wernicke

I do wish the park could have extended a little further north (it is a little small), to occupy almost all of the space in front of GRB. Then there could have been more available lots to build high-rise residential.

As it is, essentially all of the surrounding lots are spoken for... if the city decides to build a new convention hotel and the Embassy Suites gets built.

Is it possible to move that block of power generators at the Southwest corner, right across from the proposed Embassy site? It seems a waste of space, and really is kind of jarring to look at.

Decided to take some photos of various TMC projects today...

Biomedical Science Bldg on the South Campus near the Rec Center.

Four cranes recently put up at Baylor's new University Hospital site. TMC in background.

Baylor's Medical Office Building

I think this is another MD Anderson parking garage.

I'm not sure what is going here (probably parking), but they were putting up 2 more cranes today next to McGovern Commons.

Methodist Clinical Research Center cranes on right.

Methodist's Outpatient Center in back. It's big.

Methodist's Smith Tower.

The Bathers.

Posterior side of Methodist Outpatient Center (Facing Main St.)

Fannin Street.

UT Physicians Tower, Hermann Professional Building, new Heart and Vascular Institute.

Statue in Weber Plaza, outside UT Med School.

Took some updated photos of the progress. It is getting pretty close...

I think it is strange that the building seems to only have doors at either corner. Will they add doors to the front later as tenants sign leases?

I really like the above section of the building, with all the glass on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

This article from today ties into our discussion about delays and material costs:

Soaring costs of materials...

Like I said previously... the longer you wait, the more you pay. If we're gonna build it regardless, it would be better to start yesterday than a year from now (assuming planning is complete, which it isn't).

Just drove by on the way home... there were tons of people there. A lot of kids playing in the interactive fountains it seemed, some people sunbathing on the lawn, a bunch of people with dogs. I'm not sure if the Lake House was open though. I thought it was suprisingly crowded, although the weather is quite nice today.

Oh, and I saw the cops arresting what appeared to be a homeless person... I thought some of you guys might appreciate that (the "it's gonna get overrun by homeless people" crowd), but hopefully they had cause.

I wish I could go tomorrow... although if the weather holds out it looks like it is going to be really crowded.

So when are they going to officially start construction on these new lines? Previously, I thought it was planned for April 2008...

Wow... that is an impressive line-up of stuff. I hope people show up for all those performers.

I think they are doing this thing up right with all these activities. It would be nice to go down there and listen to some live music and have a couple beers (the Lakehouse is going to sell alcohol right?).

There have been some very positive improvements to the park. You can really tell when you take the train ride.

I agree. Hermann Park is quite nice these days... especially the area around the lake and the reflecting pool, which almost has a foreign feel to it. Too bad essentially only one side of the park can be developed -- N, NE side from Mosaic around to Museum of Natural Science -- because it seems like a very attractive place to put more high density residential. It is locked in on the southeast side by MacGregor/Bayou, South by TMC, West by Main St.

Currently it looks like there are 4 condo towers adjacent to the park... Warwick Towers, Mosaic, and two others that I don't know the name of?

Too bad they can't do something super cool with the Buffalo Bayou waterway where it winds north of downtown.

Is there some way to make the bayou cleaner for a mile or so?

I've heard that a lot of people started using the Metro Rail who didn't used to ride the busses before. That means people moved in to apartments near the Metro Rail because it was an alternative to driving to work every day (medical center employees for example). They liked it better than the local bus. I wish I could cite a source on that but I can't...

I've got no idea what the numbers are, but most people I talk to seem to like the rail better than the local busses.

As anecdotal evidence. I started med school at UT in 8/05 and moved to Lanesborough across from the Smithlands stop b/c of the rail, then moved to the Calais in Midtown with my fiance b/c rail is within walking distance. I ride it into the TMC daily, unless I'm out at LBJ. I drive very little during the week. I essentially never used a Metro bus previously.

The TMC drives a huge portion of rail usage... and the rail has certainly impacted the construction boom of the TMC (there simply is not enough parking in TMC for 120K employees plus patients). I definitely think it may be more difficult to achieve the rapid success of the Red line on the other lines, but it will likely spur development in the long run.

This article is actually about Houston in general, but part of it centers on Discovery Green and all the positive momentum surrounding H-town right now. Nice to have a little favorable national coverage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/us/02hou...uston&scp=1

My question is, what goes up on the property just to the north of it? The way construction is moving in that little section near the Museum District, you'd think that the property would be ripe for new residential development.

Ya, this development and the apartment complex across the street (Esplanade) have interesting implications for the entire area headed north on Almeda. There are some pretty rough spots (super ghetto) currently just a few blocks up the road. Also no grocery stores. But prime for growth.

Thought some of you might find these architecturally interesting (similarities?):

http://www.realmcondos.com/building.htm

http://www.horizonwildwood.com/

http://www.encorecondos.com/building.html

http://www.skypointcondos.com/

http://www.twelvecentennialpark.com/building.html

A friend of mine lives in the Realm in Atlanta, it and the Mosaic are just variations of each other. They are developed by the Novare Group based out of Atlanta. I still think they are cool though.

I've been in the building many times, and definitely think it needs to be taken down... that piece of property is prime real estate for the TMC.

MD Anderson's point about the mural having African-Americans working the hay bales while the white people are having leisure time is interesting... I had never considered it previously. Still, the mural should be preserved somewhere.

A lot of a certain person's ramblings seem to ignore the fact that the majority electorate of Houston voted for Metro's LRT expansion in 2003. We live in a democracy and LRT is what the people want.

In my view, the only remaining questions have to do with planning and implementation.

Do the girls in the picture come with the rental fees??

Just thought I would give some respect to the Dream on getting elected to the HOF.

Found this interesting article from 12/06 about Olajuwon's real estate prowess:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/realesta...amp;oref=slogin

You'd make a terrible currency speculator.

So instead of adding something constructive to the conversation by addressing anything specific, you feel your point is better made by just going negative by telling me that I would be bad at something that I don't pretend to be?

Regarding currency speculation, the dollar is going to continue to fall... so yes, the longer you delay starting on something the people of Houston voted yes on, the more it will cost in material value.

Maybe the Grove still needs to Grow into it's Groove!

Regarding the Grove.

My fiance went to The Grove for lunch today and was totally blown away by how terrible the service was handled. She went with 2 other coworkers, and for a party of 3 it took them 2 hours to get out of there. She said the wait staff was unbelievably bad.

"Seriously, it was a zero out of ten on customer service."

The longer the delay, the higher the cost.

If IAH is spending 1.3 billion on one terminal, I think we can justify spending a couple billion on a good rail transit system. Especially with oil headed nowhere but up... and up... and up.

Yea... of all the developments, I would consider The Mix to be the least planned out. I still think putting up the banners at the site are a marketing ploy, and wouldn't be suprised if renderings don't even exist.

I wish the office tower was a little taller than 12 stories though. But the loft style does look nice. It would be nice to have a window office overlooking the shops below.

If only they could have kept the residential component...

I went down there yesterday... it might not be natural, but I would have preferred if they made the lake a little more blue and less like bayou water.

They should dye it green on St. Patrick's day like they do in the Chicago River.

Look at the last page of Grubb & Ellis' 4Q 2007 office report. Less than half of new office construction in the DFW area is occuring in these areas that you mention.

Well, I was talking about DALLAS... not Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. I was comparing the city of HOUSTON, to the city of DALLAS. The report you site (looking at the entire DFW metroplex market) actually reinforces the point I was trying to make about the city of DALLAS (not DFW) if you read it:

Not surprisingly, the

suburbs fueled the absorption growth with West Plano/Frisco and LBJ

Freeway at the top. Conversely, the Dallas Central Business District (CBD)

experienced a challenging final quarter of the year. As Hunt Oil Company

filled its new global headquarters facility, a 325,000 square foot block of

space in the nearby Fountain Place went dark.

I had the same experience in Dallas about a month ago... my fiance and I stayed with one of her friends in a Post residential/retail apartment in Uptown and walked to everything. I left very impressed with what Dallas has going on... albeit a little curious as to how the hell all those million-dollar condos are going to be moved. I think it will be decades before sprawling H-town has anything similar.

Of course, beyond DT, Uptown and Highland Park there is really nothing else in Dallas. Houston really is an entirely different animal, so comparisons are difficult.

Seems like an April Fool's joke to me...