South Main Innovation District in Midtown

[Brooklyn173 818]

Some hardcore social distancing

[hindesky 46611]

[midtowndweller 279]

j

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[BeerNut 2571]

 

 

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[hindesky 46611]

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[hindesky 46611]

[midtowndweller 279]

They are working on the sidewalk on San Jacinto.

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[hindesky 46611]

[monarch 3793]

^^^ is it just me, or does it seem that the SCALE and SCOPE of the ION, is much larger and grander... than the initial renderings/concepts indicated?  this edifice seems quite massive...

[Luminare 6042]

This one's gotten pretty far since the start of my HAIF/coronavirus hibernation. Its definitely different seeing that steel hat on there. Its almost like a completely different building.

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[BuffaloBayouBred 80]

 

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[hindesky 46611]

A little paint is being added.

[Avossos 2282]

On 5/9/2020 at 3:57 PM, hindesky said:

A little paint is being added.

 

They are painting over the limestone!?

[hindesky 46611]

3 hours ago, Avossos said:

 

They are painting over the limestone!?

Yes.

 

[H-Town Man 5002]

3 hours ago, Avossos said:

 

They are painting over the limestone!?

 

Gotta be sleek. Tech is the future and the future is always sleek.

 

[Tumbleweed_Tx 1791]

9 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Gotta be sleek. Tech is the future and the future is always sleek.

 

that's what they said in the 60's as they added the recently removed ugly cladding to that building

[H-Town Man 5002]

18 minutes ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

that's what they said in the 60's as they added the recently removed ugly cladding to that building

 

My comment was sarcastic.

 

[urbanize713 1351]

On 1/6/2020 at 4:43 AM, Urbannizer said:

Updated website:

 

https://ionhouston.com/south-main/

 

 

 

 

 

The first picture appears to show stone. However, the third picture appears to show a consistency more like paint. 

[houstontexasjack 2356]

Rice bought the parcel at the southeast corner of Wheeler and San Jacinto last May, as it turns out. The PPS Pacesetter location at that site is now closed. 

[X.R. 1119]

2 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

Rice bought the parcel at the southeast corner of Wheeler and San Jacinto last May, as it turns out. The PPS Pacesetter location at that site is now closed. 

 

You can tell something is different about Wheeler/59. Can't tell if its COVID-related or if its the fact that Rice shut down PPS, everything is fenced up outside of the Jack-in-the-box, and Fiesta brought back the constable but there isn't as much panhandling and stuff in that area. Its weird, cause now in the mornings the pedestrian traffic is moreso the people coming from or going to Wheeler station. I even saw joggers running past jack in the box yesterday. If this is a sign of whats to come, what a crazy change. Midtown just reclaimed 1/12 of its land back. 

[Houston19514 4628]

16 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

Rice bought the parcel at the southeast corner of Wheeler and San Jacinto last May, as it turns out. The PPS Pacesetter location at that site is now closed. 

 

I'm sure you meant to type southWEST corner.  Good find on the sale.

[houstontexasjack 2356]

9 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I'm sure you meant to type southWEST corner.  Good find on the sale.

Yes, Southwest. My bad. I crossed the streams while internally thinking “just east of the Jack in the Box,” lol.

[j_cuevas713 3033]

The silver lining of this Covid-19 chaos is that construction crews are less obstructed by traffic, and their ability to work around the clock has sped up construction big time on this bad boy. I drove by the other day and damn, you can only imagine. The ION being the central building is going to be incredible for us as a city. And to see that old mechanic shop torn down finally to make way for the parking garage was so nice to see. I'm even excited about the parking garage because the design doesn't waste retail potential. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by j_cuevas713

[hindesky 46611]

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[HNathoo 1185]

 

[Sanjorade 270]

19 minutes ago, HNathoo said:

 

 

Houston's innovation ecosystem is only going to succeed if it's propelled forward by founder and startup teams, rather than government, academia, and individuals that don't understand what it really takes to build a technology.  

[CREguy13 1885]

It says she is staying in Houston and pursuing other opportunities.  Hopefully she found another great gig.

[Luminare 6042]

Its possible like most CEO changes that this person was the right one to get the job started, and now they need a different CEO to actually get it running. If it was a resignation for a particular issue or reason I'm sure the media would come right out and say it. Looks like its just a changing of the guard, in my opinion.

[j_cuevas713 3033]

The article says we only gained 800 tech jobs in 2019. Based on what we are trying to accomplish in the tech field, does anyone have any insight if this is good or bad? 

[CREguy13 1885]

More detail on Gabriella Rowe's departure on Innovation Map:

 

Houston innovation hub leader shares details on recent resignation

 

Natalie Harms

May 27, 2020, 5:36 pm

 

 

 

Gabriella Rowe has stepped down from her role as executive director of The Ion. Courtesy of Station Houston

 

A Houston tech ecosystem leader has announced her resignation from her position in order to seek out a new role.

 

Gabriella Rowe, who served The Ion as executive director until earlier this week, has confirmed she has resigned from her position. The Ion is Rice Management Company's innovation center rising in Midtown, and Rowe was named executive director in October of last year. She was previously the CEO of Station Houston since August 2018, which was later merged with Austin-based Capital Factory.

 

Rowe, who was selected for Mayor Sylvester Turner's new Health Equity Response task force that was established to help the city respond to COVID-19, says she hasn't yet announced what her next move is, but she tells InnovationMap will continue focusing on technology and equity.

 

"I am stepping back from the Ion role in order to focus my time exclusively with the issues of equity and access in growing our tech ecosystem and economy," Rowe says, "because I think that is going to be an instrumental part of the recovery of Houston moving forward."

 

While Rowe will have no official role at The Ion moving forward, she imagines her to-be-announced opportunity will work hand-in-hand with the mission of The Ion, which is expected to deliver next year.

 

"The Ion is going to be an incredibly successful project that is going to have all the positive effect on the long term future of Houston that it is designed to do. I feel confident that it's set up to do that and has the people in place to carry it forward," she says.

 

Rowe says her foray into Houston's tech ecosystem began when she was head of school of The Village School in West Houston. Now, her driving factor is creating a city where those students could grow their tech education and skills and have plenty of care opportunities in Houston.

 

"From the very start, this has been for me about building a tech ecosystem in Houston that can support the development of the tech economy that would give our Houston talent an opportunity to stay here in this city and partake in this global opportunity," she says

[X.R. 1119]

Sounds like she took the Ion to where it needed to be, set up the connections and all that jazz, saw a need in the market that wasn't being met, and jumped to work in that space. Pretty understandable, and doing work in making the tech industry more equitable and easier to access is a monumental job that even SF companies haven't figured out yet. So shoutout to her for taking on that task. It makes sense for Houston, tbh, to want to take a bit of a more homegrown angle towards building a tech sector. You have all these immigrants and their kids from countries where US companies are hiring from to bring their engineers here, why not target those kids who are already here and other kids stuck in schools that don't offer this kind of training to help them code at a much earlier age. Set up programs to promote women in tech. Provide grants to those looking to switch careers at 25-40. Etc. If done well, and in conjunction with the Ion, they could have the types of programs that everyone would want to get into.

 

Although, when she says she may work with the Ion in the future, I feel like most tech in Houston will, given the size and footprint of the programs and development.

[Brooklyn173 818]

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[HoustonIsHome 1626]

What building is that? 🤔

[Highrise Tower 33296]

[rechlin 2994]

Couldn't take a photo while driving, but today I saw at the roof level they have an angled roof (not flat) over a higher ceiling than is implied by the roof level in the photos above.  It's really quite striking from IH-69.

[Highrise Tower 33296]

Tower crane coming down.

 

 

[houstontexasjack 2356]

Another shot of crane disassembly:

 

[clutchcity94 380]

Once the area around The Ion gentrifies, I wonder what will happen to all the social services in the area, as well as the low-income housing developments for veterans such as Midtown Terrace Suites.

[houstontexasjack 2356]

2 hours ago, clutchcity94 said:

Once the area around The Ion gentrifies, I wonder what will happen to all the social services in the area, as well as the low-income housing developments for veterans such as Midtown Terrace Suites.

Midtown Terrace Suites are in the ROW for the trenching of I-69 per the most recent schematics and would be taken as part of that under the present schematics:

 

http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs13/04_NHHIP_Seg3_I-69_RollPlot_PH_1-2.pdf

 

 

[hindesky 46611]

I wonder what the deal is with that missing corner? I wonder what portion of the build this mock up represents? Parking garage pond has a liner now.

 

 

[clutchcity94 380]

1 hour ago, houstontexasjack said:

Midtown Terrace Suites are in the ROW for the trenching of I-69 per the most recent schematics and would be taken as part of that under the present schematics:

 

http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs13/04_NHHIP_Seg3_I-69_RollPlot_PH_1-2.pdf

 

 

This is interesting - thanks for linking to it.

 

What does the “A” symbol represent at the intersection of Roseland St & Woodrow St?

 

Will the highway overpass at Richmond just east of Jack St always be there? Or are they planning on trenching that at some point as well?

Edited June 14, 2020 by clutchcity94

[houstontexasjack 2356]

33 minutes ago, clutchcity94 said:

This is interesting - thanks for linking to it.

 

What does the “A” symbol represent at the intersection of Roseland St & Woodrow St?

 

Will the highway overpass at Richmond just east of Jack St always be there? Or are they planning on trenching that at some point as well?

Alas, to my knowledge, there’s no plan to trench the Spur or parts thereof. I’m not sure of the meaning of the symbol “A” there. I couldn’t locate a definition in the legend.