ttuchris

I am not sure why my photos load upside down.  How do I fix that?

Anyways, this piece of Greenstreet by Hotel Laura has been incomplete since 2017.  What is the plan?  I am surprised they leave this unfinished next to a nice hotel. 

Looks like a water-proofing exercise.  The new mortar really changes the character and I am not sure why they decided to paint.  Seems like red is going to be a constant maintenance issue. 

They changed the first floor windows to triple pane.  I assume they are doing the same to the other floors.  

I drove by this morning.  It was completely down by 8:30.  

I tried to walk through this new plaza last weekend on my way to AMC.  Security quickly told me to leave and that the plaza was closed to the public.  It was bizarre.  There are no fences and they had music playing.  

There were two Brazos hotels.   

https://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2012/01/a-gathering-at-the-hotel-brazos/

"The hotel was razed in the early 1930s to make way for the Southern Pacific Station, which itself was torn down in the 1960s to make way for the post office. Another Hotel Brazos was built on Preston behind what’s now the Lyric Centre, but it wasn’t as successful."

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Jones-Plaza-to-be-redesigned-as-a-game-12861824.php#photo-15447205

This article has some pictures of the original park in 1967.  Not much to speak of.  It was redesigned in 2001.  

Big wish, but the lights on the bridges need a lot of work again.  I had some friends visiting from Dallas.  They thought the bridges were cool, but the lights were half burnt out, strobing, and out of sync.  They should probably just turn them off again.  

I used to work for Brookfield.  Almost all design was done out of NY and they were notorious for shoehorning the "Brookfield look" into any building.  It created so many inconsistent designs.  That being said, other than the white stripe, I don’t think this looks too bad and is generally more welcoming. 

http://www.houstontimeportal.net/

Stumbled across this neat website.  Interesting history and then and now shots.  

It really is amazing.  I moved downtown in September 2017 and this project was underway.  You can see date stamps on the concrete, 2018, 2019, 2021.

I drove past Bayou Place last night, it looks like The Blue Fish might be closed permanently.  Not sure about the status of Napoli.  Assuming AMC survives and Revention rebounds, maybe there is hope for this place.  I think a dream scenario would be to tear it all down and connect Jones Plaza, Tranquility Park, and Buffalo Bayou with park space.  Expensive wishful thinking.   

$1260 is "Market/Asking Rate" like MSRP.  They are offering 1 month free which brings in down to $1,155 effective.  I would be surprised if they don't get more aggressive.  Downtown apartments regularly have 1-3 months free, look and lease bonuses, referral bonuses, etc.  2 months free would bring these down to $1,050.  

http://swamplot.com/big-block-on-the-corner-of-westheimer-and-montrose-goes-up-for-sale/2012-03-08/

Swamplot has some old pictures of the Tower Shopping Center. 

Did anyone ever figure out what they are doing to the facade?  It appears they are reinforcing the granite panels.  You can see the holes and plugs on most of the tower.  It affects the appearance up close and when light reflects off the tower.

It is under contract now.  A 3,500 sf addition seems excessive.  It must have been in worse condition than they expected.  It looks like they had to take it to the studs in and out.    

https://www.har.com/homedetail/1117-saint-agnes-st-a-houston-tx-77030/8668808?lid=3768699

The entire complex is up for sale.  

I am sure the Astros are focused on revenue generating improvements, but the park has needed a paint job for years and several of the windows in Union Station are rotting.  I wonder if they have any plans for general maintenance.  I would hate to see a historic structure fall into disrepair.  Does the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority require any minimum repairs from the Astros?  I took other similar pictures, but they were too large to load.   

https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utlarch:ea7076b6-3eab-4db7-b910-4d097d88c198

Here is a good picture of the exterior.  Per Preservation Houston, it was build in 1927 for Rouse Drug Store #4.  

All of downtown has been blue lately.  I did see where they had a rainbow pattern and an orange and blue pattern a few nights ago, but I was driving and couldn't get a picture.  

As much as I love development, I wish the Buffalo Bayou Partnership could afford it.  Greenspace along the bayou goes a long way toward beatification. 

I have walked by several times.  They put no effort into this.  Mismatched tables and chairs, terrible lighting, zero ambiance.  Hopefully this building will get the restoration and tenant it deserves one day.  

I went to both Kingwood Randall's today looking for Plated meals since Plated was bought by Albertson's/Randall's.  Both stores were dead.  I tried to pick up some flour as well and luckily I checked the date, because the "best buy" date was January 2019.  There was a large aisle of Christmas and Thanksgiving supplies and food for 50% off.  I thought they would have dumped this stuff at 90% off months ago.  They just don't seem to have enough business to move any inventory.  To top it off, these stores do not have Plated.  I since learned from the website that only the Memorial Drive and W Holcombe stores carry it.  

I worked at Randall's in high school and it was always a family favorite.  I hate to see it go, but I can't imagine these stores staying open with one new HEB and another on the way.