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Hess Tower: Office Skyscraper At 1501 McKinney St.


Ethanra

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Wow...a vastly improved rendering is coming of a Westchase boxy building plopped down on the park. I. can't. wait.

Too bad that the building doesn't have a tunnel connection nor is close to getting one due to the ongoing negotiations with their neighbors...nothing like not being on the tunnel system to kill a few lease proposals.

I don't honestly see what anyone is excited about in this building...its a 30-40 story box, with some, cough cough, interesting structure at the top with wind turbines in the roof which according to local HVAC experts, will MAYBE on a good day provide 1% of the buildings energy. Bet that takes a while to pay back...if they don't value engineer those ridiculous things off the building after they pay 5 Houston Center a ridiculous fee to connect to their building.

This building is still boring. And no park will change that.

Ummmm, I think they were saying there is a new design, which we will see in the forthcoming new rendering.

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Wow...a vastly improved rendering is coming of a Westchase boxy building plopped down on the park. I. can't. wait.

Too bad that the building doesn't have a tunnel connection nor is close to getting one due to the ongoing negotiations with their neighbors...nothing like not being on the tunnel system to kill a few lease proposals.

I don't honestly see what anyone is excited about in this building...its a 30-40 story box, with some, cough cough, interesting structure at the top with wind turbines in the roof which according to local HVAC experts, will MAYBE on a good day provide 1% of the buildings energy. Bet that takes a while to pay back...if they don't value engineer those ridiculous things off the building after they pay 5 Houston Center a ridiculous fee to connect to their building.

This building is still boring. And no park will change that.

I agree... But we shall see what happens...

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I just received an updated rendering package for Discovery Tower, which has 4-5 exterior shots, an interior shot of the lobby (is that corkboard on the walls?) and the floor plates.

I stand by my earlier comments...take the building away from its unique setting, and this thing would fit in perfectly in any suburban setting. Its a square Anardarko Tower, with what looks like precast on the north side of the building.

I really hoped for something more striking and unique for its location...

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No posting, you tease?

sorry, somebody had to do it... :P

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 @ 9:41am Post #232

Guys, need I remind quite a bit of you to take the information as its given to you and let it go? As I've said before on other posts, the people that post here are usually just the people privy to some information that isn't widely known and they could burn themselves or their sources if they give out too much info.

Let people share what they want to share, this guy has cred.

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I just received an updated rendering package for Discovery Tower, which has 4-5 exterior shots, an interior shot of the lobby (is that corkboard on the walls?) and the floor plates.

I stand by my earlier comments...take the building away from its unique setting, and this thing would fit in perfectly in any suburban setting. Its a square Anardarko Tower, with what looks like precast on the north side of the building.

I really hoped for something more striking and unique for its location...

Since when did creativity cost so much money?

Less money for a project = no creativity allowed?

Is this how architects think? I understand some of the greater designs take more/better materials, but still...

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They could have at least went with the curve on the street I guess. Would have looked nice.

Like this:

And a better view:

http://www.oxblue.com/client/brasfieldgorrie/1010midtown/

I agree that it would be a shame not to take advantage of the curvature of the lot in designing the building. That is the kind of thing that makes architecture interesting would make Disco tower look like it really belonged there.

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A little more info on Discovery Tower. It appears there will be a skybridge and tunnel connection as well.

Link

To clarify, what the article says is that the building will be tied into the tunnel system by skybridge. In other words, according to Swamplot, there will be a skybridge, not a tunnel.

Are skybridges less expensive than tunnels? Or is it just a matter of the preferences of the adjoining property owner?

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Skybridges are cheaper than tunnels, and the reason for the skybridge for DT is that the "tunnel" system in Houston Center is all above grade.

However, when you take the cost of the skybridge + the extraordinary price they are paying to 5 Houston Center for the right to connect....it is far more expensive than a traditional tunnel connection.

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You know the rendering certainly looks bigger/taller than a 30-story building. When the building was origionally proposed, they said it could be much bigger than what was being called for. Does anybody know if they have increased the amount of square footage or added any floors?

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I drove by Discovery Green today and to be honest am really underwhelmed by the park... They put so much junk inside of it that I don't see how it will possibly ever have a real park feel. In person it just seems really small and unimpressive.

I guess something is much better than nothing.

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I drove by on Saturday and I actually had a really great feeling about it. An urban park doesn't need to be huge in my opinion. The skyline views are going to be really nice and I think the size is just about right to make it feel comfortable an hopefully not empty. Hopefully it will give people enough things to do to actually draw people there, in comparison to a huge empty field or wooded area (like Memorial Park) which might not have the draw that this park will - at least not in downtown.

A park the size of Hermann Park in the middle of downtown would just be weird.

Maybe you should think of it as a plaza or square instead of a "park". Like Washington Square in San Francisco without all the concrete.

Edited by Jax
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I drove by on Saturday and I actually had a really great feeling about it. An urban park doesn't need to be huge in my opinion. The skyline views are going to be really nice and I think the size is just about right to make it feel comfortable an hopefully not empty. Hopefully it will give people enough things to do to actually draw people there, in comparison to a huge empty field or wooded area (like Memorial Park) which might not have the draw that this park will - at least not in downtown.

A park the size of Hermann Park in the middle of downtown would just be weird.

Maybe you should think of it as a plaza or square instead of a "park". Like Washington Square in San Francisco without all the concrete.

I agree... it's an urban park in the middle of Downtown, it's not meant to be a huge, empty space. I think it will be a great park.

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Rumor on the street says ground breaking has been delayed until sometime next month. Combined with 6HC's continual delaying on ground breaking. Not a great start for the two projects.

But nothing unusual for projects of this type. Recall the repeated panic that ensued with every movement of a fence and parking of a car on the Houston Pavilions site.

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And if I recall correctly, the delays on HP were much longer than only one month. I think HP at one time announced groundbreaking in Nov 2006, and then pushed it back until Feb 2007. It was the last of many officially announced delays of the project. I remember the hysteria at HAIF. The nay sayers were out in full force and the Debbie Downers were all writing things like "this will NEVER be built" and "I hate Houston". And then BAM! - the cranes came and there was much rejoice, dancing in the streets, and people giggling at work for no apparent reason.

And anyway, Houston 2010's posting is just "word on the street" - nothing official, let's not lose perspective. O never mind, go ahead and lose perspective, what difference does it make.

Edited by Mister X
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