Sunstar

6 minutes ago, Twinsanity02 said:

By my calculations approximately 3678 residential units are UC or have been finished in the last four years. With Block 98  and the Camden another 589 units will be built. This will leave approximately 865 units from the Fairfield, the Marquette  ( north of MMP) and the other Camden. This comes to a grand total of 5132. This includes both DLI and non-DLI influenced construction. 

Thanks for doing the math!

I guess the downtown living initiative is still in effect. I would have thought they reached the 5000 unit target by now. Has it been extended?

Is phase 1 the one right next to Root square or the other block?

Happy Saturday morning!!!

This will be the more daunting, yet exciting phase of the Buffalo Bayou master plan. It will likely involve the transition of numerous abandoned industrial sites into parks and new ecosystems/habitats. Hopefully they haven't wasted any time acquiring properties along the Bayous East end.

Still, this is probably a 20+ year endeavor.

My only issue with this project is creating a signature boulevard that in several places fronts a giant parking lot, unless there are plans to redevelop the strip centers into BLVD Place style developments. 

3 hours ago, Nate99 said:

Looks sharp, hope they put heavy curtains in the rooms.

 

MESS YOU UP!!!

I personally think the retail will come downtown, but like the residential boom it's going to take incentives to retailers to make it economically feasible.

Downtown is too under served in this regard for there not to be an uptick at some point, especially as new residential units come online.

On 5/13/2017 at 10:15 PM, bobruss said:

Thats what my source said that I quoted earlier in this thread. This is  a prime parking  location and  they'll make a fortune for very little expense

with a surface lot. They're going to sit on it for a few years unless something spectacular happens. Thats also from my source.

I expect nothing less than an 80 story building for this site.

I can't tell if that curvilinear sheath (for lack of a better word) makes up the outer wall of the building or is a separate ornamental structure. 

This is great news indeed, but how does this classify as retail? 

19 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

As much as I like 609 I think you're understating our skyline & giving it too much credit.

I love our skyline, and I think we have great examples of Architecture from previous decades. That being said, 609 is a definite shift in style and more representative of 21st century architecture. I would hold future designs up to this one, as opposed to the BoA building, for example, which is a great building that embodies an older sensibility. 

19 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

You can take the various partisan sources for what they are worth.  However, a google search on "Obama real wages" surfaces many articles across the spectrum of legitimacy.  In my view the "economy" isn't about the economy but rather about real wages for real people.  Since 2008, did they rise?  You can do your own research and sort through your own data and sift the partisan mud to reach your own conclusions.  Many would say that real wages fell under Obama and that led to Trump.  Many others would say that statement is untrue.  After research, you may agree or not, but I think that talk of real wages for " real" people is central to the discussion (not the economy broadly).  Voters vote with their pocketbook.  And I personally believe that they voted for Trump because their pocketbooks, in real dollars, are smaller after 8 years of Obama.  But, I am not smart enough to prove it.  I can only try to synthesis what I read (much of which is contradictory).

 

here is one place to start:

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-10/inconvenient-jobs-revisions-obama

 

 

Interesting article. I tend to ignore initial BLS statistics until the publish their revisions, which makes you wonder why they didn't wait until they had a better grasp of the data in the first place. On the other hand, I'm not sure how to take an article written by Tyler Durden

From now on 609 Main will be the new standard for all future tower proposals. I think it brought our skyline back to relevance. 

3 hours ago, Blue Dogs said:

If POTUS Trump is successful in boosting the US economic situation, bringing millions of jobs back to the United States & finally getting rid of illegal immigration once & for all: in the likelihood of Trump winning reelection in 2020, will he able to get double digits against whoever the Dems put up ?

 

A.) YES: he needs between 56 to 60% in reelection

 

B.) NO: the country is too divided

Can someone more knowledgeable explain to me why our economy was perceived to be in such bad shape at the end of the Obama administration compared to where it was when he started? I find this completely baffling, 

45 minutes ago, CREguy13 said:

I'll be very interested to see the crowds at Biggios once the regular season starts, I will be there often.

Agreed, I think Biggio's will become a pre-game tradition. 

John McClain had an article in the Chronicle in which he stated that if Houston wanted to host another Super Bowl, we needed to make upgrades to NRG. Surprisingly, the stadium is already 16 years old and a bunch of new stadiums have been built or are being built throughout the US since. He proposed using money slated for the Astrodome for refurbishing for this instead, although he didn't specify what upgrades were needed at this point. 

3 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Webcam: https://app.oxblue.com/open/mccarthy/HISD

 

Let me just bookmark that...

6 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

Posting this in this thread since the Convention Center thread has gotten a little acrimonious (which I may have contributed to...?).  Made the drive in from Austin on Saturday morning with my old man, who I walked downtown with on the same day in 2004. We figured out a way to get in and out of downtown with zero traffic: the trusty Elysian Viaduct. Got on Hardy Street at the North Loop and headed south. The neighborhoods we passed through had either deteriorated since last time or my eyes have changed; I could not believe the dilapidation of the houses, and the omnipresent chain-link fences around the front yards. A few pockets of gentrifying townhomes amid a sea of disrepair. Was starting to wonder if I see Houston through rose-colored glasses, and then we were on the viaduct, looking down on Hardy Yards and St. Arnold's on either side, and the skyline rising up before us out of a misty gray sky. Wow. I have combed through the photos on here, but nothing could prepare me for the impact of all the new buildings. Particularly the new neighborhood that has emerged around Minute Maid Park, with its bricky feel, anchored by Finger's apartments. The whole panorama from Minute Maid Park to Market Square Tower a feast for the eyes. If someone ever builds an observation tower for Houston, please put it on the north end in the warehouse district. The thought of Boston crossed my mind. When we got out of the car at Congress and LaBranch, I was in a daze, almost hopping past the five blocks or so to Discovery Green. What a city we have, my friends. 

So had you not been downtown since 2004?

I can't wait to see the scaled back, accountant version of this project!

Wow, the fountains are actually working again and look better than ever!

3 hours ago, gene said:

as much as i LOVED everything about GRB...there was one slight disappointment...

I am just not much of a fan of the Bird and Cloud sculpture...I want to be and wish i was...i'm just not...it's not ugly and i don't hate it...I just don't understand it haha...even in person it looks like a giant mess of mesh...i LOVE art and THINK i have pretty good taste and this just doesn't inspire me or make me think wow that's amazing or even interesting... it just made me think wow they really were desperate to fill up such a big empty space that needed something...

and for a million dollars you would think i wouldn't feel that way...but maybe that is just me.. 

Sorry, I might be having a senior moment here, but what is the Bird and Cloud sculpture? Are you talking about the Wings over Water fountain, or something else?

So was this part of the developers plan, or just the City saying "er, the Super Bowl is coming, can you make that less ugly?"

The sad part about this is that this was the only remaining Clayton building in Houston, at least that I'm aware of. The good news is you don't have to travel far to see some of his best works in Galveston, or Dallas or Austin (grrrr). 

I feel differently about this demolition than I did the Lancaster demolitions. This building was built for and has always belonged to Incarnate Word, so it's ultimately up to them. Their number 1 mission is to provide a high school education to girls and they require the necessary facilities to do so. 

In the case of the Lancaster, they bought the two historic buildings much later on, most likely with the initial intention of expansion or additional parking. They also have made a name for themselves as historic preservationists,  which seems pretty hollow in the wake of demolishing the two neighboring century old buildings.