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mattyt36

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  1. mattyt36
    ^^there is NO ONE more disappointed than I that @monarch has not written an ode to the tacochickenhut as an underappreciated gem of luxury while somehow weaving in the LONGHORNS, W HOTELS, dubai, U.A.E., and DeBarge. you SIR, pal, my friend are the ONLY one that can do it. ^^YOUR TIME HAS COME!!!!!!!!!!!
  2. mattyt36
    đŸ¤£ @Pleak you won the thread!
  3. mattyt36
  4. mattyt36
    Wish there were more renderings of the Terminal D renovations. Hard to make much of the ones in the presentation--they make the concourse look like it has lower ceilings than it does (unless those are photos of D1-D3). I also wonder what's being done with all the pre-security space since it will no longer be needed.
  5. mattyt36
    @monarch, buddy, there is no contradiction whatsoever between these two points: 1. Another convention center hotel is good, whatever the brand is. W, Loews, St Regis, Ritz Carlton, Fairmont, whatevs. 2. I, for one, and others in this thread have said that we don't feel the same way about the W brand as you (i.e., as if it is commensurate with the second coming of Christ). It is my OPINION, just like you have your OPINION. It's like saying, "Yeah, I think it's great that Houston has a women's soccer team, even when I don't pay them much attention." This will be a fully private development, just like the Marquis (but unlike the Hilton Americas). I guess HoustonFirst can specify certain minimum standards as to numbers of room, height (don't collapse the building!), amenities (read: "must have a full service restaurant"), but I highly doubt that's going to affect the quality of the development as they're not paying for it. Marriott brand standards will likely have a much larger impact. Nothing is stopping them from breaking ground tomorrow, and this State bill does nothing to advance the project as far as I can see. The fact that it is not featured on the Horizon website is telling.
  6. mattyt36
    Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm all for another convention hotel of any label. What I don't get is this fetish with W Hotels as if it is the end all, be all. Whatever cachet it had 10-15 years ago is gone as far as I can tell, which is to be expected with anything that is "over-designed" from day 1. Tastes change and brands need to be refreshed. I can't see that such has happened with the W chain--you step into some W lobbies these days and they look totally cheap and almost comical. Maybe it's just a U.S. thing, and the foreign locations are "keeping up." This ownership group doesn't really give off a "leading edge" vibe either: Home | Horizon (hgiusa.com) As far as I can see, they run two hotels, namely the Hyatt Place downtown and the Hilton Garden Inn Pearland! "Our time has come?!" Yeah, I just don't see a flagship Dubai-like property here. Hip by Hyatt Place and Pearland standards, sure.
  7. mattyt36
    Our Time . . . 15 years ago. W Hotels are not what they were. But whatever floats your boat. I suppose the 1990s are on the verge of becoming hip again.
  8. mattyt36
    From the text of the bill: the term "qualified project" includes a venue and any related infrastructure. Seems pretty open to me. Considering the cap park is adjacent to the GRB, and Houston First had already tasked itself with financial planning related to the cap park, it would seem so.
  9. mattyt36
    Huge risk=Lose the mayoral election for certain (she has no path to victory) or set herself up early to win a Congressional seat if Sheila wins? Seems like she's reduced her "risk" by any reasonable standard.
  10. mattyt36
    Agenda for meeting, item 3, first person listed: Mario Diaz, Director, Houston Airport System. https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230531/agenda.pdf Not to mention: (1) I'd say it's pretty "best practice" for an organization to trumpet a multiple hundred-million-dollar investment in one's facility, wouldn't you? (2) The City has responsibility for any apron work, so it is not exclusively a United project. While they may not want much press prior to the Board approval, the documents were presented in a public forum, so one would think it would also behoove them to "control the narrative."
  11. mattyt36
    Just hit HBJ with a quote from United (but not one from HAS . . . further proving the point). United Airlines plans redevelopment of Bush Intercontinental's Terminal B - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)
  12. mattyt36
    And what would you say the function of a dedicated media relations group is? Not defending the Chronicle, but did any of the TV news stations pick it up? If you operate knowingly in such an environment (it should be no surprise if you’re a professional journalist the quality of the Chronicle reporting, what they are likely to pick up, and what they aren’t), and more press was a goal, you’d kind of be a bit more proactive, no?
  13. mattyt36
    Well it’s also kind of on HAS as well for not issuing a press release or coordinating with the media, wouldn’t you say?
  14. mattyt36
    Do you really have to ask that question? The right-wing has made it clear by implicitly threatening for years that they'll kill us all if anyone tries to touch their guns ("Come and take it" and "Over my cold, dead body"). Your "armed citizenry" is the army of foot soldiers for the "Nazi tyrant" (your words) who has made it all but crystal clear that if he returns to power he won't be leaving.
  15. mattyt36
    Well from a quick glance, they have been hosted in October and even February before, which would certainly help "take the heat off."
  16. mattyt36
    Indeed, there's a big difference between being 1 of 435 and essentially a "voter" and being a "strong mayor" executive of the nation's fourth largest city with control over a multibillion budget.
  17. mattyt36
    A fine profile of John Whitmire from the Texas Tribune from 2013. He sure seems like an, er, opportunist (that’s the nice word). https://www.texastribune.org/2013/01/18/dean-senate-public-and-private-blur/
  18. mattyt36
    Pretty sure Miami was at the Hyatt as the awning was lit in UM colors and the hotel was wrapped with the UM logo.
  19. mattyt36
    She's got a pretty effective political machine, regardless of what people on here think about her. How well it will work in certain areas of the City other than her congressional district is certainly debatable. Buzbee's only chance is if Ds congeal around SJL. (I know what BD thinks--it's probably somehow even more of a lock now! Getting that endorsement sure seems to be the kiss of death!)
  20. mattyt36
    Hollins has pulled out of the mayoral race and is now running for Controller. Former elections chief Chris Hollins drops bid for Houston mayor | The Texas Tribune
  21. mattyt36
    I don't disagree in principle with the above, but (1) how much of the Atlanta thing is the state versus the city (the State of Texas will give us absolutely zero help); and (2) I've seen plenty of movies made in Atlanta (they're a dime a dozen), and a lot of the mass market ones don't even mention/really engage with the place, which to me is awful policy--but I guess that's the point. Anodyne, anywhere America. It is no mystery to me why people would not want to film a movie here for simple reason of weather, but New Orleans has its share of movies filmed there (of course New Orleans is pretty unique). Mo I think did a fine job at capturing Houston, as did the Anthony Bourdain episode on Houston and even Top Chef. Houston is very unique, just not particularly "sexy." I think we need a high-profile tourist attraction, and it needs to be downtown for convention goers to have easy access. I think the Museum of Texas History would've been great, but that fell through. So I think the best bets are some sort of "NASA Light" exhibit downtown with regular buses to JSC, or some sort of National Museum of Immigration that is affiliated with the Smithsonian to raise its profile. An energy museum would also be appropriate--I'm just not sure how many people it would attract.
  22. mattyt36
    Hopefully we've come so far since 2013, with tangible proof of what investment in public spaces can do for the City, that an imaginative and inventive concept to repurpose the Astrodome will be a slam dunk for voter approval. I know there was a lot of blowback against Lina for killing the most recent (IMO totally blah) garage concept, but maybe history will prove it a blessing.
  23. mattyt36
    Well, the voters technically had their say on the matter and said no thanks. Not sure how you can blame the Rodeo or the Texans for that one. Houston voters don't approve referendum to save Astrodome (espn.com) Hidalgo torpedoed the parking garage proposal--hopefully this planning effort will result in a new concept for the Astrodome that can be packaged into the new leases. Note the timeframe for all of these improvements per the article is . . . 2032!
  24. mattyt36
    I hope it's the first of many!
  25. mattyt36
    Well, I could certainly see that, but it almost seems as if the Democratic "ground game" in Harris County is more geared towards Lina's coalition these days, which makes me think that Chris Hollins shouldn't be counted out. There's certainly no guarantee Whitmire will finish in the top 2 for a runoff, especially if he is seen as "a Republican in Democratic clothing" (similar to Paul Vallas in Chicago or Rick Caruso in LA--Caruso lost and polls show Vallas in the lead, but polling for municipal elections is notoriously difficult). (I know @Blue Dogs will appreciate that Hollins's father was an actual HPD officer!) In any case, we shall soon find out.
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