shasta

16 hours ago, Big E said:

Its more a general mentality you see among the urban planning set, yes on Youtube and Twitter, but also from commentators, in blogs, in interviews and articles quoting urban planners, etc. They look at these European cities and say "why can't America be more like that? Why can these European cities be so much better and more "people scaled" while our cities were made for the car?" These cities weren't made for anything. They grew and developed organically over the course of decades or centuries into what they are are. American cities will never look like European cities because America is not even three centuries old. America just celebrated its bicentennial in 1976. It won't celebrate its Semiquincentennial till 2026. Most cities in Europe have existed since long before America did. American cities like Houston came of age when the car was becoming the primary method of transportation. European cities existed before the car was ever even thought of. Most of the policies today accused of pushing car usage (zoning for instance) were the result of urban planning coming in to vogue and attempting to artificially mold and shape cities towards a specific goal, in contravention of the traditional haphazard development that preceded it. They think they can plan their way out of America's car centric mentality and force the issue, when planning got us here in the first place. 

Form follows Function!

On 12/13/2023 at 12:03 PM, hindesky said:

"Service Corp. International, the Houston-based funeral services giant, is expected to begin construction next year on a $150 million headquarters after the Downtown Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday authorized as much as $13.8 million in reimbursements for flood mitigation work at the site. 

SCI's new tower, being developed by Hines, will be built at the former site of KHOU-TV studios, 1945 Allen Parkway, next to SCI's current offices. The roughly 900 employees will continue to work at the existing tower — which has been flooded several times — until the new building is finished."   

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/sci-new-hq-at-former-khou-site-18550338.php

An uninspired glass box on the doorstep of downtown Houston...Yay!

Come on,  Hines!

10 hours ago, freundb said:

Too bad this won’t be built here…

....has to be a typo, right?

It is interesting how Austin has zoomed past Houston & Dallas in the minds of those outside of Texas.

Architects pull their best projects out of the drawer for different cities.

A 50 story building on Miami Beach , or Austin now, is going to get a better design than a project in 2nd tier cities like Houston or Dallas.

Designers have a hierarchy for which "ideas/design concepts" they want to use where. Obviously, they want their best designs built in high profile cities.

This development is an embarrassment.

This project started in 2007..yet they still have empty retail spaces.

The restaurants in the spaces, with the exception of the Flight Club, look like VE'd crap you'd expect in a strip center in Pasadena..not on the front door of River Oaks.

Autry Park got it right...Regent Square went for cheap and they did so with extreme incompetence.

..and of course this build out is not done (albeit it is a HUGE improvement over Georgia James and Pastore) Has it even started?

Wow, well played, Acqua!

I'm assuming they just sold for a huge profit.

I'm guessing, the developers wan to be close to the Ismaili Center and Garden

5 hours ago, hindesky said:

Meanwhile Steve Cohen owner of the Mets plans to build a $8 billion complex next to Citi Field.

THIS is what I was expecting from Jim Crane and the Astros 

1 hour ago, steve1363 said:

I’m curious what does your dream development include and why?  There are already plenty of restaurants and bars within walking distance of MMP.  What else is needed.  
Instead of manufacturing some entertainment complex like Texas Live or Atlanta, or St. Louis I would hope for something more organic along the lines of Wrigleyville or Boston, or Baltimore.  What am I missing?

An Astros themed district would be cool.

I've been to about half of the stadiums in MLB and you can definitely tell which ones have a " cohesive district", similar to  as you mentioned,  and which ones are a hodgepodge of establishments hoping to become a district (which we are) and then some with not surrounding establishments at all.

That is more of the NRG Stadium model.

10 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

You say "Baseball Village" as if it weren't some recently invented term essentially tied to the Cardinals development.  Why not just say "it doesn't look like the Cardinals development whereas the Cardinals development LOOKS like . . . the Cardinals development!"

With Hines and HOK involved, hopefully it'll set a new standard and one appropriate for Houston.  Having been to the Cardinals development, I can say it's absolutely dead when there isn't a game (haven't been to Truist when there isn't a game, but I honestly don't know why anyone would want to go there when there wasn't one . . . like the AT&T Stadium/Globe Life silliness).  It's essentially a glorified pre-game concession stand.

I've been there also. It feels baseball.

As far as it being dead, that probably has more to do with St. Louis having one of the worst downtowns in all of America. 

look like one of those international style housing block whereas the Cardinals one LOOKS like a Baseball Village!

How hard is it to continue the aesthetic from MMP?

Even the apartment across the street tried to match the stadium.

Come on Houston Astros!!

So they scaled this project back? I was thinking it was going to be multiple blocks similar to these Baseball oriented  villages in other cities.

The rendering doesn't scream "Baseball" or "Astros" to me.

Just looks like a hotel the Houston Astros are investing in.

Is it one building...not a village?

Doesn't look very baseball-ey (i.e the district around the St. Louis Cardinal's stadium

According to this article, the Houston metro population is going to balloon to 31.5 million by 2100 easily passing NYC ....so we are going to need many more 58+ story tall buildings...and soon!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/texas/article-12637061/Is-future-America-Texas-Dallas-Houston-Austin-poised-replace-New-York-City-Los-Angeles-Chicago-largest-cities-not-77-years.html

12 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Is there a current trend of urban football stadiums?

yes...in the late 90s/early 2000s

Pittsburgh (2001) near downtown

Charlotte (1996) downtown

Denver (2001) downtown

Baltimore (1998) downtown

Cleveland (1997) downtown

MMP was built in the right spot, wit synergy developing all around it. NRG/Reliant, much like the Houston Texans franchise decided to be stubborn and bucked all of the current trends about urban stadiums and built it in a seas of parking and then denied all development opportunities.

Why...they wanted the parking $$

4 hours ago, talltexan83 said:

Can Georgia James and Pastore set up a gofundme to help with those patios?  The lack of plants/shade makes them look so sad every time I drive by.

It's as if Regent Square wanted to be a high quality development but chose to turn itself into a valued engineering strip center type of development. There are plenty examples of successful restaurant design within blocks from RS...

Go look how La Griglia integrates it's patio space with the street and then look and Georgia James and Pastore and the head-scratcher is that these were designed as Restaurant tenants!

14 minutes ago, Sunstar said:

As this building is completed it will be the first time in years that we haven’t had a major project under construction downtown in a really long time. I’m thinking it goes back to before they started the Hilton Americas. Hopefully this will be a short period of inactivity. 

 

When is phase two scheduled to break ground?

Hopefully Building #2 & #3 are built sooner than later.

41 minutes ago, Bassclef said:

There’s a phase 2? Where will it go?

Yes, there will be 3 buildings.

When does phase 2 break ground?

15 hours ago, monarch said:

^^^ why THANK U my cool pal @august948  myself, along with our HUGE entourage have finally arrived at the W ATLANTA HOTEL.  this is my very first time at this particular W HOTEL, and i must admit, it's rather cool thus far.  we are having a blast here in the atlanta downtown.  (my goodness, its soooooo very many of us here) (TEXAS fans seem to all over downtown atlanta and it's only thursday) i can only imagine what tomorrow may bring... (friday before the big matchup on saturday in tuscaloosa) well, i'm about to head out once again for a dip in the pool.  please continue the FAITH my cool pal... HOOK'EM!   

I only have two words for you.....

ROLL TIDE!

43 minutes ago, monarch said:

MOD:

oh, my, it's hot as hell outside

take a GIANT sip of good ole shasta burnt orange

run to the mirror to check out tongue

OOOOPS!  

Cougar Paw= Do a hook-em horns hand signal and then throw up a middle finger

On 9/5/2023 at 9:29 PM, monarch said:

^^^ HOOK'EM!

MOD:

Delete Post.

Ban User.

Ha

Serious question- what is taking so long for these tenants to move into Autry Park & Regent Square?

I don't remember City Centre and River Oaks District having such a hard time finding tenants.

Covid is no longer an excuse...nor is the economy.  The malls and other similar developments are packed right now!