Texas Tower: 47-Story Office Tower At 845 Texas Ave.

[Avossos]

3 hours ago, KDW said:

I know someone who walked the building during the demolition bidding process, he said the entire 10 story section is aluminum cladding made to look like marble. Just what i was told, I guess we will see when it starts to come down.

If it really was metal, those holes in the side would look different IMO

[arisegundo]

I can't remember what it was but you could definitely tell from the repeating patterns that it wasn't natural stone. 

 

The cladding took about 4 years and was completed just in time for Ike to blow off a panel or two.

[ChannelTwoNews]

A couple from yesterday...

 

 

 

[H-Town Man]

On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 0:16 PM, arisegundo said:

I can't remember what it was but you could definitely tell from the repeating patterns that it wasn't natural stone. 

 

The cladding took about 4 years and was completed just in time for Ike to blow off a panel or two.

 

Did it really take 4 years just to clad the thing in aluminum? This site is like some kind of underachievement nexus in the universe. I'm not even sure Hines can overcome all the bad voodoo.

 

[hindesky]

[nativehoustonion]

That will be Hines next supertall in the future.  

[Urbannizer]

 

http://houston-texas-us.blogspot.com/2016/08/deconstruction-of-houston-chronicle.html

 

Chronicle sign gone:

 

 

[samagon]

23 hours ago, nativehoustonion said:

That will be Hines next supertall in the future.  

 

in the immediate future machine we get surface parking lot, as far as the eye can see! so excited!

[bobruss]

I'm not going to let one parking lot get me down, because we just got rid of 15 this last year and besides we know it will eventually have a landmark building sitting on it. Just relax and not make such a big deal out of it. Now if someone besides Hines owned it I might be concerned.

[dml423]

While it is rough to lose any building downtown, I think what makes this one hurt a bit more than others is that it was the last main news source that was located downtown. Just think of how neat it would be to have an area of downtown where all the newspapers, news channels, magazines, & root sports were located. They could film the local morning shows and you could actually see people walking the streets compared to the generic skyline picture they always have up. Ehh, one could dream...

[hindesky]

[HoustonIsHome]

On 8/28/2016 at 9:07 AM, nativehoustonion said:

That will be Hines next supertall in the future.  

 

I could do without another really tall building on the north and west side of Downtown.  The Chevron lot would balance things off. 

 

The block bounded by Rusk, Caroline,  walker and San Jacinto is another good candidate.  It would stretch the height east without sticking out too much as that monkey wrench building is only about 2 blocks away, and 609 Main is nearby too. This block is also on the rail, about a half stop from the east bound central station. Is this the future Houston Center 6 block? If so it would be nice to get showing more spectacular on the rail. 

 

Rusk, Labranch, Austin and walker would make a good mixed use building.  It would be near the other new residential buildings to the north, on the fringe of the convention district and it's hotels to the east and south, and all the commercial buildings to the west. A fancy hotel with a residential and commercial space would be great for that area.

 

There are about 6 lots between discovery green and Root square that are ripe for development.  This is where I always dreamed a Ritz hotel would pop up. It would ruin the view from the Hilton pool deck, but that's life. Those 6 blocks, 4 of which front Dallas could develop into something that gives pedestrian life to downtown. It's on the proposed retail strip, it is near Green Street, it is Near Hilton, 4 seasons, Alessandra,  embassy suites, park place, Marlowe, Future Camden development,  and Of course book ended by DG and Root Square.

 

Finally,  there is still the Bank of the SW tower site. There are tall buildings all around which would make a super tall not stick out like a sore thumb.  

 

So,  the Hines chronicle site I am not really  concerned about a super tall going up there.  Give me some more buildings like Aris on that Block and on the neighboring International tower block and I will be happy.

 

Lots of potential on the East side of town. Houston has been a tall city for decades, i am loving the residential and retail initiatives and the interest in parks, art and out door uses. 

[Urbannizer]

[Lara]

A little background for those unfamiliar with this subject: the owners, Hearst, then Hines, have obtained a permit for the demolition of the structure; however, Linbeck, who owns the property north of the building is pushing for a halt, citing contractual conflict. Does anyone have the latest update on this?

[Urbannizer]

Here's the existing thread on the matter. 

Linbeck was able to move forward with plans for their site. A temporary injunction was given therefore Hines must keep the tunnel connection protected as they demolish the former Chron building.

 

 

[Urbannizer]

Former Chron building now down to the parking garage height.

 

[htownboy]

Actually kinda liked this building, I don't know why, but there was something appealing about the super-reflective glass and that faux-marble looking material. I can't say I won't miss it. As a younger Houstonian, this will go down as one of the first buildings that I will ever truly remember about after it's gone. You will be missed, old Chronicle Building, you will be missed.

[Urbannizer]

 

[Urbannizer]

Breaking down the garage now.

 

 

[cloud713]

Kind of strange that they wouldn't leave the garage and earn some parking revenue until the next tower is a go..?

[Urbannizer]

4 hours ago, cloud713 said:

Kind of strange that they wouldn't leave the garage and earn some parking revenue until the next tower is a go..?

 

I think it'd be more convenient for them to just take it down now and charge for surface parking or even follow suit with the Capitol Tower and Theater Square sites by earning revenue with a new garage until the office market heats up.

[mollusk]

That's not a garage.  It's the press room and loading dock building, with the editorial annex above the press room... IIRC #4 and #5 of the various accretions.

 

 

[Urbannizer]

[j_cuevas713]

Man I hate seeing this go down. I know Hines will do something great but not knowing when is my problem. Such a massive scar downtown in the nations 4th largest city. 

[Urbannizer]

 

[Montrose1100]

Urb, every time I see you post in this topic I'm hoping for a leaked rendering or article. 

[hindesky]

Moving the skid steer loader to a higher part of the demo.

 

[Urbannizer]

On 12/9/2016 at 6:22 PM, Montrose1100 said:

Urb, every time I see you post in this topic I'm hoping for a leaked rendering or article. 

 

Hopefully someday soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

[samagon]

this has been really interesting to watch every day.

 

I wish I had the ability to have set up a camera and do a shot every hour from the beginning to when this thing is just a parking lot. 

[CREguy13]

That shot of 609 Main looks like a beautiful rendering that wouldn't come to fruition... but came to fruition.

[j_cuevas713]

Something goes up and something comes down.

[hindesky]

Southern portion is almost at first story.

 

[hindesky]

Southwest corner.

[Urbannizer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://houston-texas-us.blogspot.com/2016/12/piecemeal-demolition-of-year-sorry.html

[UtterlyUrban]

I am hopeful that by taking this building down in this manner that they have been able to salvage much of the exterior details.  That would be great, of so.  Perhaps there is a new building going up somewhere in the world with lots of stone on its facade from this building?

[AREJAY]

From mikenb on Reddit:

 

 

[Nate99]

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 6:30 AM, UtterlyUrban said:

I am hopeful that by taking this building down in this manner that they have been able to salvage much of the exterior details.  That would be great, of so.  Perhaps there is a new building going up somewhere in the world with lots of stone on its facade from this building?

 

The stuff up high looked like some kind of metal panel painted or vinyl covered to look like marble. The stuff on the bottom may be actual stone though.

[brijonmang]

From Monday

 

[Urbannizer]

[hindesky]

Northeast corner.

[hindesky]

[cspwal]

Every time I see these images of the Chronicle building's demolition, it seems like a metaphor for the fall of newspapers in the age of the internet.

[Urbannizer]

https://houston-texas-us.blogspot.com/2017/02/milam-street-demolition-pics.html?m=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Triton]

Wide view

 

Houston Chronicle by Marc longoria, on Flickr

[adr]

[hindesky]

[Nate99]

 

 

 

Pretty much a duplicate from Urb's post above, but I thought this was an interesting relic that you can see from the street, but difficult to make out in a picture unless you zoom in...

 

[wxman]

With another company giving notice of relocating out of downtown (Enterprise Plaza), I doubt Hines erects anything on this block in the near future. However, what I would give to be a fly on the wall in their HQ to see what they have in the works. I'm sure somewhere in their offices they have sketches or renderings of what they want to build on this site.

[j_cuevas713]

I honestly believe downtown needs to bring in new forms of business. Oil has been the brand downtown but I'd like to see other types of business whether retail, real estate, etc set up shop in some of these buildings. Houston is definitely at a turning point for redefining itself. 

[hindesky]