Marriott Marquis - New GRB Convention Center Hotel + Retail

[nativehoustonion 588]

How will the light rail work?  Since the garage is above it.  It will be underneath it with no stop.  Maybe a ramp to the second floor of the garage.  

[Nate99 7720]

From the street:

 

 

 

Cutting a line down Walker

 

 

Bad light, but on the Walker side sidewalk it reads "SHORING".

 

 

Oh, and the fence is here...

 

[UtterlyUrban 1675]

From the cam

Is this cam available to the public on the web??

[BigFootsSocks 3177]

Is this cam available to the public on the web??

http://oxblue.com/open/Hines/609Main

[UtterlyUrban 1675]

http://oxblue.com/open/Hines/609Main

Wow! THANKS!

[BigFootsSocks 3177]

Wow! THANKS!

No problem, it's on page 32 of the 609 Main thread if anyone's curious.

[Houston19514 4611]

Drove by the site this evening.  The fence/barricades are up and there is a backhoe on site!

[H-Town Man 4982]

Awesome, thanks.

[ClutchCity 232]

This is a frustrating project. I see it is moving forward, but with the city dumping $150 million into this it's not unreasonable to expect it to get going a little quicker right? Haven't they had financing lined up, renderings completed, and contractors picked for months now? They had a big groundbreaking ceremony a month ago, ate their cake, and since have really only erected a fence. Sure it's not Mayor Parker's responsibility and there are other projects that have quietly cancelled or pushed back start dates, but I don't think there is a more reported on project in all of Houston(besides the Exxon aerials for days) while also receiving city money and is still failing to make major progress. I have no doubt it'll pick up soon(probably this Monday to spite me), just a little perturbed something with so many things going for it still cannot start at the announced (April 11th) groundbreaking. Honestly, so they don't ever get it wrong, they should just say it'll start soon and will be finished sometime after that. It would be annoying, but at least they can't be wrong when using vague terms.

End /rant. Sorry about that guys. Really anxious for this side of downtown to look completely different in a few years.

[UtterlyUrban 1675]

Construction started at 7am this morning. They are stripping the asphalt back.

[fernz 364]

Yes!

[mollusk 2391]

Rusk was moribund for so long.  With this started, that will be another block that's difficult to get through (particularly on foot - try walking from BoA a/k/a The Castle of Commerce to BG a/k/a The Pipewrench), but when it's done it will be pretty cool.

[Luminare 6039]

I think with all the development in the city anyway, we as citizens are simply going to have to bite the bullet when it comes to disruptions to traffic and routines. Especially when the end result is going to be fantastic.

 

I'm so happy this is finally starting! Looks like I will be driving through downtown on my way home

[Nole23 1449]

Game changer!

 

Looking forward to following the progress of this project.

[Montrose1100 3709]

Game changer! 

Nails on a chalk board.

[arche_757 836]

^What?  Where?!

 

Seriously though, this actually is a game changer.  With the new convention center hotel we will be able to attract more conventions, which will in turn bring more people and add to the need for more hotel space, since business travelers will be tusslin with conventioners in the years to come.

[H-Town Man 4982]

Nails on a chalk board.

 

That's not really nails on a chalkboard. "It's better than what was there before" is nails on a chalkboard. 99% of all new construction in the world is better than what was there before, assuming what was there before wasn't virgin wilderness.

[Triton 11777]

 

 

Grainy pictures... sorry

I have the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and moisture got in the lens area somehow. Probably cause I took it in the pool last night.  (It's a water proof/resistant phone). So once I got that high vantage point, the moisture had cleared.

 

 

Really bad quality of the lot north of it.. and I had to take this with my front facing camera while the moisture got out of the back:

 

Edited May 19, 2014 by Triton

[Timoric 1556]

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Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[H-Town Man 4982]

(it's on)

[Naviguessor 2184]

7,600 Hotel rooms in the "Planning Phase"?  THAT is surprising.

[H-Town Man 4982]

 

Houston has a lot more hotel rooms that I thought.  I thought we might be way down the list, but we are 9th surprisingly.

Even better we are projected to pass Dallas for #8 in the U.S because of all the stuff under construction.  Who else is surprised?

 

http://boardingarea.com/loyaltytraveler/2013/10/09/top-ten-u-s-cities-by-hotel-rooms/#sthash.JLzGmZAm.dpbs

 

Top Ten U.S. cities by number of hotel rooms

 

Source: Hotel News Now article with August 2013 Smith Travel Research with line bar graphic

 

1. Las Vegas, Nevada

169,100 existing rooms

0 in rooms construction

14,600 rooms in planning phase

183,700 total rooms forecast (#1)

 

2. Orlando, Florida

119,800 existing rooms

2,600 rooms in construction

2,200 rooms in planning phase

124,600 total rooms forecast (#3)

 

3. Chicago, Illinois

108,700 existing rooms

1,500 rooms in construction

4,800 rooms in planning phase

115,000 total rooms forecast (#5)

 

4. Washington D.C.

106,200 existing rooms

2,900 rooms in construction

7,900 rooms in planning phase

117,000 total rooms forecast (#4)

 

5. New York New York

106,000 existing rooms

12,600 rooms in construction

11,500 rooms in planning phase

130,100 total rooms forecast (#2)

 

6. Los Angeles-Long Beach

97,200 existing rooms

2,400 rooms in construction

4,700 rooms in planning phase

104,300 total rooms forecast (#6)

 

7. Atlanta, Georgia

93,900 existing rooms

900 rooms in construction

3,600 rooms in planning phase

98,400 total rooms forecast (#7)

 

8. Dallas, Texas

78,200 existing rooms

1,000 rooms in construction

4,300 rooms in planning phase

83,500 total rooms forecast (#9)

 

9. Houston, Texas

74,700 existing rooms

1,800 rooms in construction

7,600 rooms in planning phase

84,100 total rooms forecast (#8)

 

10. Phoenix, Arizona

62,100 existing rooms

500 rooms in construction

3,900 rooms in planning phase

66,500 total rooms forecast (#10)

 

- See more at: http://boardingarea.com/loyaltytraveler/2013/10/09/top-ten-u-s-cities-by-hotel-rooms/#sthash.JLzGmZAm.dpuf

 

 

NYC is #5? Behind Chicago?

 

This must be based on city limits. Can't imagine we have more hotel rooms than SF and Boston, just to name two.

 

[Timoric 1556]

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Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[Triton 11777]

Wow. That list is a game changer.

 

I feel like that's become the 2014 Phrase of Houston.

[nativehoustonion 588]

Is it Dallas are it is Dallas-Forth Worth?

 

[H-Town Man 4982]

Probably right, the reason I was surprised was I thought DFW always had a pretty large lead in that area over Houston.

 

I guess they still do if they are leading us in a city vs. city comparison. When you factor in Addison, Richardson, Plano, Arlington, Irving, Frisco... that's a lot of hotel rooms.

 

Then again, the chart they're referring to says top 10 "markets," so I doubt it's just city limits.

 

Edited May 19, 2014 by H-Town Man

[Houston19514 4611]

I guess they still do if they are leading us in a city vs. city comparison. When you factor in Addison, Richardson, Plano, Arlington, Irving, Frisco... that's a lot of hotel rooms.

 

Then again, the chart they're referring to says top 10 "markets," so I doubt it's just city limits.

 

No... the chart says "top ten U.S. cities".  So it might be just city limits. ;-)

[H-Town Man 4982]

No... the chart says "top ten U.S. cities".  So it might be just city limits. ;-)

 

This is the actual chart they're referring to. You can see the link to it in the article.

 

And as you can see, it says Markets, not cities. :-)

 

[nativehoustonion 588]

Does anyone know if they torn down the Fontainebleau Hotel at 63 floors and 735 feet tall.  I do not know why they a re building more hotels.  Last year it was just sitting there empty.

[nativehoustonion 588]

I think Las Vegas has too many hotels.

[Luminare 6039]

Come on Houston! Lets get over 100k baby!!!

[arche_757 836]

Safe to say that Atlanta has so many more than we do because of the 1996 Summer Olympics.  Only reason.  I should hope that number is DFW, because if it is just Dallas, its likely they outnumber us in hotels by a lot more than what is listed (though I suspect it isn't the whole Metro).

I wonder what number of rooms San Diego has?

[Triton 11777]

Based on the numbers, this is clearly about the metro areas. Marriott Marquis is a large hotel and holds 1,000 units. Most carry far fewer than that. 74,700 units sounds about right for a metro area since the Galleria, downtown, and TMC area can't possibly fill in the rest of that alone.

 

Ahhh, now that I'm thinking about it, perhaps this is within the city limits. Nevermind. 

Edited May 19, 2014 by Triton

[H-Town Man 4982]

Safe to say that Atlanta has so many more than we do because of the 1996 Summer Olympics. Only reason. I should hope that number is DFW, because if it is just Dallas, its likely they outnumber us in hotels by a lot more than what is listed (though I suspect it isn't the whole Metro).

I wonder what number of rooms San Diego has?

Atlanta is a bit more of a touristy city. When you drive in there, you feel like you're on vacation. Not industrial or messy like Houston. And their giant hotels downtown mostly predate the Olympics.

[houstontexasjack 2338]

Atlanta also has the benefit of the world's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic being located there. When Delta runs a thousand flights a day out of the city, there are bound to be a few people who will stop and visit for business and pleasure.

[towerjunkie 195]

So it's settled we need to host the olympics.... begin 80s montage of houston training for an olympic bid  just kidding! 

[cloud713 4037]

So it's settled we need to host the olympics....

Haha, I was thinking the same thing. I wish the city were more serious about the 2024 Olympic bid.. It would be a great opportunity to show the world how much Houston has changed...

[Houston19514 4611]

This is the actual chart they're referring to. You can see the link to it in the article.

 

And as you can see, it says Markets, not cities. :-)

 

 

I see.  And you are clearly right that it is not just those within city limits.  (Houston has approximately 57,000 hotel rooms inside the city limits.  Dallas has approximately has not quite 32,000.)

 

Having said that, I wonder how they defined the market.  There are more than 20,000 hotel rooms in the Houston metro area outside the city limits. So I wonder how they came up with a market of 74,700 rooms.  (Houston city 57,000 plus Houston outside the city 21,000 = 78,000)

 

Edited May 20, 2014 by Houston19514

[cloud713 4037]

[Timoric 1556]

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Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[Houston19514 4611]

 

Cool pics!  Thanks for posting.  I have to confess I couldn't resist driving by the site on my way home tonight (not really on the way, but had to see). 

 

[ArchFan 323]

I'm a Houston booster, but I must confess I'm skeptical that the graphic is really comparing metro Houston with metro DFW.

 

I tried googling to get some factoids, but didn't come up with any interesting numbers right away.  But, while we're in this measuring-ourselves competition, I did stumble on to a Wikipedia page that lists the 184 largest hotels in the world. 

 

Dallas has 4 (Sheraton Dallas: 1840, Hilton Anatole: 1608, Hyatt Regency: 1120, Omni:  1001)   and Houston has 1 (Hilton Americas: 1200).  The Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston currently has 947 rooms, but I seem to recall it originally had 1001.

 

 

[ArchFan 323]

So, I think Ric Campo and Houston First are doing a good job for Houston in getting the Marriott Marquis built. The lack of close-in hotel rooms has really hurt us in drawing major conventions to GRB.

[H-Town Man 4982]

I'm a Houston booster, but I must confess I'm skeptical that the graphic is really comparing metro Houston with metro DFW.

I tried googling to get some factoids, but didn't come up with any interesting numbers right away. But, while we're in this measuring-ourselves competition, I did stumble on to a Wikipedia page that lists the 184 largest hotels in the world.

Dallas has 4 (Sheraton Dallas: 1840, Hilton Anatole: 1608, Hyatt Regency: 1120, Omni: 1001) and Houston has 1 (Hilton Americas: 1200). The Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston currently has 947 rooms, but I seem to recall it originally had 1001.

My guess is that their "Dallas Market" is something smaller than DFW but something bigger than Dallas city limits. They probably have Dallas and Ft Worth as different markets, each with a conglomeration of suburbs around it.

And while past history leads one to think that Dallas (and immediate burbs) would have more hotel rooms than Houston, I wouldn't think it would have as many as Atlanta, so the list seems fairly accurate.

[ArchFan 323]

I remember that in the 70s, there were a number of "markets" that drew a lot of business travelers to Dallas, which in turn lead to the development of some large hotels nearby.  These were (are) places for manufacturers and wholesalers to market their wares to retailers.  IIRC, Trammell Crow's company was the original developer and was very successful with the concept.  I dunno if they developed any of the big hotels, but that seems like it would have been a good business strategy.   

 

The big one I remember was the Apparel Mart, but there was also a Furniture Mart, and eventually the World Trade Center there.  I think the latter was the one with the large atrium that was used to film the original Logan's Run movie.

 

** I think ** Crow's company developed the design center on Woodway here as kind of a branch of the Dallas operation.  

 

In any case, I've always thought there was a connection between those markets and why more high-capacity hotels were built in Dallas from the 70s on.

Edited May 20, 2014 by ArchFan

[Timoric 1556]

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Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[Houston19514 4611]

Looking at your pic above, it amazes me that there are above ground wooden electric wires (telephone poles) in the downtown grid, how hard and expensive would it be to make it all underground for 400 blocks or so around downtown? It looks bad. Do they have that in other big cities or just us?

 

Those overhead wires are the catenary wires for the light rail.   So, yes, any city that has light rail downtown also has such overhead wires.  The wooden pole is a temporary pole holding up the traffic signals.

 

I think all or very nearly all of downtown has the electric wires buried.  (And FWIW, yes, other cities, many other cities, have above ground electric wires strung from wooden poles.)  Houston is not at all unique in that regard.

[Timoric 1556]

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Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[ricco67 446]

As I mentioned before, it will be interesting to see how they are going to get the crane and other heavy equipment over those lines.

then there is the construction issues while the line is running.

[Houston19514 4611]

As I mentioned before, it will be interesting to see how they are going to get the crane and other heavy equipment over those lines.

then there is the construction issues while the line is running.

 

What is the issue?