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GreenStreet And The Laura Hotel, Autograph Collection


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  • 2 weeks later...
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A highly anticipated boutique downtown hotel is one step closer to delivery.

Hotel Alessandra, a 20-story, 223-room hotel, topped out on Aug. 1. The hotel is being developed by Houston-based Midway Cos. and Houston-basedValencia Group, which will operate the hotel.

Hoar Construction is the general contractor. Roughly 175,000 square feet of elevated concrete slabs were poured in nine months, according to a release from Midway. There have been 1,300 tons of rebar used during construction, and the hotel will contain around 128 miles of electrical wire upon completion. All in all, the development used 11,000 cubic yards of concrete, according to the release.

San Francisco-based Gensler's Houston and Los Angeles offices designed the hotel, which will have 10,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, an indoor/outdoor event deck with a reflecting pool, as well as a restaurant and bar. Plans for the hotel's lobby, which was originally pegged for one of the top floors, was moved to the second floor during redesign work revealed in February 2015.

The hotel was originally expected to be complete in time for the 2017 Super Bowl, but won't be finished in time, Midway's Ann Taylor said in May. Among other things, she cited weather-related delays.

Upon its completion, Hotel Alessandra will anchor GreenStreet, a mixed-use development formerly known as Houston Pavilions that Midway is renovating. Midway tore down a GreenStreet building that housed the former Yao Restaurant & Bar to make room for the hotel last January. The hotel broke ground in spring 2015.

Midway and Valencia are also collaborating on two hospitality projects in College Station. The George, a 162-room luxury hotel, will help anchor Midway's 60-acre mixed-use called Century Square. There's also Calvary Court, another hotel in Century Square, that Midway and Valencia are developing. That hotel will contain 141 rooms and will feature rustic designs inspired by Texas A&M University traditions, according to Midway marketing materials.

Modeled after Midway's popular CityCentre complex in Houston, Century Square will include retail, entertainment space, two hotels, an office building and a mid-rise apartment complex. It should deliver this fall.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2016/08/photos-downtown-luxury-hotel-tops-out.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

^^^ i am trying to comprehend just what they are trying to accomplish with the very top of this edifice.  this new design seems to differentiate from the second round of renderings.  is there now going to be a huge opening at the very top of this hotel?  inquiring minds.......

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1 hour ago, monarch said:

^^^ i am trying to comprehend just what they are trying to accomplish with the very top of this edifice.  this new design seems to differentiate from the second round of renderings.  is there now going to be a huge opening at the very top of this hotel?  inquiring minds.......

Perhaps they are trying to make it less beige.   

 

Compared to the original renderings, this place looks, well, beige.

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13 minutes ago, Subdude said:

Perhaps I lack full understanding of these things, but this design, from the beige color scheme to the annoyingly alternating offset windows, just doesn't scream "luxury" to me.  I suppose it's what's inside that counts.

If we're lucky the Hotel will have black chandeliers like their citycentre property. Edgy.

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4 hours ago, Subdude said:

Perhaps I lack full understanding of these things, but this design, from the beige color scheme to the annoyingly alternating offset windows, just doesn't scream "luxury" to me.  I suppose it's what's inside that counts.

The place screams "I am a Fairfield Inn somewhere in the bland suburbs, conveniently located a quarter mile from the interstate" to me. 

 

Total bait and switch.

 

 

 

 

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i keep on thinking the same thing...its almost like they said they wont be open in time for Super Bowl to relieve some of the stress and pressure in case they aren't...but secretly they are trying to be open by then ;)

 

Edited by gene
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Thats the problem. If you look at the image that Urbanizer posted on page 65 taken at a distance from the east you have a hard time even noticing the building. It blends in better than Waldo. I just keep thinking of what should have been there. Would someone remind us what we missed out on with a fresh look at the original plans for what would definitely have been a building that would have made a lot of people very happy. I don't know how to do it or I would have posted it here. Thanks

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For the benefit of bobruss and everyone else, here's a quote of Urbannizer's original announcement of what we should have gotten instead:

 

On 3/26/2014 at 8:29 AM, Urbannizer said:

This is amazing. 7,000 sq ft of retail, demolition work begins in June.

784x2048.jpg

premium_article_portrait.jpg

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/retail/article/Luxury-project-is-latest-hotel-planned-for-5350301.php

 

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Agreed Tiger.. I had hoped they might do that, given the green space shown in the initial conceptual renderings. All of the barren flat roof tops in our urban areas are so much wasted potential.

 

On September 13, 2013 at 9:23 AM, Urbannizer said:

 

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^^^ @tigereye really cool job here my pal!  referencing these illustrations can only highlight just how very subtle and elegant MIDWAY is constructing and integrating this hotel facility into this entertainment complex.... almost seamlessly.  the beautiful palm trees only add to the vitality that all of this will bring once completed.  this is going to be one gorgeous place.... wow!

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1 hour ago, monarch said:

^^^ @tigereye really cool job here my pal!  referencing these illustrations can only highlight just how very subtle and elegant MIDWAY is constructing and integrating this hotel facility into this entertainment complex.... almost seamlessly.  the beautiful palm trees only add to the vitality that all of this will bring once completed.  this is going to be one gorgeous place.... wow!

 

I agree @monarch. The design is consistent with existing complex and will fit in quite nicely when complete. 

 

Now if only Midway would open up entrances with patio seating along the Dallas St side (along with that rooftop park atop Forever 21)

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On ‎9‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 0:38 PM, Timoric said:

 

I think we all have to admit that the new buildings in Houston this cycle save a few major exceptions like 609 are very pedestrian. But....that is ok...if...later we get some signature buildings and these are just fill-in that helped get us to the tipping point we all hope for.  If Houston is doing the hard and not sexy work of getting transportation, downtown living initiatves, better parks and better roads done to usher in the right conditions and it will pay off in the future, this is just the transition happening.

 

The main potential for better design I think lies in property types such as downtown retail, hospitality, and mixed use, where lack of an established demand base or low outside perceptions limits the amount that investors are willing to risk. With downtown office, since it is so established, we are much closer to being maxed out. Although if there is a big increase in downtown office demand as the baby boomers fade out and downtown residential grows, that could lead to better office designs.

 

Suburban design is probably as good as it's going to get. There is no foreseeable increase in the appeal of the suburbs. Inner loop apartment midrise architecture is probably also maxed out, although things could get more interesting in places like Midtown or along Buffalo Bayou as developments cluster and synergize. To take Dallas' McKinney Ave. corridor as an example, from about 2000 to 2010 you had density being developed, but it was pretty bland, being a frontier area. Since 2010, development has become higher quality because the neighborhood is established and risk is lower. Midtown is a step or two behind, but starting to make this transition.

 

The ultimate thing would be if Houston could somehow make the leap to becoming a tourist destination, led by downtown/Midtown/Museum District forming an attractive, exciting urban core that is unique in the southern U.S. Such a change would absolutely raise the bar on development throughout the city. Even if we only manage to neutralize our current abysmal reputation among other regional cities, that would make a big difference.

Edited by H-Town Man
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  • The title was changed to Scott Gertner's New Downtown Venue
  • The title was changed to GreenStreet And The Laura Hotel, Autograph Collection

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