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This building is such a wonderful addition. Totally changes the view from the elevated 59 portion looking Downtown - a total revamp of the area. Apart from the visual win, hearing about the investments from tech companies is the real meat & potatoes.

 

Excited to see how much this will sprout.

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17 hours ago, Fortune said:

$1M is....not very much.

 

Almost feels like tipping $1 on a $100 meal.

 

 

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2 hours ago, mls1202 said:

$1M is....not very much.

 

Almost feels like tipping $1 on a $100 meal.

 

 

 

Given the fact that its related to teaching adults looking for tech jobs, and that the article also mentions that Microsoft is separately sponsoring Yates High and Edison middle school for STEM instruction, I think this is probably related to Microsoft and Houston's "Internet of Things" partnership. Would be very cool, and kind of forward thinking of CoH and Turner since the partnership was established in 2018, if they could use the Ion to push Microsoft to sponsor ($$$) more things at the Ion for adults, young adults and teens to create homegrown tech sector.

 

Talking to people with CoH, I don't know if anyone knew what the Internet of Things was going to do outside of some HISD stuff, but maybe the Ion provides them a more solid path forward. I know NYC's and DC's apple stores have a ton of programming for kids and teens to learn video/picture editing, rudimentary logic based programming, math, etc which Houston's flagship store only sometimes does. If they could get that kind of programming going on, with big name sponsorship, I think thing it will have a big impact not only on the surrounding area but for people in the city generally.

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32 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

I wonder why they didn't keep the historic facade all the way around. Makes the building more interesting.


I agree. IIRC the original renderings placed more emphasis on the relationship between the existing building and the additions. 
Granted, some features of the existing building were more appealing than others (the south facade with its loading docks was pretty Plain-Jane).  But these views make it appear that someone stuck a little piece of an historic facade onto what is essentially a new building. Where's the rest of it?

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On 8/26/2020 at 4:04 PM, dbigtex56 said:


I agree. IIRC the original renderings placed more emphasis on the relationship between the existing building and the additions. 
Granted, some features of the existing building were more appealing than others (the south facade with its loading docks was pretty Plain-Jane).  But these views make it appear that someone stuck a little piece of an historic facade onto what is essentially a new building. Where's the rest of it?

At least the historic side that they have kept faces the planned pedestrian plaza on the north side of the project. 

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On 8/25/2020 at 10:57 AM, Montrose1100 said:

How much are you investing?

Zero.  

 

I'm not evaluating the value of this contribution based on it's absolute value.  I'm basing it on what a company the size of Microsoft donates to other causes.  Per their website, Microsoft has donated last year alone 1.4B towards non-profit causes such as this focused on providing access to technologies and services.  My point is that this seems more like the minimum, obligatory investment MS is making rather than a full-throated endorsement of the innovation district Houston is trying to build.

 

As a comparison, MS donated $1M to Puget Sound's COVID-19 relieve fund.

 

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6 hours ago, mls1202 said:

My point is that this seems more like the minimum, obligatory investment MS is making rather than a full-throated endorsement of the innovation district Houston is trying to build.

 

Just enough to get mentioned in press releases and say they're attached to the project.

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59 minutes ago, clutchcity94 said:

They have really started to clean this area up. No homeless congregating around the PPS agency. I know the tents are gone from the 59 south ramp on Montrose side, but how about from the 59 north offramp just west of the Shipley Donuts?

 

When the money flows in, the homeless must flow out. Wonder where they will migrate to next?

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3 hours ago, rechlin said:

 

Yes.  The side facing Wheeler used to be set back a bit with a loading dock, and during this project they extended the building to the property line like on the other sides.

True 
That leave three other sides, and a significant amount of the original facade has been covered on them. 

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