GovernorAggie

On a side note, Toyota Center had a great lighting scheme last night, IMO. There were basically red floodlights that lit the bottow of the silver bottom to the buildings roof. Very subtle. Very classy.

I'm trying to understand why when people think lighting downtown, they instantly think of neon. I can think of several buildings in the CBD alone that can be lit nicely with softer light that accents their uniqueness: Bank of America--the gables should be lit from the base with a light complimentary of the building's color (similar to the lighting of the old Gulf building) Shell--one white light at the base of the antenna that lights the antenna Wells Fargo--fine as is as long as they can get the thing fixed 1000 Main--fine as is Continental--fine as is Chevron--fine as is Heritage Plaza--same type of lighting on Bank of America, but accenting the Mayan temple (not that tacky neon stuff it had before) Pennzoil--same type of lighting as Bank of America and Heritage Plaza (Gulf Bldg.) Reliant--fine as is Enterprise Plaza (1100 Louisiana?)--maybe fiber-optic outline of the stair-step side Fulbright--accent the distinguished southwest-facing roof design. Lastly, JPMorgan Chase--PLEASE take the bulbs down. Some of them are always blows anyway it seems. This one could also get the fiber-optic treatment--blue for Chase. The CBD basically has no spires or buildings with crowns, so that limits you. However, like scarface's letter says, during the day, it is a powerful skyline, but during the night you don't get quite the same impression. When I think of tasteful downtown night skylines, I think of Austin, Atlanta, LA, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Tampa, and maybe even Nashville. However, I also think that as a culture, those places give more thought to things that "don't matter" or "add to the bottom line" or "are unnecessary" than Houston has historically. For those who say "who cares about other cities, Houston, be yourself", I'd say that TMC is quite a vibrant night skyline as far as lighting goes. It may even be more vibrant than say, Uptown (sans Williams Tower).

And even if he was a consultant, he seems smart enough not to admit it!

Tallest only for a little while longer...

Agreed on Wells Fargo! It's my fave DT. It seemed to have some issues recently. The neon seems to be in several segments and many segments wouldn't light up so it looked discontinuous. Hopefully they fix is b/c that was the best lighting scheme of all the dominant west facing towers. I do like Reliant, Continental, and Chevron, though. Too bad more isn't done with Heritage Plaza. I'm thinking rooftop spotlights to highlight the temple-crown of the building. Same idea for Pennzoil. I don't know what I'd do with JPMC.

Oh don't get me wrong, I would prefer an ESPNZone WAAAAAAY before a Virgin MegaStore. I went to the one in DT San Francisco and really didn't see what was so great about it--there was nothing there that you can't find in say...FYE. Although they did have a great selection of figurines (Thundercats, XMen, Transformers, etc.). I just posted the article b/c there seemed to be such an early desire on HAIF to have one here. I also saw that ESPNZone was snooping around the Park Shops back in 2003, but nothing ever happened. They even said that tey have no plans of expanding their concept (I emailed them a few months ago about a Houston location). Nonetheless, I would think that HP would be better suited than Park. Park feels much more...isolated...and even INsulated to me. Who knows, maybe they'll come after all and compete with FOX Sports Grill in some respects.

Could Virgin MegaStore come to Houston? Maybe at HP? Maybe elsewhere? Check this out: http://www.topix.net/content/kri/390288619...013332998563454 "Despite the chain's recent contraction, the suits at Virgin are mulling another Texas location, this one in H-Town. 'We are considering Houston as a new market,' Wright confirmed. 'But there are no definite plans to open a megastore in Houston at present.'" ------------------------------------ I'm a little concerned about the fitness of Virgin, and I wouldn't want the store in HP if all it'll do is shut down two years later. Nonetheless, it is 'interesting' at least that they are 'mulling' a Houston location.

The east lot's crane is now complete!

Thanks!

Highway6 got a a pic of the construction on One Park Place. Could someone (stjky perhaps?) get picks of the heavy equipment currently at the HP site? It's impressive from gorund level, I'm sure it is from above too!

It's 31 stories now, but the story said it could grow (basically double) to around 50 stories based on demand. And they purchased the option on the next block! But I agree with H-Town Man--I wouldn't mind a dozen towers of 30-40 or so stories in place of say, 5 60 story office towers. If we can somehow get more mixed use towers (residential/hotel/office for example), then I think taller would be better. Taller ones would come if several 30, 40, even 50 story buildings quickly filled up because of the large blocks of space available. Either way, great news! Even greater news is the 6 Houston looks like it will be built on spec also, and Hines really is planning a new tower, likely for the "last seedy block of Main".

I would have to agree. I have been to the MarqE several times--more than I can count. And I've only been there on Friday nights. I have never seen anyone get in trouble--for that matter, I've never seen a heavy security or police presence there. I have also never felt threatened at any time by the youngsters who are there. Do many of them dress like they're out of a rap video? Yes. Do many girls dress in ways that you wonder how their parents let them out of their houses wearing belts (or what they call "skirts")? Yes. Do you wish that the kids would use a little better language? Yes. But have I ever seen a fight there? No. Have I ever seen any gun-waving? No. Have I heard gunfire? No. Actually, the only time I have ever heard gunfire in Houston was on *prestigious* Kirby at 59 (not 610--WOW). For that matter, wasn't there just a shooting at the Shell station next to the Galleria? Is the Galleria now a "thug" hotspot? After all, I see people wearing wife-beaters and hip-hop jerseys with their pants hanging past their behinds in the Galleria too--and they're of all races.

UPDATE!!! Pavement is now being broken up and removed from the Main St. lot!!!

Thanks for the pics of Mecca. I think I need to head up for a nice Fatburger and a Shakes frozen custard this weekend.

The Main St. lot was completely fenced off this morning. There were cars there, but I suspect that it may be contractor parking.

Yeah, last time I checked it was still intact. I would guess that its work will be a little more tricky with it being next to Main and everything. The first parts of construction on the new parking garage at Main and Walker required a lot of extra coordination with the trains, traffic, and construction equipment. This will be the same here I suspect.

Back on topic--work on two of the three lots has gotten pretty intense pretty quickly!

It won't disappoint me that they don't sell CD's. They're way overpriced at bookstores to me. I saw 8-9 year old CDs at a Borders in Fairfax, VA for like $18.99! Insane!

I don't think so. But the prices for those items are WAY too high in Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc. I am sure that there will be some sort of "entertainment" oriented store in HP that would sell electronics, games, music, movies, etc. It just seems to fit the mantra. On the other hand, I think that the "urban" concept of this Books-A-Million will be the first of its kind for that company. So maybe they'll include music and movies.

Target is at the most a 5 minute drive from DT. They won't buy Wal-Mart, but they'll buy Tar-zhay!!!

Didn't know where to put this, but I saw a gentleman measuring off the building today. He had measuring tape and was jotting everything down on his notepad. He also had what looked like a sketched/diagram kind of figure on his paper.

Must be the same one rumored to be contemplated by Brookfield. Regarding the drawings, what was awesome about them? Is it another flat-top? Does it have some sort of crown? At 40+ floors, how visible would it be from the west, since that might the clearest angle to see it.

He also said that if you want to invest in downtown, get in line. From most other politicians, I'd take this with a grain of salt. However, Mayor White is probably one of the most "practical" mayors Houston has seen in some time--maybe even to a fault for some. He doesn't make a lot of "pie-in-the-sky" comments and if you think about it, hasn't done a lot of "pie-in-the-sky" initiatives. Only practical ones that are fast, and achieve tangible results. With that in mind, I look for to this project and others coming to fruition!

I agree with you. I am excited that downtown will have not one, not two, not three, not four, but over FIVE blocks of new development come online at the same time in 2008 (HP, One Park Place, Discovery Green). Like I said, everything that didn't go into HP doesn't mean that it won't happen later as a spin-off. Who knows, maybe "The New West Bldg." will finally get something done--maybe be the home of my sports palaces (as well as that whole block of Main) and maybe the owner of the Main Food and $ Store will actually renovate that place into the restaurant that it was goning to be. Let's not forget about America Apparel and the new shoe store that will go in across from HP at the Humble Tower. AND Let's not leave out the retail possibilities of the parking garage u/c on Main. And the land put for sale by FUMC. And LandCo's potential 17-story residential development alongside Discovery Green. And Brookfield Properties' new office tower that would come online with the signing of just one anchor tenant. I was getting a bit concerned myself, but it is evident now that the sky is indeed not falling downtown. Things are really looking up, IMO--WAY up.

I see that you said "personally"...what is your reasoning? The Niketown in SF when I visited did not have a "thug" element, and I would venture to guess that the ESPN Zone would attract about as many thugs as Fox Sports Grill in the Galleria does. Location doesn't matter. The same Houston that you are well aware of that provides for most people to travel by car allows those thugs to go where they want just as easily. And they do.