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mollusk

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Everything posted by mollusk

  1. mollusk
    How are they going to get the top tier of the celebratory groundbreaking cake to stay in place?
  2. mollusk
    I've lived in the neighborhood for a eon, too, and never was aware of any particular living down to negative stereotypes going on there. I'm not particularly fond of having another extra couple hundred cars joining what is already getting to be a clustered flock at the Katy/Watson light.
  3. mollusk
    Hmmmm.... interesting... Would you call that style neo-deco-brutalist?
  4. mollusk
    Commerce Tower has a tunnel connection, but it also started out as a commercial building.
  5. mollusk
    Yes, you can bring in up to a liter of water in a factory sealed container. Or pay a bundle for a beer. Minute Maid Park - where the fans get squeezed.
  6. mollusk
    I still can't figure out how they are going to wedge their project onto the part of the property that isn't a floodway, unless it's by filling and digging out somewhere else for mitigation. Shoot, the east part (adjacent to the Watson bridge) is a creekbed.
  7. mollusk
    Rusk was moribund for so long. With this started, that will be another block that's difficult to get through (particularly on foot - try walking from BoA a/k/a The Castle of Commerce to BG a/k/a The Pipewrench), but when it's done it will be pretty cool.
  8. mollusk
    Perhaps a bit of research is in order. Scrape off lot value in immediately adjacent Woodland Heights is now well over $300K, crowding $400 depending on the lot and street. New construction has been priced in seven digits for a while.
  9. mollusk
    I am confused. Are those renderings? They don't look quite real, but there are no Audis.
  10. mollusk
    The Citgo sign was moved over to make room for the Community Leaderz!!!!!!! ads. As a baseball geek who remembers "Coke! Sprite! DDT!" at Colt Stadium, I appreciate the improvement of the farm system. As a former 25 - 30 game per season attender, I still ain't there - not because they blew the club up (a concept with which I agree), but because I can't keep up with them on TV when I can't go, and every dang thing in the building costs more - for less. Feh!
  11. mollusk
    ^^ [And apparently the views are SO good, that you'll get a view of downtown Austin:] HAH!!!!!
  12. mollusk
    Hey, Bud, keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel... h/t the Doors.
  13. mollusk
    Mercer wouldn't be quite so frugly if it actually had things like windows in it.
  14. mollusk
    er, I think the two year closing may have been part of a digression into tunnel closures, and in particular the hub under the soon to be gone Houston Club building.
  15. mollusk
    You are correct, Subdude. I've been a dedicated mole person for my entire adult life. Yesterday the tunnel heading into the soon to be JW Marriott at 806 Main (and from there to points east) got walled off, leaving only narrow passages to access 801 Travis's mailboxes and shuttle elevator.
  16. mollusk
    ^ @ IronT - Makes sense. Margins in the grocery business are very, very thin. Being able to gather some economies of scale when at the commodity end of the business helps make for a better business model. That's what the asset managers supposedly specialize in (as long as they're in the business of adding value to a company, as opposed to stripping and distributing it).
  17. mollusk
    Over time, perhaps. I just moved my office into a nice, supposedly LEED triple gold pressed latinum all the stars of the Milky Way certified building. With zero bicycle accommodations that I can find. I think the remaining bike messengers use the loading dock.
  18. mollusk
    True. I have a development list that's stuck to my fridge, adjacent to the less than flattering photos. Just as an example: If the soil report comes back with a significantly different reality than what was projected, the foundation design will have to be evaluated and perhaps changed. That then invites some mission creep - "well, we're having to do X anyway, might as well go ahead and add Y while we're at it since the incremental cost will be less than two redesigns would be." All of which puts the starting schedule into the Dumpster.
  19. mollusk
    Luminare, I agree with you about the problem of political will - though that's not just a Houston problem, though we certainly have the whole "good for bidness" mantra. We've had thirty years plus of either outright tax cuts or erosion by failing to keep pace with inflation, a prime example of which is the gas tax which in constant terms collects about half of what it did the last time it was raised roughly twenty years ago, and infrastructure rotting left and right. You are also correct that this will have to be dealt with sooner or later, and that waiting is likely to be expensive. That is in effect a huge tax increase for our children, all because there are a bunch of people who can't seem to distinguish between spending and investment.
  20. mollusk
    Note - Another good way to get the mole people above ground is to close off their tunnel access, as will soon happen for two years +/- to people trying to get to/from Chase via their only link with the bulk of downtown through the hub under the expiring Houston Club Building. I can't help but wonder what the over/under will be on some sort of interim solution.
  21. mollusk
    An entrance that frequently has the steps roped off and the doors locked during business hours, for some Providence unknown reason.
  22. mollusk
    ^ And I think that the main point - that they accomplished it by granting an easement - was some pretty darned clever work on the part of whoever thunk it up, elegant in its simplicity.
  23. mollusk
    M e h. The sly parking deal preceded the tower's construction by a quarter century.
  24. mollusk
    That map shows how 801 Travis and the future JW Marriott are currently linked. The steps on the left lead to 801's lobby; the other set go up half a flight to reach the current basement level of the JW. The JW is putting a bunch of facilities in 801's basement. I got a memo earlier this week telling us that the tunnel east of the stairs and tunnel elevators will be closed beginning on the 15th for construction, and that people trying to get in from the Walker @ Main garage, etc. are going to be stuck with the street for a while. I strongly suspect that the stairs between 801 and JW are somehow going to get turned into something ADA compliant.
  25. mollusk
    That would be a part of the challenge, wouldn't it? I kinda like figuring out how to make the hoops work, personally (though I realize that ain't for everyone)> aye, Cap'n.
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