ricco67 446 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Ummm...The overhead power lines? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Houston19514 4610 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Ummm, you mean the catenary lines along one side of the construction site? How would they be an issue? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobruss 4984 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 In response to the questions about rooms and the convention center there is a report that the GRB commissioned in 2011 which clearly points out how we stack up in every category and was probably the catalyst for everything going on around this area now. I tried to download it but it is too large a file.It pictures every major convention center their capacities, sizes, hotel rooms and much more. Its calledthe George R. Brown Convention Center 2025 Master Plan. I'm not sure where I ran across this but it's over 100 pages and full of interesting info. Its 9.5MB so it wont go on here.It is a very thorough evaluation of what we have and what we need to compete with every major convention city. I hope you can find it if interested. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Naviguessor 2184 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 ^^ I think that that may be on the Houston First Site. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ricco67 446 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Ummm, you mean the catenary lines along one side of the construction site? How would they be an issue?seeing the crane that was installing the crane this past weekemd, it seemed to me that the clearance for it to pass under the catenary power lines would be fairly tight. not to mention bringing in all the materials needed to construct the hotel. I'm sure they will be able to do it, but I think it will be a bit of a challenge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Houston19514 4610 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 seeing the crane that was installing the crane this past weekemd, it seemed to me that the clearance for it to pass under the catenary power lines would be fairly tight.not to mention bringing in all the materials needed to construct the hotel.I'm sure they will be able to do it, but I think it will be a bit of a challenge.  Assuming the contractor has previously constructed a building, I doubt they will find it particularly challenging to figure a way to delivery cranes and materials to this site. Thousands of buildings have been constructed on sites far more restricted than this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
urban909 158 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 ^^ I think that that may be on the Houston First Site. Here's the link:http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2012-01-24/111212-GRBCC-2025_Master_Plan.pdf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Naviguessor 2184 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 99% of the materials used to build any conventionally constructed building, including mobile cranes used to construct the cranes are of standard width and height. No height than any standard truck using downtown streets everyday. A few permit loads, for HVAC, etc...may be taken to site. But these would be done overnight on the weekends. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
talltexan83 117 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 All of those trees facing the Convention Center (in the pic from Sunday) are now gone. Given their age (20+ years?), I guess I was hoping they could be saved. Such is progress. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tumbleweed_Tx 1789 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 All construction material and cranes will arrive from the south side of the project from Walker St and up Crawford st from Walker and McKinney and Avenidas De Las Americas problem solved  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
H-Town Man 4982 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 All of those trees facing the Convention Center (in the pic from Sunday) are now gone. Given their age (20+ years?), I guess I was hoping they could be saved. Such is progress.  Wow. Guess they just branched out to much. Would have been a great asset for Avenida, and softened the hard edges around there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UtterlyUrban 1675 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 With the Hess parking lot blocked off and the rendering that shows a pedestrian bridge from the hotel to the new residential building, I wonder if construction is being coordinated a bit?Will the Hess resi tower use the same lay down yard, etc?Coordinated construction or not? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 11777 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Â 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sky-guy 191 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 That was faster than I expected. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigFootsSocks 3177 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 See how fast that is developers? Don't let these ugly surface lots deter you, they're super easy to get rid of so go ahead and go up up up. Now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 11777 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) In case no one noticed, they tore out of the trees. And today, I just noticed there was a new street lane that they built. Edited May 21, 2014 by Triton Quote Link to post Share on other sites
H-Town Man 4982 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 You'd think the trees could have been transplanted somewhere else downtown, maybe along the bayou. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigFootsSocks 3177 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Greens project? What greens project? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 11777 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 All of those trees facing the Convention Center (in the pic from Sunday) are now gone. Given their age (20+ years?), I guess I was hoping they could be saved. Such is progress.  Oh whoops. I missed your comment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HoustonIsHome 1625 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 That model on display at the ceremony looked to be lined in trees on the south and west side. Maybe the trees will come back? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Metro West 16 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I liked the trees. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Urbannizer 44096 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 The latest change to the top:Â Â Â Â Webcam: http://www.ridadev.com/page_hotel_marriott_marquis_houston.cfm#!prettyPhoto[hccmarriott]/2/Â 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Montrose1100 3709 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 The latest change to the top:Â Â Â Â Webcam: http://www.ridadev.com/page_hotel_marriott_marquis_houston.cfm#!prettyPhoto[hccmarriott]/2/Typical Houston project. I'm not at all complaining about how it looks now (still great), it's just funny how the angle of the "Crown continuously lowered until finally zeroing out. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomv 35 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I'm not sure when this was taken, and it was copied from a book thus the poor quality, but it shows how much progress has been made Downtown getting rid of those nasty surface lots. Union Station is in the lower right hand corner.   1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chi-Char-Hou-Dal 383 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 First thought - Houston House been around a while and although I know just went through a renovation - has aged considerably well IMO. Death to Thy Surface Lot!!!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Pragmatist 394 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014         Heh. I think I've managed to collect most of the changes here in this post. It was interesting to see the rooftop (and pedestal) design change over time. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fernz 364 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 This may be an unpopular opinion, but I like the latest design best. I think the earlier versions looked conceptual and clunky; and they have been refined into a more elegant tower. Flashy is not necessarily better. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luminare 6039 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I agree with you fernz. The others still seemed to be a little over the top and very conceptual. The crown in the latest design looks a lot sleeker and more thought out. The first one looks like a missile silo lol. The latest one looks a lot more controled and majestic. I also like the massing a lot better on the bottom. That first image for the massing at the bottom looks like something that was a place holder for what is there now. Designs always go through Refinement and mature. The latest is a more thought out design. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mollusk 2391 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I'm not sure when this was taken, and it was copied from a book thus the poor quality, but it shows how much progress has been made Downtown getting rid of those nasty surface lots. Union Station is in the lower right hand corner.  Taken at the height of the Disco Era, judging by the presence of One Houston (1978) and the absence of the tower at South Texas College of Law (started in 1982) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DNAguy 440 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 After the Super Bowl, Houston's next big event can be hosting a MMA cage matches on the roof! [Movie trailer voice]2 men check into the Marriott Marquis, 1 man leaves! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intencity77 260 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 This may be an unpopular opinion, but I like the latest design best. I think the earlier versions looked conceptual and clunky; and they have been refined into a more elegant tower. Flashy is not necessarily better.Sorry, but this hotel was designed to be "flashy" otherwise why build a huge rooftop pool in the shape of Texas and have over 1000 rooms? Besides it's not like a lot of Houston's buildings are flashy anyway, if anything most are designed pretty conservatively. Houston could use a bit more flashier buildings IMO. A lot of convention center hotels are being built with the wow factor these days. Look at lighting on the Omni in Dallas, whether one likes it or not, no one could argue that it isn't flashy. While the end result (if this truly is the end result) of the Marquis is not entirely horrible, it is a bit disappointing compared to its initial renderings. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post DNAguy 440 Posted May 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2014  Taken at the height of the Disco Era, judging by the presence of One Houston (1978) and the absence of the tower at South Texas College of Law (started in 1982) Did you guys happen to find a stash of Rep. Culberson's 'private magazines'????? Look at the size of those... parking lots.... So many cars..... No light rail or buses either....  12 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
H-Town Man 4982 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Did you guys happen to find a stash of Rep. Culberson's 'private magazines'????? Look at the size of those... parking lots.... So many cars..... No light rail or buses either....   One of the better posts I've seen on here. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luminare 6039 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Sorry, but this hotel was designed to be "flashy" otherwise why build a huge rooftop pool in the shape of Texas and have over 1000 rooms? Besides it's not like a lot of Houston's buildings are flashy anyway, if anything most are designed pretty conservatively. Houston could use a bit more flashier buildings IMO. A lot of convention center hotels are being built with the wow factor these days. Look at lighting on the Omni in Dallas, whether one likes it or not, no one could argue that it isn't flashy. While the end result (if this truly is the end result) of the Marquis is not entirely horrible, it is a bit disappointing compared to its initial renderings. They are called "initial" renderings or concepts for a reason....because they are the beginning of a design. Most of the time those designs get thrown out the window very quickly because its just to get ideas out there. There is a difference between "flashy", "conservative", and simply a mature design. I'm sure to some, every glass building looks the same, but this one is pretty "flashy" if we were to use this kind of language. The lines and massing on this building are superb and crisp. The material chooses are spot on and enhances the buildings over form with long horizontal lines and materials for the base and nice lines that accentuate the verticality of the tower. They probably only put that crown so high and so over-exaggerated in the beginning because it "looked cool". Its not flashy or good at all its simply ridiculous how tall that crown was and it looked rather flimsy. The drum which pierced the orthogonal tower was awkward looking and didn't match the rest of the overall composition. If you want "flashy" for the sake of being flashy then go look at stuff that are going up in Dubai or China. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing buildings in those places, but many of those buildings would never exist in reality if it weren't for governments or kings trying to inflate their own ego's. Or maybe you want another kind of "flashy" then go and find some crazy 'Googie' architecture which was exactly that, flashy, and meant to catch the eye, but because they tried so hard they are now very dated (some can be quite charming and colorful, of course). Cool architecture isn't something that is just flashy for the sake of being flashy. This building speaks to what is happening in houston which is the city is maturing and growing. Landmark buildings will come, but they have to be the result of the process and not just because they wanted to do something "cool". I mean I want stuff from people like Zaha, Foster, Grimshaw, BIG, or the cool stuff that are going up in Spain, Germany, or England, but its got to be natural. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fernz 364 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Well said Luminare. Also, the hotel doesn't have 1,000 rooms in order to be flashy. Houston First needs as many rooms as possible near the convention center in order to attract large conventions. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UtterlyUrban 1675 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure when this was taken, and it was copied from a book thus the poor quality, but it shows how much progress has been made Downtown getting rid of those nasty surface lots. Union Station is in the lower right hand corner.It was prior to 1982 as the Four Seasons is not there. Assuming a 2 year construction period (pure guess), it would be prior to 1980 but after 1978 as a previous poster indicated. Since there is no First City tower (I think if it was there it should be seen from this angle), that means that since it opened in 1981, and construction likely started a couple years earlier, we are looking at 1978 or 1979....Thanks for this! Wonderful!No Discovery Green. No ballparks. No Park Shops, no Convention center. No Hilton. No First City Tower? Houston House is on an island! Wow. Edited May 22, 2014 by UtterlyUrban Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ArchFan 323 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 The photo above is amazing (no need to replicate it again).  So many surface lots and they are virtually full!! Another interesting item in it is the 30-story Holiday Inn, south of the Humble Bldg, looking all new and spiffy.  I wasn't a big fan of it even when it was new, but at least it wasn't a civic embarrassment. In the lower right, we can see the Catholic church, the World Trade Center, and our beloved Greyhound Bus Station (before it moved south of Pierce Elevated).  I've never been in the "new" Trailways station, but the old Greyhound station was a bit on the gross side.  We were all happy when it moved.  Now ... I guess we want it to move again ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UtterlyUrban 1675 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 There are 3 office trailers (construction trailers) Parked on the Hess site across the street from this project tonight. I do think that the Hess residential tower and this hotel project will have construction schedules coordinated ........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 11777 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 This may be an unpopular opinion, but I like the latest design best. I completely agree. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
monarch 3780 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014  sleeker, look's a bit more elegant. seems as though crosswalk has been upgraded. current concept, looks a bit taller. beautiful! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Howard Huge 2398 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Ugh. No comment. I guess I'll post the old HAIF cliché, "It's better than what was there before." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cloud713 4037 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure when this was taken, and it was copied from a book thus the poor quality, but it shows how much progress has been made Downtown getting rid of those nasty surface lots. Union Station is in the lower right hand corner. Edited May 22, 2014 by cloud713 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sdotwill84 51 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 looks like we still have a long way to go. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Timoric 1556 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) - Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nate99 7720 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 looks like we still have a long way to go. If everything on the drawing board goes, a significant number of those surface lots that you see will be gone.  The eastern side of downtown was pretty much worthless for years, this type of thing takes decades. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tanith27 308 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 fwiw as I look out my window at the construction, I see the little lot next to the Hess garage is coned off with trailers on it. Â Could be staging for the hotel, or maybe they're going to work on this piece as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luminare 6039 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 passed by this today. They already have the whole parking lot dug up and were beginning excavation from what I could see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aarosurf 166 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I love the new design - can't wait to relax by the rooftop Texas-shaped pool with a margarita when this thing finishes. Also looking at the old photo  - I could not imagine walking across that sea of parking lots to get to work in the middle of a Texas summer - I would need a shower once I got to the office. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triton 11777 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) Â Edited May 22, 2014 by Triton 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
H-Town Man 4982 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 They missed a tree! THEY MISSED A TREE!!Wait, no they didn't. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.