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Williams Tower At 2800 Post Oak Blvd.


DaTrain

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She relieved herself on the Empire State building, saying "This was built by slave-labor!  I do not stand for this!  I do not think buildings should have been built by slave-labor, if we cannot use slaves ANYMORE!  It's just not right.  Our forefathers benefitted from cheap labor yet my brother has to go with a silver filling instead of a platinum filling when he visits the dentist."

I am not sure what all that means, but Trump made a play on the Empire State Building a few years back. I am not sure how all that panned out but there is a great book on the subject (called Empire). I read it about 4 years ago and do not really much except that the Gross Lease of the building was eventually sold and there was a huge bidding war for the right. I am not sure if this was before or after Helmsley took control of the building.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I don't think there will be anything taller in Uptown Houston in the near future, or for that matter, the far future.  Certainly not an office building in the near future.  I believe the vacancy rates are currently too high for any substantial new office construction.

I would also be quite surprised to see anything residential go higher than Transco, especially in the near future.  Personally, I think Uptown would look better with more shorter buildings (in the 35-40-50-60 story range), to fill in the area and make it more dense and urban. 

Having said that, I would love to see a 70 story residential building, but I'd prefer to see it go downtown.

yeah, we need something like this that is going up in nyc. but honestly think it would be better suited for downtown than uptown.

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Well she may have been right about the Empire State Building being built by slave labor - at the time the pay was good but 32 deaths!!!!!!!! Come-on, just to be the tallest in the world another year!!!! The Chrysler Building :D , was constructed in about 2 years and I believe no one was killed either. Still the most beautiful Art Deco Building anywhere, still the most beautifull skyscraper anywhere.......

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Well she may have been right about the Empire State Building being built by slave labor - at the time the pay was good but 32 deaths!!!!!!!!  Come-on, just to be the tallest in the world another year!!!!  The Chrysler Building  :D , was constructed in about 2 years and I believe no one was killed either.

All the sources that I have seen say only 5 people died in the construction of the Empire State Building.

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Your right!

I looked it up to, and I must have been thinking either about the Hoover Dam, or Golden Gate. Sorry for the incorrect figures.

But 5 people by todays standards is alot! I still think the Chrysler was completed without any loss of life. I checked with my Mannhatten Skyscrapers and Worlds 100 tallest books but couldnt find numbers in either one.

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Guest Professional Hornblower

Alls I know is Gloria Trump was reported in the San Antonio express as saying "I'd like to rid Houston of it's City Hall. I find it very underwhelming. I'd like to see Donald venture into the South a little more. I think he would be faced with huge challenges."

When asked what she'd like to see in lieu of the City Hall, she had this to say, "Well, a 4-level Starbucks would be nice. Or a decent low-rate parking garage for the neighboring performance arts venues."

When asked if "The Donald" has any plans to delve into the Houston market, he said, "If an opportunity arises, sure. I'm always looking for the next great thing. Although I think it would be kind of strange to take away city hall, don't you?", with a smile.

Ms. Trump feels that a new City Hall should be constructed more towards George R. Brown Convention Center, an area she frequents, which is in the "heart" of downtown, and will lead to future growth.

These exerpts were reprinted with permission from Olmero Sanchez

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Alls I know is Gloria Trump was reported in the San Antonio express as saying "I'd like to rid Houston of it's City Hall.  I find it very underwhelming.  I'd like to see Donald venture into the South a little more.  I think he would be faced with huge challenges."

When asked what she'd like to see in lieu of the City Hall, she had this to say, "Well, a 4-level Starbucks would be nice.  Or a decent low-rate parking garage for the neighboring performance arts venues."

When asked if "The Donald" has any plans to delve into the Houston market, he said, "If an opportunity arises, sure.  I'm always looking for the next great thing.  Although I think it would be kind of strange to take away city hall, don't you?", with a smile. 

Ms. Trump feels that a new City Hall should be constructed more towards George R. Brown Convention Center, an area she frequents, which is in the "heart" of downtown, and will lead to future growth.

These exerpts were reprinted with permission from Olmero Sanchez

and just who the heck is gloria trump?

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From the quotes posted here she seems as if she was one strange lady, with ridiculous ideas to go along with that.

-gold wig ( :D )

-tear down central park

-loathing the Chrysler building (I mean come on...)

-wants more surface lots and less trees

-If she can't use slaves, then they are bad

-4 story star bucks and parking garage instead of Hou city hall

@bruce_oneal

I think she was Donald's sister. Well thats what Hornblower said.

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From the quotes posted here she seems as if she was one strange lady, with ridiculous ideas to go along with that.

-gold wig ( :D )

-tear down central park

-loathing the Chrysler building (I mean come on...)

-wants more surface lots and less trees

-If she can't use slaves, then they are bad

-4 story star bucks and parking garage instead of Hou city hall

@bruce_oneal

I think she was Donald's sister.  Well thats what Hornblower said.

she sounds like an idiot.

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Guest Professional Hornblower

lol. I agree. It's funny how, because her brother is a developer, she thinks she can stick her nose into the industry. I can't believe some of the things this lady says.

Yeah, let's "tear down" city hall... lol.

I wonder how much lobbying at city hall it would take for them to pass a referendum declaring that their place of business be razed for an oversized coffee stand on steroids.

Even Donald isn't that dumb.

-PH

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lol.  I agree.  It's funny how, because her brother is a developer, she thinks she can stick her nose into the industry.  I can't believe some of the things this lady says.

Yeah, let's "tear down" city hall... lol. 

I wonder how much lobbying at city hall it would take for them to pass a referendum declaring that their place of business be razed for an oversized coffee stand on steroids.

Even Donald isn't that dumb.

-PH

i do not play the 'city' card too often because i have lived other places than houston, but what the heck does she know about houston? i mean, how would she feel if some houston developer (say gerald hines or the like) said "let's raze gracie mansion"?

i doubt that would sit well with many new yorkers.

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Y'all!

Don't you know when your leg's being pulled?

Although...this "Gloria Trump" does bear more than a passing resemblance to the wife of a former mayor, the self-proclaimed "First Lady of Houston". You know, the one who thought re-lining the reflecting pool to look like Splashtown was a good idea.

BUT anyhow, this thread is about Transco/Williams tower. Back on topic, please.

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I met The Donald's older sister Gloria Trump back in '79.  Her wig was gold.  Her toothpicks were gold-plated.  She knew a lot about architecture.  She eschewed Central Park due to it's impedence into the real estate.  She was an avid supporter of tearing the trees down (which I think we'd all agree) in order for more land to build beautiful skyscrapers on.  She loathed the AT&T building as well as the Chrysler building and was once heard calling the World Trade Center towers "the tallest and most beautiful buildings in all the land."  She also was a huge proponent in the construction of the Meadowlands (stadium where the Giants and Jets football teams play).  She described it as "beautiful design, although lacking some surface-lot parking.  Also, too many trees."

She called Lady Liberty "wonderful, and inspiring."

She called The Guggenheim by Frank Lloyd Wright "an error in judgement", and "another mistake by yet another horrible thinker."

She relieved herself on the Empire State building, saying "This was built by slave-labor!  I do not stand for this!  I do not think buildings should have been built by slave-labor, if we cannot use slaves ANYMORE!  It's just not right.  Our forefathers benefitted from cheap labor yet my brother has to go with a silver filling instead of a platinum filling when he visits the dentist."

Gloria Marcusus Trump b. (1934) d. (2001)

She'll be missed by this, and all righteous, architects.

:(

Alls I know is Gloria Trump was reported in the San Antonio express as saying "I'd like to rid Houston of it's City Hall.  I find it very underwhelming.  I'd like to see Donald venture into the South a little more.  I think he would be faced with huge challenges."

When asked what she'd like to see in lieu of the City Hall, she had this to say, "Well, a 4-level Starbucks would be nice.  Or a decent low-rate parking garage for the neighboring performance arts venues."

When asked if "The Donald" has any plans to delve into the Houston market, he said, "If an opportunity arises, sure.  I'm always looking for the next great thing.  Although I think it would be kind of strange to take away city hall, don't you?", with a smile. 

Ms. Trump feels that a new City Hall should be constructed more towards George R. Brown Convention Center, an area she frequents, which is in the "heart" of downtown, and will lead to future growth.

These exerpts were reprinted with permission from Olmero Sanchez

HILARIOUS! Please write more!!!

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  • 10 months later...
Hello Team:

Anyone knows if the Transco/Williams tower has an observation deck like the one at the Chase building in DT...??

And also who are the main tenants of the building..??

Thanks

From Wikipedia -

The building is unique in that it was built to function as two separate towers stacked directly on top of one another, one comprising the first forty floors and the other the forty-first to sixty-fourth. The building has separate banks of elevators and lobbies for each of the two building sections. A majority of the bottom 40 floors are occupied by Williams. The remainder of the building is occupied by a variety of tenants.

On the 51st floor is a sky lobby and observation deck, which due to security reasons is no longer open to the public.

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Hello Team:

Anyone knows if the Transco/Williams tower has an observation deck like the one at the Chase building in DT...??

And also who are the main tenants of the building..??

Thanks

After 9/11 I heard that the observation floor was closed to the public. I haven't heard if it has reopened. Go to the building and check it out. Even if you can't go to that floor the building has a great interior. The last time I was there Knoll had a showroom on the first floor. That's a great place to see the modern classics in furniture.

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I don't get it, why would having access to the sky loby be a security risk? I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to fly and airplane into Williams Tower they can do it from outside of the sky lobby.

typical knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 we seem to encounter all over the place.

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I don't get it, why would having access to the sky loby be a security risk? I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to fly and airplane into Williams Tower they can do it from outside of the sky lobby.

Yes, because we all know that flying airplanes into buildings is the only tactic that terrorists have ever used or will ever use, so that's the only thing we should defend against...

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Not to change the subject, but I'm curious how the idea of having the Williams/Transco Tower uptown came about in the first place, and how the architect came out with such a still-modern design over 30 years ago. Was the idea back then that Williams was going to attract more skyscrapers in the Uptown area, or the exact opposite?

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I don't get it, why would having access to the sky loby be a security risk? I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to fly and airplane into Williams Tower they can do it from outside of the sky lobby.

You have to think about other possibilities.

Remember, the IRA bombed the BT Tower in London by carrying a bomb up to the observation deck.

Security experts are paid to think of the possibilities, not just react to recent tragedies.

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You have to think about other possibilities.

Remember, the IRA bombed the BT Tower in London by carrying a bomb up to the observation deck.

Security experts are paid to think of the possibilities, not just react to recent tragedies.

Al Qeida and the IRA have different agendas. Al Qeida is not interested in bombing an observation deck, they are interested in attacking things that will get them the most television coverage worldwide, such as plane hijackings and the toppling of buildings and the mass murder of thousands of people. The so called security experts are pretty much a joke.

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Yes, because we all know that flying airplanes into buildings is the only tactic that terrorists have ever used or will ever use, so that's the only thing we should defend against...

While that is true, a bomb (at least one meant to take out the entire building) would be much more devastating in a lobby than in a skydeck. Just as an example, one of the reasons that the North tower was able to stand for almost 50 minutes longer than the South tower is because the South tower was hit much lower. Thus a greater load was put on the weakened supports. Not to mention the size of any device would be quite limited due to the fact you would have to get it all the way up. There is not much of a chance to stop someone willing to kill themselves if they just burst into the building. Also you could drive a truck or something of the sort into the bottom of the building or garage beneath it (1993 WTC bombing). You couldn't bring that up to an observation deck. Worst case scenario (besides a bomb) for an observation deck is if all the people there are taken hostage, or someone with a sniper rifle is able to secure it and then target people on the street. Even then the person would be easily picked off once they come to a window to start shooting.

The one advantage I see of closing observation decks is that you could restrict the number of random unknown people coming into the building.

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Last I heard (about February) it was still closed.

It is a shame that it is still closed. I used to love going up to the sky lobby to check out that view.

The only problem was that it was limited to the west only. There was a lot to see out there, but you were prevented from seeing the best views back towards downtown.

Hopefully security will improve and 'paranoia' will calm down and it will reopen to the public.

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Al Qeida and the IRA have different agendas. Al Qeida is not interested in bombing an observation deck, they are interested in attacking things that will get them the most television coverage worldwide, such as plane hijackings and the toppling of buildings and the mass murder of thousands of people. The so called security experts are pretty much a joke.

At no point did I say that the IRA and Al Qaida have similar agendas, so I'm not sure why you made that statement. They do (or rather did), however, have similar goals: Terror. And similar methods: Bombing.

Al Qaida has demonstrated that it is not merely interested in high-collateral targets such as you mention. Al Qaida agents have carried out thousands of attacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere that only had a few casualties. Again, their goal is terror, and if that can be achieved by the killing of one person, then one person is enough.

No one stated that the Williams Tower sky lobby was closed permanently because of Al Qaida. It was closed on September 11th as a precaution just like pretty much every other skyscraper in the world. Some skyscrapers have re-opened their observation decks. The owners of the Williams Tower decided against it. Perhaps it was because they took the opportunity to evaluate their ability to screen people versus the cost of doing so, and decided it just wasn't worth it. Maybe their insurance premiums wouldn't make it feasable. For you to call someone a "joke" doesn't fly. You have no knowledge of their methods or what was considered. You're just lashing out because you make assumption that lack either knowledge, imagination, or both. I suggest that in the future you think before you click the "Reply" button.

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At no point did I say that the IRA and Al Qaida have similar agendas, so I'm not sure why you made that statement. They do (or rather did), however, have similar goals: Terror. And similar methods: Bombing.

Al Qaida has demonstrated that it is not merely interested in high-collateral targets such as you mention. Al Qaida agents have carried out thousands of attacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere that only had a few casualties. Again, their goal is terror, and if that can be achieved by the killing of one person, then one person is enough.

No one stated that the Williams Tower sky lobby was closed permanently because of Al Qaida. It was closed on September 11th as a precaution just like pretty much every other skyscraper in the world. Some skyscrapers have re-opened their observation decks. The owners of the Williams Tower decided against it. Perhaps it was because they took the opportunity to evaluate their ability to screen people versus the cost of doing so, and decided it just wasn't worth it. Maybe their insurance premiums wouldn't make it feasable. For you to call someone a "joke" doesn't fly. You have no knowledge of their methods or what was considered. You're just lashing out because you make assumption that lack either knowledge, imagination, or both. I suggest that in the future you think before you click the "Reply" button.

Spending yrs in the military strategic planning arena......yes i do have inside knowlege of planning, and i stand by what i said...they are a joke!!!!!! So your suggestion to me to think is silly. Afghanistan attacks are on soft targets, its the only thing they can manage to do...small targets on a small scale......run back into hiding.....anything else and the US military will slay them to no end for it would require them to stick thier heads out of hiding a little longer. If soft targets were the goal here, theres more of them other than building observatories, and they rank on the same scale...minimal at best. Closure of the observation decks were and are a "knee jerk, symbolism over substance" reaction to the horror of 9-11. Al Qeida attacked us, not the IRA. The methods are different.

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