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ArchFan

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Everything posted by ArchFan

  1. ArchFan
    :-) Actually, there are some good places to walk. E.g., I like what they've done with McCue. The main reason I am so conscious of the dangerous aspects of the area, for pedestrians, is because I live on one side of 610 and work on the other. Experiencing that makes me more aware of how people who just exited the freeway apparently want to continue driving as fast as they can.
  2. ArchFan
    I kinda like the GRB, but it always seemed to be a rather blatant copy of the earlier & more-famous Centre Pompidou in Paris:
  3. ArchFan
    I live and work in the "Uptown" area, so I also walk about it a lot. It is extremely pedestrian-unfriendly, to the point of being quite dangerous. While I wish it were otherwise, I don't see much likelihood of that aspect changing soon, no matter how many apartment and condo towers go up. The street grid was not laid out with the idea of accommodating pedestrians in mind and I don't see how that could be rectified w/o spending a ridiculous amount of money. I really want the area to continue growing. But, OTOH, every time I walk through the Westheimer/610 intersection, I wonder if I'm going to be hit and sent flying by a frustrated driver in a hurry.
  4. ArchFan
    ... and then there are those who don't know much about downtown, but they do know one thing for sure: they don't like it and wish it would go away.
  5. ArchFan
    I haven't seen any reports of how much capital (if any) JR would invest in this project. Some people here seem to assume they are bankrolling a big part of it, which is a big assumption. If they participated in the project (in whatever way), I expect they could provide a lot of value from their experience designing, developing, and operating HS rail in Japan. If they did that, I could see them also investing capital in some fashion. As much as I'd like to see them pay for it all, it just seems unlikely to me when there are supposedly other routes in the US that are touted as having higher ridership potential. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But ... I'd rather be pleasantly surprised (if it were true) than disappointed (if it were not).
  6. ArchFan
    Some of the buildings on the opposite side (west) of Mid Lane have already been demolished and there appears to be some kind of construction work going on. I know that Crappitto's Restaurant has announced they will move into one of the new buildings there, and perhaps Capone's (not sure if I read that or not). I don't know who the developer is. I suspect its not the one developing the east side of Mid Lane. Does anyone know?
  7. ArchFan
    I don't think this building will be as tall as 5 Post Oak Park (Amegy), but it will be a nice addition. In the rendering posted above by cloud713, I recognize that building as being the one included at the upper right. Which raises the question, if Novare bought both Bldgs. B and D, and the rendering shows the building at the D location, what are the plans for the B location? It is depicted as if it were a field of green grass. Also, IIRC, this development is separated from the ROD by Bldg. F, which (I think) hasn't been sold yet. MikeR can correct me if I'm wrong, but the only other building I've heard of having been sold is E, which is across the street on the west side.
  8. ArchFan
    From that era, my most prominent memory of entering a supermarket -- being a kid -- was the aroma of barbecued rotisserie chicken and also sometimes of hot popcorn too. Seems like they were always placed near the entryways. They smelled great and really put people (well, me at least) in an enthusiastic consumer frame of mind! One time, the popcorn machine had caught fire and the smokey smell was pretty bad ... I think that was at the Lewis & Coker you mentioned at Holcombe & Greenbriar.
  9. ArchFan
    Yes, it's project by the Harris County Flood Control District that replaces an open ditch with buried box culverts. For more, look here: www.hcfcd.org/w129 My guess is that the buried culverts aren't designed to withstand a load as heavy as another rail line. But ... I'm intrigued by the idea of a hike & bike trail connecting Memorial Park with points south.
  10. ArchFan
    I toured The Mercer while it was still under construction, but already topped out. As I recall, the renderings I was given showed the now-cancelled 2nd tower being located to the south, but offset a bit in the E-W direction. If that had materialized, I think the pair of buildings would have been less painful to look at. I was told that the building was a project by a Hong Kong guy, operating out of Dallas. Also, that the construction involved some techniques used in HK, but not common in the US at that time.
  11. ArchFan
    I'm aware that many retention tanks ("ponds") have been installed in outlying areas that are higher up the watershed. However, we have yet to see whether they will be enough to significantly mitigate flooding in the 3 places I mentioned (downtown, Rice U, TMC). My guess is that they will mostly help diminish or at least delay flooding their own local areas. Perhaps, in the aggregate, they will help slow the pile-up of water downstream ... but I'm skeptical that we'll be immune to another Allison.
  12. ArchFan
    Sounds like a name the Valencia group would choose (who have the Hotel Valencia in SA and Hotel Sorella in City Centre). Hope so, that would be very auspicious for Greenstreet and downtown in general.
  13. ArchFan
    Actually, it seems to me like it might be a sensible idea to have sunken roadways serve as emergency detention ponds. At least, if we aren't willing to think ahead and pony up for better flood-mitigation measures. But ... I still wish we would take intelligent measures to keep our business districts, medical facilities, libraries, etc., from taking irrevocable damage every time we have a major flooding event. Having people drown in underground parking garages downtown, Texas Medical Center facilities in the dark, and rare books at Rice U being destroyed is not good for our image nor for our future prosperity.
  14. ArchFan
    Regarding the confusion about the rendering at the top of this page: there is 1 large pic above 3 smaller ones. The upper left of the smaller 3 appears to be The Austonian condos in Austin, also designed by Ziegler Cooper, which was completed a few years ago. So, don't get in a tizzy how they can all be in the "Gables Post Oak" development.
  15. ArchFan
    Thanks, that makes sense. After my last post, I walked by there again and checked out the west lot. It looks a bit smaller than the south lot, but still large enough for a major building + garage.
  16. ArchFan
    Not sure ... what is the exact location of this facility? The rendering makes it look several blocks north of the criminal courts bldg., across the street from the red-brick jail facility on the north side of Buffalo Bayou.
  17. ArchFan
    The Hardy extension slices through the 5th Ward, no? I don't know how many residents there will be displaced by this project, but I'm certainty sympathetic with any older low-income folks who may be displaced from their homes. Aside from this project, my guess is that this area will ultimately "gentrify" in a similar way as the other wards. (I.e., the local low-income residents will fight it, but ultimately the landowners will cash out and the land will be developed in the slipshod way it has been done elsewhere in Houston. E.g., Fourth Ward, Washington Av. corridor.) For now, I'll just say that SV's reference to Piney Point Village jogged my memory of the struggle the CoH (and Harris Co, if memory serves) had to extend San Felipe through Piney Point and Bunker Hill Villages. For many years, San Felipe -- going west from Voss Road -- dead-ended at Buffalo Bayou. There was no major E-W thoroughfare between Westheimer and I-10. Despite being silk-stocking communities (and probably well-connected politically), they lost the battle. Personally, I was sad to see some of the few remaining areas of quiet forest turned into a major commuter zone ... but it was for the good of the greater community.
  18. ArchFan
    I haven't seen the footprint for this new development, but perhaps it will leave enough undeveloped land between it and Dominion for a tower of some sort. A month or so ago, I walked around the site and recall there being a new N-S access road from Guilford Ct. to the garage for the 1st Redstone Building. Presumably the land on the west side is not part of the 2nd Redstone tower ... but I can't remember if it's large enough for a major tower like the one in the rendering. If so, it would block the view of the Dominion high-rise. (Which I would appreciate, actually!)
  19. ArchFan
    The rendering above appears to be looking west-northwest, more or less from where the Sports Authority store is on Post Oak. Going to that location in Google Maps street view, I see The Dominion high-rise apartments (on McCue) between the two Redstone buildings. That's where the curved building in the rendering's background appears. So -- this is just a guess -- perhaps the developers of this project omitted Dominion so as to avoid including a competing property in their marketing images. Despite that, it's fun to speculate on why they would include a non-exisiting building rather than just blue sky in that direction. There is an older 2-story apartment complex on McCue, across from Dominion, that seems to be getting ripe for demo. There's another one farther west, on Sage, but that one seems a little too far south to appear in this POV.
  20. ArchFan
    Yeah, I wonder what those 2 extruding slabs were for. Really bizarre, since they extend out from the masonry wall, not from an openable window or door. So ... resting site for birds? Tempting spot for suicide-prone people?
  21. ArchFan
    hey, i live near there and walk across the RR tracks often. I'm not too proud ... but I do think it would be good for the neighborhood to engineer things so as to be kindler and gentler to pedestrians (i.e., other low-class scumbags like me). I don't mind it so much, I can deal with it ... but, I guess I would like to improve things for our international visitors who have to hike through our obstacle course. Even if its only to help the economy by having them want to return. I know many here don't give a hoot about that, but personally, I would like visitors to have a good experience here.
  22. ArchFan
    Houston needs to decide, taking a long-term view, where it wants to put its (seedy) bus station and services for homeless/battered/etc. people. Back in the day, all of that seemed to be focused where the baseball stadium and convention center are now. The city pushed to redevelop the area and now the center of those activities has moved a bit further south. I agree with the idea that continuing to keep those facilities in the middle of things downtown puts a bit of a damper redeveloping the area to attract more people. In the past, I've heard people argue that the bus and charity facilities need to be close to the nexus for bus lines. But ... bus lines can be adjusted fairly easily and I'm not convinced that they are key factor, anyway. Any thoughts on this?
  23. ArchFan
    I hear what you guys (Subdude and arch_757) are saying. I remember when this building was new and had a Humble gas station next door, that had a kind of Spanish Colonial design, IFIRC. Before long, the stack-of-razor-blades look of the tower started to annoy me and it also seemed to be more of an eyesore because it stood away, to the south, from the cluster of buildings downtown. Despite that, I wanna be careful not to advocate discarding it, like we have done to so many other buildings here ... only to have later Houstonians regret it. So, I'm kinda conflicted about what I'd like done with it. Right now, I'd like a bit of an update, but not with the Kirksey design.
  24. ArchFan
    While I would love to see a new (post 1980s) hotel in this area, I would rather not see that design realized. Apologies to Angola, but that rendering seems to shout "Look at us, we're Luanda!". Actually, the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea looks better!
  25. ArchFan
    I tend to agree. My guess is that many of the people who are willing to spend $3000 + per month to rent a high-rise apartment would be willing to pay some amount of premium for an additional "wow" factor. They could just as easily buy a high-end condo, and they are just as susceptible to appeals to their vanity as anyone else ...
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