Aspire Post Oak: Multifamily High-Rise At 1616 Post Oak Blvd.

[bobruss]

5 hours ago, gene said:

the cosmo IS in the rendering...that is it directly behind the new building...they did a bad job representing it but that looks to be it just to the right of the building showing just a 1/3 of it. 

 

ok, but  i thought that was the BG building. and the one between it and the new building appears to be behind the BG Billiton  building, which would make it one of Borlenghi's three blue  buildings because the Cosmo would be in front of the BG Billiton building. I think they did just what most developers do. They leave out the competition and keep their rendering mostly about their building. If you scroll up to Houstonian 4life images on this page you will see an image of what I'm talking about. Jesus, that building is ugly.

[SkylineView]

Let's not hit the Cosmo too hard.  The base is bad, but don't forget it used to be worse (#NeverForgetUrinals)!  Also, for the area, and the unit size, some of the condos are pretty price-efficient now.  If you want to own a place with floor to ceiling windows in Uptown, and don't want to drop $1M for a 2/2 at the Arabella, this is your baby. All-in with condo fees it's comparable with the new 2/2 apartments nearby.  There's a bunch of them on the back side (away from the construction) on higher floors for $600k.    

 

LINK

[houstontexasjack]

On 4/5/2019 at 6:59 PM, ekdrm2d1 said:

Photos from today.  I was told the mat pour is scheduled for Friday, April 19, 2019.

That’ll be a good Friday for it. 

[gene]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:15 PM, bobruss said:

ok, but  i thought that was the BG building. and the one between it and the new building appears to be behind the BG Billiton  building, which would make it one of Borlenghi's three blue  buildings because the Cosmo would be in front of the BG Billiton building. I think they did just what most developers do. They leave out the competition and keep their rendering mostly about their building. If you scroll up to Houstonian 4life images on this page you will see an image of what I'm talking about. Jesus, that building is ugly.

haha!!! agreed!!! 😂

[Urbannizer]

After being underway for months we finally have an article out on this one:

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Post-Oak-apartments-begin-to-rise-over-neighbor-13754650.php

[Skyboxdweller]

More steel,more concrete and walls of basement . 

[cloud713]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:15 PM, bobruss said:

I think they did just what most developers do. They leave out the competition and keep their rendering mostly about their building.

 

Like Gene already said, the Cosmo is in this rendering. I’m not sure why you still think they left it out? Zoom in/look at the building set backs.

That’s a view of the Cosmo that I can get used to.. heh

[gene]

#same ! haha

 

and was curious to see just what one of the future obstructed units would be going for currently and boom found this:

https://www.har.com/1600-post-oak-boulevard-1006/sale_69608467

It is currently the lowest priced of 6 listed units...it will be interesting to see how many go up for sale in the coming months, years...

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by gene

[Highrise Tower]

Crane view from yesterday

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by ekdrm2d1

[Highrise Tower]

Favorite photos of the week.  Mat pour is next Friday from 5am to 10pm

 

Notice the guys under the rebar in this shot.

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by ekdrm2d1

[arche_757]

It takes a lot of concrete to build high on this soil!!

 

On another note:  I had a rambling post about how these developers should work towards more reasonable solutions... but that was a tiresome paragraph.  Ultimately, what we have is a new, and soon to be much more common problem here in Houston, specifically in Uptown and Downtown.  Highrise overcrowding.  Which is a welcome problem as we add density.  Downtown won’t be quite as impacted thanks to the street grid, but this could become a bigger issue than Randall Davis’ little faux-deco and this much nicer 40something Tower.

[Skyboxdweller]

Pour starts early on Friday morning . 

[bobruss]

On 4/12/2019 at 11:45 AM, cloud713 said:

 

Like Gene already said, the Cosmo is in this rendering. I’m not sure why you still think they left it out? Zoom in/look at the building set backs.

That’s a view of the Cosmo that I can get used to.. heh

Ok, so once again your red pen strikes me down. I promise I won't question anyones vision ever again except maybe mine!

[mollusk]

On 4/12/2019 at 1:10 PM, gene said:

#same ! haha

 

and was curious to see just what one of the future obstructed units would be going for currently and boom found this:

https://www.har.com/1600-post-oak-boulevard-1006/sale_69608467

It is currently the lowest priced of 6 listed units...it will be interesting to see how many go up for sale in the coming months, years...

 

 

Looking at that link, it's amazing how much that building improves when the facade color is adjusted to something that wouldn't belong better on a 1962 Thunderbird.

[intencity77]

Other than its dreadful podium and its protesting residents I really don’t think the design of the Cosmopolitan is as atrocious as many people like to say it is on here. The tower portion above the garage is neither stellar nor bad looking IMO. With that said, I honestly do not care whether it’s “blocked” from view or not. Want to see truly ugly, look at the neighboring Astoria, and those two faux Tuscan style, beige behemoths, Camden Post Oak and Dominion Post Oak Apartment Towers.  When can we pretty please block those from view too?!

[richfish]

42 minutes ago, intencity77 said:

Other than its dreadful podium and its protesting residents I really don’t think the design of the Cosmopolitan is as atrocious as many people like to say it is on here. The tower portion above the garage is neither stellar nor bad looking IMO. With that said, I honestly do not care whether it’s “blocked” from view or not. Want to see truly ugly, look at the neighboring Astoria, and those two faux Tuscan style, beige behemoths, Camden Post Oak and Dominion Post Oak Apartment Towers.  When can we pretty please block those from view too?!

 

The astoria is a scar on uptown that i'll never forgive RD for. The cosmo isn't really that bad. 

[arche_757]

Well... things are looking up. Literally!

 

Hoping we continue to see some better architecture in Uptown.

 

And man..!  Does anyone want to guess # of that rebar for the foundation?  And that would be size not quantity to the lay-person.

Edited April 18, 2019 by arche_757

[bobruss]

Just seeing the men working underneath the top layer of rebar gives you a much better sense of  how thick that concrete must be. At least ten feet?

[gene]

I don't know why, but i HATE that darn Astoria top/crown/pyramid thing...it always makes me think of this movie for some reason:

[arche_757]

It doesn’t bug me as much as it used to.  Of course there are FAR worse buildings around Uptown than these little faux-techture structures of RD.

[august948]

2 hours ago, gene said:

I don't know why, but i HATE that darn Astoria top/crown/pyramid thing...it always makes me think of this movie for some reason:

 

You're missing the real meaning here...

 

[Luminare]

12 minutes ago, august948 said:

 

You're missing the real meaning here...

 

 

Yes? you rang?

[Houston19514]

I understand that some posters cannot get past their hatred of Randall Davis, but could we at least keep it in the Randall Davis project threads?  Please?

[august948]

11 minutes ago, Luminare said:

 

Yes? you rang?

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by august948

[wxman]

The Astoria has actually grown on me over the past year or two. I passed by it the other day and thought, ''you know, it's actually not that bad.'' I actually sort of like it now. 

[richfish]

5 hours ago, gene said:

I don't know why, but i HATE that darn Astoria top/crown/pyramid thing...it always makes me think of this movie for some reason:

 

And that weird little door up top has been open for the past few days and looks super ratchet. 

[august948]

12 minutes ago, richfish said:

 

And that weird little door up top has been open for the past few days and looks super ratchet. 

 

That's the moon door.  Make sure you pay your rent...

 

[Purdueenginerd]

On 4/5/2019 at 8:00 PM, richfish said:

What's the purpose of the divot in the middle? Just more area for concrete to make it heavier? 

 

The center is probably going to have the shear wall and central lateral system for the building. This is normally going also hold the elevator banks. So consider the weight of the shear wall, your matt foundation might need more thickness to handle the shear loads. You're also going to need a depressed area (though not that much) for the elevator banks. Theres a couple of other reasons but without really getting into the weeds, i'll just explain, more loads, more concrete. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by Purdueenginerd

[Highrise Tower]

From today.  The banners are back. They had to trim the size.

 

 

 

Under the rebar guy

 

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

There's an official observation deck I'm told.  Heading there now. Pictures when I return 

[Highrise Tower]

Keystone just gave me my own Keystone helmet and vest!  The cold breeze and perfect sky is fantastic! 

[thatguysly]

Drove by around 6:30 this morning. Had all the equipment in place. Looked really cool.

[Highrise Tower]

Here's photos of the mat pour this morning

 

 

 

 

 

These guys carrying the boards for their pathway was neat to watch

 

 

Looks like progress as I was leaving

[gene]

Wow when i first glanced at these photos it looked like Splash Town!!! haha 😂

Super cool to see all that!!!

thanks as usual for the cool photos!

 

[richfish]

Post pour pic

[Highrise Tower]

2nd tower crane base installed.

 

 

 

[thatguysly]

Second tower crane going up

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

[Urbannizer]

No pic of both cranes in the air?

[Beau11b]

pic with both cranes

Edited May 8, 2019 by Beau11b
typo

[Highrise Tower]

From a few days ago.

 

 

 

 

 

[Urbannizer]

 

[gene]

Wow so cool!!! Thanks for posting that!

and what are everyone's thoughts on the roof next door and how to rectify those types of situations (other than a much needed power wash that would last a couple of days, weeks, months maybe)? Are most roofs painted white for temperature reasons? I wish there was a way to have the roofs of the businesses be dark...to not show so much dirt etc...

I would hate to pay so much money to have that then be part of the view, my "slight" ocd would drive me nuts haha! 

[Houston19514]

21 minutes ago, gene said:

Wow so cool!!! Thanks for posting that!

and what are everyone's thoughts on the roof next door and how to rectify those types of situations (other than a much needed power wash that would last a couple of days, weeks, months maybe)? Are most roofs painted white for temperature reasons? I wish there was a way to have the roofs of the businesses be dark...to not show so much dirt etc...

I would hate to pay so much money to have that then be part of the view, my "slight" ocd would drive me nuts haha! 

 

I think they are now required to be white, for temperature, energy efficiency reasons.

[Purdueenginerd]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I think they are now required to be white, for temperature, energy efficiency reasons.

 

5 hours ago, gene said:

Are most roofs painted white for temperature reasons? I wish there was a way to have the roofs of the businesses be dark...to not show so much dirt etc...

I would hate to pay so much money to have that then be part of the view, my "slight" ocd would drive me nuts haha! 

 

I'll let an architect comment and correct me on this, but doing my fair share of roof inspections for commercial office buildings I think I can explain.The energy code IECC requires a specific solar reflective index for the roof membrane. This is indeed for energy and temperature efficiency reasons. TPO roofs or Thermoplastic polyofin roofs are common roof membrane. Bituminous roofs arent dead though, now and days they coat them to meet the reflective values. 

 

If your really want to get into the weeds, heres a pretty decent explainer on 'cool roofs' by national manufacturer. (PDF warning)

 

https://www.jm.com/content/dam/jm/global/en/commercial-roofing/brochures/RS-7651_Cool-Roof-Solutions.pdf

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Purdueenginerd

[Timoric]

-

Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric

[gene]

Thanks for all that insight...interesting to know! And again, it's just my OCD...I am just one of those people 🙈

[Luminare]

15 hours ago, Purdueenginerd said:

 

 

I'll let an architect comment and correct me on this, but doing my fair share of roof inspections for commercial office buildings I think I can explain.The energy code IECC requires a specific solar reflective index for the roof membrane. This is indeed for energy and temperature efficiency reasons. TPO roofs or Thermoplastic polyofin roofs are common roof membrane. Bituminous roofs arent dead though, now and days they coat them to meet the reflective values. 

 

If your really want to get into the weeds, heres a pretty decent explainer on 'cool roofs' by national manufacturer. (PDF warning)

 

https://www.jm.com/content/dam/jm/global/en/commercial-roofing/brochures/RS-7651_Cool-Roof-Solutions.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed. Its not "required" to be white (as far as I know), but since white is the most reflective color in the spectrum its what it has to be.

 

As far as the architecture side of things, firms I've worked at thus far always rely on a "Building Envelope Consultant", and someday whenever I start my own practice, so will I. You'd be surprised just how little thought goes into what the actual roof looks like from above since one rarely sees the roof from that perspective. This is like asking about what will interior of mechanical chase look like...nobody really cares (certainly not the engineers). All we care about is how water is getting off the roof and if that plays into the buildings aesthetics, and what the R-value is in the insulation used so we meet energy code. Thats it. There are other complexities involved, but without getting into really boring detail this is about all there is on our end of things.

 

EDIT: Oh yeah and about color/reflecting into the eye. Honestly its not that much. However, @gene you have certain brought up the tradeoff for having an all white roof. While its good that it reflects light to lower the energy demands of the building the tradeoff is that it reflects and it reflects in all directions. Opps. Bituminous is a great solution for roofs and is easy/cheap, but the tradeoff is that it has a terrible "heat island" effect. Opps.

 

I think I heard once that "Life is about tradeoffs". These are examples of it. Nothing is perfect even if people try to lie and tell you so. 

 

@gene @Houston19514

Edited May 15, 2019 by Luminare

[gene]

All that is interesting and I figured there were good reasons for the white roofs (mainly saying i figured it was temperature related...) but my god i would probably just pay someone myself if i needed to, just to climb up there and power wash it monthly if that was going to be my view!!! haha! 

[rechlin]

I have a white TPO roof on my house, and all it really takes to keep clean is about once a year during a heavy rainstorm, go up there and sponge the dirt loose and let the rain wash it away.  Or haul a hose up there and wash it off.  You could pressure wash it, but you'd want the pressure set low so you don't damage the membrane.