fernz

ok. i will. But any grocery store seems odd for the tenant mix...i think it takes away more than ads to that location ? not sexy...

Do you think Central Market is sexy enough for Highland Village?

Does anybody have any recent pictures, or can update us on the progress of this building?

I love St Martins, its what the Co-Cathedral should aspire to be.

Good grief!

On the other hand, I think that the "urban" concept of this Books-A-Million will be the first of its kind for that company. So maybe they'll include music and movies.

I hate to disapoint you, but they have stores in urban locations such as upont Circle in DC, and they do not sell CDs. Joe Muggs does have good coffee though.

okay, this is really the only thing I know, I tried to pry information out of him but I couldn't get much out of him.

The new Tower is going have at LEAST 30+ floors.

The first two floors are going to be an "urban concept."

They are debating on the top, but they are leaning towards a "crown" of some sort and there are 3 different options they're looking at.

IF it's built, it's going to be hooked into the tunnel system.

IF it is built, it will be built in that small piece of green space that was circled by "UrbaNerd."

IF things go well, construction should be built and completed within 5 years. It is therefore possible that this could get rolling in a couple of years.

I wasn't able to look at the drawings again, but it looked to me like something with an interesting facade that looked like a combo of concrete and glass, but I couldn't tell in my 5 second glance.

From what I can tell, he looked like he was in a good mood afterwards.

ricco, did you get a chance to see who the architect is?

I took this one earlier this week... it appears they're mostly done externally-speaking.

It looks great! Thank you Highway6!

If anyone has more pics, please share...

Just a hunch!, but let's wait and see....... It was 1958 when Bishop Nold changed the name of the diocese from Galveston to Galveston-Houston and moved the chancery office to Houston. Fifty years would be 2008, just right for a another name change to go along with the openning of a new cathedral. The diocese has already merged St. Mary's Cathedral (Galveston) and Sacred Heart church (Galveston) into one parish. St. Mary's is basicly a tourist attraction. They are also trying to sell the bishop's palace to the city of Galveston. Bishop Forenze also tryed closing O'Connell High School last year, but he ultimately allowed a group of supporters a chance to keep it open even though it is losing money and enrollment. It is still a catholic school but no longer affiliated with the diocese.

I may be wrong.....but previous actions by the diocese toward Galveston show otherwise.

I guess it could always happen. It sure sounds more official, the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart makes it sound like it's not quite a Cathedral....just a "Co-Cathedral".

Anyway, can anyone take a picture of the construction for those of us not living in Houston? The Archdiocese web site seems to be updated very infrequently these days.

Thanks!

OH MY GOD! I really think this is the tenants for Houston Pavilions, at lease I hope it is. I've checked Denver Pavilions web site. They don't have a 20-30 screen theater, it's only 15 screens. I'm guessing they decided to built a Multi-Use Cinema Complex to make up for the residental. So, pretty much this is a dream come true for downtown Houston!

KEY TENANTS...

HOUSE OF BLUES

UNITED ARTIST 20-30 SCREENS (THEY HEARD MY PRAYERS)

LUCKY STRIKE

COYOTE UGLY

HARD ROCK CAFE

YAO'S

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY

CORNER BAKERY

MCCORMICK & SCHMICKS

LAWRY'S PRIME RIB

VIRGIN MEGA STORE

BARNES AND NOBLE

BANNANA REPUBLIC

GAP/BABY GAP

ANN TAYLOR

EXPRESS

VICTORIA'S SECRET

NIKETOWN

FOREVER 21

BRIGHTON COLLECTABLES

BCBG

Yeah, right! The only reason this group is hard to please is b/c everyone believes anonymous posts that don't disclose their source. No one bothered to challenge the athenticity of this list...

Books a million is a good tenant, but really HP is not much better than what you get between Bayou Place and the Houston Center...

This will not be a co-cathedral. Look for Galveston's St. Mary's Cathedral to be de-certified when this building is completed and this new Sacred Heart (If that's what it's finally named) to be the only cathedral for the diocese. Look also for a name change in the diocese, with "Galveston" being scrubbed from the title.

Where did you get this info???

So what. Is this project dead? I thought construction was supposed to in the near future. Has anyone heard any promising news?

Randall Davis has such a succesful track record that he has a hoard of investors following him anywhere he goes - of course when I say succesful I'm talking about the investor point of view, and NOT the architectural point of view!!!

That rendering from the ZCA postcard shown above is over two years old. In the meantime, he must have done his due dilligence, refined his market study, talked to his investors and his lenders, redesigned the building to look like the newer rendering (based on the market response) and finally launched his website and presales effort, which is probably a requiremnt from the lenders.

As ugly as most of his buildings are (yes, that is my opinion) at least he knows what he's doing. I would say that if he's gotten this far in the course of two years it means the project is definetly not dead.

Am I the only one who finds the renderings above of HOB kinda underwhelming? I'm curious as to the cladding material shown as gray rectangles. It is supposed to be stone, or *gasp* vinyl siding from Sears (or some other type of similar material). They are obviously going for the industrial loft style with the exposed girders and what I suppose is cement.

Most likely metal panels. Either painted aluminum or, if they get fancy, zinc.

...simbolically, he wanted the Cathedral to stand in the middle of the secular center of the city as a reminder of the importance of the religious life coexisting with the secular world.

Here is the exact quote:

"This glorious cathedral will stand as a powerful symbol of the transcendence of God, and as an affirmation of the existence and importance of faith in a secular and disbelieving world. The Cathedral will serve as a soul and conscience of the city, reminding us of the importance of the spiritual amind the bustle of the commercial and corporate worlds - of the fact that God exists and faith matters."

I'm not digging the stained glass art work. Should be more traditional, like a rose window.

The building has three rose windows. One each at the North, East and West facades.

You know- i guess i never really thought of that. i am glad the catholic community had some say in it. i am also glad it got the official nod from the Pope. time will tell, yes.

Here is my biggest concern. We all are aware of the plans the Houston 2025 Vision Team has for DT in the next few years. My concern is that this cathedral will get lost- not stand as a beacon.

m.

I know what you mean, and I sure do hope that the vision becomes reality.

However the Diocese, and especially Bishop Fiorenza never wanted the building to stand out as a beacon (although I bet the architects would've loved that). His primary goal was to build a Cathedral of the apropriate size to hold the major events held there, and simbolically, he wanted the Cathedral to stand in the middle of the secular center of the city as a reminder of the importance of the religious life coexisting with the secular world. He specifically didn't want to Cathedral to be a grand, ostentatious building. A perfect example is that he specifically asked the architects not to do a tall dome, and most importantly, not to do a gold leafed dome. When Mr. Ziegler suggested to do a gold color painted dome (assuming the issue was cost), the Bishop said he didn't want to even give the illusion of a gold dome.

Yes, a Meier designed cathedral (or pick your favorite star architect) would've been a wonderful addition to Downtown, but that is not what the Bishop had in mind.

21st Century churches are a joke! I like my churches 14th century.

I can probably bet a substantial amount of money on the fact that decades or generations from now- this particular structure will not be showcased as a trendsetting movement.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and, obviously, opinions will vary. In this forum alone, some people have complained that the building is too modern and some have compalined that it is not modern enough. Without adding to the varying opinions, I will quote a studio teacher from school, who very likely got this from Philip Johnson: "Great architecture comes from great architects working with great clients." I will not get into the debate of whether this design constitutes great architecture, that debate should happen five or ten years from now, but I will say that the client's wishes and opinions should not be ignored, nor should be those of the community. And to that, I will add this picture, which shows a couple of satisfied clients, and will remind every one that during the design phase the architects and the Diocese were very involved with the Houston catholic community and with the Downtown community.

I don't know how to post a picture, look at the second image at this site: http://www.zieglercooper.com/cathedral_building.htm

The word "basilica" is used to describe the style of architecture that's been used in building churches since ancient times. It refers to form, instead of function. Whereas, the term "cathedral" refers to function instead of form"

You are only talking about the architectural meaning of the word basilica. In the cannonical sense, the designation of a basilica has nothing to do with the form of the building, but with its artistic and historical significance, as well as the importance it plays in the liturgical and pastoral ministry of the diocese.

Basilica is a title assigned by formal concession or immemorial custom to certain more important churches, in virtue of which they enjoy privileges of an honorific character.

To answer your question, yes. Of course.

I never said that there weren't costs to having no zoning. But the net benefits are greater, IMO, without it than with it.

Urban economists have gone down this road before, there are several studies trying to answer the question "What would a city without zoning look like?". Of course most of these studies point to Houston as an example, and the answer in most cases goes along the line of "market forces will shape the development of a zone-free city and the end result is a city with no zoning would not be very different from a city with zoning."

The reason housing is booming in the suburbs and not in the city center is indeed market forces. Land prices in the suburbs allow for far cheaper housing. Even when you add the cost of commuting, most people (as evidenced by market sales) would rather live in the suburbs at suburb prices. It's not even a question of detached housing versus condos, look at the success of condo projects in places like the Woodlands, Sugarland, Clear lake and West Houston.

That said, public policy can and will influence the market. If the county and state hadn't spent so much money in raods and infrastructure in the suburbs, development costs would be greater than they are and the gap in cost of housing between the city and the suburbs would shrink. The seemingly endless land supply in the exurbs and the continuous investment in road expansion is one of the reasons housing in Houston is far below the national average.

The L.A. Cathedral is a great example of modern religious architecture. I know of course a lot of people prefer the old-style and decry the death of classic church design, but that is not new and thankfully has never stopped architects from trying different things:

to me it looks very cold and institutional - very 2000's

I agree, it looks very 2000's. Is that a bad thing for a church being built in .... 2006? I still can't understand Houston's obsession (and most of the US for that matter) of wanting churches to be built in some sort of neo-whatever style. If anything, this Cathedral is not modern enough! What would the gothic cathedrals be like if they had been built to mimic previous styles?

For the latest pictures, visit the Archdiocese website:

http://www.archgh.org/cocathedral/photos-other.htm

Fernz, welcome to the system and excellent post.

Do you have a hand in any part of this project?

Thanks ricco67. I am not involved in the project, but I do know some people who used to be and they kept me informed of the progress.

I did notice that they will not be installing any windows near the ground... I think this is more to deter vandals than to provide clerestory lighting.

That is not accurate. There are several strip windows going all the way to the ground, separating all the curved chapels from the main walls. Clerestory lighting was in fact a design element. Some lower windows were removed beacause there were concerns they would be too distrcting from the interior.

I don't like the dome on it. You can tell they designed it using CAD because its too perfect. Looks good in line drawings but from the street perspective its to shallow. Reminds me of Moe's hair cut from the 3 stooges.

If you visit the architect's office you will see several models that were used for the design, some of them for the dome only. It is my understanding that it was the Bishop's desire to have a shallow dome, because of a particular church that he likes in Italy that has that type of dome.