Chi-Char-Hou-Dal Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 So all that hype which I helped start... Nothing found on the Sheraton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 FWIW, the other morning I was coming up Travis and noticed a worker or someone walking around the base - that entrance was open as well, I believe. It didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time (considering we have seen "workers" there before) but maybe something really is happening. No idea what the guy was doing, though When I was by I noticed workers as well in the garage section. Looked like some sort of plumbing/sewerage work since there was water flowing out. A Sheraton would be great, but after so many false alarms on this one I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 With everything slowing down right now, I guess the best chance this building has is a hotel. It would be nice if they could polish it off with a creative design for residential, like the Wolfe rendering we saw a few years ago... I always thought this would work for apartment-like housing for seniors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I doubt this is moving forward anytime soon;http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Oil-woes-take-toll-on-Houston-s-hotel-industry-6527849.php?t=15d968323d&cmpid=twitter-premiumI wonder how this affects the Le Meridian redevelopment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 (edited) I doubt this is moving forward anytime soon;http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Oil-woes-take-toll-on-Houston-s-hotel-industry-6527849.php?t=15d968323d&cmpid=twitter-premiumI wonder how this affects the Le Meridian redevelopment.I'm more interested to know how it will effect that planned convention center hotel on top of the GHP building. We'll probably have a 7-10 story office building/garage for awhile I presume.. Edited September 25, 2015 by cloud713 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I always thought this would work for apartment-like housing for seniors.What about micro-apartment/studios for people who can't quite afford the base rents at the new luxury towers or just don't want all the added amenities/expense? Micro apts seem to be popular in bigger/more urban settings. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 What about micro-apartment/studios for people who can't quite afford the base rents at the new luxury towers or just don't want all the added amenities/expense? Micro apts seem to be popular in bigger/more urban settings.That's actually a good idea. Some real affordable housing. How many hotel rooms does this thing have? But the real deal would be getting a kitchenette in each unit, if there would be space. It wouldn't have to be adorned in quartz counter tops with reclaimed wood floors, stainless steel appliances, just with functioning ones and inexpensive details.I'm sure they already have a laundry room space. Plus a pool and gym space. What would you charge for a studio? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I'm more interested to know how it will effect that planned convention center hotel on top of the GHP building. We'll probably have a 7-10 story office building/garage for awhile I presume..There's quite a few projects that could fizzle out. Aloft has two other projects (including that really awesome one in Sugarland), there's the GRB hotel, Hotel ZaZa off of I-10, the midtown hotel proposed by the firm that's part of JR Central, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 That's actually a good idea. Some real affordable housing. How many hotel rooms does this thing have? But the real deal would be getting a kitchenette in each unit, if there would be space. It wouldn't have to be adorned in quartz counter tops with reclaimed wood floors, stainless steel appliances, just with functioning ones and inexpensive details.I'm sure they already have a laundry room space. Plus a pool and gym space. What would you charge for a studio? I'm sure if they could get the price point in at $999/mo for a super simple apartment (hotel room, with a mini fridge under a counter with a sink piped in from the bathroom) they would have a bunch of takers. An efficiency over at Houston House was going for $1060/mo base 2 years ago (not sure what it would be now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmitch94 Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I don't know too much about the Houston apartment market but I know I would never pay a $1000 a month to like in a old hotel room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 They'd obviously renovate it. And they would sell it as the Heaven on Earth Lofts or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 That's actually a good idea. Some real affordable housing. How many hotel rooms does this thing have? But the real deal would be getting a kitchenette in each unit, if there would be space. It wouldn't have to be adorned in quartz counter tops with reclaimed wood floors, stainless steel appliances, just with functioning ones and inexpensive details. I'm sure they already have a laundry room space. Plus a pool and gym space. What would you charge for a studio? From the Arch-ive pictures posted the rooms looked smaller than a typical standard Holiday Inn. Maybe it was just an optical illusion (from a tiny picture) but it sure felt that way. Of course, hotel-to-residential conversions usually gut and make the units larger at the expense of the total numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 That's actually a good idea. Some real affordable housing. How many hotel rooms does this thing have? But the real deal would be getting a kitchenette in each unit, if there would be space. It wouldn't have to be adorned in quartz counter tops with reclaimed wood floors, stainless steel appliances, just with functioning ones and inexpensive details. I'm sure they already have a laundry room space. Plus a pool and gym space. What would you charge for a studio? thanks. my thoughts exactly.. right now downtowns housing boom is a welcome addition to creating the 24/7 neighborhood we all want it to be, but living downtown isn't exactly something attainable for most people. micro-apartments seem to be a solution. if you want to have the local amenities and conveniences of living downtown but can't afford the $1500+ rents at the new apartments then this would give you an option of sacrificing some living space to still enjoy the downtown lifestyle. according to some random link i found, there are 600 rooms (at least, when it was Heaven on Earth). I'm not sure what the square footage would break down to for each room, but yeah.. if you could squeeze a kitchenette in each unit that would be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 (edited) thanks. my thoughts exactly.. right now downtowns housing boom is a welcome addition to creating the 24/7 neighborhood we all want it to be, but living downtown isn't exactly something attainable for most people. micro-apartments seem to be a solution. if you want to have the local amenities and conveniences of living downtown but can't afford the $1500+ rents at the new apartments then this would give you an option of sacrificing some living space to still enjoy the downtown lifestyle. according to some random link i found, there are 600 rooms (at least, when it was Heaven on Earth). I'm not sure what the square footage would break down to for each room, but yeah.. if you could squeeze a kitchenette in each unit that would be ideal. The 600 room figure was from when the hotel was a Holiday Inn, and was never changed (the following hotels never did substantial renovations, which was why the hotel deteriorated). By the time Holiday Inn sold to Days, they weren't able to fill half of them, so the Days Inn only operated with about 300 rooms. The Masharashi hotel incarnations were never able to even break 25% occupancy, if I recall correctly. Edited September 26, 2015 by IronTiger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I dig the concept of a minimal renovation for affordable (in the market sense, no need for subsidies) units. Just to give an idea of how cheap and easy that renovation could be, these drop-in fridge/sink/stove units retail for about $1250- I'm sure less when you buy 600: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Yeah, by 1993, even with rock bottom rates, they couldn't keep even 80 rooms filled.http://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2013/07/downtowns-heaven-on-earth-the-old-holiday-inn/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 For some reason, when this thread was merged, it kept the newer, misspelled thread title. Could a mod change the title to "Holiday Inn / Days Inn / Heaven on Earth Inn Redevelopment" or something along those lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite_jim Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I've seen a lot more people in this building over the last year than in any time before. Mostly thrill seekers but one Saturday morning last summer I saw what appeared to be a building tour with a group of men in business suits pacing about on top of the garage podium. Anecdotal but it seems to show that owners have opened it up to redevelopment. As far as the water situation goes, for a couple weeks they (the couple of guys who show up every morning and "clean up") were using hoses from the garage out to the street gutter in what can only be described as flooding the sidewalk. No clue as to whether that was waste water or not. And not that these two events are related, but the city had several small crews and a large crew last weekend under Travis from St. Joseph down to Gray for a couple weeks after the sidewalk floodings. Today I also found out that there's a major water leak in downtown so who knows how long this has been going on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 There's quite a few projects that could fizzle out. Aloft has two other projects (including that really awesome one in Sugarland), there's the GRB hotel, Hotel ZaZa off of I-10, the midtown hotel proposed by the firm that's part of JR Central, etc. The ZaZa has a groundbreaking scheduled. This weekend, if I'm not mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Well...I did say that 10 days ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I haven't been here in ages... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I know, I missed your barrage of posts in threads that had been quiet for weeks 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Just tear this eyesore down! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted October 15, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 15, 2015 I wish the HCHA was actually working on this, mixed/affordable housing in Downtown. http://www.thedgstudios.com/project_houston_view.html The Houston View apartment conversion will take the existing structure and implement an entirely new and contemporary building envelope that complements the Houston skyline, makde of glass and metal cladding along with decorative metal panels for accenting and screening the parking structure. New street level landscape and hardscape appointments will also be added. The modern design will incorporate the latest in sustainable and energy efficient technologies to achieve bot LEED Platinum and Emerald Green designations. The ground floor will offer a formal lobby with porte-cochere for resident/guest drop-off and will also provide office and commercial space for medical services, fitness center, and resident services. The existing parking structure provides ample parking for residents and guests with the opportunity to lease the additional stalls to monthly commuters in need of secure down town parking. The basement of the building will include rentable storage spaces for residents in need of additional storage space. The pool deck above the parking garage will be renovated along with the creation of outdoor container garden areas with special paving to create a resort like environment for residents. Residential units will span from the 6th to the 30th floor. The most dramatic feature of the building will be the glass enclosed roof top community room and garden above the 30th floor accented with a contemporary wedge shaped roof structure that completes the new image and identity of the building. A total of 252 apartment units offer an urban loft aesthetic with open floor plans and floor to ceiling glass along the outer wall to enhance the surrounding views. The renovation will provide a mix of 1 & 2 bedroom units ranging from 700 square feet to over 900 square feet. Accessibility in apartment units is a key tenet of the overall design concept. Most floors contain 11 apartment units, an elevator core/lobby, mechanical room, and a resident lounge with television viewing, sittin, and library areas that will serve as an extension to individual living spaces. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Wow^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Urb, didn't I say that you have to stop doing this to us? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTHONYHTOWN Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 WOW!! no way... won't get my hopes up!!! LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Love everything about it. Even the giant unnecessary logo at the entrance. Even the garage looks great. You can tell they're are playing off the original design (and era), with the color choices. The roof feature is funky too. Fingers crossed. If when this happens, how many buildings are left Downtown that are abandonded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 This looks amazing! Would be wonderful rehab of the building. I wish the HCHA was actually working on this, mixed/affordable housing in Downtown. So what does this mean? It's actually going to happen, or it was just a study done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 A very minor point. They are placing cold hardy palms in a protected location. The new Holiday Inn on Main is placing Queen palms in a location exposed to cold north winds, which they will regret. These trees will look beautiful if properly taken care of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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