Jump to content

Convention Center Redevelopment, Office Building & W Hotel


Mab

Recommended Posts

I don't think they have a hotel lined up yet. If I remember correctly when they first announced this project

it was hoped that they would work out a deal with a hotel to go on top of Houston First but it wasn't a done deal.

Houston First is big on publicity and they haven't said anything about the hotel lately.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^^ it was stated a couple of months ago, that the GHP / HOUSTON FIRST were undergoing negotiations with a well known hotel brand, and that the name was supposed to be announced on or around the middle to the end of august.  my thoughts at that time were that this particular hotel brand could very possibly become houston's next DOWNTOWN OMNI HOTEL.  however, now, i really do not know....  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And with the birth of the monorail, HAIF will come out with pitchforks demanding Monorail Level Retail and wondering who could have possibly been in favor of GFR.  :ph34r:

 

 

Haha...I may get on that bandwagon myself!

 

In all seriousness, I think that most of our larger buildings downtown could accommodate stations/access to and from the 2nd floor of their lobbies. I'd love for Houston to have an elevated 45-65 MPH rail system connecting downtown to the suburbs and airports, and a subway network connecting downtown at least with the med center and galleria areas and with easy access to our tunnel system downtown.

Perhaps I need new glasses. I do not see a monorail in the renderings.

 

It was mentioned in the article linked above:

 

http://www.archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7645#.VechoIuwbhD

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the monorail idea was part of the original Houston Center development plan, and was abandoned decades ago.

 

The people mover was part of Texas Eastern's Houston Center vision -- a city within a city. People would drive directly from freeways to parking garages and use the people mover (above ground) to get to their office and other buildings.  Part of the plan: turn your back to the street -- who wanted to be there? So 1, 2, 3, 4 Houston Center have little street presence. The people mover was planned, in part, to help people move around the 74-acre site without having to go to street level.

 

Then Panhandle purchased Texas Eastern, and the future plans went away.

Edited by bach
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep.. Like Bach mentioned, a big reason why the Houston Center complex lacks street presence. They thought everyone would get around through 2nd floor gerbil tubes and people movers.

Fortunately Crescent/HC has acknowledged that problem and have been working with at least one architecture firm to draw up plans for redevelopment of the lower floors.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to Convention Center Redevelopment, Office Building & W Hotel

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...