urbanize713

Boomtown coffee has now opened as well. It looks like Seaside poke may be next. 

Isn't that the Wells Fargo block Urb? 

New windows and paint. 

Scaffolding is down along Main st.  

26 minutes ago, Luminare said:

 

Are you sure you weren't referring to "Hudson Yards"?

I absolutely did, solid correction lol. 

At first I thought this was in strange place for this size of tower. However, after looking at the maps and aerials others posted, this is primary surrounded by other commercial property. Build baby, build!

On 7/1/2019 at 10:18 AM, Naviguessor said:

What are you talking about?  The Galleria is not San Jacinto Mall, or Greenspoint...or the Astrodome.  The Retail environment is no doubt contracting but Galleria's formula bucks that trend entirely.  If anything, I can see the Galleria gaining in size, with additional hotel(s), residential towers and entertainment options.  The Concrete and Steel is surely still sound and I'm fairly certain that it will be in another 20 years.  There surely will be multiple renovations and alterations to maintain the structure and update the product.  But, tear down?  I don't see that, in the foreseeable future. 

Agreed and NYC which is known for ground floor retail everywhere just built a high end Galleria type mall at *Hudson yards. In my opinion, Galleria will be around for many more decades. 

Yes it is something new and hopefully it succeeds but this is terribly underwhelming. 

I say this for 3 reasons. 

1. Hanover Buffalo Bayou

2. The Allen

3. Regent Square for god sake!

Like the three projects above, this fronts the bayou/park and is actually in downtown. In my humble opinion, I would prefer for Lovett to sell (at a profit) and for a developer with a bigger vision(and pockets) to come along. Even if it sits vacant for a couple more years. 

On 5/22/2019 at 6:39 AM, CrockpotandGravel said:

Article from  Globe St on Understory and Capitol Tower in downtown Houston, 800 Capitol St.:

This was published yesterday:


Understory is the 35,000-square-foot community hub and culinary market at Skanska’s Capitol Tower office development. Upon its opening later this year, Understory will be the first space in the tunnel network to be active seven days a week, from morning to night.

...“With Understory at Capitol Tower, we are creating so much more than just a new place to eat. This vibrant open-air community space will showcase the diversity of Houston’s globally acclaimed food scene and allow Houstonians from all walks of life to experience new, exciting flavors in a space that fosters a strong sense of community,” Damborsky tells GlobeSt.com. “This, paired with the merging of the street and tunnel levels for the first time ever, will create a destination unlike any other in the city of Houston.”

...With a design by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, Understory kitchens will have artist murals, copper clad kitchen hoods, butcher block countertops and white marble. In addition to an abundance of community space and a full-service restaurant, Understory features a culinary market with seven chef-driven concepts and a cocktail bar.

A design hallmark of Understory is the open-air blending of the street and tunnel levels, facilitated by the “Great Steps,” a 30-foot-wide monumental staircase and gathering place that will create the first true street level gateway to the tunnel network. This gateway will be highlighted by a large hanging art installation that will be visible from Capitol, Rusk and Milam streets.

 

https://www.globest.com/2019/05/21/culinary-market-set-to-open-later-this-year/?slreturn=20190422071955

 

 

There is also this from the article:

...the 9,000-square-foot culinary market, which is now 80% leased with one of seven restaurant slots and the cocktail bar remaining.

But the cocktail bar has an operator and name. It's Capitol Bar and the operators were discussed a few weeks ago in this post here in this thread.
Common Bond is going here as last reported by CultureMap if leasing negotiations haven't fallen apart.




 

Not sure of the exact hours but the above details had previously been communicated.  

On 6/19/2018 at 10:03 PM, mollusk said:

 

No, the picture is taken from Milam facing Rusk.  The tree mural is on Rusk at the Travis end; that area looks like it will be dedicated to "back of the house" functions. 

 

 

 

There is actually one open retail spot that faces Rusk. 

Awesome, thank you for all of the details! One questions though, Pappa's Bros Steakhouse, are they relocating elsewhere in downtown? I would hate to be relegated back to one location in the Galleria. 

On 2/7/2019 at 11:59 AM, CrockpotandGravel said:

 

Common Bond is coming to food hall Understory at Capitol Tower in downtown Houston.

From Culturemap's podcast near the 2 minute mark
https://player.fm/series/1437625/226872499

 

Culturemap article:
 

Currently, Houston only has one location of Common Bond, but the bakery could add as many as five new locations in the next 12 months, owner George Joseph tells CultureMap.
 

Joseph, who purchased the Montrose bakery in 2016, recently came to a cordial end of his partnership with local restaurateur Johnny Carrabba.

“Obviously now [Carrabba is] trying to grow Mia’s, and I want to open a bunch of Common Bonds,” Joseph says. “We decided to go our different ways, but it was a great relationship, a great three years together. I think we’ve done some great things.”

 

Those great things started with small items like adding a parking lot and being open every day. Chefs Matthew Baum and Rakesh Nayak and cake baker Sarah Ono Jones have expanded the cafe’s offerings with dinner service, special occasion cakes, and more. Most importantly, the addition of a commissary has made the Montrose bakery more functional — it no longer runs out of croissants at 2 pm — and will allow Common Bond to add new locations in the Medical Center, The Heights, and Midtown with the possibilities of downtown and Springwoods Village, too.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/02-04-19-common-bond-new-locations-medical-center-heights-midtown-downtown-springwoods-village-george-joseph

Where is Common Bond going? Street level or last food stall? 

22 minutes ago, Reefmonkey said:

 

I tend to agree with H-Town Man here. Even if IM Pei designed it himself with some grand vision in mind, it's a completely unremarkable looking early 80s one-story commercial building with no significant Houston history to it, and it's not an efficient use of a parcel in downtown Houston in the 21st Century.

Seconded 

1 hour ago, rechlin said:

 

I'm pretty sure they did it that way on the Travis side right by the garage to slow pedestrians as they approach the garage exit/entrance, to minimize the chance of a pedestrian getting run over by a car.  You don't want joggers going full speed by a blind exit (yes, motorists should drive slowly and pay attention to where they are going, but who are we kidding?  This is Houston, where even the Chief of Police runs over a pedestrian in a crosswalk downtown...).

Apologies, I actual meant the Milam street side is the worst side. The Travis side is actually not as bad because as seen in the picture,  half of that side is driveways. Pic I took before barricades were taken down. 

1 hour ago, MarathonMan said:

I ran by this building yesterday.  It’s quite beautiful.  And I really appreciate a tree-lined Street.  The giant tree boxes they installed along Capitol and Rusk (right side, above) are nice, but along Travis (left side, above) and Milan they block almost the entire sidewalk.  You can’t even walk two people abreast when going around them.  As a runner in Houston, it’s frustrating how little attention is paid to pedestrian traffic in this city — on a multitude of levels!

I could not agree more. On the Travis St and Milam St sides they took what was otherwise a large sidewalk and made it tiny. Unsure how no one pointed that out. Wish them all the success but kind of hoping the City takes corrective action. It is especially bad on the Travis street side. Otherwise, I think it is a great addition and in my opinion turned out better than expected. 

1 hour ago, wilcal said:

 

Lime making a presentation at the bike summit this weekend as well...

 

That is awesome! are they fully launching in Houston? 

1 hour ago, cougarpad said:

I want to win the lottery or publishers clearing house because for a long time I have been serious about putting a Dunkin Donuts somewhere in downtown. This hotel would of probably been a good place for one of them. I just feel like a DD would bank in downtown. I also put one in at UH main. 

There is already one in the tunnels under 1000 Main. Seems to do alright. 

58 minutes ago, Timoric said:

This wins best building without a render...the finally put one out but it was a mystery for so long

Agreed, fan of the dark brick. 

20 hours ago, sdotwill84 said:

it reminds me of student dorms.

I think that is a fair comparison. There is a certain cheapness to it reminiscent of student dorms. It is great to have a wide range of housing options however, these are not much more economic than the "luxury" options up and down the street. 

If it turns out to be residential I can already hear it now.  "We offer direct access to the bayou and have dedicated bike and kayak storage."

Great development. Question though, at what point do we rename Main Street to Marriott Street?

-Residence Inn

-Courtyard

-Spring Hill

-JW Marriott

-AC Hotels

-Moxy

-Icon 

All from Polk Street to the Bayou. In fact, if it was not for the Holiday Inn, every hotel on Main street in downtown would be a Marriott. 

11 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

Looks good, more open and cold than some of the other downtown food halls but it is also functioning as a gateway from the tunnels. Seems like it will probably lack the intimacy of some of its competitors for this reason. But it probably won't need it to be successful due to the sheer volume of traffic.

 

Michael Hsu did a similar food hall in Austin that was below-grade in a downtown office building, opening up to the first floor lobby above. Like there he has used a lot of wood to soften the corporate atmosphere. This one feels more successful because the surrounding architecture of the building is contemporary versus the 80's architecture of the Austin building, but in both cases you get the feeling that he doesn't really enjoy the office tower environment and wants to collect his fee and move to the next project.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. The pictures of the updated progress immediately made me think about the Austin food hall on Congress & Cesar Chavez. 

Is it me or does it seem like this will be above ground in like two weeks? That vertical rebar already seems to be at street level.

Love the development, hate that the power lines were not buried. If the City wont do it, why don't they ask the developer to do it as an improvement on these new builds? Anyone have any insight?