cloud713

True.. there is a big entrance/exit for Super Bowl Live on the surface lot south of Marlowe.

16 hours ago, corbs315 said:

It's an innovative use of pumpjacks, celebrating Houston's oil legacy!

Ahh.. I didn't make the connection with the movement of oil derricks.. I like that.
 

15 hours ago, Nole23 said:

From the pic above it looks like Brasserie Du Parc at One Park Place is almost ready as well. The CNN article featuring it says it will be open in time for the Super Bowl. Everything is coming together!

Heres another angle into the restaurant from Monday. I overheard one of the workers mention the signage as I walked past. I like how the glass walls are able to be opened up.
 

1 hour ago, scarface said:

Does this area remind any of you a little of Victory Plza /Park in Dallas?

Uhh.. are we thinking of the same Victory Park?

1 minute ago, monarch said:

^^^ @cloud713 props for the cool video my pal.  maybe it's me, but i find that the WINGS OVER WATER art/fountain to be the single most brilliant and magnificent piece of art structure to come into downtown houston in decades.  I JUST ABSOLUTELY LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!  especially the brilliant, rich, and decadent colors at night.  yes, it may be a bit loud at times, but so are a flock of geese while they are migrating in flight... right?  i am so very happy and proud to have this piece within our new and burgeoning downtown district.  WOW!

It does look cool all lit up at night.. I was just kind of surprised at the noise it makes when the crankshaft rotates. Super Bowl visitors who haven't been to Houston since the last super bowl/happened to be downtown when ESPN had their broadcast in front of the GRB back in 2004 are going to be in for a shock when they see what this area has become.

Wow.. That bike share dedication ceremony must of happened right after I was there. I noticed the new station and all the landscapers doing a bunch of work to spruce up that triangle section.

Wings Over Water was moving today.. Im not sure if its been turned on for long, but today was the first time I noticed it moving, so I took a video..

I didn't realize it would make that much noise. I wonder if they plan on greasing it up/trying to make it a bit quieter. Kind of hard to hear over the wind noise in the video, but every so often when the wind dies down you can hear the whine of the crankshaft turning.
 

Woah.. I dig the mural/sacred geometry. Im glad they are doing something to spruce this place up while they wait for the green light for the tower.

Geez, Hess Tower is getting a banner too? They were putting one up on the Hilton when I was walking around there on Wednesday..

8 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I wonder how big of an idiot Ric Campo feels like knowing that ESPN is no longer going to showcase his development as their backdrop. 

Now they'll just be showcasing Ric Campos parking lot for his next development..

On 1/18/2017 at 11:00 AM, Naviguessor said:

^^ you mean this Tinsley Park? 

Haha, yep.. thats the one! To be honest, I had no idea it rained that much/there was flooding when I posted that. I was driving into the city after I made that post and found out about the rain/flooding from the highway notification signs saying that 288 was shut down/flooded. Oops.. But like hindesky mentioned in the convention center thread, you would think that the stage/grass area on top of the cistern would make for a nice, flood free alternative site. Ah well..

7 hours ago, gene said:

My best friends band was asked to play the Superbowl Live event and from what i know they are kicking it off on Saturday Jan 28th...yet i dont see it on the site that was posted...IF it's a go and announced i hope everyone makes it out to see them!!! stay tuned www.blueoctober.com !!!  

Nice! I just clicked the website and noticed they've updated the page to show performances every day of the festivities.. I was wondering if thurs/fri/sat would be the only shows. A guy I grew up with will be performing on Friday.

Yeah, but a parking lot.. really? I could see that for the 2004 super bowl, but I thought we were finally starting to shed our parking lot identity.. Tinsley Park/Buffalo Bayou would of been a great spot with a nice backdrop.

So do we know how many stories this is now? No way it will be 28 stories if it's 234' tall.

I agree, a CityTarget would do very well. I would much rather it be in the ground floor(s) of an office/residential tower downtown than be located in midtown.

Maybe I'm not rich enough, but I don't consider target to be a "low end retailer". My previous comment was in response to the suggestions of Ross/Marshalls types of discount stores in downtown.

I may be ignorant on the matter, but I don't see low end stores working for downtown. Unless you're catering to the homeless population, like Main Street Market, I don't see the clientele for low end retail being in downtown. All those new apartment buildings have rents starting at like $1500 for a studio. I'm not saying everything needs to be upscale luxury, but I just have a hard time seeing very much low end retail working in downtown. Especially given the rents/profit margins needed to make money.

On 1/15/2017 at 9:41 PM, Twinsanity02 said:

Went with my twin daughters to the convention center district. The entire area is beautiful. Did notice the benches and yes the paint is coming off. Actually saw people promenading. In Houston! Checked the pool area at the Marriott. Fantastic view. 

"Checked the pool area"..? Do they let the general public wander around inside/go up to the pool deck?

Hmm.. I didn't notice it originally (I usually check HAIF on my phone), but I see it in the close up. Weird.. I wonder how/why it would already be showing signs of wear?

5 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Except, have you seen how the front rail of the "seat" has already had the epoxy  paint worn through?  They are all like that..... take a look.  These will look like crap soon enough or will require a lot of maintenance if not.......

Where do you see that? I see the anti-skateboarder bump things to keep skaters from grinding on the bench/tearing them up, but no worn through places..

21 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Any chance this could be the Dream Hotel Urbannizer posted about yesterday in another thread? Or is Hampshire Hotels Management opening two hotels in Houston?

 

 

 

In an article last year, this was mentioned:

 

 

Grupo Posadas, which has more than 130 hotels in Mexico, is teaming up with Bighorn Capital and Debut Hotel Group to develop five properties in the United States, one of which will be in Miami, according to a press release.

Debut Hotel Group, a Hampshire Hotels Management company and owner and operator of Dream Hotels, will manage Grupo Posadas’ Live Aqua hotels in the U.S. Bighorn, a Las Vegas-based private equity firm, is investing $450 million to develop the initial five properties, which will also be in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Each hotel will be in the 250 to 300-key range, according to the press release.

https://therealdeal.com/miami/2015/07/02/mexican-hospitality-brand-to-launch-in-miami/

 

Grupo Posadas/Live Aqua is different than Dream Hotels. They just hired Debut Hotel Group to manage their properties. I would say it would be two separate hotels. The joint venture explains the dual branded 80+ story Live Aqua/Dream Hotel tower proposal for Chicago. Though no work has been done on the site, and last I heard, the Las Vegas developer who owned the site that the tower was supposed to be built on was facing foreclosure/bankruptcy and a lawsuit? Im not sure if there was ever a resolution, but that doesn't seem too promising.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160202/CRED03/160209949/vegas-developer-faces-foreclosure-bankruptcy-battle-over-loop-site

2 hours ago, Ctaf said:

That bench! I want it

Haha, that was my first though too.. I dig the bench. Everything is coming together..

ChannelTwo, did you happen to walk by the lake and see if they were working on repairs?

On 1/13/2017 at 8:57 AM, samagon said:

 

it didn't get cold enough for something that deep in the ground to have frozen.

 

has anyone seen if there's any water in the parking garage right below this? I'd imagine if there's a leak under whatever water barrier there is that it will eventually leak into the garage too.

Thats true.. I guess it would of had to of been a pretty deep freeze to go that deep into the ground. The water above it serves as a decent insulator too I'm sure, just interesting timing. Good point about the garage.. hopefully they can get this fixed quickly. I haven't been back since those pictures, but it would be interesting to see what the site/repairs look like.

On 1/13/2017 at 1:04 PM, Nate99 said:

 

Agree, and given what it was back in the 80's, it's a huge transformation.

 

Amazing what a few hundred million dollars will do.

A few hundred million? I assume you're just talking about the $300+ million hotel? The construction costs of the developments around DG are well over a billion dollars.

Seems like a plausible scenario.. I still wonder if anyone has any official confirmation on what happened, or how it will be fixed. They've got what, like two weeks before the Super Bowl festivities start?

I wonder if the freeze(s) had anything to do with it?

On 1/5/2017 at 1:16 PM, samagon said:

 

only gonna cost us 6 billion dollars to do it too.

#WorthIt

On 12/26/2016 at 2:02 PM, Jeff P said:

A buddy just took the first lazy river float:

 

An 1/8th of the speed it will normally flow?

I've been wondering how well the tubes will flow around El Paso, but couldn't tell much from the video since they probably put their feet down to stop for the video through the glass wall.

Thanks for sharing the video! Hopefully I can float around Texas at some point..

On 11/18/2015 at 7:08 PM, Naviguessor said:

Yes, Larry.  Aqua is where my money is.  

This made me wonder, is Aqua still planning on moving forward with their 5(?) US developments?