citykid09

Does anyone know home many residential highrises are currently under construction in Houston?

http://www.click2houston.com/news/former-astroworld-gm-at-helm-of-new-theme-park-grand-texas/-/1735978/20889098/-/ka3dyf/-/index.html

 

I don't expect that this park will be everybody's cup of tea but I have to admire Chuck Hendrix for trying to make it up to Houston for the loss of AstroWorld.   Just think, if everything goes right, Houston won't be the largest metro in America without a theme park anymore. Welcome to the big time, Houston!

I agree. I am not feeeling this themepark! But atleast they are going through with building it. If it had a ton of rides I would be good with it, but I don't want to see horses and.....country stuff unless the rides are there to add to the experience! I wish EarthQuest was happening though. I'm also excited about this one: http://rcsentertainment.com/projects.htm

I'm dreaming here BUT.... What if Hines plans to make this the tallest building. It's rare to go ahead on a tower without a major tenant. Making an iconic skyscraper for a city on the other hand may cause companies to consider this the place to go!

Thats what I was thinking. Why can't Houston build anything that tall when cities all over the world and here in the USA that are not doing as great as Houston are building them? Something needs to change look of the Houston skyline, its looked pretty much the same my whole life!

Zone D Erotica has been there almost 10 years now right? When it first opened I never thought it would last this long. It makes the Galleria area look bad! What was there before this? Looks like a Pizza Hut.

And so it begins...

 

From the Chronicle... 

 

 

I was just about to come on here and mention this because I remember the discussion that was going on about it last week. I wouldn't be surpised if more stuff in the area gets torn down and becomes apart of the City Centre/Town Centre development.

HoustonBoy, I'm supprised that the W, Ritz-Carlton, or Mandrin Orental have decided to build a hotel in Houston since its booming. I want to see that 50+ story Ritz-Carlton annonce in Uptown again and open intime for the Superbowl. 

Without reading all of this discussion I want say that I think I know what por favor gracias was talking about when he said that the McDonalds shouldn't have been allowed there. Its not the McDonalds that he has a problem with, its the form of McDonalds, Its suburban. But the problem in Houston is that the city (unlike other cities) does not like to tell developers how to develop there land, its pretty much anything goes. Thats when zoning would come in handy. In other cities an area like uptown would never allow a developer to put in a McDonalds like that. I found this: http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/02/09/no-holiday-for-the-holiday-inn/while searching for urban McDonalds. Its not really urban, but it is much more walkable than the one built in uptown. If you notice in the article McDonalds had planned one in that Oklahoma City neighborhood similar to the one in Uptown Houston, but the urban planners in that city made them change it.

Was reading this article about Men's Wearhouse firing its founder as CEO of the company. The article went on to say that the company was headquartered in Fremont, Calif. When did they leave Houston?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mens-wearhouse-ousts-founder-exec-132847193.html

Here is the thread on this Lockmat: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/28121-s-post-oak-ln/

Pretty cool!

not trying to be a Debbie downer, but they've been talking about doing something like this for the HRY for at least 10 years. I'm not holding my breath, but I hope Triton is on to something here.

Well this seems like the first step! I hope it happens! Had no idea that any of the stations were elevated. Wish the whole thing was or atleast had its own right of way on the ground or underground. And why not build it? Houston is growing so fast and doing so well why not?

Does San Antonio have some kind of restrictions on tall buildings? Why hasn't their skyline grew like other cities of its size?

I really like this! That plaza between the buildings is very nice.

There is a new commercial about wireless technology (doesn't really explain) that is set in downtown Houston. I shows a lady on her cell phone and she finding out when the next bus will come. Then they show a METRO bus pull up. Its a national commercial, I saw it on CNN.

I could not agree more with this.  This is exactly the kind of thing that Houston is SO lacking right now and with all the new multi unit communities going up, seems like the time is right.  People need a reason to come to and live in midtown and this would be a big step in the right direction.

I agree, this would not only make people want to move to midtown, it would make people want to movet to the city period. This is the type of key element that I beleve Houston is missing. Regent Square will have this type of feel, but this one has that Time Square feel. I could see lots of people walking around in this area. The part that many of the similar developments in Houston mess up on is building their entire development on a lot and cuting out their own streets which are disconnected from the areas around them. This development is a part of the rest of the neighborhood which I like. That Fiesta in that area should have been demolished years ago and replaced with smething like this. And by the way, welcome to HAIF qtguy.

Here is an idea, why don't all of the people proposing theme parks around Houston come togeather with all of there ideas and build a mega themepark at the EarthQuest site (Orlando style). This way at least EarthQuest gets built.

That would be pretty awful, yet hilarious, if the Astoria does fail and all we are left with is a detailed weekly log of the McDonald's construction.

 

Sad.

Don't mention it! The Astoria is own of my favorite towers going up. I was already disapointed when the Titan never went up.

This is MARTA:

I wonder what will happen once the Mertorail becomes obsolete? Will there be a plan in place for a system like the proposed 1983 one?

Money in place and vehicles ordered for the 1983 heavy rail plan?! 

 

Jeez, how did they manage to screw that one up??  Imagine how much more ridership we would have today if that were built. 

I wonder what they would have looked like?

Will this be an urban McDonalds or will it have a drive thru? Will it be two stories? It would be nice if it was art deco to match the Astoria.

Do you all think they will bury those powerlines?

Would you all consider this to be a part of Greenway Plaza? Or am I way off? Just wondering neighborhood and skyline wise.

Google maps is even showing it as I-69 now. I wonder why they didn't just go a head and name the rest of the Houston portion I-69? What are they waiting on?

The problem is Houston is so far behind in transit the suburbs don't understand to get the commuter rail system the interior rail system with the links has to be built first. Roads and bridges, that's old work being redone over and over, with a lot of lobbying. This is the only place on Earth with such a backwards transit system in such an advanced society. Get mad that Houston isn't considered world class, but we are looked at as a lawless wild west by most, and for the most part those views are accurate on the highest level.

I don't agree with this statement. Why does Houston have to have this inner city light rail in addition to commuter rail when you don't see that in other world class cities? Why can't Houston build something other cities of its size have? Like the BART, MARTA, or the DC Metro Rail? Why does Houston have to settle for a funky street rail?

I was just wondering, how far apart are these two developments and do you all thing these two sites could change the perception of Houston as a urban walkable city? Which development do you think has the greatest potential for development? Some say that the KBR site should become a park, but I believe that there could be a much better use for the site.

KBR Site

Regent Square