Montrose1100

some of you guys are hilarious -- do you really think all those skyscrapers that everyone here gets excited about would be built out I-10 if the freeway were still 3 lanes in each direction?  The answer is not a chance.

 

Congestion would have continued to be absurd if it wasn't widened.  The area is growing.

No one here gets excited about those buildings...

Wonderful post! It is so odd to me how some of the new construction is so tastefully done. Looks clean, classy, and just the right amount of ornamentation. And then you have these hideous multi-colored, plastic side panel, mish-mashed messes.

This has got to be an older project... The information is invalid, the major area retailers are a couple miles away (Highland Village, the Galleria), and the 5 million population figure. That and we don't have more fortune 500 companies than any other city. I don't think we ever have!

Edit: I meant to say older rendering of the project.

Unless there is a Thomas Pink opening up in this new project... They only have one at the Dallas Galleria. Did one exist and then close? I couldn't find anything online. Same with Grill on the Alley...

Edit: it's odd, half of the places they listed are in or by the Dallas Galleria.

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Major area retailers include: Tiffany & Co., Grill on the Alley, Brooks Brothers, Thomas Pink, Vilebrequin, Madewell, Intermix, Sephora, Borelli, Apple and Nike.

• Houston boasts a population of over 5 million and the per capita income is 18% above the U.S. Average.

• More fortune 500 companies call Houston home than any other city in the country. Additionally, The World’s Largest Medical Center and energy firms account for hundreds of thousands of job opportunities

This has got to be an older project... The information is invalid, the major area retailers are a couple miles away (Highland Village, the Galleria), and the 5 million population figure. That and we don't have more fortune 500 companies than any other city. I don't think we ever have!

 

Edit: I meant to say older rendering of the project.

Excellent photos! The first time I ventured to the first ward was back in 2007, looking for the Jeff Davis Lofts. It was late at night, but there were only very few town homes sprinkled in the area. That Blue curved building on Dart was there when I frequented my lawyer's office in the area in 2008, which is when a few of the town homes on that street were constructed.

 

Fast Forward to 2011, when I moved to Sawyer Heights Lofts. I would drive down Crockett every morning to get Houston Ave. (Spring St. has a blind spot with that older building on the south corner). There were a few town houses along the way, but still the older houses with big families living in them. I hardly recognize the area from your photos now. And I only left the area 16 months ago!

Hughes Landing reminds me of a modern Las Colinas.

 

It will be interesting to see how Springwood Village blends with the Campus. 

Well, not in a good way, no.  

 

Look, I didn't say that it was a prize piece or the best example of the style one could find.  But it is a pretty decent and emblematic example of post-modernism, certainly one of the best in Houston (along with Bank of America) that has survived this long.  If it were the Wortham Theater, for instance, which looked dated the day it opened, I'd yell "Remodel away!"  But does a structure need to be best-in-class to merit preservation?  Of the list of 1960s "modernizations" that I posted in the Two Shell topic, I doubt that any were considered prime examples of their respective genres.  Some, like the West Building, I would categorize as positively dumpy.  Still, what replaced them was in almost every case worse and ultimately detracted from the economic value of the buildings and the architectural character and heritage of Houston. 

 

Again, I'm not saying that every remodeling is a mistake, just most of them.  I'm just afraid the GRB would fall into the latter category.  

I think what makes the remodel attractive is I don't see the color blue. Mixing Red, White, and Blue is very hard to pull off, and eliminating it brings it up to speed. I'm happy though they are keeping some of the elements of the original design (As I said before). The current glass wall on the GRB is pointless, it opens up to a blank wall on the inside, and this redo makes it flow.

The most I am hoping for - and I would be happy with this - is strong development on the east side, inside 610. I think the refineries are heavy around the beltway area, so i cant imagine anything outside of that being successful besides refinery related industry. We need the Bayou park. We need the communities alont i-10 East to be revitalized.We also need urban lifestyle to be more and more accepted and desired in Houston - which is happening and it is very cool!

The plants start a few blocks east of 610... depending on the wind you can smell them further west. Which is what will hinder development for... the time being.

That's the thing though.  How can they not ignore the building's existing features? After they graft on a new facade how can it look like a seamless, complete package?  I'm not saying GRB is one for the ages, but it's a really good period piece, the best in Houston, so it's a shame to mess it up.  

I have to disagree sub. It is extremely post modern but certainly not the best example. You might be right, later down the line we might regret the upgrade, but not for a few more decades. 

Decent. The lighting is wht will make this stand out.

The only way to get highrises to concentrate more heavily inside the Loop is to have an east half of the metro that's as favored as the west. As long as the middle class feels pressed to ignore the east, the Loop will be increasingly far to the eastern fringe of the white-collar economy here.

That won't happen for a VERY very long time. Sure development will push east and slightly south of Downtown, but it will never get close to the ship channel. As long as the refineries and plants are burning the east will never look like the west. Unless science can trap/filter the fumes, it won't happen.

I can see development pushing east toward 610 but it won't get too close.

Glad to see they are keeping some of the elements of the original design. Looks amazing! Only complaint is the mini big tex.

Oh geez guys and gals, it's an office next to a freeway, next to a mall! What do you expect? It's a cute little office project.

 

In the future when other businesses besides Energy companies flock here, then we might see some major new buildings Downtown and in Uptown. Until then, we can thank our lucky stars Chevron is still Downtown, Shell (currently), Total, Dynegy, Hess, BG Group, Reliant, Centerpoint, and a few others. They are the exception, not the rule.

Where does one detect the sense of history?  The more I look at the rendering the more it reminds me of black shoes paired with white socks.

At least the entire facade isn't going to be blue glass. This bottom floor renovation works with the color of the building. Not quite as fabulous as the Tenneco Building lobby redo, but still modern. 

There hasn't been a project where the renderings look better and better in a LONG time!

If the city was smart, instead of looking to widen the street for BRT, they should look for ways to narrow it a bit so that pedestrians will feel more comfortable walking in the area. Post Oak has a suburban design and that area has changed a lot since the road was fist designed. I think the medians should be removed and large continues sidewalks should be put in. Just my opinion.

Although wider sidewalks should be ideal, I like the medians. The Trees are getting more mature each year and really provide Post Oak with the essential Houston feel with Oaks covering the street.

It's a shame that the gate town homes are apart of the over all property. I was hoping for a continuous flow of mid-rise structures from Westheimer to San Felipe with all these projects. Oh well! I'm excited to see some renderings.

Excellent color choice for the bottom floors. I'm happy its a tiny renovation to the Facade, major updates in the interior, and keeping most of the original look of the building.

that looks like the sears hardware in the old randalls center at louetta and kuykendahl. It is part of a structure to the east of the randalls location which also houses a Mexican restaurant and an enterprise car rental. The randalls would be to the left of the photographer, out of sight in the picture. That randalls did become a Steve and barrys for a short while, and is now a goodwill store and a recently opened dollar store. Having said that, I suppose the design could have been used in other centers so without more clues can't be 100% sure.

That is without a doubt the Corum Station shopping Center at Kuykendahl @ Louetta. The horizontal break in the bricks has since been painted blue.

It's really not, especially if you're talking about going to Dallas. College Station has a major university with very powerful people that are going to push HSR, and before you bring up the doomed Amtrak route, that was using a very odd route that routed it through Corsicana (not Waco) before going to Dallas. (Frankly, I doubt you've ever even poked around the area with Google Earth, much less actually visited it in person)

My father owns land outside of Corsicana. In fact the rail line runs right next to it. It's probably not the worst place in the state, but I'd say it's up there. College Station would make sense but it should only be a periodic/seasonal (like in between semesters), stop and not always in the way of the direct route from Dallas to Houston.

Unfortunately, the way things are now, the travel guides and reviews are going to tell people to be careful when getting off at a Greenspoint-area station.  Not the way we want to greet visitors, either, regardless of how beautiful the area might be.

I can hear the tour guides now "Fun Fact: Exxon used to spend +$2,000,000.00 a year alone in security while at their Greenspoint Offices".

Do y'all ever wonder how sustainable these buildings are? Will they look nice in 20 years? Are they truly quality buildings that will be an asset to Houston, or just another thing we will end up replacing.

 

My guess, it will be a mix of both. This one is debateable, but the ones that invest in quality materials will probably last alot longer than some of these cheaply made ones. As they are being built, It is hard for me to judge if the project is actually worth-while, or just 'eh'.

It's not like these developers are thinking centuries ahead. in 30-40 years they could be replaced by something bigger.

Should it stop at IAH?  Especially since presumably a high-speed rail line would replace existing air flights between Houston and DFW.  I would much rather see light rail extended to IAH.

Light Rail could take an hour or longer. Besides, the high-speed rail will have existing space for luggage.

The line should fork from DFW to Downtown Fort Worth & Downtown Dallas, making IAH the first stop in Houston, with a stop Downtown, and in Galveston.

Grass in the painted green sections of the garage roofs would of been awesome.. Solar panels would of worked on top of practically every building in the campus (aren't all the buildings flat roofed).. It would of been a nice nod towards alternate energy having a major oil company (partially at least) power it's new campus with solar panels.. Too bad.

The Whole campus is such a waste. The buildings look like commie blocks, and it wouldn't be special if it weren't for the "gateway" building. But, I guess I should wait until the finished project to be so harsh on it.