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The Jones On Main: Office Building At 708/712 Main St.


Texasota

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Nice to read these comments, I haven't made it downtown since last April (I don't live in Houston) but it was better then than I'd ever seen it. I wonder at what point we start getting some physical (non-food) retail along Main Street? I imagine retailers are waiting to see if GreenStreet can be successful.

 

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i stopped by the crow's nest at Finn Hall last week and was pleasantly surprised at how many people were there, particularly given the terrible weather we were having. i will say i though the bar lacked a little charm and the bartending definitely needed some improvement but overall it was enjoyable. Finn Hall itself was fairly crowded for an off hour so i can only imagine how busy it gets during lunch. lots of great options.

 

i really REALLY want them to do something grand with the Chase Bank lobby... that's the single grandest space in all of Houston and it would be great to see something other than a bank occupy that space.

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1 hour ago, swtsig said:

i stopped by the crow's nest at Finn Hall last week and was pleasantly surprised at how many people were there, particularly given the terrible weather we were having. i will say i though the bar lacked a little charm and the bartending definitely needed some improvement but overall it was enjoyable. Finn Hall itself was fairly crowded for an off hour so i can only imagine how busy it gets during lunch. lots of great options.

 

i really REALLY want them to do something grand with the Chase Bank lobby... that's the single grandest space in all of Houston and it would be great to see something other than a bank occupy that space.

 

It gets insanely packed during lunch at this point.  Agree on the general lack of charm Sparrow's (?) nest.  Wouldn't go just for the bar but the food options will keep me there regularly.

 

That lobby is phenomenal.  When I first say Denver's conversion of their Union Station, I thought about what we could do here.  With Finn already done, this lobby could be an amazing extension of some sort.

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On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 11:32 AM, swtsig said:

i really REALLY want them to do something grand with the Chase Bank lobby... that's the single grandest space in all of Houston and it would be great to see something other than a bank occupy that space.

 

I fully agree with you on that point. Of course, back in the day when it was built, the exchanging of money... "commerce"... was probably considered the grandest thing that could occupy such a space.

 

I have a distant cousin who worked for Texas Commerce at 712 Main for over 40 years, starting I think in 1949. He is in his 90's now and lives out in the country on the land where he was born. When I mentioned the building a few years ago, he asked me, "Is there a large portrait of Jesse Jones still hanging on the wall?" I said that there was. He said, "That was hanging there the first day I went to work."

 

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Made it there on Sunday. Nice space overall, they did a good job preserving what they could of the historic interior. Nothing jaw-dropping, just a well-done food hall. I especially liked the Sparrow's Nest bar. It has two of the original deco elevators, which the bartenders seemed excited about when I talked to them.

 

There were only a few people there but it was late Sunday afternoon. Most of central downtown was pretty dead and about half the people on Main Street were homeless. I am going to chalk this up to it being a Sunday two days before Christmas and trust that the progress I've seen in previous visits was real. Discovery Green was lively with the skating rink (I had taken my family) and when I drove through the historic district on the way out, it seemed pretty lively, west of Main.

 

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12 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

Made it there on Sunday. Nice space overall, they did a good job preserving what they could of the historic interior. Nothing jaw-dropping, just a well-done food hall. I especially liked the Sparrow's Nest bar. It has two of the original deco elevators, which the bartenders seemed excited about when I talked to them.

 

There were only a few people there but it was late Sunday afternoon. Most of central downtown was pretty dead and about half the people on Main Street were homeless. I am going to chalk this up to it being a Sunday two days before Christmas and trust that the progress I've seen in previous visits was real. Discovery Green was lively with the skating rink (I had taken my family) and when I drove through the historic district on the way out, it seemed pretty lively, west of Main.

 

Yeah I mean people were out shopping. You also have to consider that people left out of town. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This will further enhance the prestige of Main Street, and bring more people out of the tunnels. Now if somebody were to get, say, a Hopdoddy on the Main St. end of Greenstreet, you'd have office workers streaming down there all day long, regardless of whether there are homeless around.

 

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What I've been trying tot tell people who doubt downtown becoming something great is that since redevelopment, downtown has slowly gained more stable businesses. The neighborhood went from clubs to a flurry of restaurants to stable well known businesses. It won't be long before dry goods start to show up. 

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1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

http://swamplot.com/where-a-new-shake-shack-might-be-headed-downtown-next-to-finn-hall/2019-01-10/

 

This article should go in a separate thread but Shake Shack is coming downtown just down the street from Finn Hall

 

A second Shake Shack downtown!  And presumably, open for more than 81-93 days a year with no cover price to get in

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Downtown is alive, It has a pulse, a heartbeat and has been taken off life support systems.

Every time I go downtown on any day there are many more people walking, riding bikes, eating and drinking, in the bars and restaurants

and the parks and Avenida de las Americas are always crowded!!!!

 

Edited by bobruss
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6 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Is that a bad thing? lol

 

Yes, when it benefits those who don't need the help. Spend the money on low-income housing so less-wealthy people can enjoy the benefits. How many of these subsidized projects are even remotely affordable to the bulk of Houstonians?

 

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I understand your concerns. I couldn't live down town now, and live like I do where I currently live.

But try finding a closet in Manhattan that's affordable.

I'm just happy someone else is sleeping downtown besides the street people and inmates in the county jail.

 

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The idea behind the subsidy is that it pays for itself and thensome through increasing the tax base in the long run.  The subsidy was thought to be necessary to get the first new residential projects going, which would pay higher taxes in the long run, and to spurn new projects without a subsidy.

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Some of it may because there were more rental options downtown, and some of it may have been renovations being done (they replaced all the elevators, and that is a special hell that I would not wish on anyone), but after everything is done the rental prices are all less than what I originally signed a lease for in 2013

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Walked through Finn Hall around 8pm and there was a decent crowd and they had a musician playing a guitar.   Prices were about what I expected for a place like this. The clientele looked like people staying out late after work and people on dates.  

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/travel/places-to-visit.html

 

Finn Hall was featured here as part of Houston being on the list of 52 places to visit in 2019. We are number 46 (don't believe its a ranking, but just a running list). Pretty good company honestly, though I think the reasons for Houston are a tad lazy. The GQ article about us was a lot more honest portrayal and really dug into what is actually exciting about the city today. Clearly we are coming to the forefront of the Food Hall boom over the past couple years and more are coming. ITs exciting to see how much the city has not only rebound, but is starting to really get into the national conversation in many areas.

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On 1/11/2019 at 10:34 AM, Naviguessor said:

Wow.  So, the incentives have lead to not only more housing options, but some more affordable housing options, as well. 

 

 

$1089 for 492 square feet.

 

Yowza, I'm glad you think that's affordable.

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10 hours ago, gmac said:

 

$1089 for 492 square feet.

 

Yowza, I'm glad you think that's affordable.

That IS pretty cheap actually. If this is what the incentives made possible then I would say they did subsidize “affordable” housing. A person living in an $1100 a month apartment is probably not rich, probably working class. My first apartment in Houston 23 years ago was $800. It was larger than this but the location was terrible.

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38 minutes ago, jgriff said:

That IS pretty cheap actually. If this is what the incentives made possible then I would say they did subsidize “affordable” housing. A person living in an $1100 a month apartment is probably not rich, probably working class. My first apartment in Houston 23 years ago was $800. It was larger than this but the location was terrible.

 

You can find stuff below 1000 in good areas if you know where to look. Just about to move to a new place. New place in Montrose will be 925, and my old place in Montrose was 875. These are not terrible places either. Just old houses that have been turned into apartments. As more and more midrises get built its only going to drop from there. 

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  • 2 months later...

Mr Nice Pie inside Finn Hall closes

 

"Finn Hall has lost its first food vendor. Mr. Nice Pie, the downtown food hall's pizza restaurant, has closed. A spin-off of Montrose's Love Buzz pizzeria, Mr. Nice Pie served oversized pizza slices and whole pies. The owners of Mr. Nice Pie have yet to respond to CultureMap's request for comment about why the restaurant closed or what's next; we will update this article if they do. "

 

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-19-19-mr-nice-pie-finn-hall-pizza-vendor-closed-downtown-food-hall/?fbclid=IwAR2R1_0MFp4DKUQrFznV7n0o6fypq7OmKSoZZrgeT2IsXr_sy9xEQCuP9Ps

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https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/03/19/wework-startup-incubator-program-to-launch-in.html

 



WeWork Labs, New York-based coworking company WeWork's global startup incubator program, is coming to Houston.

 

WeWork Labs will be housed in WeWork's downtown Houston location at 708 Main St., according to a March 19 press release from the company. With dedicated desk space starting at $300 a month for Houston startups, WeWork Labs develops a curriculum and a mentorship network tailored for companies that want to scale. Program members will have access to WeWork Labs' global network of over 1,000 mentors, virtual lessons, in-person office hours, panel discussions, lunch-and-learn events and more, according to the release. WeWork Labs will hold a launch event on March 26.

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