Ion District In Midtown

[clutchcity94]

1 hour ago, H-Town Man said:

Couple of problems.

1. Techies hate used books. They think they're silly. They think Steve and Jeff ended the need for books for intelligent people.

2. Used book stores generally cannot afford rent in newly constructed/renovated buildings. They like older shopping centers.

The problem is Half Price Books wants to pay Half Price Rent. Not going to work.

Edited January 7, 2021 by clutchcity94

[clutchcity94]

20 minutes ago, Texasota said:

I think Rice (or anyone really) should buy 1700 N Main, restore it, and make it a Half Price Books. 

Or how about 368 Fairview? It’s a beautiful building (albeit very dilapidated), but I could totally see a HPB in there. That way they can stay in the neighborhood (Montrose) as well.

[H-Town Man]

18 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

There's a tendency for people who surround themselves with others much like themselves to become stale. A couple of well-worn cliches seem applicable ("Echo chamber" and "thinking inside the box").

Those of us observing the tech revolution from the outside can see this problem very well. But from inside, it's invisible/not a problem. They think they are on the frontiers of thinking, the Leonardos and Galileos of today's world, even though most of them are just finding clever ways to sell ads and keep people scrolling. 

So you're in a position of trying to give them medicine they don't think they need. And although the project is subsidized, the reason for the subsidies is Houston's desperate need for tech industry. If you're trying to get them to come to you, it's not really the moment to tell them they should try out new interests.

 

[zaphod]

I don't agree, I don't think the web delivery app types are what this intends to attract. Everything I've read suggests this is more about cloud and data science type stuff as applied in health care, industry, etc.

[H-Town Man]

3 hours ago, zaphod said:

I don't agree, I don't think the web delivery app types are what this intends to attract. Everything I've read suggests this is more about cloud and data science type stuff as applied in health care, industry, etc.

I was generalizing about the overall tech industry and its culture. Even if the companies we get are different, the culture follows a larger pattern for the entire industry. An example is casual dress. This was pioneered by Silicon Valley companies like Google and now any tech company in the world just about will have its whole workforce coming to work in faded jeans and t-shirts. You could offer one of them an Armani suit and they would frown and shake their head. The slouchy clothes are a symbol of elite status (because great innovators wear slouchy clothes, not suits) and indicate their membership in the guild.

 

[hindesky]

[Andrew Ewert]

On 1/8/2021 at 1:32 PM, H-Town Man said:

An example is casual dress. This was pioneered by Silicon Valley companies like Google and now any tech company in the world just about will have its whole workforce coming to work in faded jeans and t-shirts. You could offer one of them an Armani suit and they would frown and shake their head. The slouchy clothes are a symbol of elite status (because great innovators wear slouchy clothes, not suits) and indicate their membership in the guild.

Counterpoint, this is because suits are expensive and uncomfortable, and are and always have been dumb.

[H-Town Man]

2 hours ago, Andrew Ewert said:

Counterpoint, this is because suits are expensive and uncomfortable, and are and always have been dumb.

Many articles of clothing that people find pleasing are expensive and uncomfortable. You are applying reason to fashion, which... well, good luck.

 

[zaphod]

As a lower middle class slob I wish I had more opportunities to wear a suit sometimes. I happen to think I look good in one.

But yeah, going to work everyday like that would be awkward. It's nice to look good in the office though, I have co-workers who come in with t-shirts with holes in them and I'm like, really?

Edited January 16, 2021 by zaphod

[Highrise Tower]

Ion - Tenant Infrastructure

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

suits are dumb in Texas where it's 100° and 100% humidity at midnight. In places like NYC and London where a hot summer day is 70°, they're ok.

[Houston19514]

56 minutes ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

suits are dumb in Texas where it's 100° and 100% humidity at midnight. In places like NYC and London where a hot summer day is 70°, they're ok.

Not that facts matter, but Houston doesn't actually hit 100 degrees that often and it safe to say it has NEVER been 100 degrees at midnight and it has certainly  NEVER been 100 degrees with 100% humidity.  That does not happen.  Nor do we have 90 degrees  with 90 % humidity as is often (falsely) claimed.

And anyone who thinks 70 degrees is a hot day in NYC has apparently not spent much time in the summer in NYC.  It can be every bit as miserably hot and uncomfortable as Houston (worse actually, because there is little escape from it... they don't do A/C nearly as well as we do.)

Edited January 17, 2021 by Houston19514

[Twinsanity02]

54 minutes ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

suits are dumb in Texas where it's 100° and 100% humidity at midnight. In places like NYC and London where a hot summer day is 70°, they're ok.

The majority of people prior to the 1960's lived in the northern parts of the US where wearing suits is fine. Here in Houston prior to AC I can't imagine how people survived in suits during our 6 month summers. With AC its no big problem anymore as long as your indoors. 

[BeerNut]

1 minute ago, Houston19514 said:

And anyone who thinks 70 degrees is a hot day in NYC has apparently not spent much time in the summer in NYC.  It can be every bit as miserably hot and uncomfortable as Houston (worse actually, because there is little escape from it... they don't do A/C nearly as well as we do.)

NYC in summer is gross.  Hot garbage piled as high as they can, subway funk that will take your breath away, and no place has proper AC.  

[hindesky]

 

[dbigtex56]

On 1/17/2021 at 2:12 PM, BeerNut said:

NYC in summer is gross.  Hot garbage piled as high as they can, subway funk that will take your breath away, and no place has proper AC.  

Especially during an inversion (when warm air gets trapped under a dome of cooler air, and circulation stops).
I've literally seen the filthy smog swirling behind city buses.  Every breath is unpleasant, and suddenly a realization: so this is why New York women are so fond of wearing lots of perfume.
Anything to distract from that horrid stench.

[samagon]

On 1/17/2021 at 1:11 PM, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

suits are dumb in Texas where it's 100° and 100% humidity at midnight. In places like NYC and London where a hot summer day is 70°, they're ok.

linen is light and breathable.

you can find linen suits usually in spring/summer, as most of the world except us experiences a season where a wool blend is appropriate suit material.

even in fall/winter, you can typically order a linen suit, if you don't need one by this weekend.

only negative is that they wrinkle very easily, and are going to be considered more casual suit among people who like to distinguish between when to wear a specific type of suit.

[Houston19514]

43 minutes ago, samagon said:

linen is light and breathable.

you can find linen suits usually in spring/summer, as most of the world except us experiences a season where a wool blend is appropriate suit material.

even in fall/winter, you can typically order a linen suit, if you don't need one by this weekend.

only negative is that they wrinkle very easily, and are going to be considered more casual suit among people who like to distinguish between when to wear a specific type of suit.

Also, linen-wool blends, tropical wool, seersucker.  There are plenty of suit options for hot weather.  And as others have mentioned, it's not as if one hangs around outside on a summer' mid-afternoon, wearing a suit.  

[H-Town Man]

On 1/17/2021 at 2:08 PM, Twinsanity02 said:

The majority of people prior to the 1960's lived in the northern parts of the US where wearing suits is fine. Here in Houston prior to AC I can't imagine how people survived in suits during our 6 month summers. With AC its no big problem anymore as long as your indoors. 

And yet, somehow they did it. I don't think the 8F club met wearing sleeveless undershirts and cotton britches. 

 

[BeerNut]

[hindesky]

Workers are cutting up the old giant Sears sign. I always thought they might save it but I guess not.

Trenching on the lot across from the main building.

Prepping for the future crosswalks.

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by hindesky

[mls1202]

6 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Workers are cutting up the old giant Sears sign. I always thought they might save it but I guess not.

Trenching on the street across from the main building.

 

Prepping for the future crosswalks.

 

 

 

I never would have thought that the Sears sign would be destroyed.  Kitschy stuff like that surely would have ended up in some restaurant like Joe's Crabshack or Twin Peaks...

[JBTX]

1 hour ago, mls1202 said:

I never would have thought that the Sears sign would be destroyed.  Kitschy stuff like that surely would have ended up in some restaurant like Joe's Crabshack or Twin Peaks...

I would have bought it and stuck it on my roof. History...

[mkultra25]

2 hours ago, mls1202 said:

I never would have thought that the Sears sign would be destroyed.  Kitschy stuff like that surely would have ended up in some restaurant like Joe's Crabshack or Twin Peaks...

I'm wondering what will become of the large freestanding concrete-and neon Sears sign fronting the N. Shepherd store. All of the other signage was removed shortly after the store closed, but that one is still present. It would be nice if it could be preserved, it's absolutely iconic and has been an area landmark for decades.

[Houston19514]

On 1/29/2021 at 4:03 PM, mls1202 said:

I never would have thought that the Sears sign would be destroyed.  Kitschy stuff like that surely would have ended up in some restaurant like Joe's Crabshack or Twin Peaks...

I'm pretty sure they had said they were trying to find a place/use for it.  In the process, I believe it blew over (or was vandalized), so it may have been seriously damaged.

On 1/29/2021 at 5:32 PM, JBTX said:

I would have bought it and stuck it on my roof. History...

LOL  I'm not sure you appreciate just how large that sign was.

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

 

Good article in the Business Journal about Greentown Labs in the former Fiesta building.

[clutchcity94]

3 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Good article in the Business Journal about Greentown Labs in the former Fiesta building.

Can you post the article for non-subscribers?

[JBTX]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

LOL  I'm not sure you appreciate just how large that sign was.

 

Oh, I know. I'm in a condo unit of 8 "townhomes" in a row. Mount it in the middle. Send a message to the world. Purchase aerial rights. Fight the NIMBYers.

Dream the dream.

[KirbyDriveKid]

 

1 hour ago, clutchcity94 said:

Can you post the article for non-subscribers?

Technology

Greentown Labs unveils Midtown space, seeks $1.7M to complete build-out

 

By Chris Mathews  –  Reporter, Houston Business Journal

Feb 2, 2021

 

Greentown Labs, the largest climate-tech incubator in North America, unveiled portions of its Midtown facility on Feb. 2 ahead of the incubator's anticipated spring opening.

The reveal ceremony for the facility at 4200 San Jacinto St. included stakeholders from the city of Houston, Somerville, Massachusetts-based Greentown Labs, the Greater Houston Partnership, Rice Management Co. and other organizations. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke of the incubator's importance in developing Houston's clean tech and renewable energy economy and urged organizations in Houston to assist Greentown Houston in reaching its fundraising goal of $10 million.

"We did this in the middle of a public health emergency, accompanied by a profound economic crisis and a national reckoning with racial inequality faced by communities of color," Turner said. "There is a very real urgency to act on climate, accelerate the energy transition and invest in a green and just recovery from the Covid-19 crisis."

Emily Reichart, CEO of Greentown Labs, said the incubator is still raising for $1.7 million to finish the renovation of the facility, which is being built out in a former Fiesta grocery store. The funding will also go toward filling out Greentown Houston's facility with furniture and lab equipment.

"We're really trying to set up our team here to be supported for the first three years of operation," Reichart said. "We'd like to allow them to get started focusing on the entrepreneurs and building a community, rather than constantly be fundraising."

The incubator's doors have yet to officially open, but 18 startups focused on clean tech and renewables have already joined Greentown Houston as inaugural members. The incubator hopes to support around 50 startups in its Midtown facility. Companies typically spend two years in the Greentown incubator, Reichart said.

The renovated Fiesta building will include a number of amenities for startups, including a town hall space with standing room for 250 attendees, flexible desk space for around 50 member companies, lab and shop space for light industrial and metal fabrication, and more. Those 50 or so companies at Greentown Houston will employ up to 300 people, Reichart said. Greentown Labs aims to open its new Houston facility by April 22 — Earth Day 2021.

The Midtown Fiesta store closed in July amid declining sales and increasing competition. However, Rice University has owned the property since October 2017, according to the Harris County Appraisal District. Before that, it was owned by Sears since 1988. Greentown Labs announced plans to expand into Houston in June 2020.

Rice Management Co. is developing the Greentown Labs site as part of the 16-acre Midtown Innovation District. The district is anchored by The Ion, a 280,000-square-foot innovation hub being built at 4201 Main St., just a block away from the Greentown Houston space. The Ion will be home to other accelerator programs, including The Ion Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator and Austin-based DivInc, a nonprofit accelerator aimed at promoting diversity and equity in the startup space. 

[BeerNut]

Glad to see that this building will have space dedicated to lab and shop space.

[thedistrict84]

12 hours ago, JBTX said:

Oh, I know. I'm in a condo unit of 8 "townhomes" in a row. Mount it in the middle. Send a message to the world. Purchase aerial rights. Fight the NIMBYers.

Dream the dream.

If you are in a row of vertical single-family homes, with no part of any other home above yours, you are in a townhome development, not condos.

Condos typically feature units above each other and common areas, similar to multi-family apartments.

(Have to draw the line somewhere lol)

[Brooklyn173]

49 minutes ago, thedistrict84 said:

If you are in a row of vertical single-family homes, with no part of any other home above yours, you are in a townhome development, not condos.

Condos typically feature units above each other and common areas, similar to multi-family apartments.

(Have to draw the line somewhere lol)

Condo is not an architectural term. It's an ownership term. A condo can be a single family house, a row house or an apartment. Or even a commercial structure or a multistory parking garage. It is routinely misused and misunderstood.

[corbs315]

 

https://mailchi.mp/houstontx/mayor-turner-participates-in-groundbreaking-for-new-greentown-labs-houston-location?e=4b4d5c2c3c

[JBTX]

1 hour ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Condo is not an architectural term. It's an ownership term. A condo can be a single family house, a row house or an apartment. Or even a commercial structure or a multistory parking garage. It is routinely misused and misunderstood.

Thanks Brooklyn, I was going to explain it, but glad someone else got me first. 

[thedistrict84]

1 hour ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Condo is not an architectural term. It's an ownership term. A condo can be a single family house, a row house or an apartment. Or even a commercial structure or a multistory parking garage. It is routinely misused and misunderstood.

Then townhome would be the better term in that context, correct? I was just confused as to why @JBTX put townhome in quotes but said it was a condo unit (which may be true since it refers more to the ownership arrangement; I only said that condos are typically arranged as multi-family developments, which is true in Houston). 

Regarding misuse of the term, I’ve heard many people refer to single-family townhomes as “condos” in a dismissive and degrading manner, as if they aren’t up to par with other single-family homes. 

But, I’m going off on a tangent, so please feel free to ignore this townhome owner’s defensiveness. 

[H-Town Man]

7 hours ago, corbs315 said:

 

https://mailchi.mp/houstontx/mayor-turner-participates-in-groundbreaking-for-new-greentown-labs-houston-location?e=4b4d5c2c3c

Looks like the old logo for Adorama, the NY camera shop.

[CREguy13]

Does anyone else have the feeling we are about to see another big tenant announcement soon or released plans of the next phase and a projected start date?

With the Ion opening and tenant build-outs for Common Desk, Chevron, and Microsoft commencing, then Greentown Labs opening in April with several clean tech startups and a growing list of big corporate partners, I get the sense something substantial is around the corner. Whether it's a lead tenant building or Rice considering spec start considering the amount of interest/tenant demand they expect to receive in the district over a ~24 month construction period.

Total conjecture, but there's too much momentum in this area to believe it will be quiet after everything is delivered later this Spring.

[BeerNut]

3 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

Does anyone else have the feeling we are about to see another big tenant announcement soon or released plans of the next phase and a projected start date?

Elon Musk?

[Response]

Adorama? Is that anything like Odorama?

 

[j_cuevas713]

3 hours ago, BeerNut said:

Elon Musk?

I was going to say the same. Very possible.

[mkultra25]

On 2/3/2021 at 6:23 PM, H-Town Man said:

Looks like the old logo for Adorama, the NY camera shop.

Probably just a coincidence. At least until B&H Photo announces a hostile takeover of the Ion, setting in motion a close-quarters throwdown between NYC retail giants in the mean streets of Houston. 

[hindesky]

Greentown Labs gains support in guiding Houston to cleaner future

 

L.M. Sixel, Staff writer

Feb. 4, 2021Updated: Feb. 4, 2021 6 a.m.

As Houston, the world’s longtime energy capital, tries to maintain its crown during the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, Greentown Labs is offering an increasingly stronger push.

The Houston home of the Massachusetts-based clean-energy incubator gained more corporate support last week and now has lined up more than 20 partners and 16 inaugural startups working to make the city a clean-energy hub.

Five corporate partners, CenterPoint Energy, Gexa Energy, EIV Capital, Wells Fargo and Williams, joined Greentown Labs Houston on Tuesday.

The incubator, plans to open this spring in a former Midtown Fiesta store with about 40,000 square feet, large enough for 50 early-stage companies. For local entrepreneurs, Greentown Labs will provide fundraising and networking connections, and office and lab space. For corporate partners, it’s a chance to get in on the ground floor of green energy innovations as the world shifts from fossil fuels to renewables.

The lab, which will focus on climate-related technology on the road to commercialization, including carbon capture, hydrogen fuel technology and battery storage, shows that Houston isn’t just an oil and gas town anymore but a city eyeing the next big thing in clean energy. The lab is the first big tenant in the city’s Innovation District, the Rice University-designed zone expected serve as a gathering place for entrepreneurs, large companies looking for new technologies, financiers and academics.

Greentown Labs set a fundraising goal of $7.5 million — later increased to $10 million — to renovate the former grocery store and to cover three years of operations.

“I’d say the response has been overwhelming,” said Greentown Labs CEO Emily Reichert.

Several companies have signed on as partners, contributing money and expertise, including Chevron, Shell and BHP. Others, such as the law firm Vinson & Elkins, have agreed to provide free or reduced-cost services. Greentown Labs, a private company that relies on membership fees and corporate partnerships for revenue, wouldn’t say how much each partner is contributing.

The lab grew from a small group of startups a decade ago near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. The Massachusetts lab helped launch 280 companies.

In Houston, one of the latest young companies to sign on is Black Mountain Metals, a Fort Worth-based owner of a nickel and copper mine in Australia. The company, which spent $15 million to buy the once-shuttered mine and invested $60 million into operations, is scheduled to produce its first batch of nickel concentrate this spring for use in lithium batteries, President and COO Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes said.

Zumwalt-Forbes, a petroleum engineer who worked for Exxon Mobil in Houston until 2015, said she became familiar with Greentown Labs when she was a graduate business student at Harvard. She is drawn to the social promise of the lab in Houston and networking with other entrepreneurs engaged in disruption and innovation.

“I want to be surrounded by people who see like I do,” she said.

Ennuity Holdings, which sells long-term solar energy contracts, also has signed on with the Houston lab. The retail electricity provider got its initial financial backing from angel investors, typically wealthy individuals who provide funding for startups in exchange for an ownership stake. Now it wants to raise more funds so it can launch its service in Texas.

Ennuity gets its power from solar farms and is aimed at customers who can’t install panels where they live, CEO Nisha Desai said. Desai said she was drawn to Greentown Labs for the help it provides with raising funds from investors.

Another company, Quantum New Energy, signed on to Greentown Labs Houston to develop an electricity shopping site. The service will provide smart meter data to help consumers determine if they’re wasting electricity or if it’s time for them to buy more efficient water heater or update an air conditioning system. Quantum would receive commissions from retail electric providers selling plans on the site.

The company initially planned to market its services through presentations at libraries and to community groups, CEO Patricia Vega said. As the coronavirus pandemic spread, however, Greentown Labs suggested alternative sales channels, including through employers who have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint. The service then becomes an employee benefit, said Vega, an energy veteran who spent her career with oil and gas companies.

Greentown Labs Houston is the highest profile tenant in the 16-acre Innovation District under development by the Rice Management Co. which manages the university’s $6.5 billion endowment and $957 million of debt.

The center of the project is the Ion, an office and collaboration hub in the former Midtown Sears store that will offer shared workspaces, prototyping and maker resources, classrooms and event space. Microsoft and Chevron have announced they’ll open offices in the 288,000-square-foot building that is expected to open during the second half of the year, said Sam Dike, manager of strategic initiatives for Rice Management Co.

[htine]

On 1/29/2021 at 4:55 PM, hindesky said:

 

I haven't been keeping up with this project closely, but didn't they say early on that they were going to restore/preserve some of its art deco details? Maybe I'm remembering wrong because there's not much art deco left...

[Specwriter]

8 hours ago, htine said:

 Maybe I'm remembering wrong because there's not much art deco left...

I'm afraid you are looking at it.

 

[H-Town Man]

12 hours ago, mkultra25 said:

Probably just a coincidence. At least until B&H Photo announces a hostile takeover of the Ion, setting in motion a close-quarters throwdown between NYC retail giants in the mean streets of Houston. 

That would be... awesome.

 

[hindesky]

Adding some color to the Greentown Labs.

Patio tables. 

[Houston19514]

On 2/4/2021 at 10:50 PM, htine said:

I haven't been keeping up with this project closely, but didn't they say early on that they were going to restore/preserve some of its art deco details? Maybe I'm remembering wrong because there's not much art deco left...

Which art deco details did they fail to preserve/restore?  As far as I can tell, they are all there.  Keep in mind, they are "details".

[HOUCAJUN]

After the Ion is finished and the former Fiesta is finished then what's next? Are these the only 2 buildings associated with this campus?

[hindesky]

10 minutes ago, HOUCAJUN said:

After the Ion is finished and the former Fiesta is finished then what's next? Are these the only 2 buildings associated with this campus?

Parking garage. I talked with some laborers and they said January start but all they've done so far was run some electrical conduit so far.

[bobruss]

3 hours ago, HOUCAJUN said:

After the Ion is finished and the former Fiesta is finished then what's next? Are these the only 2 buildings associated with this campus?

If you go to page 11 of this thread and scroll down close to the bottom where Luminaire posted an overall map of the completed campus with roughly  6 - 8 buildings. It also shows the new below grade section of the freeway that will be partially capped at certain locations.