Urbannizer

Update, taken today. More glass has been added and the building is on the 17th floor.

As you can see, the tower is making its mark on the skyline.

johnme

Just being bored before I go to work lol...

...and this was posted a while back on SSP.

Lighter...

Need a Cigar? No Problem.

I've known about this concept for some time...

Why did'nt you say anything about this before!?! C'mon this is HAIF! lol.

I'm sure the Mainlanders would greatly appreciate that.

Why would you say such a thing? These people are Galvestonians, products of the Galveston school system, and the GHA. Texas City and West Texas City/La Marque have been making their own strides in building a better community as of late.

Unfortunaetly J.A.S.O.N, I agree with VicMan but, I would put Public Housing more in La Marque than Texas City. I see the strides in building a better communtiy in Texas City, but not in La Marque.

Quote

Europa features a variety of new homes, upscale midrise

condominiums and town homes available at affordable

prices surrounded by pristine lakes with a European-style village

center.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/22.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/23.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/25.jpg

http://www.enzoinv.com/brochure/brochure.htm (pg. 20-23)

Edit: TMC BioPort:

Mansilon and Tunon proposal (tower boxed in r-e-d).

Herreros Arquitecos MasterPlan proposal

There both hideous, but I like the first design better. (first link) It comes with a tower (look closely).

From yesterday, glass is now being installed on MainPlace.

From Complex01 on SSP

Planning the 'Ike Dike' Defense

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124407051124382899.html

GALVESTON, Texas -- As the Gulf Coast braces for hurricane season, Houston-area leaders are pushing a plan to build a wall stretching some 60 miles along the coast, hoping to end the annual storm threat once and for all.

Dubbed the "Ike Dike" after the hurricane that ravaged the Houston area in September, the 17-foot-high wall would straddle the narrow entrance to Galveston Bay with 1,000-foot-long floodgates, allowing access to the city's port in good weather, but swinging shut when a storm approached to block floodwaters. Most damage from hurricanes is usually caused by floodwaters.

The total cost, according to project backers, would be $2 billion to $4 billion, although those numbers would almost certainly rise, experts say.

The idea is still in the conceptual stage and has plenty of detractors worried about cost, environmental impacts and whether it would really work. But the Ike Dike has gained significant traction in recent months.

A state commission set up by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to study disaster preparedness after Hurricane Ike supports moving ahead, and a coalition of elected officials is promoting it. The Houston business community, including powerful interests such as the chemical and shipping industries, has also signed on.

"This actually has more political legs than I ever dreamed it would have," said Bill King, a member of Gov. Perry's hurricane commission and the former mayor of the Galveston Bay city of Kemah.

Dike supporters argue that the project has implications far beyond Texas. The area is home to three of the country's 10 largest oil refineries, 40% of its chemical manufacturing capacity and the country's second largest seaport, handling some 600,000 tons of cargo a day.

"It's a national-security issue," said Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, a local business group.

Supporters hope that emphasizing the national importance of the project will help win federal funding. Robert Eckels, the chairman of the governor's commission, said most of the money would likely come from the Army Corps of Engineers, which would have to approve the project.

Supporters also are looking at building the dike along existing seaside roads, rather than directly on the coast, which might allow them to tap federal highway dollars. Even if funding is secured, Mr. Eckels said it would be more than a decade before the dike is completed.

Bill Merrell, the Texas A&M University at Galveston professor who first proposed the Ike Dike, said he based the structure on existing designs, including swinging floodgates built in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in the 1990s. London has had closeable floodgates on the Thames since 1982, and the Russian city of St. Petersburg is nearing completion of its own massive gates.

"All the technology's proven. We're not asking for a miracle," Mr. Merrell said.

Dike supporters find inspiration in past disasters. After an unnamed 1900 hurricane nearly wiped Galveston off the map, island residents built a 15-plus-foot seawall along the island's east end, then raised the island itself by as much as 17 feet, jacking up more than 2,000 buildings and filling in underneath them with sand.

Compared with that project, Mr. Merrell said, the Ike Dike looks trivial -- at least from an engineering standpoint. But the perception that the project is too difficult could be hard to overcome. Mr. King, the former Kemah mayor, said he initially thought the idea was too far-fetched. But he said the simplicity of Mr. Merrell's plan, combined with the cost of leaving the coast unprotected, won him over.

"The elegance and the appeal of something like the Ike Dike is, with one swath, all the problems are solved," Mr. King said.

Skeptics already are lining up. Beachfront property owners worry the dike could block their ocean views. Some environmentalists fear the dike could disturb the fragile ecology of Galveston Bay. Communities at the end of the proposed dike worry they will get more flooding if the wall diverts water their way. And some worry the attention focused on the dike could hurt less-ambitious efforts.

"It's a distraction from more immediate, more affordable, more realistic things that could be done to make people safer quicker," said Mary Kelly, a vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the governor's commission.

Gordon Wells, a University of Texas researcher who advises state officials on hurricane planning, warns the Ike Dike could actually make flooding worse in Galveston in certain scenarios, trapping water behind the wall.

Cool

Here's a photo I took this evening:

Hey Jax, it looks as if they already added parts of the spires.

...and the rendering. Im not sure if its 2 or 3 spires.

The lighting is back on.

Convenient Store robbers!

Houston, we have yet another problem....!

This Webcam: http://oxblue.com/pro/open/mccarthy/andersoncancercenter I circled it in red for ya.

Thats a better view of the building! I wonder if the lighting will stay, and if it will change colors like the Memorial Hermann Building.

EDIT: Looking at the Webcam I posted, the lighting started coming on at night since May 28th and Blue seems to be the only color.

Renderings of the interior....

...and I see the top of the building has blue lighting. Im not in Houston or Galveston, but I can see it from the webcam.

TIAA-CREF is delaying plans to develop a 540,000 square foot tower on their Four Oaks Place campus. Thus far, TIAA has been unable to secure a tenant and will be unable to develop a building on a speculative basis.

http://www.bayareahouston.org/DATA/Home/Re...am%20Realty.PDF

More about The Dome documentary.

More info

FORMAL PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO COUNTY OFFICIALS

Astrodome Studios partners met with representatives of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation (HCSCC) Thursday, May 7th, to present their official response to the County

www.thedomemovie.com

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...cal&id=6834828

Studio plans Astrodome documentary Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | 3:47 PM HOUSTON

(KTRK) -- The company that wants to use the Astrodome as a movie studio has announced their first film project.

Astrodome Studios Productions, a division of Astrodome Studios, the proposed motion picture production facility for the re-use of the Houston Astrodome, has partnered with documentarians Chip Rives and David Karabinas to produce the company's first project, The Dome, a history of the legendary Eighth Wonder of the World itself. A trailer of the work, featuring President George H.W. Bush, Dan Pastorini, Bum Phillips, Nolan Ryan, Dene Hofheinz Anton and former mayor Fred Hofheinz, will debut Thursday evening, May 28, 6:30 PM, at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 5216 Montrose. The filmmakers will be in attendance.

Astrodome Studios development partner J.L. Trahan was extremely supportive of the company's choice for their first film saying, "When astrodome studios founders Elise Hendrix and Cynthia Neely introduced me to The Dome movie creators, Chip Rives and David Karabinas, I couldn't have been more pleased. Like everyone that sees their trailer, I was moved emotionally and knew we would all work well together. It's a perfect match of like-minded teams working together to not only tell an important story, but also to bring about the best outcome for Harris County taxpayers and their beloved Astrodome."

Rives and Karabinas have won more than 20 Emmy Awards for their documentaries about many of sport's most amazing athletes. Both native Houstonians, currently residing in Austin, Rives and Karabinas have a profound admiration for the building that changed the worlds of both architecture and sports forever. In an age of monolithic retractable roofs, corporate luxury boxes, and multi-story high-definition "Godzilla-tron" screens, it's easy to forget where it all began. The producers and Astrodome Studios Productions will refresh those memories in grand style with "The Dome." To view the trailer on-line visit www.thedomemovie.com.

The May 28 screening of the trailer at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is part of an exhibition featuring two rarely seen documentaries about the Astrodome. Artist/curator Andrea Grover will present Geoff Winningham's 1975 film "The Pleasures of this Stately Dome" and the 1974 documentary "The Lord of the Universe," which chronicles the guru Maharaj Ji's appearance at the Dome and the much-hyped event, Millennium '73.

Astrodome Studios is a concept to transform the Houston Astrodome into a state-of-the-art film/video/sound production facility that would establish a center of commerce for the creation of moving image products in Texas. The project has been officially presented to Harris County officials and is under review.

Currently, Texas does not have a mega-sized soundstage facility. New legislation was recently passed that will be driving more production business to the state. If approved, the Dome's famous ball field would become the world's largest soundstage, an indoor "back lot," vast enough to build sets of whole towns unaffected by weather or time of day or night. Former concourse areas would be used for smaller soundstages, production offices, and offer tenant space to companies with industry-related services and equipment. Divisions of Astrodome Studios include Astrodome Studios Productions and museums for the histories of the Texas film industry and the Astrodome.

From the rumor mill...

They have apparently had success getting some retail committments and are very excited about having signed up two significant restaurant partners. From what I hear they will be sizable spaces and are well known, local, and respected names that have been in the biz in this town a long time. And no, not Tillman Fertitta, and not chains.

The hope is for groundbreaking this fall, completion of some sort or another in the fall of 2012.

If I had to tell you how good my source was, I'd say she's connected, knows what she is talking about and has no reason to make this up. Of course this doesn't mean these dates and tenants are set in stone. Still, it's encouraging.

Encouraging indeed, Thanks for the info. Hope your source is reliable as you say it is in your last paragraph.

New Renderings of the Texas Childrens Maternity Center

There's one in Pearland, too. I thought I posted pictures here, but I can't find them.

Here's some pics of The Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, by Sabotai.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabotai

Is that ground retail I see or, what?

Don't know, im taking a guess and saying no. Does anyone out there knows the status of 2121 Mid Lane as of now?

Collection at Greenway

3333 Weslayan

Inside the 610 Loop, surrounded by the lovely River Oaks neighborhood, the dynamic Greenway Plaza office district and the happening Highland Village retail center, Collection at Greenway is truly at the center of it all. Near a future light rail stop, the already-convenient location will also provide a quick commute to the Central Business District and the Texas Medical Center.

Each residence will feature a gourmet kitchen, granite countertops and premium fixtures. Residences and amenities, including resort-style pools, a pool cabana game room, sports lounge, social lounge, two fitness spas and an independently-operated caf

I don't know if theres another thread out there somewhere on HAIF, but here are renderings of 2121 Mid Lane...

Contemporary exteriors, extravagant interiors. The 329 apartment homes at 2121 Mid Lane will feature gourmet kitchens, granite countertops, spacious walk-in closets, full-size washers and dryers and premium fixtures.

The four-story community will top one story of parking. Beyond the convenience of on-site parking and a location near the Galleria business and retail district, 2121 Mid Lane will provide residents exceptional amenities, including a clubhouse with internet caf