RedScare Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 People still buy these things?!?!?38 bucks for a Key map, or 10 bucks EVERY month for GPS service on my phone? Yeah, Key maps are still worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolie Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 38 bucks for a Key map, or 10 bucks EVERY month for GPS service on my phone? Yeah, Key maps are still worth it.I've had Gps and google maps on my blackberry and now iPhone (on which I type this) for several years at no cost above base data rate.Couldn't live without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I've had Gps and google maps on my blackberry and now iPhone (on which I type this) for several years at no cost above base data rate.Couldn't live without it.Until the Key Map grid gets exported in a format that can be superimposed over smartphone mapping and GPS displays, Key Maps will still be useful. They are basically indispensable for real estate and related industries, in addition to those listed earlier. The Key Maps tend to be updated more regularly (sometimes even prematurely) and there are many segments of road (many of which have been around for years) where addresses simply aren't programed in on software, whereas someone glancing at a Key Map can intuit where the address of a new facility might be by glancing at a nearby block number.Key Maps are also very useful for crowded neighborhoods such as Downtown, the TMC, the Galleria area, and in Greenway Plaza, where they have special maps in the front of the book that show the edge of pavement, building footprints, and labels for any facility you could ever want to know the name of.And in addition to pointing out where fire, police, libraries, etc. are, large retail centers throughout Houston are identified by name. And Key Maps are available not only for Harris County and nearby areas, but for Brazoria/Galveston Counties and for Montgomery County. Electronic maps can sometimes be finicky about guiding you accurately to a rural addresses, and it's helpful to have a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorAggie Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Yes, two thumbs up for KeyMaps! I have GPS on my phone too, but to look something up quickly, KeyMaps is the way to go. Besides, sometimes the GPS likes to take me on the "MapQuest" route--if you know what I mean... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 People still buy these things?!?!? Key maps are must have of the Houston Architectural Elite! (I own two!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 How tall will this building be? ( in Feet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolie Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Key Maps books don't have full support for KML. I doubt they will any time soon. I spent enough time in the sticks during the first 18 years of my life. Not in a hurry to get back. I rarely leave the loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Cool, I have a recent one of those (2007) plus one I found in my dad's old crap dating to 1986. It's way cool seeing the names of developments in that era, including a lot of sites platted for malls that were never built. Williamsburg and Tang City malls? huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 38 bucks for a Key map, or 10 bucks EVERY month for GPS service on my phone? Yeah, Key maps are still worth it.If you have internet on your phone already, Google Maps is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenpin Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 It's way cool seeing the names of developments in that era, including a lot of sites platted for malls that were never built. Williamsburg and Tang City malls? huh?Tang City Mall WAS built in the early/mid 80's. It was a Chinese themed strip mall located on US90 near Post Oak. It never had more than a few stores in it and only lasted a few years. IIRC it was overgrown with weeds in the early 90's. I haven't driven down there in years so I'm not sure what's left of it now. It's probably totally disintegrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) Tang City Mall WAS built in the early/mid 80's. It was a Chinese themed strip mall located on US90 near Post Oak. It never had more than a few stores in it and only lasted a few years. IIRC it was overgrown with weeds in the early 90's. I haven't driven down there in years so I'm not sure what's left of it now. It's probably totally disintegrated.They demolished it several years ago, though I think the portion that was built was supposed to be the first phase in a larger project that would've included a traditional-type enclosed shopping mall. I recall seeing a rendering from around the same time that showed as much anyway. What's funny is that I recall seeing it being used in a tourism video circa 1986/87, with scenes of people all over the place. Must've been opening day, another asian mall, or a number of actors hired based on what I remember seeing riding by growing up. Edited March 3, 2009 by ChannelTwoNews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 They added another sign, theres two on the site now. Rdavis4559 SSP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Are you sure that sign is new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 (edited) Are you sure that sign is new?It has been there for a week or two. I did'nt say the sign is new though. Edited March 29, 2009 by UpuPUp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonranger Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 It has been there for a week or two. I did'nt say the sign is new though.What does the sign have to do with a proposed hotel? The sign is about residential, retail etc, that's not a hotel.Is this hotel project still breaking ground, does anyone actually know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 That sign's been there for eons. I remember seeing it last year when DG opened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 (edited) That sign's been there for eons. I remember seeing it last year when DG opened. This is the one you saw last year,has been there since they tore down the Banquet Hall. (5 Houston Center on the left) The pic I previously posted, that sign (thats looks exactly the same but on a different side of the parking lot) has been there for about two weeks. Note:Toyota Center is in the background. Edited March 29, 2009 by UpuPUp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Before this completely devolves into an argument over sign placement, Urbanerd is right. The signs have been on the perimeter of the site for a while. One facing La Branch near Lamar and the other (of which there are two photos of on this page), near the corner of Crawford and Dallas. One, at least, was there prior to the hotel announcement several years ago.At any rate, since April is around the corner, I remain guardedly optimistic that this could get underway in the next few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HtownWxBoy Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Before this completely devolves into an argument over sign placement, Urbanerd is right. The signs have been on the perimeter of the site for a while. One facing La Branch near Lamar and the other (of which there are two photos of on this page), near the corner of Crawford and Dallas. One, at least, was there prior to the hotel announcement several years ago. At any rate, since April is around the corner, I remain guardedly optimistic that this could get underway in the next few weeks. They did say groundbreaking was in April... let's hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) The beginning? Saw this equipment and a truck from Terracon at the site about an hour ago. Edited April 7, 2009 by ChannelTwoNews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatesdisastr Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 wooo! awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 wooo! awesomeI dunno, it looks like a portable pump and storage tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Anybody know what kind of truck that is / what they are doing? I remember seeing them drilling on that site once and it turned out it was just soil samples or something like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chenevert Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 that looks like soil samples to me...however, thats a good sign.... samples are necessary to begin the building process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 that looks like soil samples to me...however, thats a good sign.... samples are necessary to begin the building process.exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 That's a drilling truck, and the resevoire is to pump water into the ground as they drill to soften the soil. It's also designed to pump water to the drill bits to keep them cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photolitherland Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Does anyone know the height of this building? Its supposed to be about 21 floors or so, so thats about, 300ft right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bach Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 That's a drilling truck, and the resevoire is to pump water into the ground as they drill to soften the soil. It's also designed to pump water to the drill bits to keep them cool.Does the fact that the truck/equipment (soil testing?) is there mean construction is imminent? Or does this sort of thing happen, and then nothing for months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 They did similar soil testing last summer on the site, so I'm not really sure what this means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 They did similar soil testing last summer on the site, so I'm not really sure what this means.Terracon are environmental consultants. They probably conducted Phase I and/or Phase II environmental studies last year to satisfy lender requirements, and are now conducting a geophysical analysis which can be used for structural design and engineering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Does that mean there is most likely engineering and design work to be done before construction starts, or are they collecting data to be used during the construction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonranger Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Does nobody here know for sure just what the deal is here?This is an important development for this part of DT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Does that mean there is most likely engineering and design work to be done before construction starts, or are they collecting data to be used during the construction?Engineering and design goes into specifications for piling depth and foundation characteristics. Since I've never seen a building that gets built from the top-down--only the other way around--these bits of knowledge would seem to be important prerequisites to starting construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I guess you didn't really understand my question. I know that soil data is an important prerequisite to starting construction.I was wondering if anybody knew whether soil data was something that is generally collected immediately before construction starts, or does it generally take months/years of analysis/design work using this type of data before construction starts. Since they also collected soil samples a year ago, I fear that this does not mean construction is imminent. I guess we'll know soon though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chenevert Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I would say we are still months away from construction starting.Samples provide data to be used in design and review... that means the final design has not been signed off on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I would say we are still months away from construction starting.Samples provide data to be used in design and review... that means the final design has not been signed off on.Concur. Possibly many months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWW Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Terracon are environmental consultants. They probably conducted Phase I and/or Phase II environmental studies last year to satisfy lender requirements, ....Question about Phase I and Phase II - what other stakeholders TYPICALLY or ROUTINELY require the first or both in a development? (permitting, lending, etc. ) I will repost this in the Development and Real Estate thread if anyone can answer there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWW Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I guess you didn't really understand my question. I know that soil data is an important prerequisite to starting construction.I was wondering if anybody knew whether soil data was something that is generally collected immediately before construction starts, or does it generally take months/years of analysis/design work using this type of data before construction starts. Since they also collected soil samples a year ago, I fear that this does not mean construction is imminent. I guess we'll know soon though.Jax, I'd like to know the same thing, so hopefully we can get an answer from someone in the field on this. I would presume this would be used a few months before construction starts, but who knows. Is there anyone who has knowledge/experience with mid/high rise development that can give an overview of the soil-testing process?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 (edited) Hotel could get a tax dealHouston is poised to provide a $9.6 million tax subsidy for an Embassy Suites downtown, part of a raft of public-private hotel development that has sprung up since the completion of Discovery Green.City Council today is expected to consider the deal, which would provide the hotel developer up to $1.4 million a year for seven years if it agrees to set aside at least 70 percent of the planned hotel Edited April 22, 2009 by musicman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Michael D. Oden, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has studied economic development subsidies, said an important question is why private investment will not suffice if there is such a strong convention market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wernicke Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I thought they had already agreed to subsidize this development.Dallas is voting on a ban of public financing for a convention hotel next week... the anti-government intervention folks are rabid up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I thought they had already agreed to subsidize this development.Dallas is voting on a ban of public financing for a convention hotel next week... the anti-government intervention folks are rabid up there.I think they always planned to subsidize a new convention center hotel, but that's not this one. That project is on hold until banking stabilizes. I think it's interesting that we just voted for subsidizing private convention hotel development last October and Dallas is to vote on banning it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian0123 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Impatience is costly and perhaps foolhardy, as Houston Pavilions should have taught us.HP just happened to come online at the wrong time. If we were in a positive economic environment, impatience would have been a genius move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 HP just happened to come online at the wrong time. If we were in a positive economic environment, impatience would have been a genius move.I'm not talking about the tenants. The facility is unimpressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) I noticed that the estimates for construction have changed from around $55M in earlier articles to $34.5M in the most recent one. Is that a reasonable figure based on declining prices related to construction or is it just wrong? Edited April 23, 2009 by ChannelTwoNews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I noticed that the estimates for construction have changed from around $55M in earlier articles to $34.5M in the most recent one. Is that a reasonable figure based on declining prices related to construction or is it just wrong?It certainly doesn't have anything to do with construction price deflation. My bet is that the costs were quoted differently, one figure reflecting only hard costs, while the others include the soft costs and/or land price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWW Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I noticed that the estimates for construction have changed from around $55M in earlier articles to $34.5M in the most recent one. Is that a reasonable figure based on declining prices related to construction or is it just wrong?It certainly doesn't have anything to do with construction price deflation. My bet is that the costs were quoted differently, one figure reflecting only hard costs, while the others include the soft costs and/or land price.Can anyone find out the story? I am a little panicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Any activity on the site as of late? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonranger Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 In the chron last week there was an article that there was going to be a vote in City Hall or wherever on whether to approve this hotel to get the tax incentives that presumably it needed to get started.Does anyone know what happened with this Council meeting / vote on the proposed hotel last week?Hopefully there was a positive outcome and this thing will break ground soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonfella Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Embassy SuitesYay. Embassy Suites has begun construction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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