Subdude

They were in this building until 1962, when they moved to Capital St. That location was closed in 1974.

I couldn't find my source for this, but I believe this building was acquired by the Medical Center and then used for offices. 

Cool photo, but also depressing.

The bar there was fun. We always referred to it as just "Cocktail Lounge", since there was a neon Cocktail Lounge sign over the street entrance. The crowd was a mix of guests and neighborhood people who were clued into the place. The jukebox seemed to have not been updated since 1967. It had a mix of vintage C&W and 1967-ish pop songs - think Hank Williams with Nancy Sinatra's "Sugar Town". 

1 hour ago, mattyt36 said:

Great question--here's another one--what was the name of the street that was there to begin with?

In this map from 1950, the US 75 alignment was essentially the same around downtown and it was even then called the "North Freeway."  Interestingly, Memorial was called the "Memorial Freeway," even though Allen Parkway was called the "Buffalo Expressway" (was called Buffalo Drive at one point).  Wonder what the distinction was.  Not to mention the confusion with Buffalo Speedway, which also existed at the time.

Houston Street Map 1950 - Maps - Houston Public Library Digital Archives (oclc.org)

In this from 1890, looks like Bagby in Midtown was Burnett and Heiner was Stanley, with the area where 45 being large lots without streets.

 

Many moons ago, I recall, not widening the freeway was one of the criteria that you said would lead to your supporting the project.  Quelle surprise.

Cool find. And it has Lamar as Lomax.

"Uptown" then was along South Main. My guess is that this was planned to be in the Shamrock / Prudential Building area. 

5 hours ago, bookey23 said:

Does this mean that someone's actually trying to redevelop this building? I was under the impression that it was still standing because it's filled to the brim with asbestos. Is this not the case?

I think it is just listed for sale.

Another article. They are starting with Mellie.

https://therealdeal.com/texas/2022/08/26/ornate-downtown-houston-high-rise-set-for-resi-makeover/

On 7/6/2016 at 3:01 PM, marmer said:

It was Grandy's.  Ate there many times.  Good chicken and rolls.

Known for their biscuits.

Most of the Chinese restaurants were east of downtown. I vaguely remember a two-story center with a large Chinese restaurant downstairs.

On 6/17/2022 at 3:24 PM, saabarch said:

great picture!  supposedly makes the "F" in First City.  I recall a window washing platform incident here years ago.  Wind it was, I think.

I never knew that. This is the older First City logo.

I wonder if the neighbors will complain again. It does seem out of scale for the neighborhood. 

On 2/20/2022 at 1:56 AM, Big E said:

TxDOT are well aware of this, as is everyone else involved in the project. Sunken freeways in Houston are designed to flood, on purpose. They are basic extra reservoirs that can be used to hold excess amounts of water during large rain events. They build them like that for that very reason.

Thanks for this. People don't seem to realize that flooding is a feature, not a bug. As was pointed out upthread, flooding in a freeway is water that isn't in someone's house. 

I'm thrilled to see this progress, but astounded that it will take until the end of 2027.

I think that Samsung is basically asking for not just a tax break, but to have all local taxes rescinded. 

Looks like very preliminary renderings.

On 8/9/2021 at 2:05 PM, hindesky said:

The Block construction company has moved this to "Under Construction" on their web site.

Please tell me this is just a nightmare.  Seriously, this is a fright. 

Is that Bank of America with the blue lighting on top?

20 hours ago, EllenOlenska said:

I'm not sure if I just like the black painted international style buildings (which I do) or because the first few renderings of the garage were so so ominous, but I'm okay with the building. 

So am I really. The design references the international style buildings on the University of St Thomas campus.

Rather prosaic, I'd say. 

On 7/15/2021 at 2:04 PM, Urbannizer said:

8 floors

What on earth are "curated" condos? What does that even mean? And how can it be "iconic" before it is even built? 

More than the usual amount of marketing blather here. Surprised it's not "artisanal". 

On 7/25/2021 at 6:54 PM, cowboybud said:

There were also radio studios in the building, the old KAUM/97 Rock had studios there.

I went there with a friend once who wanted to meet Moby!

At the end of the day I just don't think the Dome would ever be successful for "mixed use". I'm not aware of any stadium that has been successfully retrofitted that way. I would leave the frame and let it serve as a picnic or park area.

#15 on University Blvd was in business until the very end of Weingartens.

10 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

I'm still fond of Postmodernism (which means I'm either way behind or way ahead of the times). 

I suspect Postmodernism is stuck in that uncomfortable place - too old to be stylish, yet too new to seem quaint and charming. Probably in a few years it will begin to start to be appreciated more.