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JW Marriott At 806 Main St. & Expansion Into Battlestein’s - 812 Main St.


Houston19514

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Sandblasting is pretty much death to brick though it may take some time before the damage is evident. When standard brick (not even glazed) is fired the outer surface becomes more dense than the rest of the brick.

 

Though freeze/thaw is not as much a consideration here as in colder climates removing the outer "skin" of the brick makes it more porous and can lead to its accelerated deterioration. As Purdue and cuevas correctly stated this is why preservationist discourage the practice.

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So they put up plywood walls in places on the sidewalk. Inerestingly, they covered over the front of the Battelstein's buildng next door. I was not under the impression that it was part of the project, and maybe it is not, but it is interesting that they appear to be using it somehow.

 

28jjdxf.jpg

 

9hl6ar.jpg

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So they put up plywood walls in places on the sidewalk. Inerestingly, they covered over the front of the Battelstein's buildng next door. I was not under the impression that it was part of the project, and maybe it is not, but it is interesting that they appear to be using it somehow.

 

I noticed that yesterday too.  And it seemed to me that there might have been some activity in the Battlestein's building.  I'm hoping it is going to be part of the hotel.

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Chron article mobile.chron.com/chron/db_311130/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=4sHM55Pp

 

Here you go...

 

Downtown hotel

 

A new JW Marriott will open at 806 Main next spring, the developer and city officials announced today during a press conference at the construction site.

The project is a renovation of the Samuel F. Carter building, which was acquired in 2009 by Pearl Hospitality. The hotel will include 323 rooms, a restaurant and bar, spa, health club, swimming pool and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

The project will create 177 new jobs, 150 of them permanent, the developer said.

The city of Houston provided $7.35 million to the project.

“This is a perfect model of a public/private partnership that is a win-win for the community,” Mayor Annise Parker said in a statement. “It puts a vacant building into productive use, restores a historic structure and most importantly creates jobs for Houstonians.

Pearl Hospitality owns and operates hotels in Fort Worth and Lubbock. The JW Marriott will be its first Houston project.

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Ehh, semi-vacant. It had a few tenants before the construction began.

 

I actally tried to join the gym that was located in the building back in late 2009/early 2010. The owner told me that the buildingitself had gone bankrupt and they were being forced out.

 

Domino's and the Christian Scientists stayed for a while at street level for a while after that though.

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Thanks lockmat (and Subdude for the message) - I was down there last night but couldn't see much - where does it actually have the engravings?

 

In the center, above the first floor, on Main St.

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More exterior work progress.

 

ej7vo6.jpg

 

 

 

The lower floors have significanly more damage to the bricks than the uppers. They look to be treating them differently.

 

 

Great pics. Thanks.  And they reminded me... I walked aroudnd this a week ago or so and noticed that the construction fence also covers the front of the very narrow shorter building on Rusk.  Hopefully, it is also included in the hotel property...

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Great pics. Thanks.  And they reminded me... I walked aroudnd this a week ago or so and noticed that the construction fence also covers the front of the very narrow shorter building on Rusk.  Hopefully, it is also included in the hotel property...

 

I have seen them mocking up rooms inside thenarrow Rusk side building, so it is involved, at least somewhat. Not sure why they haven't stripped the facade there too.

 

The Battelstein's building is wide open on the ground floor. That would make for great meeting space if it is that way throughout, I have not seen whether it is involved in the project at all and only started speculating about it when they covered over its entrance with the plywood construction fence.

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Yes, they've peeled off a ton of the gunk and a lot more brick detail is visible. Most of the upper areas are being painted with the green paint. Base coat or something?

If I remember right, the proposal shows it in entirely brick. Did we ever confirm the brick would be original? Seems like they could be laying new.

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If I remember right, the proposal shows it in entirely brick. Did we ever confirm the brick would be original? Seems like they could be laying new.

 

They will have to do some serious restoration of the brick right above the first floor. You can see on the corner how torn up it is with big chunks missing. Maybe they have saved some of what they tore out to replace it, but I'd bet for the work around the lower level that will be most visible that they will go back with new brick. Going off of my pic in post #162, it looks like they mocked up the base coats and finishing on a small section to either follow the original brick pattern or just replicate a new one. The black coating that was on there under the now removed curtain wall was really thick. I'm guessing removing it was prohibitively diffcult.  The brick up on the upper levels was coated over with the green base coat stuff, none of that was torn out.

 

I guess we could go by the rendering, but there will also need to be accomodation around this area for awnings/entrance coverings and signage. That may be the last area tobe completed.

 

 

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