Geoff8201

I’m surprised and also not surprised this popped up. Through the 90s and prior, before they built the Exxon Training Center, this corner was a Full Service Gas Station with Service Center and Convenience Store.

The Exxon Gas Station had Underground Storage Tanks that leaked. Next door it was apparent because the storm water coming into the storm sewer sump at the second sub basement, would smell like gas. A system was installed to filter this out and the water was directed to the sanitation sewer.

This system was removed several years ago, but you could still smell the gas odor. Apparently it was under the threshold of being a hazard after the last inspection by Environmental Services. After Harvey, there was so much water that almost all the lingering smells were washed away and seems like this wasn’t going to be an issue anymore, presuming this is what was found.

The next  issue I think they may encounter is an underground spring below the property. We get groundwater coming in non-stop into our sump. It can be 6 months of drought and the water still continues. Being that it picked up the gasoline concentration it is theory that it runs under the former Exxon property before us. It will be interesting to see if underground water causes issues when they dig out the foundation, and if the stream coming in our sump diminishes after construction.

Kudos to them for the voluntary clean up of what remains. 

The fields and track are taking shape

On 4/21/2020 at 10:06 AM, astrohip said:

I see, makes sense.

 

Having said that, I think there are ways to still have a chiller, and put heat pumps in each unit. Much more cost-effective than individual compressors, and the minimal cost of a chiller is spread over the units. But maybe there aren't enough units for this to make a difference.

 

Again, this comment is by someone who knows less than nothing about multi-family A/C. 🤐

 

If people are moving in, would love to hear from someone about how it turned out.

If the building had a chiller system they would have to have a staff to operate and maintain such system. I am a stationary engineer and this is what I do. Some buildings meter their chilled water and this is ideal for billing for cooling and paying for a plant and operators, chiller mechanics etc. also handy for identifying leaks that can affect the entire system.

Heat pumps are just reversible split systems where you can swap the refrigerant flow and make the inside coil the condenser (hot) and the outdoor coil the evaporator (cold). Each unit would still have its own compressor and electrical expenses. This is an ideal system for Houston, however when the outdoor temp goes lower than 40 or so a supplement Boiler has to be added. In cases like 2727 Kirby and the River Oaks, both coils are inside and a water condenser system is used with a cooling tower outside to make it work building wide without a hundred plus outdoor coils.

Personally I think residents will start demanding a chilled water central system after they start racking up repair costs for heat pumps but we will see what happens many years from now.

I’m more surprised one plant was not built for the Hanover building and they didn’t just sell chilled water to the Giorgetti. Not sure what system they use but if I had to guess it would be a heat pump with a cooling tower as well. 🤔 

On 2/19/2020 at 8:39 PM, st6 said:

Current freshman at Lamar, based on what I’ve heard from teachers and other staff, the older buildings were becoming really rundown and infestated with rats and things of that nature. Was it like this back when you went here? I know the East & West buildings were relatively new at that point (built in the late 1980s if I’m not mistaken).

I don’t remember it being anything like that. The buildings at times felt their age (20, 30 years) with the Natatorium being the newest, but not run down. The school was in pretty decent shape at the turn of the millennium, but I was just a student then, with no idea what was going on behind the scenes, or the eye for details that I have now. Certainly weren't any rats running around the halls. I remember someone did do a bad senior prank and lured a bunch of pigeons into the North building either in 2000 or 01. The blocked North building door from the courtyard with dozens of Christmas trees in 1999 was way better.

Today the East building is almost gone. Guess the cafeteria canopy will get pulled down last. They are adding drainage to the new open space and the baseball field, as well as pouring concrete in some dividing wall off the north building.

So the RO is still in design phase? Thought designs were just being finalized? Makes sense I guess as to why the groundbreaking hasn’t begun. The grass was starting to get a little tall, but yesterday groundskeepers were there with riding mowers keeping it from being an eyesore.

Mid 2020 was the scoop I heard before, but that’s 7 month old information. It is just days from March so seems like a more realistic time frame now. Will see.

Almost time for the outside cafeteria awning to come down.

Man, I went here starting in the fall of 1997 and graduated 2001 and was very active in the Drafting Department when Mr. Sheppard taught it. That classroom will soon fall. Lot of memories.

As promised in my previous post.....

They just started tearing into the old East building today. It’ll be the last to come down.  I’ll post pics tomorrow.

16 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

So if you really want to get technical it is not considered Greenway Plaza or River Oaks (or Upper Kirby). It is not within the boundaries of any of those. It is near all of them so will likely be loosely (and technically incorrectly) referred to as being part of all three of those from time to time.

Yes, you are correct, but that’s why I used the term *considered*, and used it loosely. Not by any city planning entity, but just by people whom may or may not occupy the area. Makes this area complicated to classify, (hence our posts on the subject) but like you said they will probably be referred to by all three.

Upper Kirby does have a defined boundary you can physically see in the signage, Greenway and River Oaks not so much (at least none I have ever noticed). This is a gray area, where if you walk one block north, you’re in River Oaks, one block south, Greenway, and just cross the street east, boom you’re in UK.

I’ve been in this area a long time and have heard places not in the boundaries use “A River Oaks Address” and the always popular hyphenated “River Oaks - Greenway“. Upper Kirby is the newest and physically the closest but still catching on. Upper Kirby Plans to redo West Alabama from Buffalo Speedway on eastward and make the area more walkable, which will be some benefit to the RO.

Speaking of which, All one has to do is look at the project name to know which neighborhood they plan to say they are in. I don’t foresee that changing.

If you really want to get technical, it is *considered* Greenway and River Oaks, but those are just lose terms since they really aren’t in either one proper. It’s not Upper Kirby because a representative with UK giving a talk was clear this project was outside their vision for UK. The border runs on the west edge of Buffalo speedway. As soon as you walk off of Buffalo onto the sidewalk by the RO site  you just left Upper Kirby.

Added a photo just because these man made borders are interesting.... UK red sign on traffic lights, regular COH green sign on sidewalk intersection (far left in photo)

On an unrelated note, saw a yellow crane (also in photo) getting set up in that direction and got excited. But it was on a small property just west of the RO site. Need to look up what that is. Lots going up in this area.

On 11/26/2019 at 1:26 PM, Toopicky said:

 

My son-in-law, who teaches at Lamar, said the kids are already tearing the new place up.  It was nice while it lasted ....

Are they putting that much wear and tear on the new building or is it straight up vandalism??

This past week they tore down the old gym and as of today the West Building is starting to come down.

I don't know why this is even up for debate, the height of a building is from the ground level to the highest structural point (i.e. the roof). Now if you're talking about total levels within a building, that is a different story since all levels, mechanical and underground must be counted in the total number of floors for a variety of reasons.

It looks like this is almost ready to get topped out. All the actual occupiable floors are done. This level they're working on now will probably be a mechanical area? No question the last bit of it where rebar cages are sticking up will be the very top and housing for the elevator equipment.

North crane is slowly coming down today... so I suppose they will finish the last 5 floors with just one?

so that deep blue color isnt just a protective laminent(sp?) or something covering the glass? in the renderings the glass looks a much lighter shade of blue.

I drove by the other day, and you are right, it is a protective covering. I do hope the glass with retain most of that blue tone for the reasons I stated above. I've seen new buildings, both residential and in the med center with this deep blue look and I hope to see more of them.

I love this deep blue color of the glass, especially when mixed with the green of the finish landscaping when all is said and done. Beautiful.

On a side note, does anyone know the floor to ceiling height of this building? Both deck to deck and finished floor to finished ceiling?