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fernz

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Everything posted by fernz

  1. fernz
    where exactly is Shady Acres?
  2. fernz
    The bell tower has been topped off. It has a similar gold cross to the dome's.
  3. fernz
    I think you are overlooking Hanover. If you look at what they did with lofts at post oak and seven riverway, and what they are planning on doing at boulevard place, they are taking apartments to a new level of quality. Only finger is doing something similar, but they don't have the national presence that hanover does.
  4. fernz
    it will
  5. fernz
    The renderings and model I saw did not have any kind of spire, it is a flat-roofed building. However, at about level 36 there is a big garden terrace that seems to take a 5 story bite out of the building, and at that point the massing of the building changes and becomes two interlocking volumes. Pretty neat looking building, at least compared to what has been built in Houston in the last ten years. Like I said, no Pennzoil, but I nice building nonetheless.
  6. fernz
    I don't mean any offense to anyone here, but I am amazed how little architectural knowledge there is among the members of this forum, especially for a forum about architecture. Anyone who has seen this building or pictures of it and still thinks that they might add a skin to it has no understanding of the significance of what is called exposed concrete, or even better, architectural concrete. Even though they did a terrible job with this building, the concrete on the facade, with the little holes and the defined reveals and pattern, is considered a premium finish. Yes, Hines paid a premium for this concrete. It is not raw or unfinished as suggested by some. It is a premium, architectural grade concrete wall. It will not be covered up by any skin (unless Hines holds the contractor responsible for doing such a bad job on the concrete finish and makes them cover it up) And yes it is plain concrete, it could be much better, but is not half as bad as described previously. I for one think it is much better than that fake stone looking parking garage attached to the Commerce Towers, and better than many parking garages in the city. It is clean, modern, honest and makes no apologies. It is a parking garage than is not disguised as something else, and it reflects the true identity of the city, one that is 100% car centric.
  7. fernz
    I am sorry for misleading you. I did not mean angling as in the City Center project where the angle is on the elevation. I meant angling as seen in floor plan, meaning that it is not a square box. I would say the shape is "similar" to the PanAm building in NY. It is all curtain wall though, very slick, without any strong bands or patterns, as most of the buildings you can see on the architect's website (particularly this one: http://www.pickardchilton.com/pagProject.a...#39;&ID=43) I saw a printed version of the rendering, so I apologize, I have no links or images to post. But I'll say it again, it is a nice, slick building, much better that their last tower (Calpine Center) but not another Pennzoil.
  8. fernz
    I bet it is. I'm surprised they are willing to go at it without a tenant; I guess they want to beat the Discovery Tower out of the ground. The rendering I saw looked pretty slick, it's an all glass tower with slightly angled walls, and a terrace garden two-thirds up the building.
  9. fernz
    No, sometimes real estate companies get into projects that involve huge financial risk without expecting any financial return, just for fun. Maybe they built this parking garage only to enjoy reading the comments on this forum!
  10. fernz
    Hines has two projects in the works, the second one is indeed the Shamrock site. They will not move forward on both at the same time. They need large tenants to pre-lease before thay start. Given recent developments at the Monatgue, I would assume they are ready to move froward on that one first. I do happen to have seen drawings for that one so I can confirm it is an all-glass facade, 40-50 story office building (thereare even talks of a garden terrace at the 30+ story level, with tress visible from the street) I have not seen anything on the Shamrock site, there is a lot of speculation on this forum about that being the "City Centre" project - I don't know. What I do know is that Hines is working on something there. I can't say what my source is, but I can tell you it is very reliable.
  11. fernz
    I just read this post for the first time and have a few things to add, or repeat: -Violet, I'm sorry, you ended up with the short stick on this one. -Yes, it is very disappointing to see Hines do this. Little by little, they are abandoning the philosophy their founder, Gerald Hines. -For those who said that Hines should somehow be responsible for their deceit, I am sorry to inform you that it's not possible. Under our no zoning laws, their promises were always empty promises. They cannot be held accountable for not delivering on them. -However, zoning is no guarantee that this could have been stopped. If parking garages were allowed in downtown by-right in a zoning ordinance (which is likely), the parking would only need to meet safety codes to get a permit. Zoning only helps when the developer is requesting a variance/rezoning/site plan approval/PUD or whatever you want to call the process that goes beyond by-right development and therefore triggers public hearings. -Stop bashing Niche, he is giving constructive ideas on how to get this resolved. You can choose to ignore him if you want, or disprove his logic if you think he's wrong. -Bad PR does help. It has not stopped McDonald's or KFC, but it has caused them to add healthful chioces to their menus and to eliminate trans-fats. A well organized PR campaign showcasing Hines lies and self of interest for their hometown would get those executives worried about investors/tenants backlash, at least locally. It won't stop any Pennzol building employee from parking in the garage, but in a couple of years when there are three or four office building under construction in Downtown fighting for tenants, Hines will not want any bad PR. True, Hines will only break ground once they sign a big pre-lease, but they will still be 40-50% vacant and will be fighting for tenants with Crescent, Trammell and Brookfields if they all move forward with current plans. -Violet, you have another option, albeit an expensive one. Sue Hines. Not for lying, not for building blight in Downtown, but for infringing on your rights - actually, only your lower level neighbors could get away with this. Under the property right laws in this country, you are allowed to certain rights. I am no attorney but I think you can at very least claim that the light is a nuisance on your property which denies you "enjoyment" of your property, one of the four rights you have as a real property owner. If anyone has any pictures please post for those of us that don't live in Houston.
  12. fernz
    There is an article from the HBJ somewhere in this forum that talks about the development on this block. It is a Hines development, and they will tear down everything except the the white building in the corner that was converted to office condos recently (can't remember the name). It is very uncommon for a developer to go hard on a contract unless they are ready to go, although with Hines' deep pockets it might be different. Hines' plans for that block are a 40-50 story building, all curtain wall. It's no Pennzoil, but it is definitely better that the Calpine building they did at 717 Texas. I hope they get started on it soon, although they are waiting to get a major tenant.
  13. fernz
    Does anyone have an update on this? Is it dead?
  14. fernz
    The article is no longer in the Chronicle website. Can anyone tell me what the proposal was?
  15. fernz
    There is a post somewhere in this forum about Hines having two projects in the works in Downtown, and my understanding is that this one is second in line; so who knows how long it will take for this block to be developed. Also, there is no evidence that "this" is Hines project. Who knows how old this rendering is, it might as well be from a study done before the Shamrock. Hines is usually very good at not revealing what they are working on, and I would be surprised if they authorized their architects to post their building online. However, ANYTHING Hines does will be much better than the Shamrock.
  16. fernz
    Nope. That's it right there. On Main Street, across the street from the Chase parking garage and catty corner from the Rice Hotel.
  17. fernz
    That's the Shamrock site! That block is supposedly being developed by Hines.
  18. fernz
    Every serious design competition has an entry fee, and it is usually a lot more that $20. People on this forum are always complaining that there is no great design in Houston, but then complain when a design competition dares ask for a measly $20 entry fee!
  19. fernz
    And here's teh link to the ABC newscast. There are two videos and a slide show. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...amp;id=5391309#
  20. fernz
    Do you remember which news?
  21. fernz
    Here are some recent pics....
  22. fernz
    They do look nice, but they look too commercial. Isn't the tall one supposed to be apartments? I bet these are just massing representations and the towers themselves (at least the residential one) will not look anything like it. Is Wulfe developing all of it or is he only doing the retail and partnering with other developers who do have office / residential experience to do those portions? There has been talk on this forum that Hanover will be doing the residential component. That would make it even more likely that the towers will look very different from what's shown on the renderings. I don't think it's a coincidence that the renderings show a lot more detail on the retail components than on the towers. As for the parking lot on Post Oak, Wulfe knows from his experience that retailers in Houston will not sign a lease if they don't have parking in front of their storefronts. It's a business decision that has nothing to do with the urban character of Post Oak.
  23. fernz
    The interior artwork and furnishings always had a separate budget. Bishop Fiorenza was always very careful in all his statements to make it clear that the costs were for the building only, not including furniture, stained glass, sacred objects or artwork. Therefore, I would not consider the Italian chandeliers an "upgrade". As far as I know, the interior walls are all plaster now. I believe the original design was for stone walls, but was revised when the basement was deleted to save money. The idea was that in the future, when more money might be available, the walls could be upgraded to stone.
  24. fernz
    It's a wonderful space, I've been there. The picture above is NOT from that space. See a picture here: http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/?slide=...mp;artindex=152
  25. fernz
    Not to drag on this issue, but have your architect buddy look into Chapter 26 (my mistake, it's not Chapter 42) of the code of ordinances. You can even check it yourself, it's online at http://www.houstontx.gov/codes/index.html Section 26-3 (d) states that "...the central business district has in place an adequate level of parking and loading facilities and it is hereby exempted from the requirements of this chapter." (you can look at the beginning of the chapter for the definition of the CBD) How do you think a building with huge parking requirements such as the new Catholic Cathedral was permitted with ZERO parking spaces provided?
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