Office Building For Midtown At 3501 Main St.

[Moore713]

I wonder where this near by tower will be ?

[Urbannizer]

Created a separate thread for the office tower.

"Schultz and his partners have other plans for the Midtown area. They are in the process of acquiring the ground lease from Trinity Church for the property at Holman and Main between the church and Ensemble Theatre, he said, and hope to build an office tower."

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Mid-Main-project-will-ride-with-the-millennials-4851864.php?cmpid=btfpm#/3

"Linbeck is the general contractor for the project and Lewis Property Co. will do the leasing. Construction is being financed by IBC. Transwestern will lease an office tower planned on a nearby block."

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/09/is-the-mid-main-project-the-future-of-urban-houston/

Edited September 30, 2013 by Urbannizer

[lockmat]

I like how it's just sort of a throw away sentence. Guess she didn't have any more info on it.

[cloud713]

its about time midtown starts to make a presence in the sky... hopefully this trend continues so we can start to work on connecting downtowns skyline with the TMCs skyline through midtown and the museum district.

[Moore713]

its about time midtown starts to make a presence in the sky... hopefully this trend continues so we can start to work on connecting downtowns skyline with the TMCs skyline through midtown and the museum district.

 

 

was'nt there suppose to be a medical tower proposed for midtown, but it feel thu after the economy tanked?

 

I have that dream of a main street lined with high rasies and towers.. 

Edited September 30, 2013 by Moore713

[ZKB9]

was'nt there suppose to be a medical tower proposed for midtown, but it feel thu after the economy tanked?

 

I have that dream of a main street lined with high rasies and towers.. 

I think we've all had that dream

[j_cuevas713]

This is great news but I also noticed MATCH is barely at 61% total funding for their project. How likely are either of these to actually happen?

[Elseed]

They should expand the TMC into midtown....and have a Midtown Medical Center....which would be an extension of the Med Ctr....have the hospitals close to the rail...and just put a TON of office buildings/Hospitals in Midtown and we can finally have midtown connected to the TMC

[Texasota]

there is another neighborhood between midtown and TMC.

[LTAWACS]

its about time midtown starts to make a presence in the sky... hopefully this trend continues so we can start to work on connecting downtowns skyline with the TMCs skyline through midtown and the museum district.

I've been saying this for years! What can we do to make this happen?

[cloud713]

They should expand the TMC into midtown....and have a Midtown Medical Center....which would be an extension of the Med Ctr....have the hospitals close to the rail...and just put a TON of office buildings/Hospitals in Midtown and we can finally have midtown connected to the TMC

i hope i dont sound this crazy when i ramble about connecting skylines one day.. heh.

you do realize TMC is like 2 miles from midtown, right? as pointed out, there is an entire district/neighborhood in between midtown and TMC, along with a very large park separating TMC from the Museum District. they would have to triple the size of the medical center and gobble up everything in between to have it all be one big medical center. our museum district would be an odd mish-mash of museums and hospitals.. doctors mingling at rail stops with tourists.. it would be weird. midtown may (hopefully) get some high rises one day. maybe this one will start a new trend but there arent many areas to develop high rises along the light rail in midtown. the main one i notice is the lot between HCC and the SuperBlock. other then that they could maybe redevelop the Sears, or the 3 block site north of McGowen thats used for parking.

[Elseed]

i hope i dont sound this crazy when i ramble about connecting skylines one day.. heh.

you do realize TMC is like 2 miles from midtown, right? as pointed out, there is an entire district/neighborhood in between midtown and TMC, along with a very large park separating TMC from the Museum District. they would have to triple the size of the medical center and gobble up everything in between to have it all be one big medical center. our museum district would be an odd mish-mash of museums and hospitals.. doctors mingling at rail stops with tourists.. it would be weird. midtown may (hopefully) get some high rises one day. maybe this one will start a new trend but there arent many areas to develop high rises along the light rail in midtown. the main one i notice is the lot between HCC and the SuperBlock. other then that they could maybe redevelop the Sears, or the 3 block site north of McGowen thats used for parking.

 

 

Basically what I meant was we already have a TMC why not create another TMC and since space is running out in the TMC why not have a  TMC #2  if you will in Midtown.....there are still infill sites needed in midtown that can be filled ....TMC #2  will add some huge buildings to midtown helping connect "the gap" between Downtown and TMC....The Museum District would need a few more buildings as well....Overall even with a few added buildings to The Museum District and adding a TMC #2 to Midtown you would still have some gaps in the Downtown to TMC skyline but coming into the city it would look nicely connected not perfect but the buildings will be close enough to "look" connected and as far as "doctors mingling at rail stops with tourists" who cares? whats so odd about that? I've seen stuff like that on the subway in NYC Chicago and Hong Kong ? so what would make it so odd? Are we all supposed to be separated into 'castes" and sworn never to mingle among each other?BTW you do realize that  "doctors mingling at rail stops with tourists" probably already happens here...I know people who work in finance and engineering in Downtown and interact with TMC personal on the rail on they way home to Reliant Park and on that train they see tourists...so its not a huge deal....Oh yeah and you do sound this crazy when rambling about connecting skylines one day...

[fernz]

There two open pieces of land which means downtown and TMC skylines will never be connected: Rice University and Hermann Park.

 

And also, TMC didn't just happen by itself. It was planned and the land was donated - without master planning, midtown will always be the random collection of buildings and uses it is today - which is just fine, it gives it a unique identity.

 

[brian0123]

@Elseed

Midtown land is owned by individuals... TMC land is the TMC. Also, the TMC has a lot of land still and their 20 year plan has them building on it a ton. The land is south and below the bayou. Probably in 20-30 years the TMC skyline will connect towards Reliant stadium. I'm on mobile right now, but the TMC website has a huge PDF outlining their growth plans south of the bayou.

[H-Town Man]

Like Brian says, I think the future of TMC is to the south, not the north. Land values in Midtown are likely too high for hospitals. And I think this is for the best. Do we want Midtown overwhelmed with traffic? I don't even think office buildings are good for the neighborhood - all the commuters going downtown are bad enough. I'm hoping for residential with walkable streets. I know people want to see skylines connect, but imagine if lower Manhattan's skyline connected with Midtown Manhattan - you wouldn't have Greenwich Village or all those great neighborhoods in between, it would just be glass and concrete. No thanks.

[LarryDierker]

 the TMC website has a huge PDF outlining their growth plans south of the bayou.

 

http://www.texasmedicalcenter.org/vision-for-growth/

 

[lockmat]

http://www.texasmedicalcenter.org/vision-for-growth/

 

Do we have a thread on this? If not, we should make one. 

 

Also, can we have the TMC plan downtown and the Galleria area, too? That's one sweet proposal.

[cloud713]

wait, so according to this the TMC is now larger than downtown Houston?

http://www.texasmedicalcenter.org/media/files/page/SqFtCityComparisonFall2011.pdf

[LTAWACS]

In what measure? Land area? Population?

[HoustonIsHome]

Tmc had far to go to catch up to downtown.

Tmc is about 40M sq feet of total floor space. Downtown is about 55M of office space not including residential, retail or education.

The lower values posted for downtown is the total office space minus vacant buildings. In other words its the office soace for lease or already leased.

It doesn't make sense to compare all space in one district to just the space with offices in another while ignoring all other buildings

[bachanon]

Let's not forget the Almeda Road-Crawford corridor

[cloud713]

te name="fernz" post="452169" timestamp="1394281091"]

There two open pieces of land which means downtown and TMC skylines will never be connected: Rice University and Hermann Park.

And also, TMC didn't just happen by itself. It was planned and the land was donated - without master planning, midtown will always be the random collection of buildings and uses it is today - which is just fine, it gives it a unique identity.

Let's not forget the Almeda Road-Crawford corridor

This.. The two Mosaics, the Spires, the new development planned next to the spires, the parklane, and the new tower at hermann place are all a good start to bypassing those 2 areas..

[bachanon]

it wouldn't be unreasonable to consider that the east side of hermann park could eventually be surrounded by highrise residential, much like other parks in other large cities.

[Elseed]

There two open pieces of land which means downtown and TMC skylines will never be connected: Rice University and Hermann Park.

 

And also, TMC didn't just happen by itself. It was planned and the land was donated - without master planning, midtown will always be the random collection of buildings and uses it is today - which is just fine, it gives it a unique identity.

 

1. As far as the open pieces of land goes as long as there are a cluster of buildings close too both sides of Rice U. and Herman park when you are coming towards downtown visually it'll look connected I'm not say all the buildings will be 10 ft away from each other I'm saying the buildings will be close enough to each other to give some form of connection visually which I'm happy with....also look at Manhattan there's a ton of buildings surrounding Central Park but yet that doesn't screw up their skyline...they just built around it....and everything still looks connected..

 

2.You right about TMC being planned and having master planning...but whose to say that can't happen again in Midtown?

Edited March 10, 2014 by Elseed

[bachanon]

1. As far as the open pieces of land goes as long as there are a cluster of buildings close too both sides of Rice U. and Herman park when you are coming towards downtown visually it'll look connected I'm not say all the buildings will be 10 ft away from each other I'm saying the buildings will be close enough to each other to give some form of connection visually which I'm happy with....also look at Manhattan there's a ton of buildings surrounding Central Park but yet that doesn't screw up their skyline...they just built around it....and everything still looks connected..

 

2.You right about TMC being planned and having master planning...but whose to say that can't happen again in Midtown?

 

remember that the medical center was property owned by one person (william marsh rice?  i should know this. perhaps someone can confirm) or organization and donated or set aside for the purpose of having research hospitals.  it was one piece of land.  to "master plan" midtown would require all of the owners of smaller properties to sell to one owner or developer.  barring a major depression where land is sold for pennies on the dollar, a master-planned midtown (even a portion of it) is highly unlikely.  now, could demand or incentives create a greater possibility of taller buildings in midtown, absolutely.

[Elseed]

Like Brian says, I think the future of TMC is to the south, not the north. Land values in Midtown are likely too high for hospitals. And I think this is for the best. Do we want Midtown overwhelmed with traffic? I don't even think office buildings are good for the neighborhood - all the commuters going downtown are bad enough. I'm hoping for residential with walkable streets. I know people want to see skylines connect, but imagine if lower Manhattan's skyline connected with Midtown Manhattan - you wouldn't have Greenwich Village or all those great neighborhoods in between, it would just be glass and concrete. No thanks.

 

 

I agree with the fact that there is a possibility of traffic being bad in Midtown but the truth is traffic probably is going to get worse anyway just because there are a lot more people moving into midtown and the fact that Houston has a terrible public transit system....as long as there is growth in Houston's city center there will be a chance of a traffic increase....If the buildings are properly placed in Midtown I don't think it would be an issue and also the rail goes to midtown but hopefully with the new rail lines starting up and the possibility that Metro is going to "re-imagine" the current transit system traffic might not be that bad....

[Elseed]

@Elseed

Midtown land is owned by individuals... TMC land is the TMC. Also, the TMC has a lot of land still and their 20 year plan has them building on it a ton. The land is south and below the bayou. Probably in 20-30 years the TMC skyline will connect towards Reliant stadium. I'm on mobile right now, but the TMC website has a huge PDF outlining their growth plans south of the bayou.

 

True......but like most of us in this forum a lot of the ideas spoken in this forum is wishful thinking and just general brainstorming....which is where I like most of us is coming from....whether Downtown ever connects to TMC or if Downtown ever connects to Uptown....who knows? Maybe it will? Maybe it won't? but hey we can always dream....

Edited March 11, 2014 by Elseed

[Elseed]

remember that the medical center was property owned by one person (william marsh rice?  i should know this. perhaps someone can confirm) or organization and donated or set aside for the purpose of having research hospitals.  it was one piece of land.  to "master plan" midtown would require all of the owners of smaller properties to sell to one owner or developer.  barring a major depression where land is sold for pennies on the dollar, a master-planned midtown (even a portion of it) is highly unlikely.  now, could demand or incentives create a greater possibility of taller buildings in midtown, absolutely.

True....I'm happy with just getting some taller buildings in Midtown....and as far as the "Midtown Medical Ctr" idea...like I said in another post just wishful thinking/brainstorming...but hey who knows?

[bachanon]

...........not to hijack the thread, but considering "connecting urban centers" in houston: while looking at google earth tonight, i noticed an angle between uptown and greenway plaza that has several towers under construction or planned.  it looks like there is more potential for the uptown skyline to connect with greenway plaza than downtown and tmc.  if you set google earth on the perspective thingy.....yes, i said it........ and view uptown and greeway plaza while considering the residential and office towers going up, you can begin to imagine how the two areas can connect.  

[Avossos]

...........not to hijack the thread, but considering "connecting urban centers" in houston: while looking at google earth tonight, i noticed an angle between uptown and greenway plaza that has several towers under construction or planned.  it looks like there is more potential for the uptown skyline to connect with greenway plaza than downtown and tmc.  if you set google earth on the perspective thingy.....yes, i said it........ and view uptown and greeway plaza while considering the residential and office towers going up, you can begin to imagine how the two areas can connect.  

 

In responding to your hijacking...

 

I agree with you. I believe by 2020 Uptown - Greenway Plaza - Upper Kirby will have alot more connectivity skyline wise. It will be very spotty, but in time it will fill in, like everything does. 

 

If you look at New York City, Manhattan is an island where some areas are alot higher than others, while some areas in between are pretty low. It gives it a natural feel. I think this is Houston's destiny. We dont have a 'Central Park' but we have 3 very urban parks - Buffalo Bayou, Memorial, and Hermann Park. Midtown's issue is simply location. The attractions are to the South (TMC and Hermann Park) and to the North (Downtown and Buffalo Bayou). Eventually Midtown will have towers, but it wont come dead in the center and the line connecting them wont be straight. The triangle will be Uptown - TMC - DT... everything in and around those areas will grow vertically with time.