cspwal

I've called it "Leeland" a couple of times to people.  It's not super accurate since Leeland runs all the way out into the East End past Scott street though

South Downtown (no freaking abbreviation of it though - I don't want to live in a soda)

It's mostly following a utility corridor, which doesn't divide as much as a train track but still has an impact on your property.

Also, TCR is a private company US company with investors that include the Japanese company supplying the technology

Finally, they are going to put a station in the college station area so it will be stopping between Houston and Texas

It's very much a fear of change, don't touch my land mentality. Probably fueled by memories of the trans-Texas corridor. It might also be a bargaining tactic for the sale of land that TCR needs - make them pay more

Put a real rail car diner behind the locomotive that's in front of Minute maid?

Yeah it doesn't really go into detail on what the tracks would be made out of, or the trains them selves.  The whole design hinges on the trains needing to be light weight I suspect

I'm surprised that it survived Calpine being built around it and all the sunlight that must get blocked.  It does look way back there.

Maybe the ghost keeps it alive

That tree is in the back - it should be fine to stay unless the Lancaster really wants 50 parking spots instead of just 49

I did not read "Niazi" the first time and was wondering what Trump supporters were doing opening a gas station

It seems that a lot of the anti-TCR crowd think that the Japanese Railroad is owned by the government... it isn't.  This would be like a group in Japan sending a letter to the US ambassador to stop a proposed line using GE locomotives.

The red looks kind of like stained wood in person, I doubt that it is though.

 

I think the light blue is some kind of sealer level coating, but who knows.

That's what I thought/hoped too, but it's been up for a decent amount of time now

I like the red

The light blue is temporary...right?

In an unpopular defense of demolishing these buildings, they are very out of scale of the rest of the block - the Alley Theatre is huge, the Lancaster and the garages are tall, and the building behind it is very much a skyscaper

That being said - a parking lot here will be like a missing tooth in a mouth - it will stand out and make the whole block look worse for it.  I hope that the Lancaster gets the money together to expand soon, or has to sell the block to a developer soon.  

It was removed and sent back to the artist's (David Adicke) studio.

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/david-adickes-random-big-head-lady-gone-from-main-street-6751901

 

"It's part of an image that I'm particularly fond of," Adickes said. "It's the rhythm of the hair. The high cheekbones. The Roman profile of the nose. ... I've always been partial to elegant women."

Not so much the effete aesthetes at Houston Architecture Info Forum.

They lambasted the piece on this thread, wherein the Big Head on Main Street name was apparently born.

lol

Something tells me that this place might be a tad pricey...

Discovery green is already quite popular with people - there's always people there.  GRB still draws in conventions and shows, and a more attractive front lawn should make it more likely.  Whether the hotels will be able to keep the rooms filled when there isn't a giant event in town is another question all together

I'm surprised they have 3Q 2016 for Skyhouse Main.  It seems almost done to me

I think the skyline is from the wrong direction...if it is even Houston's

Of course.  Ground floor retail and everything, with skyline bar.

I could see Houston being the 3rd city to do it - after one city tries it out and finds all the flaws, the second proves a cheaper, more reliable version, and then we implement it on a Texas scale (I'm imagining replacing the frequent bus network that Metro is so proud of with these almost everywhere inside 610 and even some outside 610)

They could just run the power lines and telephone lines along the side of the arches

I would be curious to know how expensive this would be to actually build.  The track looks inexpensive (as infrastructure goes) but the station is definitely more than a raised concrete curb with an awning 

Just read a write up of a mass transit idea some one in Boston came up with.  It's an elevated train, but the track is much less physically imposing than typical (Chicago "L") style.  The supports almost look like the decorative arches in Uptown.  

The guy's goal would be to replace all trains AND buses with this - basically any major road would have one of these lines over it.  It could be partially funded by selling bus depots, transit centers, etc.  He's quite vague on pricing though, and it is just a rough concept.

Wired article:

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/far-fetched-plan-for-mass-transit-is-intriguing-at-least/#slide-1

Design firm's website:

http://jacob-innovations.com/cTrain.html

Feature in HBJ about the Savoy -> Holiday Inn transformation

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2016/01/photos-peek-inside-a-downtown-historic-hotels.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_houston+%28Houston+Business+Journal%29

Maybe an outdoor bar is coming

 

 

There's also roughly 8,000 square feet of undeveloped green space adjacent to the hotel that Bijlani and his team may develop into an outdoor bar,

Demolishing the Pierce elevated (or at least abandoning that right of way) is part of the I-45 and US-59/I-69 redesign for downtown, which TxDot has put forward as the plan.  The current plan is to reroute I-45 along the East side of downtown to be next to 59, buried in a trench for most of it.  It's part of a larger plan of widening 45 all the way out to the Woodlands.

There are some problems with it; the site http://houstonfreeways.com/analysishas a good breakdown of the problems

Another thread on it is here:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/32167-txdot-plan-for-downtown-and-i-45-analysis-and-problem-list/

Swamplot gives the buildings a nice send off with some history

http://swamplot.com/teardown-in-progress-on-those-2-century-old-louisiana-st-buildings-being-demolished-for-lancaster-parking-space/2016-01-12/

 

 

But the two buildings were constructed in 1906, and earlier in their 100 years also witnessed the development of the surrounding area from red light district to the highbrow and lowbrow entertainment hotspot anchored by the nearby City Auditorium (one block south, where Jones Hall now stands).

 

 

 Rice architectural historian Stephen Fox writes that the hotel “had never been one of the city’s more notable hostelries” until its 1983 transformation into the Lancaster — a repurposing he termed “an intelligent act of conservation that is too rare in Houston.” All three properties are still owned by DeGeorge’s decendants.

I hope they at least save the trees 

What are those giant mushrooms?