mojeaux131

And...maybe...it would be a waste of money to destroy it...and build something different...but...it's so FUUUUGLY...

Yeah, it ain't going anywhere. Whatevs. Also, if it spurs development on downtown's east side, that's good too. Yeah. Way to go, you ugly, ugly building. You do have a purpose. Bless your heart.

I dont like the GRB from 59. Its horrible from the back. It does look decent from the park though. I would tear it down and put a better looking and larger one esle where and expand the park.

And I would gleefully help you.

Those pictures are nice. Even a turd like like GRB will sparkle with enough glitter on it (that would be the park).

I can't wait to see this thing in person.

I like the initial look of palm trees, but I think the pedestrian environment would be better served by oaks that provide more shade. I think the use of live oaks and other native trees would be more "authentic" anyway. It might be cheaper to go with palms in the short-term, but in the long run, the more shade you've got, the better. How unique a downtown area replete with new development and live oaks with Spanish moss hanging from their branches would be.

Ah. How nice.

I remember when they were finishing it up while I was in college. I always enjoyed seeing it as I tried not to die while driving on 59. Probably it's in my top 20 fav Houston buildings.

Great picture of it, by the way.

Yeah, it is nice. "[w]onderful staff"? Do you live there?

IMHO, these are the best pictures of the park so far. I like how you got pictures from different areas of the park.

Sugoi!

Reminds me of this classic:

Is that Mies' Seagram Building?

It looks to me like the love child of the Royalton http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Buildi..._River_Oaks.php

and Wells Fargo Plaza.

Always snappin' shots, even without a camera. Awesome. Actually I think your cell takes better pictures than my crappy H-P digicam. In the left background, that would be Mosaic, right?

I'm so glad it's finally going up! I've been going crazy over here worrying about the project stalling. Let's be honest, this is one of the coolest-looking new buildings going up in Houston, if not the coolest. Man, what a relief! I've been waiting since 2005 to see some significant progress made on this. Aw, it's gonna look so sweet when it's done. AWESOME!!!!!!

I really wish those boneheads in the legislature would wake up and get over their little crushes on UT and A&M. It's ludicrous for a state with over 22 million people to limit itself to only two flagship universities. Reason #348 the legislature SUCKS.

Adds to our notoriety of having a Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks.

Comedian Lewis Black referred to that as the "end of the universe".

You guys are making things a bit uneasy for me. First I would like to wish the new prez good luck in delivering UH to Tier 1 status and becoming the next flagship university in the state of Texas.

...I hope she can build upon this. However this was a great find for me and I am glad to see UH has some great ideas about the future.

No pessimism was intended. I'm quite pleased with the new prez and share your optimism. Go Coogs!

Especially what you said about Tier 1 Status--WORD.

They should have a push-cart version of a taco truck in Discovery Green (Houston's version of New York's hot dog and pretzel vendors).

Definitely. Just need more people walking around before the taco trucks evolve into push-carts and kiosks. Bam! Seriously though, that's a wicked idea.

Actaually I believe the board (under the new president's suggestion) are re-doing the plans again for the Wheeler and Scott area. The dorms progress is pretty slow (I'm there everyday and they're stalled out on foundation work). My worry is that UH will try to hard to save a buck and build a complex with no endurance ability

I worry about that too, but that may be part of why Dr. Khator is having them re-do the plans. Not that she's an expert on development, but you'd be suprised how much administrative mindsets can affect things in a very physical way at UH. Let's hope they make the right choices from the beginning, even if they are a little more expensive at first.

Ah. Well I hope the new location is as cool as the one I went to.

Three from UH Days:

1. Super Happy Fun Land off the North Loop, on Polk St. Really cool little venue to see some music and have some drinks. When I went the drinks weren't rip-offs at all, but "suggested donation" instead.

http://www.superhappyfunland.com/

2. Mai's Vietnamese restaurant on Milam. Open pretty late and the food is just terrific. You can get a satisfying bowl of vermicelli with BBQ pork and chopped egg rolls, or garlic tofu, or sticky rice or (their menu has LOTS of options). And of course the prices are excellent. I think the vermicelli bowls are like $5.75. On St. Paddy's Day 2006 my buddy and I saw Kinky Friedman there and took a picture with him. He was super cool.

http://www.maisrestauranttx.com/

3. Two Rows Restaurant and Brewery in Rice Village. It can get crowded, but if you can get a table for Dollar Pints, it's worth the wait. Your choice of specialty beer brewed on location at Two Rows, for just a dollar a pint. Thank goodness for designated drivers. The food's not bad, but you can always get your desi to take you to Ruchi's which is just down the road on Kirby (does that count as four? moo, whatever). When I went there, Dollar Pints was on Wednesday every week. Good times. Sometimes, they'd run out of glasses and use plastic cups instead, which was fine because then we could make beeramids.

I really hope they raze Cougar Place. Those apartments were never intended to be used for so long. If you leave a piece of paper out for a couple of hours, it'll get soggy (unless you have a dehumidifier or the a/c running).

Good news about Renu Khator. She seems like a great replacement for Gogue. Even without as much state coddling at UT and A&M, UH seems to be doing just fine.

Go Coogs!

Whoopsie. He he, I thought it was a photo of the rendering. Aw, shucks.

Edit: Derrrrrrr.

Lame. It looks too much like the Hobby Center.

Is there a way to add residential capacity downtown (or in a nearby area like the east side) that isn't only for the super rich? The more people that live DT (or close by), the more people will go to HP (sorry, just had to say it to make sure people know it's connected to the topic, heeeee )

Oh thank goodness. I'd been worried about whether they were really even going to do the second tower. For some reason, I sort of expected the construction of both towers to be more in synch. For you more knowledgeable types, is that sort of construction scenario more prevalent than what we're seeing with the Mosaic? Or is it purely a case by case thing?

Let's hope the homeless don't take advantage of the free martial arts programs being planned for the park. Talk about some aggressive and spectacular panhandling...