BLVD Place / Hanover Towers / Apache HQ Developments

[H-Town Man 5007]

Here's a picture looking down post oak boulevard. I know you can't really see BLVD Place but it's a neat perspective and had really changed over time.

 

No traffic!

 

[bobruss 4988]

Must have been taken early on a Sunday morning.

[Triton 11792]

Must have been taken early on a Sunday morning.

Was Sunday this clear? This would appear to be from today seeing how there are no clouds.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Triton

[swtsig 2929]

Was Sunday this clear? This would appear to be from today seeing how there are no clouds.

 

pretty sure he was being facetious.

[bobruss 4988]

You are correct sir,  but Triton, I also said ( A Sunday morning ). The last two Sundays have been pretty cloudy.

[brijonmang 5510]

Yes this was today, and it was right at 11:50 or so...I was surprised myself.  Westheimer was painless as well.  Who says uptown is too congested???

[Urbannizer 44132]

BLVD Place Northern Facade Blue Hr v1 by Mabry Campbell on Flickr

[gene 3053]

good lord that is an awesome pic and would love to live and work by that...

 

oh wait...i do! lucky me!!! now if we could just get it to open

[citykid09 220]

Its nice. But why the hell is it surrounded by a mile of cement and not up to the sidewalk?

[swtsig 2929]

Its nice. But why the hell is it surrounded by a mile of cement and not up to the sidewalk?

 

because people need to park? i get that everyone wants every development to come right up to the curb but that  just isn't all that feasible. what's kinda funny is that the flagship whole foods in austin has even more parking out front yet no one ever seems to complain about it.

[H-Town Man 5007]

because people need to park? i get that everyone wants every development to come right up to the curb but that  just isn't all that feasible. what's kinda funny is that the flagship whole foods in austin has even more parking out front yet no one ever seems to complain about it.

 

No one in Houston or no one in Austin?

[JoninATX 170]

That's true, I haven't heard of a single Austinite or anybody else complain about the parking lot at Whole Foods. But I heard and even said there are too many people there sometimes, and traffic coming in & going out can be hectic at times.

Edited April 17, 2014 by JoninATX

[swtsig 2929]

No one in Houston or no one in Austin?

 

both. i lived in austin when that was being completed and went there several days a week on my way home from work and not once did i think "argh i can't believe they put a parking lot out front... i want this right up to the curb!!!"

 

in fact, i LOVED the parking out front.... it made it ultra convenient and believe it or not finding a spot wasn't all that difficult most of the time.

[H-Town Man 5007]

both. i lived in austin when that was being completed and went there several days a week on my way home from work and not once did i think "argh i can't believe they put a parking lot out front... i want this right up to the curb!!!"

 

in fact, i LOVED the parking out front.... it made it ultra convenient and believe it or not finding a spot wasn't all that difficult most of the time.

 

You kind of went from saying "No one complains" to saying that you didn't complain when you were there.

Do you wish Waterloo music and all those other buildings around there had parking lots in front?  Would Congress maybe be better if the buildings were set back behind parking lots?

[King Owl 155]

I used to live across the street from that Whole Foods in Austin. The traffic was ridiculous around there.  Painful.  The parking in front was nice for odd-hours trips.  Otherwise you could forget about finding a space to park.

 

I see nothing wrong with the parking lot in front of the on in BLVD place.  I mean it's not like it's out of place for the surrounding area. 

[HoustonIsHome 1626]

Building an oasis in the desert from scratch is hard to do. Uptown is not very pedestrian oriented to begin with so only baby steps can be made to direct the area towards a more pedestrian friendly area. To big a change would be risky as it might mean the access issues may result in a failed enterprise.

For now the parking is necessary.

[swtsig 2929]

You kind of went from saying "No one complains" to saying that you didn't complain when you were there.

Do you wish Waterloo music and all those other buildings around there had parking lots in front?  Would Congress maybe be better if the buildings were set back behind parking lots?

 

i never heard a single complaint from anyone i knew. if you're looking for a scientific poll about whether or not anybody at any point in time complained about it go conduct your own research. from my anecdotal experience from living there i never came across anyone who openly bemoaned the parking lot up front.

 

and do you mean the waterloo that does, in fact, have a parking lot out front (and to the side with direct entrance from lamar)? that waterloo? or do you mean all those other buildings like REI and the bookstore with huge parking lots up front? those types? cute that you compare what is still very much a suburban environment (houston uptown and lamar in ausitn) to the heart of the urban core where even if it was wanted - and believe me, from a business practicality standpoint, those business owners would LOVE some upfront parking - it couldn't fit.

[H-Town Man 5007]

i never heard a single complaint from anyone i knew. if you're looking for a scientific poll about whether or not anybody at any point in time complained about it go conduct your own research. from my anecdotal experience from living there i never came across anyone who openly bemoaned the parking lot up front.

 

and do you mean the waterloo that does, in fact, have a parking lot out front (and to the side with direct entrance from lamar)? that waterloo? or do you mean all those other buildings like REI and the bookstore with huge parking lots up front? those types? cute that you compare what is still very much a suburban environment (houston uptown and lamar in ausitn) to the heart of the urban core where even if it was wanted - and believe me, from a business practicality standpoint, those business owners would LOVE some upfront parking - it couldn't fit.

 

Now now swtsig, let's not get too heated here. You're right, there is a small parking strip in front of Waterloo, my error. I wouldn't really call either of these "suburban" environments, especially not Lamar Blvd. in Austin's core - I would rather say they're in a transitional period, "urbanizing" you might say. Some of us want them to urbanize more, and hence complain about setbacks for parking; other people I suppose want them to stay in more of a Highway 6 paradigm, since it's convenient.

 

Are you saying that the business owners along Congress Ave. in Austin would love some setbacks for parking lots? That if I walked into one and casually said, "Don't you wish there were parking lots all along this street and you guys had some breathing room?" they'd be like, "Yeah man, this urban environment stifles us! Instead of staring across at the windows of other businesses and sidewalks full of pedestrians, we need some concrete with cars on it!"

[swtsig 2929]

Now now swtsig, let's not get too heated here. You're right, there is a small parking strip in front of Waterloo, my error. I wouldn't really call either of these "suburban" environments, especially not Lamar Blvd. in Austin's core - I would rather say they're in a transitional period, "urbanizing" you might say. Some of us want them to urbanize more, and hence complain about setbacks for parking; other people I suppose want them to stay in more of a Highway 6 paradigm, since it's convenient.

 

Are you saying that the business owners along Congress Ave. in Austin would love some setbacks for parking lots? That if I walked into one and casually said, "Don't you wish there were parking lots all along this street and you guys had some breathing room?" they'd be like, "Yeah man, this urban environment stifles us! Instead of staring across at the windows of other businesses and sidewalks full of pedestrians, we need some concrete with cars on it!"

 

here's your problem - you lack any sense of business accumen. every argument you make takes place in an urbanist vacuum devoid of practicaliy where cars shouldn't exist and setbacks should be eliminated and ground floor retail should be forced to help create an "urban fabric" (or your definition of it). beieve it or not, most people get to and from places in a CAR. including the retail establishments they frequent.

 

i know for certain businesses in Austin's urban core, where zoning forces all developments to come to the curb and forces all developments to have ground floor retail, have failed (as in gone out of business) because rents were too steep and - wait for it - customers could not find parking. i have friends in austin who have told me a lot of these businesses fail for that exact reason "people don't go b/c they can't find a parking spot". right in the heart of your urban core. so yeah, if you told these business owners (which i think we can all safely assume you are not) that by "breathing room" you mean "easy access for their customers to frequent their establishment and increase their earnings" they you bet your ass they would say "yeah man!" until an area reaches a critical mass of people, your "urban environment" won't pay the rent.

[H-Town Man 5007]

here's your problem - you lack any sense of business accumen. every argument you make takes place in an urbanist vacuum devoid of practicaliy where cars shouldn't exist and setbacks should be eliminated and ground floor retail should be forced to help create an "urban fabric" (or your definition of it). beieve it or not, most people get to and from places in a CAR. including the retail establishments they frequent.

 

i know for certain businesses in Austin's urban core, where zoning forces all developments to come to the curb and forces all developments to have ground floor retail, have failed (as in gone out of business) because rents were too steep and - wait for it - customers could not find parking. i have friends in austin who have told me a lot of these businesses fail for that exact reason "people don't go b/c they can't find a parking spot". right in the heart of your urban core. so yeah, if you told these business owners (which i think we can all safely assume you are not) that by "breathing room" you mean "easy access for their customers to frequent their establishment and increase their earnings" they you bet your ass they would say "yeah man!" until an area reaches a critical mass of people, your "urban environment" won't pay the rent.

 

Well, I think if we're at the point where your post begins by telling me what "my problem" is, this is not going to be a productive conversation. I will say that I think urbanism is a success in downtown Austin, most businesses and residents are quite happy about that fact, and your preference for keeping N. Lamar Blvd. downtown a nice suburban environment may not last forever.

 

[mollusk 2404]

Not to dive too much into the off topic tangent; however, I neither live in Austin nor do I go to downtown Austin more than perhaps once a year.  I don't find parking there to be any more difficult than any other downtown, and easier than most.  Maybe I just have advanced skills, but I never end up having to park in Round Rock or some such and then walk downtown.  

[Golyadkin 285]

This opens up really soon, right? I thought I remember April or May.

 

It was supposed to, but I talked to my ex who works at the Whole Foods out on Wilcrest, and she said that the word is that they are opening the BLVD Place store in August.

[SkylineView 1402]

2014 04 19:  Aaaand back to the development....

 

[BigFootsSocks 3179]

Ahhh another crane in the background

[swtsig 2929]

And to think there are at least another 3 highrise developments (not including apache) that could creep into that shot in the next year or so.

[SkylineView 1402]

2014 04 26:

 

[bobruss 4988]

Speaking of Apache, has anyone heard any rumors about this project. I've read in the business section where they have sold off several large tracts of leases recently and altered their direction in plans for the future energy wise but I haven't heard one word about what I think would be a very nice addition to this stretch of Post Oak. Can anyone shed any light on this project.

[ChannelTwoNews 2924]

Photos from Sunday morning. Was surprised how Hanover's tower shows up relatively well from a number of vantage points inside the loop...

 

-From the Target on San Felipe near the Westcreek site.

 

-From Greenway/Upper Kirby

 

And finally the site itself

 

 

 

 

 

 

-The Apache site

 

 

-New structures, façade & sign

 

 

[monarch 3797]

great illustrations.  props for sharing.

[monarch 3797]

the hanover tower, look's incredibly well constructed.  seems like it was built to last forever.  just saying.

[Montrose1100 3720]

I was hoping the facade would have remained white/off-white. They look tan/beige now. That colored cheapened the already cheap look.

[cloud713 4038]

[SkylineView 1402]

2014 05 23:

 

[Sky-guy 191]

Amazing pictures as usual, SkylineView!

[Sky-guy 191]

It's only a matter of time before the east side of Pist Oak has towers as well

[Urbannizer 44132]

Cranes 2014.05.25 4570-2 by ThirdCoastRyan on Flickr

[Golyadkin 285]

They started taking down the crane at the Hanover tower yesterday. Sorry for the hazy picture, it was right after the rain had stopped.

 

 

It's only a matter of time before the east side of Pist Oak has towers as well

 

 As someone who lives on the east side of Post Oak and who's view would be seriously blocked by one, I really hope it's a LONG time.

Edited June 1, 2014 by Golyadkin

[Urbannizer 44132]

 

 

 

http://www.scb.com/apartments/post-oak

[SkylineView 1402]

2014 06 07:

 

Edited June 7, 2014 by SkylineView

[lockmat 2291]

Skylineview's photos look like a rendering, crazy.

[mollusk 2404]

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.scb.com/apartments/post-oak

 

EEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!  GHOSTS!!!!!!  It's not even finished and it's already haunted!!!

[houstontexasjack 2358]

2014 06 07:

Hopefully the Apache HQ gets built and will be added to this view in a few years. The Whole Foods and Pinkberry will be nice additions to the area.

[gene 3053]

Wasn't able to take a pic, but True Food Kitchen on the north side of the building seriously looks ready to open any time now...signs up, furniture in and lots of activity...

Edited June 9, 2014 by gene

[H-Town Man 5007]

Hopefully the Apache HQ gets built and will be added to this view in a few years. The Whole Foods and Pinkberry will be nice additions to the area.

 

If it doesn't get built, it looks like a great spot for a game of croquet.

 

 

[ArchFan 323]

EEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!  GHOSTS!!!!!!  It's not even finished and it's already haunted!!!

 

I know!  He looks like one of the ghosts from the "I see dead people" movie ... the one in which the ghosts don't know they are dead and continue their daily activities!

[mollusk 2404]

 

h/t beliefnet.com

[lockmat 2291]

i'm sure we knew this already but i totally forgot...have we always known Apache is  planning to build two towers?

[cloud713 4038]

Woo! Another tower!

And yeah, the BLVD Place plans have had 2 Apache tower footprints in it's plans for a while, though I haven't heard anything about it. I just assumed it would be a placeholder plot for future expansion of Apache.

[Golyadkin 285]

Whatever happened to the talk that Apache might opt for selling the land back to Ed Wulfe and instead buy some land out on the Energy Corridor for their HQ instead?

[BaderJF 537]