Marcus Allen

Awesome! Only Houstonians would get the above analogies. Hilarious.

Not impressed at all. Personally, someone better than me should construct a miniature scale model of downtown or Houston within the observation view and place it in a case in the observation tower in order to have people try to place different landmark locations. Ash, birch or even Aspen hardwood floors would work better.

The renderings give completion dates of 2015 and 2016. Is this a different site or were the projections way off?

I wonder. Because we are becoming a world renowned city, if we should have an identifying element to our city. Believe it or not, we are considered a sister city to Paris. SO, why not have a consortium which places amazing fountains in key places around our fair city. Thoughts? We have some really nice ones, but if some sort of cause helped the Fountains of Houston organization, where would you all like to see ground breaking fountains in Houston?

Texas Children's Hospital already got the name "Texas Medical Center West Campus" officiated. I don't know how or why the TMC, Inc. agreed to it.

I believe it is because there are four more hospitals slotted for that area to be built within the next three years.

Well, I am certainly glad there is some sort of reserve in all this development.

Perhaps, the developers think that yes, at first it will be hated, but like many things in life, the community will get used to it. Then they can gobble up other tracts of land in the area and in a few years, or a decade or so, other projects similar to this will rise. The more that rise, the less opposition it will have. Just a thought. And yes, with so much opposition, I also wonder why the hard push to get this built when so much of the inner loop is ripe for highrise development. I live in the Copperfield area, and our neighborhoods are roughly 25yrs old. Single or double storey only. I would not want something like this in my neighborhood, personally. On the other hand, I see vacant plots of land STILL on Eldridge and Hwy 6. I would gladly welcome a highrise in those areas.

Hopefully, the developers will curtail the erosion which will come from clearing out all of that undergrowth.

I ended up getting a chance to get downtown last night. Here's a not so great cell phone picture of the site as of August 13...(Sorry I just really like 1500 Louisiana)

Great shot. Yes, one of my favorites and IMO, a very clever "twin" to its taller brother.

Obviously, all Ross is doing is ruffling feathers. I can not and neither should anyone else, take this bozo seriously. Back to topic, I would be sad if the facade was changed on those buildings. I am hoping it's like others have said; a renovation of the interior or a revamping to more modern yet similar looking materials for the exterior. I understand the market drives productivity, but I am also constantly surprised at Htown's willingness to readily replace locales which are deemed obsolete. Maybe the average Houstonian wouldn't care if PP was replaced, but architectural buffs would. Hey, I am still mourning the possible demolition of the Astrodome, although I know it's outdated. Maybe I am just sentimental. Regardless, we all are entitled to our opinions of course, I just find it annoying that someone would come onto An Architectural Forum, and down play the importance of any structure's impact on the surrounding community. That is just asinine.

I really think Houston will soon be a vastly underrated convention city/major sports events city by the time the Superbowl arrives in 2017. By the major sports events, I mean all star games, NCAA final 4, college bowl games, superbowls, soccer matches, world cups, and Olympics.

If ever Olympics, dear god let most of the events be indoors. Houston-summer Olympics- I wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy!

Saw Skyscraperpage renderings of Energy Center towers. Looks good. And a third one perhaps!? Very jazzed. Any idea of storey count?

cost becomes expentioanally more prohibitive the higher you go + land values do not justifiy vertical growth. essentially, for the cost of building one 40 story tower a developer could just as easily purchase two sites and develop 2 20 story towers at a lower cost.... or at least that used to be the case. land values along the EC have soared in the past 18 months. still, i wouldn't expect any "skyscraper" type developments in the foreseeable future.

Ok, thanks. Was wondering. Hey, believe me, I have a grin to and from work everyday with all the development. It's ok if there won't be a 40 floor for a while if ever. It beats car dealerships, abandoned strip malls and cow pastures any day IMO. One more query, Energy Center?....just one tower or will there be two?

Probably a dumb question so be kind. I noticed that along the energy corridor high rises are built in pairs at around 20 storeys, so why not build one 40 storey tower? Are there height restrictions along I 10? Is the cost of building a 40 storey significantly higher than say two 20 storey towers? Don't misunderstand, I am jazzed about the development, just curious.

Yes, yes,yes, please gods yes! Sorry, just stoked if this thing is real. A coup for Houston. Baby steps, baby steps.

Excellent! I am so stoked that DT is getting some plus 30 storey towers. Still crossing fingers for a 1000 plus footer but won't complain. But also know realistically that if the five or so office towers that may be going up are the major energy companies, we may have a very long wait before an 80 or more storey tower goes up DT.