Jump to content

BigSky

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    59

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by BigSky

  1. BigSky
    I went to Forever 21 last night to get something for my wife. And the place had a nice amount of traffic in it at 9pm. I think it is going to survive and be ok...It is more convienient than going to the galleria, I parked on the side of the street and walked straight in. In the galleria, you would have had to park in the parking garage and walk through the mall to get to the location. Houstonians are naysayers because it is something they have never experienced, street side shopping.
  2. BigSky
    Went by the Houston Pavilions today and Forever 21 and BCBG Max... had a good amount of traffic for a saturday afternoon. In addition, when people were leaving HP they had bags in their hand. I don't know what this means, but if they gain a critical mass of retail, this HP and downtown shopping could be a huge hit. I was surprised by the amount of traffic they had for a saturday afternoon, couple that with all of the weekday shopping from the downtown workers and you have a successful retail outlet.
  3. BigSky
    Walked by there today, it looked pretty busy for lunch. I am thinking that the Pavilions is going to be a hit.
  4. BigSky
    Just finished eating at HOB...It is fantastic and was packed and full of excitement, many tourist eating at the restaurant. I also took a stroll to BAM and I must say that it had a nice crowd shopping and buying stuff. I think this thing is going to be a success. It was long over due for Houston.
  5. BigSky
    This bodes well for Houston Pavilions. With the delay being almost 2 years+another 2 years for the thing to get built, will give HP some time to mature, grow and develop as well as attract and prove the concept that Downtown Houston can be a draw for entertainment, shopping and retail. These are some fascinating times we live in, I also believed that some of these projects were going to die anyway. It was way too progressive to have all of this development in and around the loop without adding a significant amount of residential to the mix.
  6. BigSky
    I know it is a pipe dream but Trader Joes would be ahuge win!!!!
  7. BigSky
    Most of the Retail space on the 2nd floor is empty, which is shocking. I think the retail orgs are waiting to see how this thing pans out. I can tell you that when I worked at Foleys as an assistant buyer. The DTN Foley's was a mid-tier store that did well. This area has nothing but upside and if retailers were smart they would open up in their sooner rather than later. The foot traffic will be there with the restaurants that are opening up within the location. It is a different genre. Most of the eating establishments downtown are not mid-tier casual dining. You either have the high end $40 dollar per plate or you have the park shops and the tunnel restaurants which is primarily fast casual. You are missing the McCormick and Schmicks, good mexican restaurants and others, which with a strong lunch menu at the 10-15 dollar range will get a significant amount of traffic.
  8. BigSky
    Let's not be short sighted...A sound stage would create an entirely new industry to the city. You would need location managers, producers, custom designers, etc...to support the films being made in Houston and create a new economy that would contribute to the overall wealth of the city. It would change the city in a positive way and add a brand new industry to the city. Houston is known for "creating it's own breaks" and thinking out of the box and revolutionizing business. This would be one more way to do it and save the Eighth Wonder of the World.
  9. BigSky
    It is 4 including the parking garage. BTW, I've spoke to 2 of the venues and they are without a doubt opening in October. HOB will be up and running in October and Lucky Strike will be finished by November. THis thing is going to revolutionize downtown houston. I have coworkers all buzzing about shopping in downtown houston and anyone that has eaten at the park shops over the last 20 years has to be excited to get an entire gang of new restaurants into the downtown area.
  10. BigSky
    Personally, I think a sound stage and movie studio makes sense. It would add a new industry to the city of Houston as well as make good use of all of that space within the astrodome.
  11. BigSky
    It is interesting that you are comparing, Denver Pavilions to Houston Pavilions. I've spoken to some friends who grew up in Denver and they stated that Denver Pavilions kicked off the renaissiance of Denver Downtown. They said after dP was in place, a signficant amount of development came up around it. I think HP will have the same type of impact that dP had on Denver. With OPP, HP, DG, DGT and MSP all occuring within a year of each other, I can see how this will bring a signifcant amount of development around HP.
  12. BigSky
    I seriously doubt this building will get built at that height. 120 floors total between two buildings in the Galleria area. The place cannot support the level of traffic nor the pedestrian traffic. If there isn't any regulations in place there should be, this building doesn't make any sense outside of downtown. Another fallic symbol to feed the ego of some developer.
  13. BigSky
    I would like to dispel the myth that retail cannot be supported in DT Houston. Based upon a job I use to have in a previous life, I had intimate knowledge with the performance of the Foley's/Macy's store in DT Houston and the fact that it was only open from 9-6 M-Sat, it was always a mid-performing store out of 70 stores throughout 7 states. Needless to say, it made money for the corporation and with over 300K workers in DT Houston who forget to buy belts and pantyhoses, the store was and always will be a solid performer. If I was responsible for site selection of big-box retail, I would take a chance on putting a smaller sized store and lease the space from one of the many buildings that are downtown that would be happy to have strong retail underneath versus building on an empty lot in suburbia. The building would give favorable terms to a nationwide chain that strived to have retail downtown and on a Sales/Square Ft. basis the DT store would do better than many of the surburban outlets.
  14. BigSky
    I have one word to say.... Hallelujah!!!!
  15. BigSky
    Was it ever reported that Lawry's Steakhouse pulled out of HP. I read it in the HBJ recently, which has me a little concerned. I guess with all of the steakhouses in Downtown Houston the demos probably don't support that much competition, but I would have assumed that they did their due diligence previously. SO far, you have Morton's, Strip House, Timpano's, Don Shula's in the Hyatt and then the Lawry's all within a 5 block radius. Mark
  16. BigSky
    This project is fantastic...I can't wait to watch some dirt to begin turning. I think in light of gas being 5 to 6 dollars by the time this project is up and running, you will see a great deal of suburbanites moving to a project like this....
  17. BigSky
    I believe this is actually from the late '90s very early 2000's. I am pretty sure that this was commissioned by the Downtown Houston Management District a long time ago.
  18. BigSky
    Sound stage is the best use for the Astrodome, anything else would not make fiscal sense.
  19. BigSky
    I think Finger Development has the correct model of renting units in Downtown once you have critical mass, then the market will appear that is willing to purchase a unit in the downtown market. If OPP is already 20% leased, then it tells you that their is a market for rentals, not purchases yet, and once that market hits compacity, then he can look at selling the units once he has recouped some the cost of his investment. Rental Towers for residential development is the way to go, until the residential market is strong enough to support some of the commercial entities that you need for a neighborhood.
  20. BigSky
    In regards to the old CityCentre Building...I received confirmation that it was a little more than a wetdream...I might be telling soemthing that people already know, but it did involve the Madrian Oriental, Residential component and office component, but I heard that it went bust when they couldn't close on any major corporation signing a lease for the office component. Anyway, I guess this will do for know, but I wish the CityCentre concept would have come to life...There are many open blocks around Discovery Green and Houston Pavilions so I am holding out hope for another Residential project to come online once OnePark Place sells out.
  21. BigSky
    They are adding windows on the main tower...It is coming together nicely.
  22. BigSky
    New update, they just installed something that looks like the escalators on the first to second floor off of main street at HP. This thing is coming together.
  23. BigSky
    I've received some scoop. Word on the street is saying that HOB is planning on opening in June/July timeframe ahead of schedule than the rest of HP. I believe it could be true, the exterior of HOB a few days ago, and the inside will probably not take 6-7 months for buildout. Can anyone confirm this rumor?
  24. BigSky
    Since we are wishing for stores in HP...I would like the following even though I submitted the request to HP and they did not respond: Nike Store H&M Virgin Records Apple Store Roots and last but not least..... Trader Joes THere is no chance in hell that any of these stores will come to HP or even to Houston, but it was worth a shot....
  25. BigSky
    I do not know the revenue stream of the HLSR, but I am more than certain that the two major issues tha they have with the hotel is that it will have a signficant impact to concession revenues and parking revenues. Also, if this Hotel flops, which I am more than certain it will, I am more than certain that they will be looking for a bail out from the County and that is a non-starter. I am certain that the Texans probably feel the same way as well. I vote for John McClain's recommendation of actually turning the Astrodome into what it is...A Sports Museum highlighting sporting events in Houston. There were many historical sporting events have taken place: Muhammed Ali fought 4 times in the Dome; 'Stros scoreboard, Luv Ya Blue, Astroturf, Warren Moon, Earl Campbell, Jack Johnson, All Star Games, etc... It would be great and venue and people would travel worldwide to see the largest sports museum in the world.
×
×
  • Create New...