Gator Purify

I love the density. A repaint job is the best thing that ever happened to Houston House. Now, if only 2016 Main could update its look from that off-white and brown...

Big time boxing fan here, so my lady and I will definitely be having a small fight party tomorrow night.  I respect and appreciate them both, but I'm a Pacquiao fan.  He has a tough task.  If he can avoid getting caught with a huge counter right and prevent Floyd from timing him, he has a chance.  You have a prediction?

Yes.  Getting a sign on the building takes a few steps.  First we'll need the approval of the Bayou Lofts Homeowner's Association to make a modification on the exterior of the building.  Second, we are in a Contributing Building in the Main Street Market Square Historic District, so we need to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness from the  city Planning and Development Department, which means a review and approval of the plans by the Houston Archeologic and and Historic Commission.  

 

We'll need to get a sign operating permit from the Public Works department, and we plan to apply for a grant from Downtown Houston.  All of this seems straightforward enough, and now that we aren't working on the inside, we plan to work on the exterior.  

 

In the meantime, think of us as a well kept secret.

adr, Does Houston Watch Co. have a Twitter handle or Facebook account?  I'd like to tell my friends about it.

Butthurt alert is off the charts!

Luminare and I have talked and the matter seems to be under the bridge.  I think he can fight his own battles.  No need for you to chime in. 

Now back to architecture.  Anybody attend the meeting?

wow you even failed in your joke...thats actually a very nice looking building. 

Ah, yes.  I knew I could count on Luminare to be negative and condescending.  I see a lot of jokes on HAIF that I would consider corny, but I don't waste my time ridiculing people for them because I'm not that narcissistic.  Lighten up.  It's not that deep.

P.S. - As has already been pointed out, it is a nice looking building, just not for a major art museum.  That's why I picked it.  Now you can continue crapping on everyone's posts.

Looks like there will be a public meeting about the new expansion tonight to address possible neighbor concerns and questions.

 

They are also going to show what the final product will look like.

 

http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/news/the-mfah-expansion-what-arearesidents-should-know-beforehand/

Here's the new rendering.  They consulted with Midway and decided this would blend in better with the area:

triton / hindesky, both of your illustrations are first rate as always.  however, i shall admit that i am finding it so very difficult to fall in love with this particular edifice, due to the GOD AWFUL deep teal green exterior glass.  somehow, it just reminds me of a funeral parlor.  this very foreboding exterior glass color, just does not go with main street at all!  (is it just me?)  ok, now that i have completed my moment of venting, i shall state that i am really loving the gorgeous new trees that are now being installed upon main street.  i do not think that i am mistaken.  i do not recall ever viewing these beautiful new trees before ever......

I agree, monarch.  That being said, hopefully the GFR that will run along Main will keep people's eyes low :-D

I imagine Randal Davis having the same voice and slight accent as the Cantoni furniture guy.

I imagine Randall Davis in a tuxedo T-Shirt because it says I want to be formal, but I'm here to party.

The intersection of Main and Dallas should become our Times Square.  Some lighting and advertisements would really bounce off of these buildings well and offer some great aerial shots.  Let there be light!

updated photo:

At this rate, Market Square Tower will start to peek over the garage by late June.

As of this past weekend, both Barringer and Bovine & Barley are now open.  Great spots.  One on the 400 and one on the 100 block of main.  Shameless plug - my place should be open in days.

Good luck, adr!  Remind us all again.  Is your bar called Houston Watch something-or-other?

Cosign to all of the above posts.  Last night was the first time I had watched an Astros opening night game in ages. 

This team feels special.  The '06-'14 Astros would've LOST last night's game late 2-0 instead of the other way around.  You didn't see the lapse in focus or concession to pressure that is typical of young or bad teams engaged in pitchers' duels.  The crowd was really into the game and the buzz in the stadium felt optimistic. 

What I really liked is that the media has predicted tons of homers and strikeouts, but we won last night with small ball.  Exciting times.

Opening Night

Gorgeous shot.  Imagine how beautiful it will look when 609 Main fills in the hole to the left of Chase.

Eternal props go to whoever can finish Discovery Green.  This is crazzzzy:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7533873,-95.3603878,18z/data=!1e3

With all of this investment, GreenStreet had better turn into one heck of a jewel.  It'd be nice if GS were up and running with all of its tenants in tow.  That way, it'd be easier for us HAIFers to visualize/fantasize about this block.  As it stands now, I don't know what to make of it.

Seattle has a Space Needle and Houston, the home of NASA and future home of the Ellington Space Port, does not.  Who on here has Mayor Parker's phone number?

They should build a observation tower.  The Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas does a lot of business.  It has a roller coaster on top of it, restaurants.  I actually bungy jumped off of it!  That was the scariest thing I have done so far.  I want too visit the Tokyo Sky Tree next time I'm in Japan.  It is at 2,080 feet tall.       

Except for the rollercoaster part (lol), that is exactly what I'm talking about.  The City should build a tall monument with or without an observation tower on that block.  An observation tower would make some extra money, but even without it, locals and tourists would visit to take pictures and then dine in area establishments before going to an Astros or Rockets game.  I wish I had the ability to create a rendering because I'm sure one would get everyone on this thread on board.

Time to increase the police presence in Midtown and at MetroRail stops.

Houston needs a soaring downtown monument, and I believe this lot is the perfect place for it.  People spend hundreds or thousands to visit Paris, New York, D.C., heck even Seattle, just to stop by famous tall monuments.  The downtown hotels are in place.  Residential is on the way.  A light rail stop is across the street.  Retail is being set up a block away, along ADLA.  Throw up a 500-1,000 ft. monument that will drag the skyline eastward, give drivers along 59 and I-10 an amazing view, and increase property values in EaDo. 

I agree with monarch.  The Nau Center concept and design were very cheesy.  It would make for a fun attraction in a smaller Texas town, but it doesn't belong in the CBD of the nation's fourth largest city.  Imagine this:  An international tourist visits Houston, books a room at the Marriott Marquis, then asks what there is to do here.  S/he is told, "you can either catch a cab to a big shopping mall, take two train lines to the museum district, walk around the adjacent three-block park, or head over to the new cultural center."  Tourist chooses the cultural center and enjoys two rooms of exhibits, half a locomotive, an old house, and a restroom.  That block is prime real estate.  Cloud713 is right.  Something like this, with its current concept, belongs in a historic district. 

Among other fishes, there are alligator gar and catfish in Buffalo Bayou.

To add to this, name one major city on earth that has clear water running through it. Venice, of all places, smells AWFUL for the majority of the year. Same with Bangkok, London, Vienna, Cairo, etc.

I appreciate the response.  However, I don't want to get into the "...name one..." trivia game because, no matter how many cities I name, no two waterways are the same.  For instance, I don't have to travel across the Atlantic to point out that the San Antonio River looks 10x cleaner and clearer than Buffalo Bayou, but it would be silly of me to compare the two for a lot of reasons (population, elevation, sediment, etc.).

If the City of Houston wanted a clearer Buffalo Bayou, at all costs, then I'm sure they could accomplish that.  It's just a question of what would have to be sacrificed.

sounds like a 2016 start.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/drilling-down/2015/03/chevron-gives-new-details-on-downtown-houston.html

Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle, contract negotiations between Houston Arts Alliance and sculptor Ed Wilson are back on.  

http://www.chron.com/entertainment/arts-theater/article/GRB-sculpture-contract-back-where-it-began-6129243.php

Wilson's work would fill the 90 x 90 x 40 foot atrium.  Here is the proposal pic from Ed Wilson:

H&M is going to City Center because the demographics of the area around City Center fit the profile of what H&M wants in a store location.

 

Downtown doesn't... yet.

You may be right, but I would think that H&M opening in CityCentre has less to do with neighborhood demographics and more to do with the demographics of the patrons who already frequently visit CityCentre.  The young people who shop at H&M usually don't live in places like the Villages; but they do eat at RA sushi, Cyclone Anaya's, and love Studio Movie Grille.

On the flip side, I'd think that there are enough young people in Midtown to warrant the opening of an H&M in GreenStreet.

I like it.  The design is very West Hollywood.  Greenway Plaza is developing into a fun, Millennial area.  An alternative to Uptown East, which is branding itself as an extension of River Oaks.