mls1202

6 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Workers are cutting up the old giant Sears sign. I always thought they might save it but I guess not.

Trenching on the street across from the main building.

 

Prepping for the future crosswalks.

 

 

 

I never would have thought that the Sears sign would be destroyed.  Kitschy stuff like that surely would have ended up in some restaurant like Joe's Crabshack or Twin Peaks...

11 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

 

That might be the only hill in Houston!  It's practically San Francisco's trolley cars!

14 hours ago, jermh said:

More Glass:

 

 

Does that one crooked support on the first level bother anyone as much as it does me??

I don't get much of a chance these days to head into town, so when I finally went yesterday to see this building in person, I was shocked to find it so much better in person than in the photos.  The scale of the glass tubes in relation to the overall facade is much larger than it appears in the photos.  The "horizontal seams" between each layer are much more pleasing to me as well.  In the photos, something about them came off as inelegant, but this building is gorgeous!

31 minutes ago, hindesky said:

I couldn't find a topic on this, they had a full page add in Sundays Chronicle. Move if necessary.

I genuinely am caught off guard to see a picture of a...newspaper. 

18 hours ago, cityliving said:

Is that HVAC or elevator equipment?

This just might be the catalyst needed to launch development on the vacant Astroworld land next door...

This is definitely a building that looks better in person. I was lukewarm on the pics that made it look like a generic, suburban office building. But seeing it in person and it’s proximity to the street and general massing have made me a fan. 

Wow, that is a LOT brighter than I expected!

On 9/29/2020 at 10:56 PM, Urbannizer said:

Houston Pano by Carlos Anez, on Flickr

This angle of downtown alway belies just how dense it really is.  The location of the tallest towers at the northwestern edge obscure all the shorter buildings immediately behind them.  It's amazing to me how different our downtown looks from the north, and south and east!

That last photo of the drill made me think to ask the question--how deep is the bedrock layer here in the Houston area?  I know we have a lot of clay , but I imagine drilling into the bedrock to build your supports can't be that deep.  I have no doubt we have some first hand knowledge on this board.

3 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Haha thanks, I don't know how many "reputation points" I have, they certainly haven't deflected too many bullets...

 

As of this writing, you have 4,705.  With that level, you can recommend demolishing the Menil, Williams Tower, the BOA Center (heck, even a Whataburger) and receive polite discourse.

I have 337.

I can barely recommend demolishing a Citgo gas station...

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I'll say this... as one of the original "preservation twins"... I would trade that old mansion for a stately midrise with some GFR. Something about 8 stories, tall enough to cover up that parking garage. Its time has come and it looks ridiculous sitting there. No need to demolish, just move it somewhere else.

 

I have wanted to say that so badly, but thankfully you said it first and have more "reputation points" than me to deflect any bullets

If you didn't know the significance of the building and the fact it is owned by the same people behind the high-rise, a passerby would immediately think some old lady refused to sell her home and stuck it to the developer, a la the old man in "Up".

16 hours ago, rgarza said:

Looks about right. The only difference I can see is there is no longer a canopy at the entrance. Also, when I saw it lit up the light wasn’t quite that bright white, but I think this does give a good idea of what it’ll look like. 

@rgarza, are those lights:

1) "windows" through the concrete wall?

2) light panels behind the glass tubes?

3) or do I have it all wrong and these are lights external to the glass and are actually shining on the outside?

I don't get down to downtown very much, but damn--I didn't realize that the Preston and Texas Tower were right next to one another...I thought they were a block or two apart. It's so exciting to see this much density in new construction!

Retrofit vs. tear down and build new...

Unlike Sears, I don't see the Fiesta as an historically or architecturally significant structure.  I hope it is more than just a paint job and build-out of the interior.  Also, that parking lot?

I say this as an Aggie, but this building's design is about as underwhelming as any building built at the main College Station A&M campus the last two decades.  I don't know if this is a problem of "government buildings" where pressures to keep costs down trump any sort of architectural statement a private company may be motivated to make.  At least it improves on what was there...

For a brief moment, I envisioned those lighting panels as a giant LED screen, broadcasting Coca Cola advertisements or other such crap to create our own "Times Square"...

3 hours ago, AREJAY said:

I think the 300K is to renovate one of the GFR spots inside this tower - Meaning the WF catty-corner at 2801 Kirby will likely not be around too much longer. 

Ah, you're right!  I didn't catch that they were at the same Kipling address (kinda obvious in retrospect).  Makes sense to move it into the building and then demolish the old one!

2 hours ago, decks05 said:

The glass and aluminum framing on the tower. Or what most people refer to as the "windows". Ha!

wow, I was off.  Thanks for not making feel TOO stupid

12 hours ago, Fortune said:

Does this mean that huge lot that is currently occupied by  Wells Fargo across the street will become available for re-development?!?!

Nah, it is $300K to renovate the interior.  If anything, this looks to cement it's place in the neighborhood for the next few years  

1 hour ago, decks05 said:

Bid documents were supposed to come out 9/18, but have been pushed back to 10/5. My company is bidding the curtain wall.

For the laymen around here (me), by curtain wall, are you referring to the below-ground walls that are put up once the foundation has been excavated, or is that something else?