks silly to me, like a fez or something. I just would have much rather seen the previous design go up.

I like it fine. I think it fits in to TMC fairly well. ... but I mostly like that the render on that last pic put a little blue Subaru WRX in there.

Wow thanks for the links on St. Josephs. I find this picture astounding. Very nice pics there of the old Houston churches. I think I may have to grab a bus day pass and wander the city some to take some photos. As a side note, I'll be spending Christmas at Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

I'll have to look it up. I been meaning to get out there to see the mission trail. My current favorite Old Cambridge Baptist in Cambridge, Mass.: I'm a sucker for the gothic.

Call me the thread resurrector. I drive past this guy as often as possible. I have quite the collection of pictures taken of churches all over the world. A fascination of mine, and until seeing this church here in Houston, I thought my hobby would fall fallow. Any other gems thrown my way would be appreciated. I like the methodist church next to the MFA aswell. Oh and the little squat church on W. Alabama near Hazard, with the square turret.

I'd like to see a bio-dome like project. Maybe the Houstonian could buy it, put in some mountain bike trails, climbing walls, jungle scape...

Yeah, oddly enough Exxon's technology sector was trying to recruit me a few years ago and they kept refering to this campus and I just had no idea what they were talking about because I lived in the area (Buffalo Spdwy and Bissonnet) and had never seen a Exxon sign. How stealthy the evil empire is...

Sun Belt = southern tier of the United States, focused on Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, and extending as far north as Virginia. The term gained wide use in the 1970s, when the economic and political impact of the nation's overall shift in population to the south and west became conspicuous. Areas near the Mexican border have received millions of immigrants since the 1960s. Economic growth in many Sun Belt cities since World War II has stimulated interregional migration from the NE United States and the Rust Belt ; by 1990, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio were among the ten largest cities in the United States. During the 1990s the fastest growing cities in the United States were in the Sun Belt. The warm climate has attracted large retirement communities, especially in Florida and Arizona. In addition, the birth rate in the Sun Belt is about 10% greater than that in the rest of the country. Attracted by the relative lack of labor unions and the prospect of cheaper labor than was generally available in the north, manufacturers began to locate in the Southeast in significant numbers after World War II; aerospace firms and defense contractors were drawn to the vicinity of military bases in S California and throughout the Southwest. Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma benefited from the oil booms of the 1970s. In addition, the enormous tourist industries of the Sun Belt (especially Florida and S California) have brought the region considerable wealth. Although overall the expansion of the Sun Belt's economy in recent decades has been dramatic, the distribution of the region's prosperity has been uneven; of the 25 metropolitan areas with the lowest per capita income in 1990, 23 were in the Sun Belt. The rapid fall of oil prices in the 1980s hurt the economies of the energy-producing areas of the Sun Belt; Houston was especially hard hit. By the 1980s, the Los Angeles area, beset by problems ranging from air pollution to a growing population of unskilled immigrants, came increasingly to resemble some of the troubled metropolitan areas of the North. Politically, the rise of the Sun Belt has generally been viewed as advantageous to the Republican party, especially in presidential elections. Since 1970, the Sun Belt has gained more than 25 electoral votes, mostly at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest.

Sounds like a lot has changed. I miss it immensely. I lived on the green line between Boston College and Boston University. Copley was my stomping grounds. Paneng's was my favorite hang-out. A must everytime I return.

When 610 north was closed last weekend I rerouted down Buffalo Speedway and I think I was next to this building for about 30 minutes. but it did make me wonder what it was. From my vantage I never saw a sign. I think they did a good job of making the new structure follow the old structures lines. I was also late for my salsa class. grrr

Old girlfriend of mone used to live in the apartments across the street there.. smelled soo good. Now its administrative staff for MDA.

I was always partial to the Boston grocery idealogy. There are many specialty stores usually neighborhood specific and culturally specific and then the only real "Super Market" available was Star Market. The one I frequented was near Boston University and was about 7 rail stops from my flat. The building was multilevel with the shopping done upstairs with checkout and if you drove you would go get your car and us the downstairs drivethrough where your groceries would be waiting in bins having come down a conveyer belt and get loaded into your car by the attendent. You just hand him the cards you have that tell him which bins are yours. I usually just bought enough for 2 bags so I could use the T to get back home. But as far as just needing vegetables, bread or milk there was always some mom and pop around the corner with likely a better product.

Maybe Lakewood will buy it