hindesky

Prepped to connect to Commerce St.

Not sure what this mini track hoe with a grapple bucket is going to do but it's not big enough to demo this. Maybe load out the demo.

Looks like they are prepping the crane to be jumped.

These look like elevator hoists.

Rode by toward the end of my ride. Turns out they are changing out the chiller on top of the Finger Museum Tower apartments. But they weren't able to make any lifts since it was too windy. They will have to finish up on Sunday. On cranes I've operated the manufacturers have notes that tell you to de-rate the capacity of the crane depending on the wind speeds. The Tadano cranes I've operated say you have to de-rate by 50% if the wind is 20-27mph and by 75% if it's above 27mph. At 30mph you have to stop all crane operations. Not sure what the charts are for this crane but I'm sure they have wind speed limits too. With those kind of limits there is now way to make these lift with as windy it was today and it was very windy today.

This must be an old Nextdoor post because the tower crane came down on Jan.23. I took several pics while they did it.

The Allen high-rise adds a dose of modernism to Fourth Ward The downtown area is getting another dose of modernism in the Thompson Hotel/Residences at The Allen high-rise, inching skyward in Jenga-like fashion as workers add floor after floor. The 35-story hotel/condo building and its next-door Lifestyle Pavilion are still taking shape on Allen Parkway across from Buffalo Bayou Park in Fourth Ward, but they already show signs of bringing interesting new architecture to the busy area. HOK Architects, an international architecture firm with a Houston office, designed the building, and Houston-based Abel Design Group handled interiors. “The Lifestyle Pavilion’s exterior is pretty unique,” said Roberto Contreras, president and CEO of DC Partners, the project’s developer. “It is carbon fiber, and you can choose it to look like anything you want. We chose metallic, but when you look at it, you don’t know if it’s metal or plastic. It looks space-age.” Contreras was standing next to a 7-foot LEGO replica of the hotel/condo building and the pavilion, which even shows where the pool will be and has plenty of greenspace to represent the long, winding park across the street. As he spoke about the park as an amenity to hotel visitors and condo owners, walkers and runners zipped past his sales office, which is filled with European furnishings from BeDesign. The Lifestyle Pavilion, which will be open to the public, will have a gym, pool and restaurants and is expected to open by the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter this year. The hotel/condo building will have 170 hotel rooms on the first 15 floors, and 99 residences on floors 16 through 35. Thompson Hotel is part of the Hyatt Hotel group. The condos will range from 912 square feet to 11,000 square feet andfrom $500,000 to $11 million; they are expected to open in early 2023. Contreras said the building is already 25 percent sold. Condos come with Pedini Italian cabinets and Thermador kitchen appliances, scaling up to Gaggenau appliances for the penthouse levels. The sales office shows potential kitchen floor plans with 10- or 12-foot ceilings and has a room filled with samples of standard finishes including porcelain tile that looks like designer favorites such as Calacatta Gold but without the maintenance issues of marble. Balcony dog potties are a popular amenity in high-rise housing, and The Allen’s version is built into the balcony with a flushable stainless-steel base and natural grass that can be changed out weekly to monthly. No pooch in your future? Opt instead for a small sky garden or just leave the balcony as is. Written By Diane Cowen https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/thepage/article/The-Allen-adds-dose-of-modernism-to-Fourth-Ward-16000227.php#photo-20700719

Wood fence is down.

New mural going on the Homewood Suites/Hampton Inn west wall.

Left early to chase a Bike Tag, figured out where it was with some Google searching. https://www.houstoniamag.com/travel-and-outdoors/2014/02/safety-follows-wisdom-obscurity-obliterates-both-february-2014

I saw an artist replacing the old murals on the electrical boxes outside Toyota Center a while back but he wasn't finished. They are new since we have so many new players.

Not sure if this is considered Midtown or Montrose but something is being built at the old Fuzzy's that burnt down a while back. Heavy metal beams 3 stories high. Anyone know?

The new curb has been laid and they are replacing the bricks they took out on Crocker St. Rolling and packing the ground. Brick is more prevalent on Grant St.

Lots of neighbors are going to lose their downtown views when it's finished.

Northwest corner.

The old Amegy parking lot across the street is now closed. The surface lot west of it is still being used by people working at MTA building. I wonder what the plans are for this?

Fence