tigereye

Has the reconfiguration of ADLA already started? Median's already being dug up, cones out, and lane barricades on site (currently shrink wrapped)

311 units.

Sounds like same size as the old Mill Creek plans. Any idea on unit sq footage? More importantly, any idea on street level retail facing Dowling & BBVACS?

Y'all won't have to wait long ...sidewalks OPEN on Rusk.

Random person next to wings, gives an idea of how low they are.

Extreme close up of Wings.

Not necessarily.

The construction worker standing under the wings with a hardhat on, im fairly certain he is a Mexican immigrant, which would put him in the 4'6"-4'11" range, so yes, those wings are still very low.

I'm 5' 8" and in my previous picture up close, I was eye level with it. The Wings are definitely low and oddly placed. It's a hazard, an accident waiting to happen once they open the sidewalks...

In the last 2 years, 4 blocks in the Garden District (or Parking District) are being developed. Skyhouse, Block 334, Holiday Inn and now Skyhouse 2 ...all next to each other. And 800 Bell is next to be redeveloped. A few other residential projects are planers as well. SoDo area has momentum. Will be interesting to see what happens to the old Days Inn now and the Amegy building when they vacate for the Galleria area.

Interesting...so is the plaza at least on the corner of Main?

Main at Dallas view on left. Lamar at Dallas on right.

EDIT: site plan

Is the GFR located in the plaza or on the Main Street side?

Main St side with entrance facing Main @ Dallas.

From Travis @ Dallas. Gives you an idea of how the orientation & plaza break up the Travis St Canyon Effect, as previously discussed.

Pic from 1K Main. When I walked over to JW Marriott, the building was striped down all the way to street level already.

The view looking down from 1K Main

More pics:

Porte Cochére

Up close of the Wings

U

Restaurant kitchen viewable through windows on Rusk side.

larry, may you PLEASE acquire some current pics of this place.  the outside porte cochere, front and side.  i'm out of town, and would love to see some current pics.  thanks, as always.

Updated pics.

So, 9.5 years after the original post, it seems like there may be some activity?

Whoot!

I don't know about this. Urbannizer is amongst the most reliable & highly regarded sources on this board but that link has some outdated information, coupled with an old rendering from the old Amarican Apparel renovation that didn't happen. (No offense, Urbannizer, I hope you're right on this too)

I hope some big retailer makes this design happen. Not just 1 floor, the whole building. Do the edifice justice. We lost Macy's but we could still regain that throwback Downtown Department store Macy's was (with a better design) if Sakowitz is done right. If a Dallas St Shopping District is to happen, it's starts with Sakowitz.

Is that the rendering? I thought that one got canceled ?

It is the cancelled Mill Creek plan. I just posted to show the land involved. JLB Partners bought the same site from Mill Creek back in January. Judging from their portfolio, I think JLB will deliver us a nicer looking project than Mill Creek's Eado Station plan.

It looks like this development will take up 2 blocks possibly? They just moved 2 construction trailers up next to the old Tool Mart building on the block north of the recently cleared block (Tool Mart moved so the building is vacant)

IMG_4455.jpeg

It's always been 2 blocks. JLB is just taking over for Mill Creek. Tool Mart was on the Texas side of the 2-block site.

I'm confused as to where these shops and box retailers will go. Will they replace the empty lots? Highly unlikely right? Here is a pic of Dallas street from main to DG, help me understand folks...

They're all going next to the 102-story W Hotel...

Bloomingdale's Main Street (Main at Dallas) is planned as one of the anchors for Mayor Parker's proposed Dallas Street Retail Corridor Project. A smaller relocated Macy's will also go up along Dallas Street, as well as a third big box anchor. All three, plus additional shops, will line Dallas Street from Main to Discovery Green. An announcement will be made after Hotel Alessandra breaks ground.

Yeah ...a Bloomingdales next to that ghetto-ass convenience store, where bums congregate and piss/throw up on the sidewalk? Even as huge proponent of Downtown revitalization, I'll believe it when I see it. I work next door at 1000 Main and that is one stretch of block I absolutely hate to walk. You can literally smell the piss inbetween the corner store and the Sakowitz garage. The smell is so bad, I'd rather walk in the Southbound lane of Main if I have to go to Pavilions.

http://youtu.be/LPYGSa2mHFY

However, there'll be 8000 sq ft of retail space at 1111 Travis so I can see a smaller Macy's there.

And exactly what indications are those? Provide some and that could be something to discuss, but I just don't see that happening. In fact a massive climate controlled dome like that is actually going backwards in terms of thinking...not forward. It would make the dome incredibly wasteful in terms of energy. Hell even the solar panels that Tigereye is pushing for wouldn't even matter at that point. If this was one of those theme park/ hotel proposals then I would say you would be right, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I've always thought a hotel should've been built along the outer walls of the Dome in addition to either the failed Dome Events Center plan or Ed Emmett's Park Dome plan. The county's own master plan envisions a hotel on the NRG Center building that would like be used to lure events. A Dome with a hotel on the walls and flexible park/convention space inside could suite all parties involved. The Texans get more hotel rooms & amenities on site it could use for future Super Bowl bids or hosting NFL Owners meetings or even Draft Combines/other NFL related events. The Rodeo & county both get an on site hotel and flexible space it could use for the rodeo/carnival/cook off and OTC. Top this off with a solar panel Dome roof and a rain recyclable water plumbing system to reduce or negate operating costs and maybe this idea works.

As for financing the renovation/hotel portion of the Dome - pull a page from Houston First's playbook with Marriott Marquis: Solicit developers to finance & construct a Dome Convention Center & Stadium Hotel. If marketed in combination with Emmett's Dome Park plan, a Dome hotel could sell itself to developers.

Just an Update: my idea I previously posted has now been officially submitted and has been reviewed by the VP of Channel Marketing. Next step will now to be reviewed by a panel of a solar engineers who sit on our Ideas Forum Board in September.

I also amended the solar panel idea to include a plumbing system based of recycled rain water that flows down the curvature of the Dome's roof.

Will keep all posted as the process moves forth.

BEST. IDEA. EVER. You are rockin' my socks tigereye. That works on so many levels, if it can be engineered. I wonder if the weight of the clear solar panels would be an issue?

Thanks. I have gotten response back and will be forwarded to the proper departments to explore the feasibility of this idea.

As for weight, I'm unsure on this honestly as an installation of these panels on such a massive scale on this roof could present an issue.

This is the NRG Solar Ring panels I speak of at MetLife Stadium. And yes, I'd love to see the accompanying LED light system as part of a solar Astrodome roof. Would be quite a light show overhead for any blimps covering events at NRG Park.

I'm in favor of Judge Emmett's idea and am glad someone in this city is trying to save this city's greatest landmark.

And so, as an NRG Employee, I decided to do something in the effort to save the Dome. My email to Elizabeth Killinger. Will send an edited version to Ed Emmett as well.

Greetings.

I am a proud employee of NRG and also proud Houstonian that would like to propose an idea that could possibly benefit both the city of Houston and NRG Energy. It involves NRG Park and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett's latest proposal, unveiled today, to save the beloved Astrodome by renovating it into an indoor park that could benefit its citizens.

As you may know, when the Astrodome was first opened, its ceiling panels were originally of clear glass to support the growth of natural grass for a baseball field. However, with the glare of sunlight that blinded baseball outfielders during day games, those panels had to be painted, reducing sunlight and effectively killing the natural grass playing surface in the process. With Judge Emmett's new idea to create a city park inside the Dome, natural grass for a such a park indoors would call for the replacement of the Astrodome's current ceiling panels with clear panels that would allow sunlight in to sustain natural grass. And this sparks my idea.

At MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, NRG Energy installed the innovative NRG Solar Ring, a ring of clear solar panels mounted atop the stadium used to generate electricity that would help reduce the stadium's operating costs. And this got me thinking ...what if the Dome's ceiling panels were also replaced with these same clear solar panels? The effect could be massive and benefit all parties involved.

For the Astrodome and Judge Emmett's idea, the amount electricity generated from an Astrodome roof filled with clear solar panels may potentially produce enough electricity to transform a renovated Astrodome into a self-sustaining facility-turned indoor city park without costing taxpayers for electrical operating costs.

For NRG Energy and NRG Renew, a solar installation of this size and magnitude of could serve as an exhibit to showcase and promote solar energy use and products in this area and throughout the US. Even further, the goodwill created by such a gesture would be everlasting, possibly preserving the greatest landmark in this city's history for future generations of Houstonians.

In closing, imagine the World's First Domed Stadium, being recycled into a public park with possibly the world's largest solar installation. For NRG Park and the Astrodome, nothing seems more fitting.

Thank you for your time.

Will they be adding the outside cafe stuff along Dallas when they redo the street?

In my opinion, it's unlikely. The only opportunities they have for sidewalk seating currently are McCormick & Schmick's & Guadalajara. McS added its sidewalk seating on the interior cutout portion and Guadalajara's sidewalk is next to HOB's loading dock, not a desirable location for sidewalk seating.

The only way I see sidewalk cafe seating happening on Dallas St is with either III Forks or if new cafe/restaurant space is on the ground floor of Hotel Alessandra.

Is it just me or, SO FAR, are the changes to Pavilion Street, decidedly underwhelming?

The renderings that hit the press a year or so ago announcing Green Street seemed to hold a lot of promise. SO FAR there are new paver stones and a couple of humps. To me, Green Pavilion has a long way to go before it even approaches it's own PR launch hype. Perhaps the hotel will help do this. But, would the space taken by the hotel not be a perfect spot for a two story H&M or Target or Whole foods?

Pavilion Street has their "lawn" for concerts, I guess. It struck me as an odd idea when I first read about it and it strikes me as an even more odd idea now that I have seen it. There have already been concerts there. Who has gone? Feedback?

I am pondering this: what will Green Pavilion Street feel like in 2 years? There will be a hotel, a few restaurants, two stores, a bowling alley, HOB, a "lawn", and a few offices. Quite the hodgepodge?

Maybe the hotel will bring it all together. Smarter minds than me have already decided it will. But, for now, I remain underwhelmed and a tad confused by the final vison.

As someone who's worked in the area since 2010, I'm not underwhelmed at all. The recent renovations add a great contemporary look compared how bland the complex used to look before. This is how this complex should've looked in the beginning. And the only detail I can recall missing from the renovation renderings are the LED screens on the San Jacinto facade by CSN Houston.

My only gripe the Dallas St side not adding more street presence, although Hotel Alessandra may add that street presence in a big way on its own. The other big question marks are the old Scott Gertners Skybar spot and the Books-A-Million spot.

Article on the GRB renovation. These renderings look updated...

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/36-pt-headline-goes-here-and-hereyThinking-big-5692473.php?cmpid=twitter-premium&t=209f5922f9