The Great Hizzy!

I was thinking closer to five, like the end of 2003, but I certainly could be wrong.

I like the design and the fact that it appears to face the intersection of Alabama and Main. Also, given that it's only a block or south of the HCC / Ensemble station, there's a chance to bring a bit more pedestrian life to that area of Midtown.

Upon completion, I'd like to see Robot Tower carry a lighted marquee across the front that reads: "Welcome to Houston: Resistance is futile!"

Ok folks, there is movement at the site. I drove by earlier, and there were two huge tractor trailor cranes right beside the main crane.

I know that main crane had to be lonely. It had been sitting there by itself for months. I'm still wondering if the slowdown at the site had anything to do with the renovations to Art Storey Park? Maybe a water main that runs through that site is connected to the big pond that's being redone as part of the overall renovation (and I believe the renovation is part of Project Brays as well).

...is expected to open in October 2008. This after initially skepticism about it ever coming to fruition, mainly because, apparently, Houston has a history of not building anything. It will include a variety of retail, though apparently not enough to be successful because of several reasons:

a.) No residential component included in the final design

b.) Not enough of the storefronts face the street

c.) There aren't enough total floors

d.) The commercial office space isn't leased up four months prior to its scheduled opening.

e.) Downtown has too many restaurants already (unless you're a sportswriter from another state, then apparently it doesn't have any)

f.) It won't include <your favorite store inserted here> as part of the retail lineup

They have quite a few projects worldwide that they're working on. And, yes, they still do have the first rendering of the 60-story tower up.

Praise the lord!

Gee, seems the only thing this building is missing a large block letter 'S' surrounded by a shield placed smack dab in the middle of the building's facade.

That and a cape. Can't forget the cape.

I'm trying to think of the potential clientelle of a hotel at that location. You have the Crown a few blocks to the west on Smith but that's it for the immediate vicinity. OTOH, there's not that much of an attractor in the immediate area--or at least not compared to other areas of DT.

LOL @ Hobby Lobby.

that's what I like about you, Hizzy; You're quick.

Quick? You just wait 'till the caffiene from this Dr. Pepper kicks in!

According to the new signage that's been put up around Robot Tower, the walkway is already done. The mall will expand to meet up with the existing pedestrian bridge. It also shows that the Westin will look pretty spectacular.

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! The mall is expanding... again?

http://www.discoverytowerhouston.com/image...ry/Render_5.jpg

Here's an outstanding shot. With the garage, you get two blocks knocked off with one project. Combine that with Disco G and OOP and that's a lot of real estate transformed in what used to be a dormant part of downtown.

Now I look for someone to come along to rehab the old Days Inn on the south end to help spur redevelopment own there. Once upon a time, that looked like it might have been an Ed Wulfe special but alas...

They're moving pretty fast on this one. Once the two cranes went up about a month ago, there's been no stopping them.

As I posted in another thread, METRO Pres. & CEO Frank Wilson announced that groundbreaking for the East End (read: Harrisburg) line is scheduled for Friday, June 27.

I also repeat the idea that since construction is set to begin (at least on one of the lines), we might want to have a sticky thread for each rail line so as to better organize rail discussion topics (and potentiall eliminate duplicate threads).

FYI -

The East End Rail Line groundbreaking is scheduled for Friday, June 27, 2008, according to METRO President & CEO Frank Wilson. This is in lieu of Houston City Council voting to approve the Consent Agreement that would allow METRO to begin work on city streets and related ROW.

Given this, it may now be a good idea if we could have a sticky thread for each rail line (E-W, East End, SE, Post Oak and North) here in the transportation section for convenience so as to potentially cut down on the number of related threads, since this is going to be a 3.5 to 4 year process that will garner a lot of comments.

Here's the link. Third year in a row garnering such favorable reviews.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-230549...HMtMjAwOC02LTE3

"For the third year in a row, low-cost carrier JetBlue ranked the highest overall, scoring well in six out of seven of the categories, while Continental Airlines and Alaska Airlines tied for first among traditional carriers. Continental continued a three-year streak among the old-line airlines."

So, is the building under construction this 14 story office building or is it the mid-rise condo project?

Yeah, I'm a bit confused myself. Is the office building under construction or is it the mid-rise condo? I was under the impression that it was the latter, and if that's the case, the did the HBJ get their info wrong or is that building going up very nearby and I've just not see in it?

I have enjoyed reading this discussion on commuter rail versus the current P&R system. Allow me to verify a couple of points mentioned, however:

1) 280-series buses directly serve the Uptown and/or Greenway Plaza areas (example: 286 W. Little York / Uptown / Greenway); 290 series buses directly serve the TMC (example: 298 Addicks-NWTC/TMC). In some cases, these routes make "pit stops" along the way but their ultimate destinations are Uptown and/or Greenway Plaza and the TMC.

2) METRO HAS re-routed or even shut down completely not just P&R routes but some lots as well. The last major lot closure was the West Belt Park & Ride lot (210 Westbelt) in about 2003, I believe. METRO has had to re-route several P&R routes over the years (especially during the Cotswold, Transit Streets and METRORail construction projects) and the results have usually been poor from a ridership impact standpoint. METRO typically experiences some level of ridership decline when they've had/chosen to re-route a P&R route.

3) METRO has reconfigured some P&R service in order to try to enhance the route. In 2006, METRO ended the 201 North Shepherd and replaced most of that service with the 108 Express, which they re-routed to serve the North Shepherd Lot.

And so on...

Now, in my view, commuter rail can offer the following benefits over the current P&R system:

1) Less likely to be delayed due to road conditions such as but not limited to an accident or emergency construction efforts.

2) Can move a larger number of people at a single time more efficiently.

3) Longterm operating costs are lower due to fewer operators needed and less fuel required to operate the vehicles (and not to mention the vehicles themselves typically require less maintenance).

I do, however, agree with 19514 in that the current infrastructure allows more flexibility with the buses. Once a commuter rail line is established, you're not going to see it changed very much, and certainly not in terms of where it's going. With the P&R system, routes can be adjusted and so on.

I've not seen a strong argument that supports getting rid of one in favor of the other. Both in conjunction with the other would seem to provide optimal service for commuters.

So the last known rendering for the rumored Ritz (found in Swamplot, I believe five or six months ago) was included in this updated image for Blvd Place? That definitely is a good omen, in my mind.

Didn't one of the parcels in that building once house a job opportunity center/rehabilitation center of some kind?

Construction should start at some point in the third quarter (July/Aug/Sept). It'll be a six- to eight-story midrise, the ground floor will likely have retail space or artists' studios.

Do you have any idea of the number of residential units and/or the amount of square footage dedicated to ground floor retail? I'm going to assume that it won't stray too far from the original design, if this does come to fruition.

It certainly seems to be the most ambitious. Sort of like Hardy Yard, except a bit further out and without the need for hazardous site abatement and that sort of thing.

I didn't see it that way. I thought it was good, sincere advice. In any case, I like the vantage point Jax uses to photograph OPP. Though I agree that there's a fuzzy quality to it, which I'd bet is along the lines of what Niche was saying about the hand not being quite steady enough.

Were you crouching when you took that last photo, Jax?