cspwal Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 http://downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-27/2013-07-08_Downtown_Update-sm.pdf This is the only rendering we ever got of the building - so if they go by the rendering the walls will be covered with colored pencils 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 They have been putting up the styrofoam that they usually put on before the cheap stucco goes up. Since they're not using lathe and plaster you can expect this to look really bad in five years or less. Thats a shame and why the city still allows this material to be used even though its proven to mildew in this climate I'll never know. It looks cheap and doesn't last very long and turns black with mildew until its resurfaced and then redone again a couple of years later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly46 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Do we have any word on what will go in the empty parking lot that is surrounded by this building, the Marriott, and the parking garage building?Seems perfect for a large retail space. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 How long has the Embassy Suites been up? It still looks clean, general objections to stucco on principle notwithstanding. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Do we have any word on what will go in the empty parking lot that is surrounded by this building, the Marriott, and the parking garage building?Seems perfect for a large retail space. I have not seen anything planned for it. It is apparently owned by the city, and should be a busy place within a couple of blocks of a lot of the new residential. I wouldn't be surprised to see the TC/Hess Garage block residential tower put its trailers/laydown yard on that block or behind the Hampton/Homewood once that gets going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post brijonmang Posted September 20, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 20, 2015 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nate99 Posted September 29, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 29, 2015 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted October 3, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 3, 2015 Stucco. The scaffolding is coming down on parts of the west side where the stucco and paint are finished. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Triton Posted October 3, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 3, 2015 Houston by Marc longoria, on Flickr 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmitch94 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 At least there is some patterning in the stucco, better looking than the Embassy suits imo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryDierker Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Where's all that glass from the rendering? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astros148 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 looks ugly as sin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Where's all that glass from the rendering?Wow you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astros148 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 jesus that looks hidous and drove by and looks worst in person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Purify Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 This is pretty much in line with what the rest of the Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites around the country look like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 It's boring right now, but I'll wait to see what they do with the section below the beltline there. With those brands, I agree that it would be a stretch to expect more, renderings aside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 It's boring right now, but I'll wait to see what they do with the section below the beltline there. With those brands, I agree that it would be a stretch to expect more, renderings aside.While they do look like jumbo highway versions, it would been nice to get something more from them like their inner-city designs. It seems every cycle we get that one architect that blights our city. Last go around it was the Mercer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rechlin Posted October 14, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 14, 2015 Scaffolding above the pedestal is now down. It's unfortunate how boring this looks; the only saving grace is half the block is empty and a better looking building could be built to block the view of this. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 ^^^ maybe there will be special lighting enhancements throughout the edifice. i am just happy that downtown has a new and state of the art hotel in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I hope that residential tower gets built next to the Hess Garage. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Same developer owns the other half of the block. Which means we can expect the same thing to happen -- a decent rendering of the hotel to be released, only for the final product to be toned down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 It is much turning out just how I expected. I would like for it to be slicker and prettier. But, It ain't too bad for a Hampton Inn. And, it's the best Homewood Suites I've ever taken notice of. I think the window/skin pattern is taking a que from the Hilton, it seems. I appreciate that. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Since the west side will be covered by the other planned hotel I wouldn't have expected much from this side of the building anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I think I liked it better with the bright green wrap still on that top fin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Holy cow that's ugly. Add another one to the list that turned out far worse than the latest rendering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt16 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Holy cow that's ugly. Add another one to the list that turned out far worse than the latest rendering.It's not a gem, but it's just a Hampton Inn. Those things don't typically make any kind of impact on a skyline unless you're Raleigh or some place like that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astros148 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 ^^^ maybe there will be special lighting enhancements throughout the edifice. i am just happy that downtown has a new and state of the art hotel in place. are you kidding me, this looks like a damn prision. Ugliest thing ive ever seen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmitch94 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Then you have never seen the massive parking garage by the courts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) These parking lots are starting to have a closed in feel. Maybe some combination of them could become a plaza, heading towards minute maid? GRB Area hotels by Christopher Hisle, on Flickr Edited October 17, 2015 by cspwal 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towerjunkie Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I'll take stucco for 500 (the 500th+ time ) Jerry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I'm going to look at the bright side of this as this will add more needed hotel rooms to downtown. We're going to get some first rate hotels and we're going to get this. At least this one is in a somewhat inconspicuous part of downtown, as opposed to looming over Discovery green. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I'm going to look at the bright side of this as this will add more needed hotel rooms to downtown. We're going to get some first rate hotels and we're going to get this. At least this one is in a somewhat inconspicuous part of downtown, as opposed to looming over Discovery green. This, being more affordable hotels in downtown. I'll take it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Now let's bring affordable apartments downtown next 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Now let's bring affordable apartments downtown nextThat is the final element needed to create critical mass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I took a tour of the Med center/Museum district/ Montrose/ Midtown and Downtown areas on Saturday. I was surprised there were not more people walking around. Especially around midtown. By my un-scientific perception midtown appears the most densely populated. It was a beautiful day. Left perplexed, though everything looks great in all the areas I visited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I took a tour of the Med center/Museum district/ Montrose/ Midtown and Downtown areas on Saturday. I was surprised there were not more people walking around. Especially around midtown. By my un-scientific perception midtown appears the most densely populated. It was a beautiful day. Left perplexed, though everything looks great in all the areas I visited.Ha. My girlfriend said the samething Saturday night. We went to Simply Pho in Midtown and the area was pretty dead. I suspect it's that a lot of people were at the Market Square festival. Downtown was actually pretty packed Saturday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astros148 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 lol we should be happy that a prime location looks like a jail house? Our standards are so damn low in Houston, zomg a building has a curve BUILD IT! It helps create density so its great! We need to higher our standards and challenge the status quo, this building looks AWFUL. No ifs buts about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 (edited) - Edited July 9, 2019 by Timoric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 lol we should be happy that a prime location looks like a jail house? Our standards are so damn low in Houston, zomg a building has a curve BUILD IT! It helps create density so its great! We need to higher our standards and challenge the status quo, this building looks AWFUL. No ifs buts about it. So should we start dictating architectural guidelines for developers downtown? If every new building has to meet some sort of aesthetic ideal we'll be stuck with a sea of parking lots forever. Plus, as has already been mentioned, we need cheaper hotel rooms downtown as well so everyone can come here and enjoy it. And yes, density is important in a market such as downtown. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Uh oh... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 (edited) New construction Hampton Inns that are built to significantly higher architectural standards than this are few and far between. (I have not been able to find any.) Take a look at the glorious Hampton Inns in the much-envied downtowns of Austin, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. When viewed in the context of the real world, ours looks pretty good. The back side of ours looks better than the front side of any of those. Edited October 19, 2015 by Houston19514 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Same developer owns the other half of the block. Which means we can expect the same thing to happen -- a decent rendering of the hotel to be released, only for the final product to be toned down. Since the west side will be covered by the other planned hotel I wouldn't have expected much from this side of the building anyway. Have to agree. The West facing wall was made to be covered up. Whatever they do street level along Crawford will make or break the thing visually, but it's going to be lost in the shuffle between the Marquis and (hopefully) Tramell Crow's tower. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HNathoo Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 It's probably been noted a few times in this thread, but the developer of this project also built the Embassy Suites in downtown. I think there was some HAIF heat years ago about how that project turned out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 New construction Hampton Inns that are built to significantly higher architectural standards than this are few and far between. (I have not been able to find any.) Take a look at the glorious Hampton Inns in the much-envied downtowns of Austin, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. When viewed in the context of the real world, ours looks pretty good. The back side of ours looks better than the front side of any of those. The side facing Crawford will be just as bad. The developer released a pretty nice rendering of this and the final product comes out bland. This is a lower-market hotel yes, but it'd be nice if it didn't look like it was cheaply built in the 90's. Wasn't hoping for a masterpiece, just what was shown to us. Here's a few pics of Hampton Inns/Homewood Suites in other cities from the beginning of this thread. Most are more pleasing to the eye than ours. One planned for Chicago: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20140513/CRED03/140519952/hotels-are-in-office-is-out-for-proposed-west-loop-high-rise Hamilton Canada: https://developmentduffett.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/homewood-suites-hampton-inn-near-completion/comment-page-1/ Challenge accepted. I'm not saying that "Nothing good ever gets built in Houston", what I'm saying is this building will be ugly and an eye sore, based soley off the Embassy Suites. And even if I thought nothing good ever gets built in this city, I can freely do so on this forum. Anyways, here is your "challenge" (Not much of one really, a quick google/bing search, not looking for the holy grail). This one was built in the Historic District of Columbia, SC. http://www.hamptoninncolumbia.com/ I'm not sure where this one is, but it looks decent. And this one of Chattanoga, looks like the Gables being built on San Felipe. Or what about the ones that use old historic buildings? Birmingham Mexico City Ogden, UT Edit: And here is one for the cheap seats in the back: Boston So quit your bitching about my bitching 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) The side facing Crawford will be just as bad. The developer released a pretty nice rendering of this and the final product comes out bland. This is a lower-market hotel yes, but it'd be nice if it didn't look like it was cheaply built in the 90's. Wasn't hoping for a masterpiece, just what was shown to us. Here's a few pics of Hampton Inns/Homewood Suites in other cities from the beginning of this thread. Most are more pleasing to the eye than ours. One planned for Chicago: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20140513/CRED03/140519952/hotels-are-in-office-is-out-for-proposed-west-loop-high-rise Hamilton Canada: https://developmentduffett.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/homewood-suites-hampton-inn-near-completion/comment-page-1/ Interesting, this wasn't a cow reference, it was a Cupertino The ones inside existing structures are nice. The others, moo... Ours, double moo... Edited October 20, 2015 by Sunstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Montrose1100 Posted October 26, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 26, 2015 Good from afar, but far from good. 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 That line is a boxer(pantie) dropper fam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 ^^^ holy cow! what a cool illustration montrose1100... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Purify Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Anyone else notice that the curved roof feature isn't...quite...curved? You can see angles in that thing. I'm not as offended by this structure as a lot of HAIFers, but that seems like a gross display of poor craftsmanship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now