mollusk

From my vantage point across the way, it looks like they are hanging onto the parking income as long as humanly possible.  The garage takes up all the first half dozen floors +/- (except for the ground floor retail); so far they've been removing the interior build out.  I would not be that surprised if they start dismantling the exterior with the garage still functioning - it's valet only, with a manlift that would give OSHA the vapours (if still in use), and a generally pretty entitled acting customer base.  

@ Subdude - The tunnel traffic also kinda depends on what's on top of the tunnel.  600 Travis has always had a pretty active tunnel business, even when it was the Texas Commerce Tower in United Energy Plaza at the dead end of the tunnel system (save for the nearly hidden link to the Chron).  IIRC, Calpine doesn't have a whole lot of tunnel level retail space to start with.

All this discussion of stops in College Station, Waco, etc. reminds me of the time a Southwest agent (obviously, many moons ago) offered me a "one stop" between Love and Hobby - the one stop being in Austin, not Centerville.

I would imagine that once people get back in the habit of using trains in this part of the world, there will likely be sufficient demand to support express service among the major cities interspersed with less frequent service making multiple stops - as trains used to do, and as airlines do now.

Buick may be popular in China and may be rustling out of the grave in the US, but if the dealers here didn't have trucks to sell they'd be in a world of hurt.  GMC is positioned as a more upmarket brand than Chevy, just as Buick is.

Same basic bodyshell, and I assume same engines.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  

 

To be honest, I was surprised that GMC was kept alive after GM's bankruptcy when they purged other GM brands.  It's never really sold unique vehicles, and doesn't have the brand footprint of Chevrolet.  

Trucks are a huge profit center.  Keeping GMC around allows the Buick dealers to have trucks to sell.

The tunnel to BG Place was dug after the light rail was there, and Uncle Gerry ain't gonna build nuttin' downtown without tunnel access.  My guess is that it will go via 601 Travis (f/k/a Chase Center).

(Digression - Heritage Plaza's only all weather access is via a gerbil tube built many years later because [as was related to me then] neither Hines nor Century were willing to grant the new kids access rights in a market that was at that time quickly circling the drain - hence that building being see thru for a long, long time)  

I can't help but wonder how much longer the tunnel connections through there will remain open.  When they close it off, Chase, 600/601 Travis, and 711 Texas are going to be cut off from all weather access to the rest of downtown.  What was once Skyline Deli's seating area is now walled off with unfinished drywall and a "construction - do not enter" type sign on the unfinished luan door.  OTOH, the parking garage is still in operation.

This would be a great alternative.  All the security folderol, plus the usual to and fro to the airports, has made it so that the choice between flying and driving between Houston and Dallas is a push from a time standpoint.

I am guessing/hoping that the North Loop frontage road stops are a bit of a safety check until people get used to having a train coming through.  I didn't notice any crossing arms at that intersection, as there are where the line splits apart just south of the Wheeler station and at the South Loop frontage roads (though to be fair, people will figure out any number of ways to run into big things).

This thread has given me a terrible earworm - the "who put the hop in shopping" jingle from ages ago.

The Gulf sign was hardly alone - we also had "T E N N E C O" across the top of its building (now El Paso), Bank of the Southwest on what is now 919 Milam, Central Bank (still there, sorta), Conoco (complete with weather ball)...I'm probably skipping something or another.

Downtown already has Dominos (and several other better pizza options), plus chicken and burgers galore.  There is a CVS in the 800 block of Main... granted, it closes early.  For big grocers, Randall's a block south of the Pierce Elevated and a couple blocks from the rail station would be an option were it not for its Safeway - driven death spiral; go north and there is a big Fiesta at Fulton and Quitman a couple blocks from the North Line, just a couple stops past UH Downtown (which, with the closure of the Studewood Fiesta, is getting more Anglo-fied since Woodland Heights types are now going there).  The walkable infrastructure for much of the day to day stuff is there, all that is needed is residents to get them to keep later hours.

What IS lacking are places to buy clothing and blenders and such.  And a dry cleaners - there's gotta be one closer than Midtown, I just don't know where.

The Onstead family sold out long before Randall's started to go downhill.  The chain was owned for a while by KKR, who also bought Tom Thumb in Dallas.  That's about the time that beer and wine sales started.  Eventually KKR sold out to Safeway, who tried to use their same business model yet once again...with predictable results.