lockmat

Thanks Coaster! I always love me some good EarthQuest news!

The resort looks sweet. Also, I wonder if the Earth Walk is supposed to be like CityWalk?

Of course, our local economists could have already told us this was true, but I found it interesting none the less.

...using sustainable materials may not actually be greener overall. (Transporting from South America or Asia, common providers of renewable materials, can use more fuel than the building will in years.)

http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=7777

It seems Jeddah is about the same size of Houston.

What do yall think will be the tallest building in 25, 50 years? Do engineers have a limit?

I'm actually pretty disapoointed that this development is not going through. And to think what's going in that empty space instead, A new church??

No disrespect to religion but Houston's already too bible ridden. It's not the intriguing awe-inspiring development this Waterlights district would have been.

And to the people who thought Pearland of 20 years ago was better than today? Care to share your reasons? Pearland still seems to be an exciting new area off 288.

Who reported that a church was going in?

I know I should just wait for it to top out, but it's amazing how from certain angles, this building just doesn't look as tall as it actually is.

The second picture was a great view.

Found these on Flickr

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4436873524/

http://www.flickr.co...995453/sizes/l/

What tickles me is how they talk about the "high speed" elevators. C'mon now, it's not even that high!

The Hybrid bit in the newsletter caught my eye as well and called it BS marketing.

I do wonder if 3 parking spots per 1000sq ft is standard, though.

It may not be a tall building, but my guess is that high speed is defined more by the elevators and the system itself rather than the height of the building. Hey, I'm sure people always want elevators that are faster than slower. Just think about it when you're in a slow one at a hotel or something.

Wow, chase tower is...tall.

Also, you know Houston's gotta a decently tall skyline when almost 50 stories doesn't seem tall enough.

Today:

is someone gonna save this before/if they take it down?

not that it matters, but why was the light red for the right lane that was next to the train?

bigger video: http://www.chron.com/disp/video.mpl/media/20870915?autoplay

I feel sorry for the bus driver...seems weird why she did not notice the light was red. Guess she had her mind on other things.

Something will get built there eventually, but this project is dead.

is that an "educated" guess or do you have actual knowledge of this from stakeholder sources?

Indian Nation? Interesting that they'd be asking them. Hopefully the guvment gave them a big stimulus to spend on this ;P

"We've looked at a lot of Texas-centric and Houston-centric investors," he said. "We have a deep dialog with the Indian Nation and have been traveling through Europe as well."

Got this from my RECON email...

AUSTIN (Texas Labor Market Review) – Because of population growth, names for two Texas Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) have changed.

The Austin–Round Rock MSA is now the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos MSA. The San Antonio MSA is now the San Antonio–New Braunfels MSA.

Geographic composition for both areas will remain unchanged.

it's halfway there...man, this is gonna be a short building.

Skyscrapers are tending to have bigger floor plates these days, right? So I was wondering if there was a list somewhere that ranked the buildings by their square footage. I wonder if there are some that actually look much shorter but in reality are the same or even bigger than their taller counterparts, just because of their wider footprint.

Anyone know of one?

This Dallas vs Houston stuff is ridiculous...

Sadly, the whole point was to figure out how he was describing Houston. But to do that, I need a reference point, and had no idea how Dallas and New York were similar. Ah well, I should known better.

Nick Massad Jr. ... says downtown (especially near the George R. Brown) is seriously under-roomed considering it has three markets––sports, conventions, and corporate travel. (Most hotels have two.) He says we have 4800 rooms downtown; compare to Austin (5700), San Antonio (12k) or even the Galleria (8k). The hotel will be 19 stories, 262 suites, 80 underground parking spaces, a street-level restaurant, and 6k SF of meeting space. Nick says it took1.5 years to plan and arrange financing, and it’s only happening because of the city’s occupancy tax rebate.

...every inch of the 17k SF lot is being built, which made building the two stories below grade a challenge.

Nick wants to build another hotel with some retail in the area, but it would be at least three years from now.

http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=7355

Anyone know when we'll start to see numbers come in?

It appears there is a fly over coming for Research Forest too. Did I read that correctly?

Where, in the article I posted? I could not find anything about research forest.

What is PG?

parental guidance

It was done in the name of modernization. Several downtown buildings were re-cladded at about the same time.

so sad. i am normally more lenient on things like this, but the before and after are just so so sad. in the name of modernization, i wish they just would have the left the old one as is and built their modification, brand new.

Topic moved to the Metroplex topic area.

I guess that's ok to move it, but I really wanted to talk about the architectural differences.

Niche's argument is convincing to me. But I still feel like Pei's comment does not say much at all about Houston. I know it's not like Dallas or NYC, but not being like them could be a million other things. I guess the fact that in Dallas he was designing for the people not the place, implies that buildings in Houston are designed for the opposite; the place, not the people. But I'm not sure I know enough architect talk to be able to see or explain the difference.

these are need so bad. weird how they're gonna be tolled during peak hours though; hope it's not much. maybe .50?

Selected quotes...

The project includes two flyovers to ease congestion at Texas 242 and Interstate 45, with future plans to add a third, Chance said.

The flyovers, which will collect tolls during peak hours, will provide an alternative to motorists at the intersection. The intersection will continue to offer ground level turning options to motorists at no cost.

One flyover will go from the northbound lanes on Interstate 45 to Texas 242 westbound. It is expected to begin about 1,500 feet from the intersection and exit before Lone Star College. It will bypass two lights on Texas 242, Chance said.

The second flyover will go from 242 westbound to I-45 southbound. The flyover will begin near St. Luke’s Way and exit onto the interstate about 1,500 feet south of the intersection.

A third ramp is in the planning stages, but is not included in the current project. It would begin on Interstate 45 northbound and exit to Texas 242 eastbound, Chance said.

The flyovers are the fifth and final road projects funded through the state's "pass-through toll" program, where the county pays for the cost of the roads upfront and is then reimbursed by the state based on the number of vehicles using the road.

Motorists will be charged a premium fee to use the flyovers during peak hours, while minimal or free use expected during off-peak hours.

http://www.ultimatewoodlands.com/2010/02/work-starts-texas-242-flyovers

But really, I'm trying to figure out Pei's response in his comparison of New York/Dallas to Houston. Can yall figure it out? Cuz honestly, I can't figure out how Dallas is like NYC.

A clutch of huge towers and the weirdly Baroque Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center (1989) are among the structures designed by Pei that caused Rem Koolhaas to refer to Dallas as the “epicentre of the generic”. Pei’s defence is typically cool: “In Dallas I was designing for the people, not the place. Many of them had come from New York. It’s not like Houston, an oil city, it’s more like the East Coast. Dallas is really no different from New York.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f75a20c4-2261-11df-a93d-00144feab49a.html

This just happened the other day (Downtown Developer Walking Tour by ULI) and I saw this picture. You can see plans for another convention hotel. (Also, this blog seems like a nice little news source)

http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=7251