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1111 Rusk: Texaco Building Renovations


Ron4tx

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I imagine the rents on the north side are going to be less than the south side. Parting the curtains to stare at a garage, that is going to involve  interesting sales strategies.

 

Rechlin hope you are right about your assumptions. The garage height has been roughly doubled from the previous drawing. Guess construction depends how the new residential towers fill up. Hope they all have a waiting list.

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2 hours ago, rechlin said:

That article says it's connected to the downtown tunnel system.  Does that mean they are reopening the tunnel between it and the Magnolia?  Unfortunately that wouldn't be very useful, because the tunnel between the Magnolia and 609 Main was filled in when 609 Main was built.

 

I hope the additional tower for phase 2 isn't dead.  I assume that blank space on the roof of the left side of the garage on the above photo is going to be the base for it, though that's a very different location than was shown on the early renderings.  Also I see the garage has completely changed and grown since the early renderings; see below.  I don't see how the low garage before would have provided enough parking for the whole development, so maybe that's a sign that some variation on the tower is still planned.

 

Interesting about the tunnel connection.  The Star's website says "Future residential access to the downtown tunnel system"...  Could they maybe be planning to hook in through BG Group Place or maybe directly to 609 Main?

 

Edit:  I just found in another thread that the Texaco building developer said early on that they would be connected to BG Group Place and to another high rise being developed to the north (obviously 609 Main).

Edited by Houston19514
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as far as the addition on top of the parking garage, there was a lot of foundation work done, and a lot of time spent in that hole before the garage started to rise, maybe it was to have a foundation capable of supporting the addition? and then again, maybe they were just moving hoffa here?

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On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 8:57 AM, rechlin said:

That article says it's connected to the downtown tunnel system.  Does that mean they are reopening the tunnel between it and the Magnolia?  Unfortunately that wouldn't be very useful, because the tunnel between the Magnolia and 609 Main was filled in when 609 Main was built.

 

I hope the additional tower for phase 2 isn't dead.  I assume that blank space on the roof of the left side of the garage on the above photo is going to be the base for it, though that's a very different location than was shown on the early renderings.  Also I see the garage has completely changed and grown since the early renderings; see below.  I don't see how the low garage before would have provided enough parking for the whole development, so maybe that's a sign that some variation on the tower is still planned.

 

 

 

The foundation work they did in the hole was in two distinct phases with one set of work on the Fannin/"tower" half and another on the San Jacinto side.  I couldn't tell you if any of it would be up to holding up a tower, but it would be interesting to see. They do have a concrete core going up in the middle of the steel frame, not sure where that would fall in the tower as rendered.

 

I'm pretty sure they built a foundation tub wall that blocked off the old tunnel entrance over to Magnolia.

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43 minutes ago, Nate99 said:

I'm pretty sure they built a foundation tub wall that blocked off the old tunnel entrance over to Magnolia.

I wonder where their tunnel access is going then

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1 hour ago, cspwal said:

I wonder where their tunnel access is going then

 

I suppose they could have cut a hole there, or maybe I'm just remembering incorrectly.

 

I think that tunnel went to the garage. I'm not even sure the garage is connected to anything else.

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I found an old map in a video on the chronicle's website

http://www.chron.com/chrontv/this-forgotten-day-in-houston/article/1967-Next-phase-of-downtown-tunnels-complete-6598054.php

It shows a tunnel between this block and the garage to the north.  I wonder if there are more old tunnels that are abandoned that aren't on this map

tunnel map 1967.JPG

 

Edit:

For comparison, here's a link to the most up to date tunnel map I could find

https://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2016-07-28/2016-AB-MAP-Buildings.pdf

Edited by cspwal
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On 5/23/2017 at 9:25 AM, Twinsanity02 said:

Rechlin hope you are right about your assumptions. The garage height has been roughly doubled from the previous drawing. Guess construction depends how the new residential towers fill up. Hope they all have a waiting list.

 

I found a quote from the developer from quite early in the process, where he said the tower (which was of uncertain height) would be on top of a 9 level parking garage.  So it seems that rendering with the shorter parking garage has been inoperative for a very long time.

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It might be a grocery store

http://www.royalbluegrocery.com/

Quote
  • Royal Blue Grocery is a compact urban market that opened its doors in 2006. With six locations in Downtown Austin and one in Dallas' iconic Highland Park Village, each Royal Blue is different from the next, tailored to the neighborhood it serves, and the people who frequent it every day. Royal Blue offers a little bit of everything, from Stumptown coffee and freshly prepared grab-and-go offerings, to conventional grocery and convenience items, and always tons of locally sourced products from a long list of unique brands and producers.
  • Called a bodega by some, a corner store by others, Royal Blue is a modern urban grocery store that has just what you need - where you need it, when you need it.

 

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They put a tree up on the garage, so I guess it's finally done growing.

 

The renderings suggest that there will be some cladding and paint added to obscure the metal framework of the garage, and I think something retail/restaurant was planned for the ground floor, but I might have that wrong. In any case, they have the amenity deck up there that would look horrible perched on top of something that would not look out of place in an olefins unit in Deer Park.

 

03.jpg

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32 minutes ago, Twinsanity02 said:

That poor tree died for that.

 

It's still in a big barrel/pot, so there's hope for it. Given the lack of funds spent to get this thing finished, I'd guess that it will end up as part of the roof deck landscaping eventually.

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The garage may look a little bit better yet once the covering over the rail stop is removed and the ground floor buildouts are done, but I doubt anyone will ever find it attractive.

 

Curious what business might land there behind the rail stop, it's not a terribly busy one, mostly transfers to the red line.

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In the interest of balance if nothing else,

 

I genuinely like this. I'll reserve final judgment until it's actually done, but I like its simplicity, its industrial materials, and its relative openness. This is not just a big solid block like so many parking garages. 

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It's a bit simplified from the drawings, but from the (I believe three) sets of imagery we've seen, this actually reflects two of them EXCEPT all three designs have had a clearly separated/differentiated northwest corner. Otherwise this is very much the design they've shown since at least as far back as 2015: http://www.hbginc.com/projects/multihousing-and-mixed-use/historic-texaco-building-apartments/#.VWbWZE_BzGc.

 

I would also say it's pretty similar to a design we say in 2014 (not the one that shows up in the thumbnail):

 

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50 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:


More on Benjamin, the restaurant from B&B Butchers' Benjamin Berg, opening inside The Star in downtown Houston at 1111 Rusk.

From Houston Business Journal:
 

What's the update on your new restaurant, Benjamin, inside The Star?
I hope it’ll open late summer or fall of 2018. It’s going to be upscale dining. I have this idea in my head the way dining is going: upscale but very approachable. I don’t think people want stuffiness anymore. But I want to give a high level of service and an unbelievable experience in an absolutely breathtaking space that’s iconic for Houston — the architectural work on the building is just gorgeous. I want to do the concept at a price that’s approachable and in an environment that’s approachable.

The whole restaurant is about 18,000 square feet and we’re going to have some of the best, especially for restaurants, private event space. The dining room itself will have somewhere between 180 to 200 seats, a bar with roughly 60 seats. The rest of the space will be private rooms that can fit about 400 people. We’re going to have a table in the kitchen. In fact, I’ll have two kitchens: a kitchen on the mezzanine for private events and an a la carte kitchen. Plus, a garden. 


https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/02/01/ny-restaurateur-carves-out-a-niche-in-upscale.html

This sounds like a great place for corporate events and lawyers/bankers and maybe even the 25-year wedding anniversary!

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The Tower crane is coming down this weekend. Downtown will be down to just 3 tower cranes now. 2 at Capitol tower and 1 at Camden Conte.

 

San Jacinto St. Construction
Friday, March 9 (9 pm) – Monday, March 12 (5 am
Complete continuous closure of the 700 block of San Jacinto St. (between Rusk and Capitol) for crane dismantlement.

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  • The title was changed to 1111 Rusk: Texaco Building Renovations

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