Boris

Hehehe, for some reason that just sounded funny.

Here's the realtor's story. (from her website above) Hope she's right:

By AliceDonahue.com News @ Thursday, June 19, 2008 10:26 PM

Construction is temporarily halted at Ocean Tower condos.

Developers hope to resolve the situation and resume construction in just a few days.

They say sinking is not un-heard of for buildings being built so close to the ocean.

We see this as a great opportunity to get a bargain right now on what will become the finest quality built tower - in the best location - on South Padre Island.

The views and amenities are unmatched, and the units are the some of the largest on the Island. A rare opportunity to take advantage of the insurance and investment companies losses and their desire to regain momentum.

Anchoring a skyscraper like ocean tower is done by driving long concrete and steel piles down through the sand into the underlying ground surface. The friction between sand and so much concrete and steel is sufficient to hold the foundation above in place.

The added weight of attaching the garage and Olympic size pool to the tower simply created to much shear weight to one side. The solution will involve separating the two structures, so that they independently stand on their own pilings.

From the Alicia Donohue website link above:

By Macsdad @ Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:49 AM

Construction on this project has halted as of Thursday, June 12, 2008.

Unofficial, local reports are that this tower will be torn down due to the irreparable sinking and separation from the parking garage structure.

What a disaster.

The rumors have been verified:

http://spislandbreeze.com/news_more.php?id=4401_0_2_0_C

So, is the building under construction this 14 story office building or is it the mid-rise condo project?

But see the bottom comments on this website:

http://www.alicedonahue.com/RealEstate/New...ndominiums.aspx

The local paper has nothing on it.

In fact, they just celebrated its topping off.

http://spislandbreeze.com/news_more.php?id=4166_0_2_0_C

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/busine...te/5823541.html

Jeebus, security shut me down at the Galleria, otherwise I would've had more photos.

and JB, you're lucky to live in a neighborhodd like that. Like I said, I think it's the best in the city, esp. because of its proximity to the Zoo, Hermann Park and the Museum District; not to mention the TMC and Rice U.

There she is;

Adios

..

We're very involved in our kid's school PTA. Well, they had this silent auction thing to raise money and we won a bid for a one night stay at the Hilton Suites in the Galleria. So my wife and I had a little vacation this weekend and I took my camera along. Hope you enjoy.

Here's the view from the Hotel room:

Then we walked on over to the Galleria Mall:

At the Fox Sports Bar:

Main area:

Then we headed to Rice Village to have some drinks and tapas at Mi Luna (these two shots are not of Mi Luna, just added them in just to show folks that people in Houston do hang out outside):

Back at the hotel, took a couple of night time shots from the window (still working on the nighttime shots):

The next morning, went back to the Rice U area and took in some shots of the residential areas. In my opinion, the nicest residential area in Houston:

Here's a Houston Biz Jour story on what just broke groung. 14 story Embassy Suites:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...ml?ana=from_rss

Drove by here today and notice that they seem to be digging out the base area for a second building just to the west of the one currently under construction.

Also, they have emptied out the used car lot.

KPMG Reserves 108,904 SF in 1M-SF Spec Trophy

By Amy Wolff

811 Main St.

HOUSTON-KPMG LLP is the first tenant to take space in the one-million-sf MainPlace. The audit and tax advisory firm will take down the top four floors, totaling 108,904 sf, of the under-construction office building in the CBD.

http://www.globest.com/news/1166_1166/houston/171099-1.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5784350.html

All you need is another crane on the other side and you have the two arms for this evil robot.

http://www.globest.com/news/houston/

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto...ml?surround=lfn

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/mem...ws/5750844.html

Very nice.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto.../07/story1.html

eight low-rise buildings with 900,000 square feet of office space at a cost of roughly $225 million

to consolidate 4,500 EE's in Katy, at I-10 and Grandparkway, SW corner.

Here's the direct link.

Thx Porch

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=14880

I think I got it figured out and joined the group.

When I have time I'll start downloading some pics. Editor, are you Artefaqs?

I know I'm an idiot, but how do you join a group in flickr?

Don't know if anyone has posted this link to the Chron's photos of the park. Here it is:

http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Dis...very_Green.html

Friend of my wife's took these shots while she drove in from Sugar Land.

Nice: