The Great Hizzy!

Swell list, Wayne. Good work.

just to clarify, the hotel will be on top of 2 to 3 levels of retail. barbouti is actually negotiating with a fitness center to be one of the levels; which personally, i dont get.

however, barbouti has a vision of what he wants HV to eventually evolve into. hes got a ton of money and will develop it the way he wants (subject to lender approval of the carve outs).

to the mods, sorry for the derail.

Fascinating. I'm going to start a chart outlining all the inside info you've given us. This sounds pretty exciting. Of course, we won't be able to gauge the full impact of such a project until we see designs and stuff.

I would imagine that this can only help promote the Ben Milam site for renovation purposes. It seems like a strong candidate for some residential or hotel redevelopment.

It amazes me the lack of 24 hr grocery stores in this town.

Heh.

Nice image. I'm really liking this...

They've had signs posted all along FM 1464 for months advertising this thing. I just always assumed it would be more single-family housing units, like what's cropping up in that area already (more of the same) but it appears this has more of a central theme to it. I can only imagine what affect it will have on traffic both on FM 1464 (which will need to be expanded to at least four lanes more than likely) and the existing Grand Parkway. Seems like that long predicted infill (or whatever you prefer to call it) along GP is starting to pick up momentum. There's already a lot of new development underway just south of FM 1093 along GP as it stands.

It's underway? Are you sure you're not confusing this with the Town & Country Center development, Niche? If not, then could you elaborate.

Perhaps a redevelopment of the post office site on Washington/Franklin might be a start in that direction. Isn't the U.S. Post Office going to eventually vacate that site?

The Hardy Yards area I would classify as the near Northside, which certainly has its struggling areas in the ten to fifteen block area north of the Hardy Yard site. But this is definitely not the East End. The East End is quite diverse, with some areas, particularly north of Harrisburg and Navigation, that one might equate to a ghetto, but with other areas like Eastwood that are pretty solid communities with rising property values and impressive older homes.

As for the near Northside... yes, that area is certainly a shell of its former self. However, over the past couple of years, there's already been a slow but steady expansion of new residential units, including affordable single-family homes. I really like the potential of the area.

As far as the realization of HY itself... I think the most important steps right now in its evolution are the gradual purchasing of defunct structures currently on the site. When the key developers are able to secure those parcels, it becomes that much more of a realistic project.

I agree. Not risky but a good match of materials, a nice change-of-pace color scheme and an appealing outline.

For a variety of reasons, I'm just sitting here and laughing like hell at this thread, post by post. Good work all, intentional or no.

Perhaps construction on building #2 will begin months before units in the first building are open for residency. You can have leases signed or what have you months in advance to the point where you're confident enough to begin Phase II.

That might help with some of the noise issues but outside of that, I can see Greco's point. It may end up being annoying for a few months for those first residents.

You sort of wish you could copy the last two weeks' worth of posts and then go back and time and repost them back in August of last year. The reactions alone would be worth keeping this site up for eternity.

No, the idea was/is to build the first tower, allow time for the units in that building to be filled and then start building the second tower not much longer after that.

Hyper reflexivity is great....everyone is at the center and periphery of the panopticon....

Whoa... deep!

Looks okay, but nothing compared to the little green turrets and spires that we could have had.

WHY COULDN'T THEY BUILD THE SHAMROCK?!!!!!!

LOL!

Now THAT'S nice. Seriously. And the location would be absolutely amazing for downtown.

Went by the site today during lunch and they're busting tail right now. Construction crews were on site, the back hoe was in operation again and it does indeed look as if they're building a new foundation (lots of dirt excavated since the last time I made it by).

Across the street, work on the Kirby @ Westheimer development seems a lot less secretive now, as they've removed a lot of the coverings from the construction fences and you can see inside without any problems at all. There's a massive hole in place now and it looks as if they're abou ready to start pouring foundation and the like.

It's almost as if work on the two projects is linked.

Ah, then it's not quite as good of news as I thought. Still, you'd like to think that the cafe might spur some kind of interest in the old building.

I would imagine that they wanted to be up and running by the start of the season but probably hit a snag that delayed things. Still, this is a great step in preserving the building. Hopefully more retail comes along and maybe some cool, swanky residential units on the higher floors.

Imagine if the Ballpark Towers had been built and what it might have done for BMS/Hotel.

high $$ apartments, or maybe it'll be condos, but it's a residential development.

You are correct.

I like Market sqaure, I would replace or get rid of that awful sculpture though. Maybe add a chess table and concessions. I think the development of the surrounding buildings (that defunct Mexican restaurant)and surface lots is key to the park's vibrancy.

If you're talking about the former La Tapatia at the corner of Milam and Congress, that place has already been converted into a new restaurant called Sofia's. I don't know the cuisine but I believe they've been open a few weeks now. I just saw a bunch of luncheoneers there this past week. But otherwise, I agree. If The Niche's hint that there's at least the possibility of a hotel being developed on the parking lot south of there proves to be true, then that would help a lot.

As for the park itself, I agree that the statuary seems subpar. I'd also like to see more fountains. Something that mists, maybe.

LOL @ Jay North, Music Man.

Talk about stuff you don't expect to see at an architecture forum.

Good work, Ian.

Houston's native style: glass and more glass. It's HOT out there!

Actually, I really do think colorful glass, although not unique to Houston, seems to be a more prevalent design element with regard to DT's highrises--at least, where the newest towers are concerned.