mls1202

Have you ever been inside a unit? It's nice. Finger spent a lot of money on amenities, upgrades, and really nice finishes...not to mention that its a really well located highrise with a Montrose address.

Yes, I have been in it and that's my point. The Museum Tower IS what I could consider to be ultra luxury. And now you have an Alexan-branded property (which I have visited a couple, including the Alexan Lofts east of DT) right off the Katy Freeway that I have a hard time believing can life up the level of luxury of the Museum Tower.

On a funny note, my wife and I have this hobby of visiting and pretending to be interested in a number of high-priced condos/town homes that we cannot possibly afford. I'm planning on marching into 2727 when it is done to see their penthouse. I'm expecting that to be Uber-Ultra Luxury. Maybe I will pretend to be a middle eastern oil man that day...

Surprised nobody has commented on the fact that the Chron article claims that the commuter rail will be done by 2030!!!!

Why does this seem ludicrous? Even swapping out the track cannot take that long. Maybe I'm just impatient, but I will have lost interest by then.

Anybody have a photo of the finished building they can post? Thanks!

No matter where you work in retail, the increasing lack of any kind of customer service is appalling, as is the attitude of many employees. Until quite recently, I worked retail, too.

Sackers at most grocery stores - even the Gulfgate HEB - will generally ask women if they need help with a carryout. In the more upscale neighborhoods, one still has a choice of paper or plastic bags and my sources tell me that the carryout tips run $1 - $2 per bag.

$1-$2 per bag? Wow, I was ripped off when I used to be a grocery store "bagger". I would get about 75 cents or a $1 if I was lucky, and this was back in 1995.

Before this development, if you asked me to walk from the corner of Westhiemer and Kirby to Richmond, I would politely decline as I have no interest in walking on a minimal sidewalk along side a gas station, abandoned Schlotsky's, and massive parking lots (Whole Foods, Borders, etc). But combine this with the proposed street improvements by the Upper Kirby District, and this is starting to really become a destination that makes you want to get out and explore by foot.

A photo from Sunday morning (11/11)There's a second building behind this one that's rising as well, but it's only up to the 3rd floor or so at this point.

First use of the term "ultra luxury" that I have seen used on a typical class A apartment building. What does that make the Museum Tower, "ultra-duper luxury"?

I haven't spent this much energy focused on buildings being built before, but with One Park Place, 2727 Kirby and others I have been paying more attention. But 2727 seems to be progressing at a slower pace. Is this the case, or is it just the normal pace for a building like this. It seems as if One Park Place is going faster.

I was just talking to a friend on the phone and we started talking about T&C Mall. I worked at Neuhaus Chocolates from 1989-90 and also at Babbages computer store from 90-92. Neuhaus was a pretty cool place to work actually. I would kill for some pictures of the mall from back then. I lived right across the street near the Bert Wheelers (is it still there?)

I remember when it opened...it didn't actually have any elevators. They were added later and made a big deal of it. Scotty from Star Trek came and opened them up. I spent most of my time at Tilt when it opened, or the arcade outside the mall, across the street from Demaris BBQ. Forget the name of it though. I wish digital cameras were around back then:(

Wow, Babbages! I remember that store. Used to be the best place to go to get computer games and such. They used to have designated sections for Amiga, Apple, Commodore, and in the back in a dark corner was IBM PC games which looked horrible in CGA next to the others...what a trip down memory lane.

Emirates is a top notch airline, one of the best I have flow on and a competitor in terms of quality of service to Singapore Air, Thai Air, etc. I would take this as a nice plug from them.

Can't add anything to the Westin, but I have stayed in a number of hotels that had balconies where the doors were permanently locked. When I would ask why, safety and liability where the two big issues. Either way, I always thought that the Westin needed an update. A hotel that integrated into the swanky Galleria should have a bit more cachet than it currently does.

I'm living in Russia right now, and looking at these pictures make me realize how much I miss the diversity of people in the US (and Houston in particular). You don't appreciate it until you live in a fairly homogeneous society. I feel the same way when I visit China.

If I recall, the existing parking garage that will be adjacent is kinda dumpy looking. Does anyone know of any plan to renovate it? The model still keeps the dumpyesque exterior.

Looking at the pictures of the balconies with the reflective glass facade behind them, I can't help but wonder what it is going to look like when people stick their white or green plastic patio furniture from Walmart outside with their illegal barbecue grill. I didn't see that included in the artist's rendering!

I'm pretty sure this was one of the two proposed sites of the doctor-owned medical buildings that were set to go up in Midtown. The other one is further north near the Pierce Elevated. I thought that it had died... There is a thread with renderings somewhere here.

Given the fact that the one in Houston has to accommodate the Stowers building on the block, it will undoubtedly have some L-shaped configuration.

Houston-Development, your post in the HV thread states that the hotel proposed for that site is 5-10 stories. Isn't that kind of small for a W-hotel (or any hotel from that matter if it is on the 5 story side?

Looking at the picture above ^^^, is that street level retail in the bottom right?

My guess...this parking garage was done on the cheap to serve an immediate need with minimal investment and act as a placeholder. Should the real estate landscape change, it would be fairly easy (in my uneducated opinion) to demolish this for a higher value project.

Maybe I'm deluding myself

During a trip to Trinidad, I stepped outside to the sound of a pack of dogs chasing after two other dogs. It took a while for my eyes to make out what I was actually seeing...

The two dogs being pursued were male and female, butt to butt, with the female dog dragging the male dog behind her. Apparently, the two were doing the deed when the other dogs started to attack. The female took off, but the male was still "locked-in" and was flipped backwards, only to be dragged behind her as she took off across the parking lot. I still remember the poor look at that male dog's face...

Does anyone have any pictures of what the River Oaks tennis facility actually looks like? Their website has since expired (not a very good sign) and I haven't found anything....

It might make sense to have a second library there if it was to serve HCC as a college library. Maybe?

I have to agree with you. Now that we are going to have this flagship park in downtown, GRB just doesn't seem like a very good anchor. I guess the optimist could look at it as a buffer between the park and 59.

Fast forward 12 months...

"I drove by today and saw them installing glass panels and a kitchen sink to a 'penthouse' of sorts...I'm not an architect or anything, but this looks like a good sign that this project just might happen"

That last picture with the lights shining through the fog reminds me of the scene in ET where he goes home...

I'm one of the optimists who think this will happen. However, I also felt that way about the Orion off of Memorial and the Bayou. Have you seen how far they got? They excavated the hole and even began to put up the vertical supports of the building.