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Discovery Green Park At 1500 McKinney St.


c4smok

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Hey, dancin' in the park. Parks are supposed to make you feel good. Go ahead and dance: hear it now, "Down at the YMCA..." B) And 713 to 214, the park isn't even 1/8th finished yet. Does your crystal ball give you insight that we don't know about? Or is it that it happens in downtown Houston and not in downtown D ..... no I won't say it. :lol:

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Dallas is merely the nutsack.

Source of Life?

This downtown Houston park promises to be very nice. I'm still a little amazed that big trees like that can be transplanted -- so cool. Buffalo Bayou improvements would be more appealing to me personally since I like natural water features.

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  • 1 month later...

I drove by during Christmas time and saw a huge whole in the ground for the parking garage. Is anyone gonna drive by there and get some photos? They haven't started posting any construction photos on their site yet.

Just wondering. If someone does that would be cool.

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I haven't driven by there recently, but I DID take a couple of pictures and posted them a few months ago.

Hmm, ok. I was there during Christmas, so I was kind of wondering about more recent ones. But I'll go back and take a look at the ones you took.

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The weather has (shall I say) dampened our photographers' interest I would surmise. Hopefully, when the sun will shine, and we get rid of this cold Dallas weather (ouch), we'll all get out and new pictures will appear on HAIF. Sunshine. I do remember the sun. It actually was out for three to four seconds today. :lol:

P.S. I want 90 degrees and throw in the humidity. Anything beats 30's 40's damp and dreary. Wonder if construction can make progress when it is as wet and yucky as it has been?

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  • 4 weeks later...
The weather has (shall I say) dampened our photographers' interest I would surmise. Hopefully, when the sun will shine, and we get rid of this cold Dallas weather (ouch), we'll all get out and new pictures will appear on HAIF. Sunshine. I do remember the sun. It actually was out for three to four seconds today. :lol:

P.S. I want 90 degrees and throw in the humidity. Anything beats 30's 40's damp and dreary. Wonder if construction can make progress when it is as wet and yucky as it has been?

Is there anyone out there willing to post some more pictures for those of us who don't get downtown enough?

Thanks!

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Is there anyone out there willing to post some more pictures for those of us who don't get downtown enough?

Thanks!

pm daniepwils. He's the last one who had been doing the updating with pictures

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ha-Ha looks like I came back just in time.

Well I am back for good! I have been traveling for the last three months and haven't really been in the Houston office all that much.

I will take some pictures tomorrow (don't have my camera on me today). I will include some pictures of the "Fingers" building they are building right next to the park.

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Ha-Ha looks like I came back just in time.

Well I am back for good! I have been traveling for the last three months and haven't really been in the Houston office all that much.

I will take some pictures tomorrow (don't have my camera on me today). I will include some pictures of the "Fingers" building they are building right next to the park.

Looks like you are kind of important here... look forward to your pics and posts. B)

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As of today!

Some of these have a horrible glare, so I took more than one, sorry about that.

DSC00213.jpg

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This next picture is of the Fingers building (40 floor residential) they are building. It is located next to my building (5 Houston), it will be in front of The Houston Center (formally The Park Shops) and also it will be right next to Discovery Green (that name is so not right {LOL}, sounds like a putt-putt golf course).

DSC00218.jpg

This picture shows how close the Fingers building is to Discovery Green (right next to each other)

DSC00219.jpg

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As of today!

Some of these have a horrible glare, so I took more than one, sorry about that.

You know, I would've preferred if the City had developed an even larger underground parking complex, extending throughout the park. I say that because it would've 1) decreased the level of parking scarcity, causing lower parking fees in the downtown area, and thus putting downward pressure on downtown land prices, allowing for more rapid development of surface lots, 2) have provided more than adequate parking to attract major retailers to the downtown area that otherwise wouldn't blink an eye at us, and 3) because once the park is in place, we will never again under any reasonable circumstances have the opportunity to add any sort of above- or below-ground improvements without a fierce political backlash.

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Well it looks like the parking garage under the park will be two floors, which equals the two parking lots it was taking away. Honestly though there is a MASSIVE amount of surface parking lots around this area, and it is such an eye sore. When they start to build more buildings around here, more parking garages will appear, which is less space to take up, and more land for other buildings or maybe mini-parks.

As for prices... this side of downtown is CHEAP compared to the other side of downtown. Before I lived downtown and worked at the Wells Fargo Plaza Building (71floor building with only three levels of parking) I paid almost 400 a month for reserved parking spot. I live downtown now so I just walk to work. A reserved spot in this building is around 200 I think (but I am sure some of that pricing has to do with how much space this garage has compared to that garage)

-- also, someone noted earlier seeing surface lots always empty. Well some are (there are a few near the Toyota Center) because they are being disputed at the moment. I think the owner died and now the children are fighting over what to do with it, so they aren't being used (this is second hand information so not sure how accurate it is). Most of the surface lots are used around this area all the time, the GRB is always being used in some way or the other, maybe not to full capacity, and lets not forget the HUGE parking garage that the Hilton has, majority of GRB parking is there I believe.

The only lots that stay empty are the ones on the far left end of MMP, which are only used on game days.

Edited by Daniepwils
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That lot would have little to no effect on downtown parking, as it is too far from the expensive lots in the Skyline District. Parking in east downtown is often $2.50 to $3.00 per day. Additionally, there is a 2,500 car garage at Toyota Center, a 1,600 car garage at the convention center, and a 10 story garage next to the Harris County Courts. The park garage is double the 300 car lot that it is replacing.

If they built this garage much larger, much of it would be unused.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, forgot the 1,250 space garage next to Houston Center 5.

Edited by RedScare
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I think this garage under the park is being built because they are "hoping" that the lots around the park will be replaced with buildings. Most office buildings with parking garages, aren't open on the weekend, so if there were no parking offered around the park on the weekend then the park would not be used on the weekend.

(I hope we get ride of all these surface lots)

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If they built this garage much larger, much of it would be unused.

Oh, I absolutely agree that the vacancy rate of spaces would be extremely high for many years into the future. However, it would simulatenously eliminate a barrier to development (especially large-scale retail) and reduce the value of downtown land used as parking. Because it would usher in new development and new users, the parking vacancy would be expected to decline.

Btw, if the tunnel system were expanded from the Park Shops through Finger's project, through the park/parking, and to the George R. Brown, having that infrastructure in place for rapid east/west pedestrian movement would likely result in some demand being displaced to the lower-priced areas in east downtown, thus providing relief in the skyline district as well.

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Btw, if the tunnel system were expanded from the Park Shops through Finger's project, through the park/parking, and to the George R. Brown, having that infrastructure in place for rapid east/west pedestrian movement would likely result in some demand being displaced to the lower-priced areas in east downtown, thus providing relief in the skyline district as well.

You've clearly never worked downtown if you think people would park in front of the convention center and walk through those incredibly inefficient tunnels (hint: they are not straight) to get to Louisiana Street. As for future parking, most economists agree that if parking gets tight, parking prices rise above the ridiculous $3 level, spurring the construction of more parking garages. When the need arises, the market will compensate. In the meantime, I think the 4,730 city owned spaces already built or under construction will suffice.

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The Tunnel system is good if you know it... Took me a year to use all of it really. Also, the tunnel system is not open on the weekends, and most of it closes around 6-8pm during the week, to keep the homeless out.

I know that section of the tunnel well, as I used to office at the Great SW Bldg. Walking the streets is twice as fast as taking the tunnels. My point is that the park parking garage is 9 blocks from Louisiana Street, and farther if your office is north or south of Walker. Few, if any workers will walk that far for a parking space. I walk 5 blocks for cheap parking, but no way would I walk twice that far...and I am an advocate for walking.

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You've clearly never worked downtown if you think people would park in front of the convention center and walk through those incredibly inefficient tunnels (hint: they are not straight) to get to Louisiana Street.

Actually, the east/west tunnels connecting to the Park Shops are reasonably direct except at Travis Street. Then there's a northern jog, and if you're trying to reach a destination directly to the west or to take a jog southwest, that could be somewhat inconvenient...but if those areas are your destination, by then you're well over half of the way there, and two or three street crossings won't kill you (99.995% of the time ;) ).

You should also recognize that if the lower-priced spaces in east downtown displaced demand from the part of central downtown east of about Milam, then parking spaces would free up in that area, prices would adjust, and demand for parking in the skyline district would be displaced to the middle of downtown. I suspect that there'd be a few people that cheap out and walk the whole way, but for the most part, it is kind of a chain reaction.

As for future parking, most economists agree that if parking gets tight, parking prices rise above the ridiculous $3 level, spurring the construction of more parking garages. When the need arises, the market will compensate. In the meantime, I think the 4,730 city owned spaces already built or under construction will suffice.

The problem with the Toyota Center and GRB parking garages is that they're designed specifically to be able to accomodate special events and aren't situated anywhere close to any major office buildings, retail establishments, residential towers, or infrastructure that helps get people around (like the tunnels). The nearest non-event-oriented demand generator is the Houston Center complex, but is diagonal to that area on the street grid, which requires a longer zig-zaging street-level walk to access. So these city-owned facilities are clearly not going to be effective at stealing away demand from more commercialized parts of downtown. The new park, in contrast, is situated along the primary east/west downtown axis, is more easily accessible by car from a greater number of approaches, is more visible, and has more desirable land around it for new development.

Another problem is that because they're built for special events, developers (and their investors) are less likely to count such spaces as being reliably available to prospective tenants and customers. Having a reliable excess of parking in the downtown area would make development and leasing much easier. In many years, the City might even be able to recoup much of their investment by leasing or even selling the rights to parts of the underground parking garage to developers, benefiting not only from the lease/sale of parking, but also from the taxable value of the new development.

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I know that section of the tunnel well, as I used to office at the Great SW Bldg. Walking the streets is twice as fast as taking the tunnels. My point is that the park parking garage is 9 blocks from Louisiana Street, and farther if your office is north or south of Walker. Few, if any workers will walk that far for a parking space. I walk 5 blocks for cheap parking, but no way would I walk twice that far...and I am an advocate for walking.

The Great SW Building isn't near any tunnels. Taking the streets is infinitely more easy than taking non-existant tunnels.

Incidentally, though, if you knew the system well and wanted to get to the skyline district, it would've been best to walk west along Texas or Capitol Streets, then picking up the tunnels at the JPMorgan Chase Center and heading south, cutting over to Louisiana via Two Shell or the El Paso Energy Building. That route would've been faster than walking at street-level.

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Sorry, Charlie. I work in the skyline district.

If you work in the good buildings you park in the good garages.

Anything past Milam is low rent.

My understanding is that unless you work for a company in the skyline district that provides paid parking, you'd best catch the bus or be prepared to walk. Not everyone that works in those buildings is very well-off, either. I'm sure that they'd appreciate any opportunity to cut their expenses.

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Tunnels ...YUCK

We should really start thinking above ground more if we want to attract people to downtown. Most Houstonian's don't even know there is a tunnel system downtown, and I doubt the tunnel system would ever be used for more than anything that it already is being used for now, a shelter from the hot weather.

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Tunnels ...YUCK

We should really start thinking above ground more if we want to attract people to downtown. Most Houstonian's don't even know there is a tunnel system downtown, and I doubt the tunnel system would ever be used for more than anything that it already is being used for now, a shelter from the hot weather.

...and a shelter from car and bus exhaust, wind tunnels between skyscrapers, distracted, careless, or intoxicated drivers, and of course, from the beggars and other undesirables. Screw the ignorant. Gimme shelter.

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