mattyt36

28 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Larry McMurtry wrote that he was done writing Western novels, the genre was tired out... then wrote Lonesome Dove. People say these things. If Hines said that circa 1970 about downtown being dead (which I can believe), he was accurate inasmuch as downtown's proportion of total Houston area office space was at the beginning of a long secular decline, which it still hasn't really begun to climb back from, although it remains the most desirable office market judging by rents, and still the place for big statement projects.

 

He also may have been referring to the retail market (which would make sense if he was promoting the Galleria), in which case he couldn't have possibly been more accurate.

 

 

That was the point of my post, which got off the rails because my memory may be fallible.  IF he did say it, isn't it great/ironic considering before (again IF) that downtown was dead.  Then I got called an idiotic troll.  If anything, I would think there would be a thread of 20 posts calling it Hines Tower, with Hines Interests as the lead tenant!

I will probably read the quote again sometime in the next couple of decades and can put the mystery to rest.  Agree wholeheartedly upon retrospect there's a good chance it wasn't Hines.

1 hour ago, BigFootsSocks said:

Hey matty u want some pepper with all that salt?

 I prefer paprika.

6 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

 

Seriously?

 

Why not take a look at the 100-year flood plain in 1945?  Hell, take a look at it in 2000 and take a look at it now and see how much it's changed.  In any case, it was situated there because Hermann Hospital was there and the Hermann Estate (or part of it) became the TMC.

 

As for building a city on a gulf, I'm not sure what you're talking about or implying with that sensationalism.

 

Probably the more productive question is what is the tallest hospital in the world?  I would have to think there are many logistical issues that, absent severe land constraints, makes it preferably to build shorter rather than taller hospitals.

 

But maybe I'm wrong.

Well turns out Google IS your friend... and we have the tallest hospital in the world and another 1 within the top 10.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_hospitals

And, for the record, isn't Hines's HQ in Williams Tower anyway?  

On 5/29/2017 at 9:44 AM, Montrose1100 said:

Then why build an entire medical center (regardless of height), next to a bayou? 

 

Why establish a city on a gulf?

Seriously?

Why not take a look at the 100-year flood plain in 1945?  Hell, take a look at it in 2000 and take a look at it now and see how much it's changed.  In any case, it was situated there because Hermann Hospital was there and the Hermann Estate (or part of it) became the TMC.

As for building a city on a gulf, I'm not sure what you're talking about or implying with that sensationalism.

Probably the more productive question is what is the tallest hospital in the world?  I would have to think there are many logistical issues that, absent severe land constraints, makes it preferably to build shorter rather than taller hospitals.

But maybe I'm wrong.

On 5/29/2017 at 10:47 AM, bobruss said:

Sounds like a troll to me. Idiotic statement and something he would never say. he developed all of downtown after he built the galleria.

 

Wow, a fine Houston welcome to the forum.  Yep, I'm definitely an idiotic troll, that's why I wrote what I wrote with a QUESTION MARK.

I do remember reading years ago, I thought in connection with Transco, that someone had pronounced downtown as dead, but, in retrospect, you're right, doesn't make much sense.  Maybe it was Kenneth Schnitzer with Greenway Plaza.  Wait, I don't want more tomatoes flung at me.  Maybe it was Kenneth Schnitzer with Greenway Plaza?????????????????

On 5/8/2017 at 6:18 AM, Twinsanity02 said:

A 900 footer at the Med center? When I worked there people used to say that the buiilding heights were limited by air traffic to Hobby. Should I just chalk this down to another urban myth? Never understood that reason after flying to and fro San Diego several times.

Regardless, I'm not sure why you would want medical towers more than 30 stories, especially in an area that has flooded historically and may require mass evacuation in the future. We're lucky the skyline is as high as it is.

Hotel is a less complicated problem.

4 hours ago, bobruss said:

You know that Hines has someone working on land use mockup studies and perhaps an inside competition with the many great firms who he's worked with in the past. I'm sure they'd all love to win that competition to design his signature piece, front and center complementing everything that surrounds it, knowing  that for the most part Gerald Hines is responsible for all of it. Thats why I think he wanted this block because it would be totally surrounded by his other projects.

Jesse Jones may have been the single person who put Houston architecturally on the map , but Gerald Hines has refined it into a remarkable jewel of a downtown.

Houston is his legacy and a lot of it is in downtown. He's laid out his still life and now going to add the definitive piece.

 

 

 

It's just so ironic because isn't he the guy who pronounced downtown "dead" after developing the Galleria? (I suspect mostly for selfish reasons. That, more than anything, made Gerald Hines--I'm sure he had a large portfolio of cheap land surrounding it. From the seeds of that development probably sprung the modern multinational company.  From the Galleria springs the Transbay Tower!)

7 hours ago, BigBlueContractor said:

 

The did and made an award. It is a quazi ground lease deal with HOT Taxes and block availability - very complicated deal. Will it ever happen - I would say Yes, when is the answer. I can tell you that Marriott getting lured to build what they did by Houston First - then subsequently Houston First wanting to put another hotel together probably didn't go over so well. 

 

When was the award made and to whom? I can't find anything on HFC's website.

Did they ever even issue an RFP? I'm not sure you can call it a failure if they didn't.

4 hours ago, BeerNut said:

Spoke with my friend and they said construction is still a few months out.

Appreciate the update

This is going to the southeast of the GRB?

6 hours ago, urbanize713 said:

Yep, two actually. One restaurant and one kiosk.

Thanks much!

Is there any news on The Rustic?

Apologies if this has been answered earlier in the thread, but does anyone know what is planned for the north end of the apartment building on McGowen?  It's a pretty huge setback.

The ES (although horrible on the outside) is one of the best ES I've ever stayed in--quite, quite nice (or at least it was a couple years ago). The Aloft has the opposite problem--pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside.  Signage is atrocious in a building with confusing hallways as has been noted. Rooftop patio has a lot of potential but I can't imagine it ever being close to full--it's just way too big for a hotel that size, which actually makes the space look depressing.  Even on a 100% occupancy night I think it'll still look depressingly empty. 

As far as downtown hotels go, I just want someone to convince the Icon to replace its awnings. And I've wanted that for 5 years. Such a nice place.

Does anyone know if The Rustic is still planning to open?