Howard Huge Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 This, in my opinion, has to be one of the best modern day Houston developments. Not only is it downtown but it fits into the old school fabric, directly butting against buildings. Retail is just icing on the cake.Gerald Hines = GOD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Gerald Hines = GODLet's pump the breaks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClutchCity Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Let's pump the breaksBreaks or brakes? :] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Stonian Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) This, in my opinion, has to be one of the best modern day Houston developments. Not only is it downtown but it fits into the old school fabric, directly butting against buildings. Retail is just icing on the cake. I'm with you lockmat! ..., & yeah let's pump those brakes please. GOD would have built our 102 story mixed-use (retail/restaurants/apts/condo/hotel/office) tower with a 150,000 sqft Macy's/Bloomingdales on the first 6 floors and a Spire/Crown lit up at night (every night). "Heaven on Travis" Gerald's a good dude though.., but just a man Edited August 23, 2013 by HOUSTONIAN (N-ATL) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Let's pump the breaksIm from the old school lockmat, I always pump The Breaks 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Hilarious! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Wow. This is IMO the best looking development in Houston I've seen in a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HtownWxBoy Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Love it! Highrise, downtown, ground floor retail ... that's how you do it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Everybody is going all goo-goo over this building and you can't even see 70% of it. I just remember seeing a water-color image of another development downtown, cough...the Embassy Suites, and how sweet it looked and we got a concrete shell with signage. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 For height reference, the 717 Texas (Calpine) building nearby (@Milam/Prairie) is within a few floors of this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Everybody is going all goo-goo over this building and you can't even see 70% of it. I just remember seeing a water-color image of another development downtown, cough...the Embassy Suites, and how sweet it looked and we got a concrete shell with signage. We'll see. Except Hines has rarely let us down. I'd like to see a more realistic rendering, to see how the colors of the tower work. Until then, just have to enjoy with what they have provided. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moore713 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 This is true Hines tends to put out pretty close to what they present, unlike others who sell you on one thing then present another 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Everybody is going all goo-goo over this building and you can't even see 70% of it. I just remember seeing a water-color image of another development downtown, cough...the Embassy Suites, and how sweet it looked and we got a concrete shell with signage. We'll see.I echo what kinkaidalum said. Hines will not put up an ugly building. The interaction it has at street level and the surrounding buildings matters most. I think that is what most of us are excited about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite_jim Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) For height reference, the 717 Texas (Calpine) building nearby (@Milam/Prairie) is within a few floors of this.There are quite a bit of parallels between this project and that one. First off, the height and the massing of the tower portions will both be elongated on the north-south orientation as it rises above similar sized podiums. I also noticed on the tower base plan that there's a semi-rotunda, curtain wall facade to the north like the Calpine. The cladding schemes look similar too in proportion and color. Both have base podiums that wrap around historic architecture, although I hope we don't end up with the huge, beige firewalls of the Calpine center in between the two mid-rise towers on Main or behind the Bryd's bldg (ever been to the back patio of BB's when it was still open for lunch?), and obviously both of these are/were Hines projects. The best differences would be that this is a residential project(and I too agree with KinkaidAlum that it would have been nice to have something like a two storey retail/restaurant base with commercial use patio balconies over the sidewalks). I think the "red stone" parking garage is a pretty awful reminder of the McKinney garage and might look design-busy but I'm sure it will help drivers. Residential bldgs also tend to have penthouses on top so we're likely to see some sort of "crowning" element. Also this project is one block north and two blocks to the east of the Calpine so they won't be perfectly symmetrical on the skyline (which is good if they end up looking very different from one another). The Calpine should still look taller by perception b/c of the vertically oriented, double storey fenestration versus the residential tower that will emphasize a more horizontal, stacked look. It's nice to see something new in the historic district, but I think it needs more glass (to reflect unique things like the Majestic signage). Edited August 23, 2013 by infinite_jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Gerald Hines = GOD you realize Gerald likely had absolutely no input on this, right? he is far removed from the day-to-day operations of the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 you realize Gerald likely had absolutely no input on this, right? he is far removed from the day-to-day operations of the company.Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClutchCity Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Is this going to be connected to the tunnels? It'd be cool to get more retail that was at street level and in the tunnels. I agree that it would look good with some restaurants and other retail in two above ground stories so they can have balconies overlooking the park but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htownproud Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 I doubt it will be connected to the tunnels -- that part of downtown has poor access. Of course that is why this area of town actually has street level restaurants -- the tunnels have really killed downtown residential/retail (as has been pointed out in numerous other threads). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 The proposed tower on the Milam/Prairie/Travis/Preston block would have to be built for this one to get to the tunnels, I would suspect. Even for that one they will have to connect to 717 Texas or the Chronicle building. I don't think I'd go through the Chronicle if I were planning such things. I'd not be long on that building having a tenant in 10 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodToBeMe Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Gerald Hines = GOD This is true. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HtownWxBoy Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Is this going to be connected to the tunnels? It'd be cool to get more retail that was at street level and in the tunnels. I agree that it would look good with some restaurants and other retail in two above ground stories so they can have balconies overlooking the park but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for this one. Hopefully not. I'd prefer they keep the residents above ground... add to the street life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 I doubt it will be connected to the tunnels -- that part of downtown has poor access. Of course that is why this area of town actually has street level restaurants -- the tunnels have really killed downtown residential/retail (as has been pointed out in numerous other threads).The street level restaurants in this area probably has more to do with the proximity to the park. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Who received this rendering? It does not look right. This cannot be across the street from Market Square. It does not show the clock tower or Warren's and there is a restaurant on the corner. I talk the owner of Warren's and she also owns La Carafe and the only thing she said is traffic will get worse. Hines did not buy the whole block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowerSpotter Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 (edited) Who received this rendering? It does not look right. This cannot be across the street from Market Square. It does not show the clock tower or Warren's and there is a restaurant on the corner. I talk the owner of Warren's and she also owns La Carafe and the only thing she said is traffic will get worse. Hines did not buy the whole block. Whoa calm down... It's not one of those completely done renderings, its just a sketch. Edited August 26, 2013 by TowerSpotter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Oh ok. Why do a sketch that does not make any cense. If it is built it will look nothing like that. We shall wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 The sight is not across from Market Sq. It's catty coner. Warrens will still be serving martini's long after this is built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brijonmang Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Oh ok. Why do a sketch that does not make any cense. If it is built it will look nothing like that. We shall wait and see. The sketch is accurate-it makes perfect sense. It's looking south from Market Square Park and it portrays all the surrounding buildings as they are right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Oh ok. Why do a sketch that does not make any cense. If it is built it will look nothing like that. We shall wait and see. Censible or not, there's not any reason that it could not look more or less exactly like the rendering. People like to fire up the outrage train so quickly, they don't even bother with the basic facts. Seems to me that a list of the people that have avoided Warren's because of traffic would be a whole lot shorter than the list of people that would go there because they lived a block over. Unless they don't want more customers, which is entirely plausible. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Your right, do you know by fact that Hines purchased the parking lot between Frank's Pizza and that Cajun restaurant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jackwood Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I'm very concerned that this building doesn't have a top. Since there isn't one on the rendering, that obviously means they must be planning on building the tower without a roof. OMG! What's wrong with people? What is going to happen when it starts to rain? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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