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MyEvilTwin

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  1. MyEvilTwin
    This rendering makes me think of Denny Crane & Allen Shore smoking a couple of cigars & drinking scotch at the end of a Boston Legal episode. Cracks me up!! It's a beautiful building.
  2. MyEvilTwin
    If the beacon really was a problem for another tower going up, couldn't they just put something up that blocks the light as it moves in the direction of the other tower? After all, isn't that what they do with lighthouses as the light turns towards land?
  3. MyEvilTwin
    As a glass-half-full kind of guy, here's the way I look at the various criticisms we've seen of HP in this thread: 1. Yes, the architecture is a little bland. 2. And yes, a little patience might have led to a bigger & better use of these 3 blocks decades in the future. But at least point #1 suggests that the preservationists shouldn't have much objection to the wrecking ball when somebody decides to replace HP with something taller & prettier in the Houston of Tomorrow.
  4. MyEvilTwin
    These new renderings are nice. Earlier on I think someone (Trae?) mentioned that it would have been better had they designed the building to follow the curve of McKinney Street. At the time I agreed -- but now that I see these renderings I'm kind of liking the fact that by setting it back from the street they essentially extended the park a little further. Between that, the wind turbines, the LEED certification, and the ivy-covered parking garage, they do seem to be making a pretty comprehensive effort to tie the building into its Disco Green surroundings.
  5. MyEvilTwin
    I don't understand the hysteria over this. Do any of us really think Randall Davis is going to just leave this ugly blank wall on this tower, contrary to the renderings and, more importantly, while he's trying to market an even more upscale condo tower across the street? Come on. The final product may not be up to the standards of some of us (I'm not that big a fan of the Cosmo myself), but he's not going to do something that boneheaded. Cut him some slack until the building is finished and the ivy starts growing (or whatever the final product is)...
  6. MyEvilTwin
    I agree too. And I wouldn't be surprised if the HLSR and the Texans agree (privately) as well. Nonetheless, if they've got non-compete protection in their contracts with the county, then they probably see this as an opportunity to coax the county into sweetening their deal just a little bit. I'm not that worried about the oppostion from the HLSR & the Texans. If this hotel deal turns out to be viable in the county's eyes (who knows whether that's true?), I believe all the parties will come to some agreement. This just sounds like rich people with lawyers wanting to get what they think is theirs. In the end, they're rational businesspeople.
  7. MyEvilTwin
    Yours and Kinkaidalum's comments aren't mutually exclusive. In protecting their rights, they could still be doing themselves a disservice, PR-wise. People around here love their Texans and the Rodeo, but like it or not some love the Dome even more. Woe be unto he who brings the wrecking ball to Judge Hofheinz's baby.
  8. MyEvilTwin
    I'm not thrilled about this garage at all... They've reached the top in construction already, though only on one side of it. Driving in from Allen Parkway, it looks like it will hide a majority of the Doubletree from the skyline view when completed. I hope it looks ok when it'd done, but I'm not that optimistic. The Doubletree guest rooms are definitely losing their views.
  9. MyEvilTwin
    The pipes were definitely on the High Street site. I can't say one way or the other about the Highland Tower site -- I was on Westheimer, and Highland Tower is set back quite a bit from Westheimer... no?
  10. MyEvilTwin
    Drove by on Sunday and it looked like they had lots of pipes sticking up from the ground -- must be about ready for some foundation work?
  11. MyEvilTwin
    Not much of a baseball fan I guess.
  12. MyEvilTwin
    I was at a conference at the Hilton Americas today, and an attendee from Dallas made the comment that Houston is "so much greener than Dallas." Now, Houston's always been greener than Dallas, but I had to wonder if that same comment would have been made had the conference been overlooking a sea of surface parking lots instead of Disco Green.
  13. MyEvilTwin
    The front page of the Chronicle had a picture of parents actually helping their kids climb on Margo Sawyer's colorful garage entrances. Made it seem like that's what was expected. Is it? I'm guessing not -- and that makes me wonder how long it will be before they have to do somethig to prevent it that makes the art less attractive. Maybe they can try something subtle like gluing shards of broken glass atop the blocks... Seriously -- unless I'm wrong and those were intended to be climbing walls -- I think it's pretty irresponsible of the Chronicle to publish that picture, at least not without mentioning they're not supposed to do that.
  14. MyEvilTwin
    There's a huge green space at the south end of the Light Rail line that would be a great spot for a park! Maybe even an amusement pa...... oh, damn.
  15. MyEvilTwin
    Having watched the Edge's construction daily from my office window... I can say that it's just wood-frame construction on the 4 residential floors, atop a concrete parking structure. It may have better soundproofing than Rise, but somehow I'd have to be a little more confident in Rise's... well, hi-rise construction. I know nothing about that though -- am I wrong? I'd also add that during construction the Edge went for literally months during the rainiest period of the year with no glass on the big corner rounded windows. Is that really ok? I guess the wood is treated (and heck, trees like rain, no?), but I just felt like that wood frame & floorboards had to be saturated for months. This was last spring/summer, when Houston's rain totals were sky-high. Seemed like they must have had trouble getting those windows ready to go, because the windowless frame stood for a really long time.
  16. MyEvilTwin
    So... does this pretty much make Jones Plaza obsolete? I haven't been there for a while (not since Party on the Plaza maybe 5 yrs ago) but I'm assuming most outdoor, small-ish downtown concerts will now be at Disco Green?
  17. MyEvilTwin
    To be a little more clear, I think that "lake" is just for model boats. (it's referred to as the "model boat basin" on the DiscoGreen Map) Paddling around in a life-sized boat in a lake that size could get old pretty quick.
  18. MyEvilTwin
    Actually I think this might be what you're looking for: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...;hl=round+round. The aloft thread that you linked is about an officially announced development of a hotel set to open in March 2009 at 5433 Westheimer. The W thread is a bit more speculative, suggesting there might be a W hotel coming to the same area, presumably the River Oaks District (4444 Westheimer, where Westcreek Apts. is now). It ultimately spawned this thread (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...r+oaks+district.), with updated renderings, etc. W is a Starwood Hotel brand, and aloft is a newer Starwood brand that they refer to as "A Vision of W Hotels." Why it's affiliated that way with W and not with Sheraton or Westin or the other Starwood brands I can't say, but I think W and aloft are both supposed to be the trendier side of Starwood so maybe they're paired up for that reason. I believe W is generally quite a bit more upscale than aloft, though. (I'm sure I'm butchering their brand positioning -- Starwood, please forgive me!)
  19. MyEvilTwin
    Well the Crowne Plaza was recently imploded to make room for an expansion of Texas Children's Hospital. That leaves 3 possibilities: 1) The Crowne Plaza was not within the TMC campus, nor will the TCH expansion be. 2) The Crowne Plaza was not within the TMC campus, but the campus will be expanded to house the TMC. 3) The Crowne Plaza was within the TMC campus. I'm not saying anything one way or the other -- I have no idea. Anyone? The building clearly is one of several hotels within the shaded area of the TMC map (here) but that might just be imprecise mapping.
  20. MyEvilTwin
    Anybody ever notice they're building this with a future "phase 2" in mind? Here's a link to a rendering with both phases complete: http://www.collaborativeresearchcenter.org..._Overall_NE.jpg I can't find any info on timelines or other plans for phase 2. It looks about 2 stories shorter than phase 1.
  21. MyEvilTwin
    Just to play devil's advocate... don't you kind of have to wonder whether buildings like the Rice Hotel would have been renovated had it been surrounded by abandoned, decrepit old buildings? Sure, surface lots don't make the best neighbors either, but there's no question about what might be lurking inside (misconceived though that impression might be). Certainly Houston's architectural history includes many tragic losses... but it's complicated!
  22. MyEvilTwin
    On that side of downtown I'm as much interested in buildings going down as up -- namely that rotting old Days Inn building. That's one block where a surface lot would be an improvement! (Though of course a renovation would be better)
  23. MyEvilTwin
    Of course it will be expensive to get those things up there. But it would also be expensive to put a crown, neon lighting, or any other window dressing on top of a building that would otherwise be an indistinctive box. I generally think that, as building trinkets go, this idea is more marketable than most -- so depending on how much more it costs vs. the other options, and what the present value of the future energy savings is, it just might a pretty good idea. If this is the first of its kind (and I have no idea if it is), I bet there are some other green-minded developers out there who are just a little jealous that they didn't think of it first.
  24. MyEvilTwin
    My God, did you really just say that? Wow, that's just... wrong.
  25. MyEvilTwin
    What makes you think this building isn't already designed with a mirrored facade? The renderings we've been seeing are dusk/night shots, when the lights are on inside. Dark outside, light inside makes the glass transparent, mirrored finish or not. No?
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