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Amegy Bank At 1717 West Loop S.


nolaboy

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My worthless $0.02....I like it.  Very glad the dangerous game the developers were playing is over.

I never said it was a very dangerous game, just a dangerous one!  Though this building is little more than a sleeker version of a building that went up in the TMC not too long ago.

 

All in all, this tower is a let down from the quotes (read above) about how pleasing it will be.  Best building "on" the West Loop... like saying the best building in Greenspoint - doesn't take much.

 

That said - I'll reserve further judgement until other angles/renderings are presented.

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I never said it was a very dangerous game, just a dangerous one! Though this building is little more than a sleeker version of a building that went up in the TMC not too long ago.

All in all, this tower is a let down from the quotes (read above) about how pleasing it will be. Best building "on" the West Loop... like saying the best building in Greenspoint - doesn't take much.

That said - I'll reserve further judgement until other angles/renderings are presented.

Greenspoint actually has some cool structures.

But honestly what building that has gone up in this town that really takes the cake for being special or unique? All we have received are recycled designs from towers that went up in other cities a few years before. At least this doesn't have a flat roof.

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Greenspoint actually has some cool structures.

But honestly what building that has gone up in this town that really takes the cake for being special or unique? All we have received are recycled designs from towers that went up in other cities a few years before. At least this doesn't have a flat roof.

 

and the only reason I think people like this...

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Greenspoint actually has some cool structures.

But honestly what building that has gone up in this town that really takes the cake for being special or unique? All we have received are recycled designs from towers that went up in other cities a few years before. At least this doesn't have a flat roof.

 

To say that the work of Phillip Johnson is all recycled would be wrong.  Pennzoil, Republic Tower, Transco are all noteworthy highrises - even if they are all post modernist towers.

 

The new Amegy tower highrise is simple, clean, uninteresting.  Not saying its bad - far from it - it just is not a wonderous work of architecture.

 

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To say that the work of Phillip Johnson is all recycled would be wrong.  Pennzoil, Republic Tower, Transco are all noteworthy highrises - even if they are all post modernist towers.

 

The new Amegy tower highrise is simple, clean, uninteresting.  Not saying its bad - far from it - it just is not a wonderous work of architecture.

 

Whoops! I meant structures that have gone up/going up ***recently*** 

 

Edit: Like this century. Please don't think I am blind to the absolute wonder and glory of Houston architecture from the 60's to the 80's. 

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It looks to me like 609 Main and BHP Billiton turned on some love makin' music and let one thing lead to another if you know what I'm saying...

 

I agree that the nicest looking buildings that are immediately off of 610 are the 1233 & 1333 WLS twins...but I like this one more primarily because of its height and crown. It will stand out for sure.

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How much money and dope did they give to Micro Center to convince them to abandon their old location so quickly? As far as I could tell, there were still fluorescent tubes in the signage, attached to the building and bulldozed all at once.

 

Jesus, I wouldn't have even known that Micro Center EXISTED, but for seeing their sign, while I was with my mom on one of those busses going to the Rodeo. I think I was 16 at the time. That store influenced where my roommates and I lived during college, and where I lived subsequently. I mean shit, I used to be able to walk to the store, and I even did, on several occasions.

 

It just seems like, there has been some kind of shift, from one type of extreme to another. Yeah, maybe Westcreek apartments were kind of old. They wee build in 1968. If we only consider that variable - the goddamned Micro Center store was build in 1994! The goddamned roof didn't leak AFAIK!!!

 

And so, what kind of stupid and ridiculous worthless value is Amegy Bank going to derive for it's customers, having destroyed this store in order to obtain some type of precious "frontage" that 99% of their real customers will NEVER see or even care to visit. What is the fuh-king goal of this? Because I don't see it.

 

I don't expect to see many reasonable replies here because too many people are going to see OMG SHINY BUILDING!!!!111 and get a hard-on and that will be the end of any possible rational debate.

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I don't expect to see many reasonable replies here because too many people are going to see OMG SHINY BUILDING!!!!111 and get a hard-on and that will be the end of any possible rational debate.

Mike, a 20 year old 'big box' store on prime real estate never had a chance. The new Micro Center is about 2 miles away. I really couldn't explain to you the reason Amegy wanted their own new shiny building, maybe because their company is doing well? Maybe they wanted to get out of the current dated building?

 

I know it's saddening to see your past being bulldozed around every street corner, but don't take it personally. This cycle tore down a lot of suburban style development that doesn't really belong inside the loop, or in an already dense area.

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Amegy was not happy with their current lease with Shorenstein. Additionally, Amegy has grown quite a bit since having taken residence in their current location (back when they were Southwest Bank of Texas) and wanted certain capabilities with their new building, such as the ability to bring all employees of certain groups into one location for training purposes.

 

From what I understand, having their logo visible from the West Loop was important to them, and so the new headquarters is being constructed nearby the old. 

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How much money and dope did they give to Micro Center to convince them to abandon their old location so quickly? As far as I could tell, there were still fluorescent tubes in the signage, attached to the building and bulldozed all at once.

 

Jesus, I wouldn't have even known that Micro Center EXISTED, but for seeing their sign, while I was with my mom on one of those busses going to the Rodeo. I think I was 16 at the time. That store influenced where my roommates and I lived during college, and where I lived subsequently. I mean shit, I used to be able to walk to the store, and I even did, on several occasions.

 

It just seems like, there has been some kind of shift, from one type of extreme to another. Yeah, maybe Westcreek apartments were kind of old. They wee build in 1968. If we only consider that variable - the goddamned Micro Center store was build in 1994! The goddamned roof didn't leak AFAIK!!!

 

And so, what kind of stupid and ridiculous worthless value is Amegy Bank going to derive for it's customers, having destroyed this store in order to obtain some type of precious "frontage" that 99% of their real customers will NEVER see or even care to visit. What is the fuh-king goal of this? Because I don't see it.

 

I don't expect to see many reasonable replies here because too many people are going to see OMG SHINY BUILDING!!!!111 and get a hard-on and that will be the end of any possible rational debate.

 

Because this is clearly a way to start a "rational debate"...

 

dr_evil_austin_powers.jpg

 

"rational debate"

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Having lived here (as an adult) through the 80s bust, I don't feel sorry to see these buildings go.  By "these buildings", I mean the ones built between (say) 1984 and 1990 ... when the people who had bought the land thinking it would be developed "a la The Galleria" gave up hope and sold it to people who built Micro Center, Target, Jack-in-the-Box and stuff like that instead.  That period was kinda depressing.   That said, the Target store on San Felipe does really good business, so it has seemed to serve a purpose.  Going forward, we'll have to see whether it will be out-of-place with all the silk-stocking stores (e.g., Cartier) moving in next door.

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As long as it makes financial sense, the San Felipe Target will stick around.  Rich people need laundry baskets and other sundries,  too.

 

I think it has been mentioned before, but it would be very neat to have that Target converted into a more urban-style store with residential up top. I think there is still plenty of space to develop (e.g. Westcreek, among others), but in a number of years a more urban store would make sense instead of having such a large parking lot.

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