downtownian

2 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

 

I guess it actually has happened before recently enough with the SpringHill Suites in the Humble Oil complex . . . what were those apartments called?  Not sure if that was short sighted or not.

Also, the Great Southwest Building was originally going to be renovated into apartments but then there was an ownership change and it is now a Cambria Hotel.

https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/brief-report-historic-downtown-tower-could-become-luxury-hotel-by-2019/

53 minutes ago, CREguy13 said:

That's too bad  the tenants are having to vacate so quickly, but this would be an awesome boutique hotel that pays homage to Houston's history.  If they put a lot of money into this, guests would pay a high nightly rate.  Downtown needs more hotel rooms in Market Square.  This size building reminds me of a boutique hotel I recently stayed at in Minneapolis called The Hewing Hotel.  It was awesome and I was told it was the most popular hotel for younger clientele in the city, I can't wait to stay there again.  Something similar to the Hewing Hotel would be ideal for this block and be great for this area of downtown.

I strongly prefer residents to hotel guests downtown. Creates a more vibrant neighborhood and community. I like hotel development downtown but would never want to see a residential building flip to hotel. 

3 hours ago, X.R. said:

The Chronicle is reporting that it opens on the 28th of July.

 

When this opens and the bar is well lit and available, it would be kind of a game-changer that area. At this point a person could stay there, go to finn hall for food, walk to the bars further down on main, take the train to the museums and park, and call it a weekend and be like "Houston's pretty cool." All without a car. 

I agree that it is cool but game changer is a little overstated. People could do that at the JW across the street ($189 / night) or the Club Quarters ($130 / night) compared to this at $129 / night. Plenty of other boutique hotels around Main Street as well with a lot closer to the central bar area.

18 minutes ago, CaptainJilliams said:

 

You'd think, right? At least somewhere around 80-85%. I wish I knew for sure.

Most recent downtown report states "609 Main at Texas is over 80 percent leased". Page 3 of the link:

http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/downtown_market_update_2019_q1.pdf

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

They seen to have become a small tenant building with about 70 different tenants.

 

Yes, it's strange. My personal accountant is in the building. I was initially surprised because I thought the building would be full of major corporate tenants.

Q1 2019 downtown market report just released. See link and highlights below.

• Not yet 10k residents. Occupancy increased from 84.4% in Q4 2018 to 86.8% in Q1 2019. "The submarket has grown to close to 6,100 residential units, up from about 2,500 in 2013; Downtown now houses over 9,000 residents."
• "[The Preston], Camden Downtown and Regalia at the Park—will add 873 units to Downtown’s growing inventory."
• The office dynamics are interesting and worth reading all the way through. Flight to quality is causing significant renovation projects, co-working spaces are increasing share, overall vacancy increased from 19.7% to 20.4%. Bank of America Tower (formerly Capitol Tower) is 82% leased which seems fast compared to 609 Main which has been open a while and is "over 80% leased".
• The Downtown District has a new security program with SEAL Security. Two dedicated SEAL officers will patrol Downtown and walk designated high traffic areas daily from 7 pm to 3 am.
• I think having Houston's innovation and tech corridor downtown instead of the former Sears site makes a lot of sense. It seems to be organically developing: "Downtown’s emerging tech, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to grow at a solid pace. In the first quarter alone, Downtown’s innovation ecosystem gained two new co-working spaces (Life Time Work, Spaces), two new accelerators and one incubator (MassChallenge, Founder Institute, WeWork Labs), and two notable tech tenants (Ruths.ai and UiPath), further placing Houston on the map as a competitive tech and innovation hub. Venture capital activity has also significantly increased, with Chevron Technology Ventures new $90 million Fund VII; and new accelerator/investment programs by BBL Ventures and Eunike Ventures... Downtown now has eight co-working companies, an unprecedented expansion a key amenity for cluster growth in Downtown’s dynamic innovation ecosystem."

http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/downtown_market_update_2019_q1.pdf

1 hour ago, txtiger said:

This is news to me…:

 

https://www.aquariumrestaurants.com/downtownAquariumHouston/promos/new-tiger-exhibit/

 

Am at least glad the animals will be able to get some vitamin D.

I think the real question is: are indoor tigers a “real” tiger location? Does downtown therefore currently have a tiger location or will it only have a tiger location once this outdoor pen is constructed?

9 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Not even close, TheSir. See: Gulfton. There are plenty of other Census tracts in the City that are way more densely populated than downtown. God help us if downtown is considered “densely populated.”

 

Surely downtown Houston has an area greater than 0.7 sq mi?! I think that’s the problem in Downtownian’s original post.

Downtown Houston has an area of 1.6 square miles. I defined 0.7 square miles as “core” - excluding the warehouse district north of the bayou and the Louisiana street office corridor which has no residential and is just a collection of skyscrapers. 

Gulfton has population density of 15,500 / square mile and second place is pecan park at 10,200 / square mile. 

1 hour ago, kbates2 said:

The Eastside blooming would only serve to make the location of downtown more meaningful (being the center of so much as opposed to the edge).  

  

Yes, when I leave downtown I go west 75% of the time and east 25% of the time. Making it 50/50 would make downtown even more central.

The front of the building is inscribed "Frugality is the Mother of the Virtues" which is likely off-brand for a Moxy hotel.

It looks like a major international corporation ripping off Ace Hotel. Which I guess is what’s actually going on 

1 hour ago, kbates2 said:

 

They were open maybe one time out of the 20 or so that I have been there.

I had a mediocre slice of $8 pizza there.

4 hours ago, intencity77 said:

The planned museum, if not the Maritime Museum, would be pretty awesome as a Meow Wolf annex. They are an immersive, interactive and artist driven exhibition that has really taken off since it opened in 2016 and expanding to different markets. They have multi-million dollar expansions planned in Denver, Washington D.C., Las Vegas and a hotel/exhibit concept in Phoenix. I don’t know if Houston is “vibrant” or “hip” enough to support one but it might pair nicely with the overall vibe of this project. 

Not a huge fan of Meow Wolf compared to Sleep No More or Houston's own DinoLion. 

http://sites.uci.edu/form/files/2015/01/Greenberg-Clement-Avant-Garde-and-Kitsch-copy.pdf

2 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

 

I completely agree. I don't get why a lot of people on here are so obsessed with height. I'd rather have a shorter tower with excellent ground floor connectivity with the street and the surrounding area than a taller tower that is completely isolating it's self. After all we walk and spent the majority of our time at street level not 50 stories in the air. 

Also agree. Right now in downtown would rather have two 30 story buildings that knock out two parking lots (or twelve 5 story buildings) than 1 single 60 story building that knocks out 1 parking lot. 

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

I know it's a public high schooling they don't have a lot of money but I don't know why they couldn't do something better than this ugly chain link fencing. Why not make it like the fence next to the HSPVA letters.

My guess is that it's not a budget issue - the rest of the school is very well done. I think the fence was not part of the original plans and installed after completion to prevent homeless from camping there (which they were doing prior to the fence being installed).

11 hours ago, kbates2 said:

 

Agreed that what I have had from there was very good when they had it.

 

Crazy enough - we have Honeymoon, Coterie, Cafe Firenze, Minuti, etc around and the best coffee that I have had is from our one dry goods store - The Tipping Point.  They have a setup in the front and sell coffee at weird hours but it is fantastic.

I'll have to check that out. I think the best coffee in downtown is:

Prelude

Amaya

Boomtown

Coterie

22 minutes ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Cool!  I will need to check it out!

It's high quality food and coffee. Went there for brunch and lunch. Seems like a hangout spot for people who live at MST.

Just now, kbates2 said:

Competition is good but that doesn't necessarily mean that both competitors survive, just that the better one will (or should).  This area may well be able to handle two and I would be happier for it.  I would hate to lose either but having two over there would be very cool.  That said, the initial point is the news of a grocer is awesome but if the grocer was a bit more spread out, the news would be more awesome.  

Agree. For example one at market square and Phoenicia would be great. Each anchoring a residential hub of downtown.

8 minutes ago, DrLan34 said:

More information:

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-s-Houston-Center-prepares-for-makeover-13536779.php 

The rendering in the chron article looks even better than the renderings posted above 

I’m surprised that food halls are a major draw or even worth mentioning. We’re 3-5 years behind the food hall trend compared to NY or Chicago. 

Sounds like the restaurant from the owner of B&B Butchers is still on - just delayed because of historic redevelopment permitting:

”Benjamin, which requested construction permits in late December, has faced delays as it worked through the redevelopment constraints. It was originally scheduled to open in 2018 but is now slated to open later this year.”

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/mixed-use/peeling-back-the-onion-an-exposed-process-of-renovating-a-pre-war-building-into-mixed-use-in-downtown-houston-96271#ath?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser

Other interesting trivia in the article like there was a plan for balconies in some units but they were cost prohibitive. 

40 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Update site plan for Lyric Market food hall & market,  411 Smith  in downtown Houston next to Lyric Centre.

From Loopnet
https://images2.loopnet.com/d2/qVgDQ7Tadoshf0P8rOVQe1w5xpTAQlr1Jz5BopAqukE/document.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20181219194310/https://images2.loopnet.com/d2/qVgDQ7Tadoshf0P8rOVQe1w5xpTAQlr1Jz5BopAqukE/document.pdf  (archived link)


Food stall and restaurants to expect at Lyric Market:

 

As in past posts in this thread, the steakhouse and seafood restaurants will be full scale restaurants.

Steakhouse

Seafood
Noodle Houston (Ramen)

Pizza

Chinese

Bistro

American Grille

New American

Latin American / Tapas

Cafe

Barbecue

Japanese

Sushi Bar

Italian

Mexican

Greek

Salad

Sandwich

2 Coffee Shops or stalls

Wine Bar

Bakery

Cupcake Shop
Popcorn Stand
Mini Grocer
Juice Bar

Smoothie Bar

That's ambitious. Around 25 vendors and 2 full service restaurants. It's going to be 3x Finn Hall.

1 hour ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

The Houston Center website has a new look, promising new changes to go with the look of the website.

 

The heart of downtown Houston is changing. Planning is underway for a major redevelopment of Houston Center’s landmark 4.2M square foot office and retail campus. Brookfield Properties is making a significant capital investment that will raise the bar in the total tenant experience. Houston Center will be a modern and dynamic mixed use office campus with the amenities to retain and attract top talent.
 

Please check back in January 2019 for the unveiling of the redevelopment plans.

 

http://houstoncenter.com/

 

 

I hope there is a food hall component. Downtown Houston can't get by with only Conservatory, Bravery, Lyric, Finn Hall and Understory plus the planned one at the Post HTX.