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


Houston19514

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I was told once that the original facade was more or less intact under the newer facade panels. It will be interesting to see how true this is, and how much restoration treatment will be necessary.

Once 806 Main is restored, the disco glass facade on the Kirby Building will be one of the last remaining traces of the great wave of Main Street "modernization".

Based on what I saw when I was taking pictures near the site, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Here are a few snaps...

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It is really interesting and sad to see the progression of this building.

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Love that new rendering. This is going to be a GREAT addition to downtown!

Comparing this old picture with the new rendering, it appears 6 floors were added to the building at some time.

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Here's the text of that City of Houston PDF referenced earlier for those whose computers panic at PDFs:


The City of Houston proposes to provide approximately $7.35 million of gap financing (Section 108/EDI funds) for the renovation of a vacant property located at 806 Main Street into a luxury hotel. In addition to the construction jobs provided for the renovation of this building, the hotel will is projected to provide over 177 permanent, on-site jobs in Houston’s core. The project will also eliminate one of the few remaining blighted areas of the Main Street District and offer much needed rooms to support the efforts of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the George R Brown Convention Center.

Once hailed as Houston’s most magnificent structure, “The Carter Building,” Houston’s first sky-scraper, was constructed in 1910 by Samuel Fain Carter, nephew of philanthropist Jesse H. Jones and stood sixteen stories tall. Houston's historic buildings were influenced by visionaries such as Mr. Jones and Mr. Carter, and the city’s growth and diversification were due, in part, to their dedication and involvement in promoting the rapidly growing city as a thriving metropolis. Later pinned the Second National Bank Building, renowned architectural firm Sanguinet and Stattsthen oversaw the massive 1925 renovation which involved adding six additional floors.

The property is located on the southwest quadrant of Main and Rusk Streets in Downtown Houston. The property sits on .03 acres and is approximately 235,000 sq feet. This twenty two story office building has been substantially vacant for the last decade, but will be redeveloped into a full-service, luxury hotel. The hotel is located on the Main Street at the intersection of the existing North/South metro rail as well as the East/West rail line currently under construction. The site is approximately 20 miles from George Bush International Airport and 16 miles from the William P Hobby Airport. The site also has easy access to local and regional highways such as Interstate 45, US Highway 59, and Interstate 10.

The newly renovated hotel will provide permanent jobs, retain and revitalize a historic structure, and add much needed hotel rooms to downtown Houston. With unmet demand for downtown hotel rooms, current market studies for the CBD indicate that the downtown market will benefit from a hotel of this caliber. Aside from transient guests, the hotel will enable the George R Brown Convention Center to win conventions it has previously forfeited for lack of quality hotel space. Lost conventions include Academy of Nurse Practitioners Annual Conference, Microsoft Tech Ed, AARP Annual Meeting, Church of God in Christ, National Safety Council Annual Meeting, and American Chemical Society Annual Conferences to name a few. The ability to book these conferences not only aids the Convention Center, but also the local downtown businesses that serve convention goers.

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Is that a City of Houston press release? Whoever it is, they need to find someone who can write (and at least know the name of the city's primary airport).

Not to mention, someone that can get their basic facts and figures straight about the project.

A 235,000-square-foot building on 0.03 acres would have a floorplate size of 1,308 square feet (barely enough for elevators and stairs) and would be 180 stories tall.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I noticed someone doing what looked like sheetrock work on the third floor of the narrow strip of building with the yellowish panels that face Rusk. He was right above the window unit a/c in my pic above.

Is that part contiguous internally with the 806 Main building? It is a different height, but could be a section that was not raised when the original building added the additional floors way back when.

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I noticed someone doing what looked like sheetrock work on the third floor of the narrow strip of building with the yellowish panels that face Rusk. He was right above the window unit a/c in my pic above.

Is that part contiguous internally with the 806 Main building? It is a different height, but could be a section that was not raised when the original building added the additional floors way back when.

Partially answering my question, they extended the scaffolvator all the way across to the other building.

16a5tf4.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

The proper/construction industry term for that type of scaffolding is a mast climber just for everyone's knowledge... Very cool pictures though, I'm looking forward to this project developing.

"scaffolvator" though I like that, I'm gonna have to remember that. :)

Yeah, scaffolvator is way better than mast climber. ;-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

What?

In the section of building with the different facade facing Rusk, I noticed that they were doing some interior work on a 3rd or 4th floor area, which I noted in a previous post.

I walked by later, and you can see furniture and fixtures and a finished interior where they were working. I am guessing that they were putting together what the rooms will look like as an example, or to work through options when they start to outfit the guest rooms.

I could be wrong though.

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