cloud713

How are y’all adding so many pictures to a post? The mobile site only lets me add 3 pictures from my phone before there’s no room left. The max file size for me says 7.31mb, which isn’t even 1/4th the file size for one jpeg picture from my actual camera..?

The building is amazing. I wish I had more time to take everything in, but I had to run. Next time.. 

The guide recommended we take the elevator to the top and work our way down. With the flow around the open central atrium and stairs, I couldn’t help but think of Wrights Guggenheim. 
The Kusama infinity room is closed right now. I heard multiple variations for why, from not being able to manage capacity while it’s busy during this free grand opening week(?), but “should be open after that”, to the unfortunately more likely reason, covid. 
The skylights in the tunnel between the Kinder and Glassell buildings were very Turrell-esque. The other tunnel towards the Law building was already getting blocked by people getting their picture taken, with the rainbow colored light filling the backdrop. 

I’d post pictures, but the file size limit is ridiculous.

Oh, the Glassell rooftop is still closed, but the new awning shade doesn’t look too bad from the ground level.

Surely thats not permanent/they're not tacking on a plywood shade structure on top of this development that they just spent hundreds of millions of dollars on..
Guess ill have to reserve judgement until I see for myself or we get more detailed information.

3 hours ago, clutchcity94 said:

Looks like the scorching hot rooftop of the Glassell School is fixed! Will be really cool once the vines grow in and provide some coverage.

Whats going on here? Kind of looks like they built a wooden shade structure below the trellis, but that cant be right.

I guess no more downtown views from the lawn at WOMH.. though if this deal is the difference to keeping womh afloat then I guess no skyline view is better than no concert venue.

On 9/15/2020 at 5:22 PM, rgarza said:

Quick update from the inside, museum staff have started moving in. There’s still quite a bit to do, but they are starting to move some art into the building. Of course, it’s not on display yet, but it is there!

Have they moved in the Kusama room?

Thanks for all the pictures! I wonder if they plan on lengthening the boardwalk or if those stubs at the X are just design?

16 hours ago, Bassclef said:

I have a feeling mcnair is going no further than a thought.

I was a little skeptical too, but someone I know was bidding on work for the project recently, though the bidding process sounded kind of weird. Apparently they have financing lined up though.

On 7/24/2020 at 3:34 PM, urbanize713 said:

I believe I once saw such a plan for 1000 Louisiana. 

Yeah there was a plan floating around probably a decade (or more?) ago for making a rooftop observation deck on Wells Fargo with glass bottom floor that extended out past the edge where the offset/set back walls in the $ are. 
I would love for that to get brought back, but I doubt that’s much of a priority.

I didn’t realize those tour busses made the Chase tower observation deck a stop 😳. No wonder they closed it. I would occasionally take friends or family up there who’d never been/didn’t know about it, and noticed it getting busier each time. Someone high up with Hines that I spoke with on a tour of 609 Main after it topped out confirmed that they shut it down due to too many complaints from tenants about the lobby/elevators getting crowded with visitors.

3 hours ago, corbs315 said:

New fencing/signage. Looks a bit less curvy to me!

 

🤦‍♂️😑 it’s a box with rounded corners now. Value engineering strikes again.

Underground parking?

On 6/27/2020 at 11:50 AM, HoustonMidtown said:

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Houston Midtown, on Flickr

 

 

I guess making i10 wider through there isn’t part of the redo plan for the highways around downtown? You’d think they’d leave space to accommodate for future expansion.

On 7/14/2020 at 4:08 AM, Stone said:

I like how the 45* angles on both new towers play off each other in this angle. 

On 7/2/2020 at 10:58 AM, kennyc05 said:

Well at least Bowen will block a portion of it from some angles lol 😂

Ugh.. speaking of ugly. I’d take Arabella over Bowen any day.

4 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

On 7/13/2020 at 4:07 PM, nate4l1f3 said:

I won’t believe it until it’s completed haha

Right? Breaking ground right before the economy crashes and we tumble into a deep recession? Ballsy

4 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

this building would be an excellent candidate for an automated garage

Great point! I wonder if they considered that option.

I know the construction has been a mess with the different stages they're doing things in, but I honestly think that after its all finished that this could end up being the best designed highway in Houston. I really like how the entrance, exit ramps for the interchanges come up on the left side, in between the free lanes and the toll lanes so they can both merge together up onto the ramp instead of ending up with a mess like the Katy Tollway where you exit off the toll lanes and then have to cross over a half dozen lanes of traffic to get to the exit on the far right. Sure it'll take a while for some people to get used to the exits being on the left of the main lanes, but its a much smarter transition to get both the toll lanes and the main lanes onto the interchanges for the Beltway, 610, etc.

On 6/26/2020 at 5:38 PM, H-Town Man said:

 

With a small site, there are going to be constraints in the parking garage, ...

Back in 2015 i was on a tour of some downtown developments with the urban land institute and the person giving the tour commented on this property and how steep the ramp in the parking garage will have to be (I believe he said the steepest parking garage in the state?).

Any new info on this? My buddies father said they had started doing bids on this and that the financing was lined up?

6 hours ago, wxman said:

It's sad that our state's tallest building is also one of the ugliest. There is nothing special about this building at all. Just a tall, gray, bland, box. 

But a corner is sliced off! /s

On 6/2/2020 at 11:19 AM, Paco Jones said:

The project is underway.  They are currently working on underground utilities.

Cars were parked in the lot during the march on Tuesday when you posted this.. Unless the underground utilities were in the city ROW/not interfering with parking.

The stone base seems more respectful of the architecture/historical aspect of market square, too.

13 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

If they are still committed, I actually believe this will break ground in Q1 2021 since the hotel now is a larger part of the equation with the reduced project scope.

I’m moreso worried about when this fed pump manipulation ends and the stock market crashes, but I agree the hotel is a large part of the equation here.