aarosurf

Apartments with views command higher rents - there's almost no way it won't look the same as the other sides of the building. 

Awesome. The beginning of a massive transformation for this area.

Absolutely beautiful. Well done... now let's get the parking lots buried.

Is this place open yet? Anyone have updated photos?

This building is starting to have some major presence from street level - what a great addition to main st.

There were people walking around outside and inside the ground floor a few days ago - project is still going forward, albeit slowly.

Anyone know what the "floor per week" target on this is? It seems to be going up very quickly. 

I walked by this today - definitely a ton of infrastructure work. 

Visited on Sunday and got the tour. All of the hotel amenities are not fully operational, but the property is generally fully open and functioning - the spa is still under construction and at least the presidential suite is still under construction. They also said work was still being done on the second floor.

Lunch was fantastic, and the property is absolutely beautiful. The amenities also seem to be unsurpassed in Houston.  i can't wait to stay in one of the rooms.

Also, to second what was said earlier, the property extends all the way to Travis St. which you can't really tell from outside. We got a tour of one of the lounges and it has a nice view overlooking the Esperson building. 

The lot is completely closed off now, with a construction office trailer now on the property. Oct. 6 appears to be a go.

The gryphon has been installed:

"The renovation includes two ballrooms — the Picasso and the Monet — nods to the hotel’s eclectic art collection, which will eventually include a 13-foot sculpture of a gryphon, the mythical winged creature that makes up JW Marriott’s logo."

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2014/06/first-look-the-new-jw-marriott-houston-downtown.html?page=all

There were some "wings" coming out of the corner of the building today, I'll try to snap a picture after work. 

It's looking great. The only thing is I wish they would've put the historical clock back up on the corner that appeared in the early renderings. 

My sources say this is slated to open Sept. 17

I think those are personal terraces - someone probably just redecorated.

Wow .... incredible. Wouldn't expect anything less from Hines.

I wouldn't be surprised if this one is demo-ed.

If only they could reenact that for the grand opening.

Some floor plans linked below from http://planyourmeetings.com/27779/jw-marriott-downtown-houston/ .

Some interesting new information - they've restored Samuel F. Carter's original office:

Also, every time the 99 cent store gets brought up, I have to post this picture. Hopefully someone a lot richer than me sees my post, and will be inspired to purchase it and restore it to its former glory (I think it would be great for a Museum of Houston):

Starting at the $0.99 cent store and heading south a few blocks it's still pretty sketchy, especially in the late afternoons. They've beefed up the police presence on the streets recently, but there are still plenty of people "hanging out". I think once the area fills out more (Aloft opens, next houston center tower goes up, Texaco renovation finishes, Hilcorp building finishes) the area will drastically improve.

Awesome, I'm glad this "gap" between the ballpark and the business district is filling in.

I walked past this morning and they were starting to put up cladding on the Main St. side (only foam-type material so far). I will try to put up a photo after work.

Looking at the official Google+ page, the clock has re-appeared in one of the photos - I hope it gets installed i think it will add a lot of character (note that these were both uploaded on May 22)

The dent is a balcony area: