swtsig

i stopped by the crow's nest at Finn Hall last week and was pleasantly surprised at how many people were there, particularly given the terrible weather we were having. i will say i though the bar lacked a little charm and the bartending definitely needed some improvement but overall it was enjoyable. Finn Hall itself was fairly crowded for an off hour so i can only imagine how busy it gets during lunch. lots of great options.

i really REALLY want them to do something grand with the Chase Bank lobby... that's the single grandest space in all of Houston and it would be great to see something other than a bank occupy that space.

42 minutes ago, West Timer said:

Never ASSume.

it's not really an assumption...

15 minutes ago, Vy65 said:

 

Such great people we have in our fair city of ours. Open-minded, slow to make assumptions, and modest. Just the best.

perhaps if you did anything other than complain people would be a little more "open minded and modest"... if you simply wanted a place to b!tch maybe yelp would be more your speed.

On 11/16/2018 at 9:11 AM, august948 said:

 

That will happen eventually.  Post Oak started out as a suburban boulevard but has been slowly urbanizing, particularly in the last 20 years or so.

 

Matter of fact, looking at the size of that shopping center on a map, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it got redeveloped into a city centre type multi-use setup.  It's a huge piece of land in one of the busiest parts of Houston.

there's a massive redevelopment planned for that site... very preliminary so who knows exactly what gets built or when but there are major players involved and the initial scale is massive.

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Hopefully more of an Alessandra-type downgrade and not a Randall Davis, wish-it-hadn't-been-built type job.

 

Edit: Remembering some pages back, it looks like they're getting their funding from the same place as Randall Davis does.

 

 

from what i can tell updated renderings haven't been produced yet but the distinctive staggered/offset design is being done away with. knowing that, it's probably safe to assume that additional exterior design elements will also be value-engineered.

there's a pervasive attitude amongst many houston developers (particularly this one) that the exterior of a building matters little, at least relative to the interior. certainly there's some merit to that, especially in residential buildings, but that attitude seems to get amplified here compared to other major cities.

Not to be a Debbie downer but I’ve heard that the distinctive condo/hotel tower will be significantly value engineered. IOW, expect this one to get the infamous “houston developer” treatment. 

very classy design... should fit in well w the area, especially the new addition to ROB across the street and the medical office bldg going up next door. this intersection will look a lot different in a couple of years. 

1 hour ago, Elseed said:

Mehh. The Houston shops has been lame just like the downtown tunnels since day one. 

hence the reason they're about to undergo a major renovation. 

please never stop posting. 

On 12/4/2018 at 11:26 AM, brijonmang said:

I am hearing that there is a proposed Hanover Post Oak phase 3 building...do any other industry folks know much about this?

do not know about hanover but given their bullish attitude towards houston lately it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

metlife/hines have long held on to the vacant lot directly north of Hanover PO 1 and will almost assuredly kick something off sooner rather than later.

1 hour ago, jmitch94 said:

 

 

Oh I'm sure they notice then they notice how much they can save by not using a nice facade. 

the price differential to add brick facade, at least just to the Texas Ave facing side and around both southern corners would not be significant. i'm certainly not opposed to being pragmatic about costs but these types of missed opportunities are really inexplicable in situations like this.

1 hour ago, Triton said:

Hmmmm... Haven't we been hearing something about the parking lots across 59? One lot is gone to the new expansion. I know it sucks but maybe this parking garage actually makes sense.

parking garage here absolutely makes sense - a lot of astros lots will be meeting their maker soon, especially when the 59 construction begins. i would think a garage isn't simply a luxury for them at this point but an absolute necessity, especially one on the main thoroughfare leading to the ballpark. curious if this is one of the lots crane owns around MMP or as someone else mentioned if they're ground leasing this. 

although i'd certainly wish we'd start paying more attention to the aesthetic of these structures. they may be a necessary evil but that doesn't mean we shouldn't attempt to make them an interesting part of the streetscape. like why not continue the red brick motif to create a stronger sense of place? it's amazing to me that the developers in this city willingly ignore obvious details like this so routinely.

12 minutes ago, kbates2 said:

Yeah looks like this has been value engineered down quite a bit.

how so? other than replacing glass with stone on the base it looks identical. i would've been much more concerned had they reduced the glass curtain wall in the highrise section and/or altered the unique curvature in the design. 

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

I would not want to own a house on Waverly between 11th and this development.  Waverly is going to end up being the street to access this development from the north.  They really should build 6th street to go all the way through, but pylons for a bridge over the retention pond would displace too much water and require them to dig deeper into the very contaminated soil.  But I bet a bridge over the retention pond would be a great home for bats.

 

Otherwise, it is a great idea, especially the way it integrates with the hike and bike path.  People shopping/dining at this development can walk about a half mi and be over at Heights Mercantile.  

 

The only thing I wonder about is where we are on the supply and demand curve for retail space in the Heights.  Radam is a smart guy and must have a lot of leasing leads to take on 200k sq ft.  But I also feel like we are getting to the limit on the number of juice bars, pilates/yoga studios, fancy barber shops, and coffee shops you can fit into the Heights. 

you bring up some very salient points and i too wonder when we'll become oversaturated on the retail side of things but he's not moving forward on any of this without some very strong commitments. the second phase will add more office and mf than retail so it will certainly create its own sense of place that can help feed the retail and hospitality in place. it will also create amazing greenspace. ultimately he's going to knock this outta of the park.

just wait til phase II

i believe this will be a marriott boutique flag IIRC

3 hours ago, treblelino said:

Boring.

you're such a strong contributor to this site. thank you for all your contributions... not sure how we'd function without them.

On 10/22/2018 at 11:02 PM, Avossos said:

 

I sure hope the main building doesn’t get torn down

it won't.

On 10/20/2018 at 5:35 PM, HoustonIsHome said:

They need to stop with those numbered names. So many buildings downtown are now referred to by numbers and now I'm completely lost 

you mean having a building referred to by its address confuses you?

There’s a lot in store for this property. 

love the nightime lighting on this building... need more buildings illuminated this way.

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

From the interview:

 

"Memorial Park’s master plan is very focused on conservation.  As a result, the plan does not recommend a trail along the bayou’s edge.  I believe the Memorial Park Conservancy team would like to do riparian restoration along the bayou.  They definitely see the bayou being very natural."

 

Translation: The people who live across the bayou from Memorial Park have made it known, in no uncertain terms, that they do not want to see a soul walking anywhere near the bank and looking at their yards. Since most of them are connected in some way to the people giving money for the project, there's really no chance of there ever being a trail along there. For most Memorial Park users, there may as well not even be a bayou running next to that park. Enjoy looking at Memorial Drive instead. It's pretty.

 

 

talk about a dramatic yet totally unsubstantiated post. buffalo bayou park has had serious problems with erosion, it's not crazy to think that MPC realizes this and made a conscientious decision to protect the banks of the bayou as opposed to develop them. There are miles and miles of hiking and biking trails there now, regardless. 

4 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Agreed. It says Phase 1 groundbreaking... do we know what is in Phase 1?

 

pretty sure it's the thompson hotel/condo and "lifestyle center" that connects to the park via walkway. might include some retail as well, can't remember.

Radom has some pretty exciting plans for this tract but they're obviously not set in stone yet. Rest assured whatever comes will be very well thought out and very well designed. Here's hoping they can follow through with adding some concepts sorely lacking in this area. 

aren't these two different sites? buffalo heights on washington and 100 waugh on, well.... waugh?

21 hours ago, lockmat said:

Isn't it surprising this isn't a highrise?

not even a little surprising... this isn't a very big site to begin with, the galleria market doesn't call for nor need any sort of high rise project (besides the fact that this is going to be owner occupied), and the last thing the developer  wants to do is a build a highrise that immediately blocks the best views of the condo tower they literally just built.

17 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Building elevations on the planning commission agenda actually has this one at 438 ft, not the 351 feet previously reported by the FAA two years ago. Me thinks the old height was for the previous design.

 

 

is there anyway we can get the most recent renderings stickied to the top of each page for each project thread? i've seen this before, can't remember where though.