arche_757

Good points. I think you could agree that as we've seen in the past - the louder people talk typically the less impressive something is. I hope I'm proven wrong, and I'll be happy if this building is a great addition to the skyline.

Bingo. Sorry for missing the address. But this is an example of a Hines building that is less than inspirational in design quality. And its about what I'm expecting of the proposal for Amegy.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/09/hines-to-break-ground-on-san-felipe-office-tower-in-60-days/ I was under the impression this was a Pickard Chilton design, with Ziegler Cooper serving as architect of record? Is that not the case? Either way - this is not a wonderful building.

That is a 30+ floor building.

I'm more than familiar with Hines' quality of work. He built 90% of Houston's big architectural works, though not everything he's touched is gold. The San Felipe Tower (also by Pickard Chilton) is an example of a design that is not very nice. Nice enough for what it is, but not architectural beauty. I'm expecting much of the same with this tower. Bankers seldom make for grand design advocates. I'm more worried that the build-up some are placing on this building will... make for a great disappointment when we all see this tower. Unique doesn't translate into quality. I guess we will have to adopt a "wait and see" approach and all hope that this thing is as nice of a design as some on here are saying it will be?

I'm doubting this thing will be the "best building on the west loop"! In fact I'm insulted to think that this proposed building would even challenge Transco/Williams for that honor. When I think of this proposed building I imagine the Memorial Hermann Tower at Memorial City Mall. That's what I see. Hope I'm wrong.

I wouldn't list Sixth Street as a tourist destination. Bars and one-off restaurants mostly filled with college age kids or recent grads are not unique tourist destinations! Austin is like Portland - it really doesn't have any tourist destinations - they just do well convincing people that they'll have fun visiting, they have shops and restaurants which are hardly unique (every big city has good places to eat) and a "vibe" or some other hippy-esque status that they give off. Houston could learn from them, since they've achieved so much with so little. I think they're just nice places to live. Which is what I would hope Houston would continue to stive for, rather than some ubiquitous status symbol of "tourist destination." Expanded rail service and continued growth in the central core will ensure that there will be more and more for people who simply enjoy exploring cities.

So only mountains constitute genuine tourist destinations? If that is the case why is El Paso not a tourist destination? Its the safest big city in the US, has mountains nearby and there are tourist attractions within a few hours at most of the city? Seattle, Denver and Portland all caught on early in the urban blight removal and central business district redevelopments that took place in the 1980s-2000s and have reaped those rewards since. There was a time when the ONLY reason you went to Denver was to get to the Rockies. You didn't linger in town. They redeveloped their downtown and now have a lot more tourists. I too love mountains, but I don't find them the only reason to visit a place. There are a lot of towns and cities around the world that do not have mountians or really any attractive geographic features: London, Paris, Bangkok, Toyko, Beijing, Cairo, Amsterdam, Charlestown, New Orleans (which has even worse topography than Houston), Boston... the list goes on and on. You can argue that the Seine, the Thames and other creeks/rivers/waterways around those towns are pretty - but they aren't. Boston is built on a landfil and the actual Boston waterfront is nothing to look at as beautiful. I'll give you that Houston *should* have worked harder to revitalize and protect its Galveston Bay frontage. As it stands we have few public areas along the bay. I still question what makes Austin a tourist town? Word of mouth? And I still ask you: "How long has Austin truly been considered a tourist town?" Here's the answer to that last question: (whispers) "Just a few years, maybe 8 or so at the very most!"

Well, to be fair Austin hasn't always been a tourist destination neither has Denver...or Portland or Seattle. There were times all of those cities were far less attractive than they currently are! To say Houston will never be a tourist destination isn't rational either. Never is forever, right? If so, then how can you say that it'll always be the same? Fact is Houston is far more of a tourist destination than it was just 5-10 years ago. What "Genuine" tourist attractions are there in Austin, Portland, Denver? State Capital Buildings and a bridge over the Columbia River? I mean please explain their genuine attractions.

Yet his ideas were worthwhile to at least investigate. Compared to prior attempts (at least in Europe) of mass housing/high-density, his planned garden city(s) were interesting and forward thinking. The idea that the open space became a haven for gangs is more socioeconomic than architecturally a failure... at least I would tend to think? Unite d'habitation (and his planned city for 3 million) were worthy explorations. Perhaps if Unite d'habitation had been located in a more well healed area of Marseille it would have weathered the years better? Or, like many architectural works it goes through phases: good-not as good-worse-bad-really bad-better-much better ...similar to gentrification of neighborhoods. Chandigarh is interesting - that's for sure - I just prefer Wright, and Saarinen over Mies and Courbu. I should add: any time any architect gets a chance to design a city, or large campus environment the level of control over all the facets and other aspects of what a project and its neighbors may be allows an architect the chance for great design.

I'm not a big fan of his. I recognize his brilliance, I just do not prefer him over the other 3 or so "masters" of modern architecture: Mies Van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn. I think you can actually group him earlier than the later two, solely with Mies and Frank Lloyd Wright; but of those three there is no greater architect (in respect to American architecture) than Frank Lloyd Wright. I actually kind of like the Unite d'habitation in Marseille. I'll also give him his due with the UN Secretariat Building in New York City (though Oscar Niemeyer had a hand in it - and I think his hand weighs heavier in the completed form - as one need only take a gander at Brasilia to see). Of course Villa Savoye is probably his best work - architecturally speaking it was revolutionary - and it is a wonderful built metaphor (which I think it can be).

Most? Most really big cities do have some transit, and a few walkable neighborhoods (believe it or not so does Houston). Not every neighborhood is walkable, or walkable and interesting. In fact, I've been to a city some would say is one of the worlds most pedestrian friendly - Amsterdam - and found it had neighborhoods that were every bit uninteresting. I do take offense at the slight against our museums. While the MFAH is not the worlds greatest art museum, it is a very fine institution. The HMNS is a world class institution! It is. I've been to the Field Museum, to Museums in Germany, France and Holland, to museums of the Smithsonian (which are greatly overrated - particularly for someone who actually knows a little something about science or history). Houston has a lot of problems, it does. No lie. But to say that our museums are dumpy (which is basically what you said) is not only overly harsh, but said ONLY for the purpose of causing people to be angry with you.

I left that one out there for you to mention! Honestly I would have preferred it to nothing, but I think the new 7 floor building going in across from the Juice Box is just fine. While its still not great architecture, I wouldn't mind seeing it over somewhere near Bondsmen's Alley or Convict Hill!

Hey now.... those Palmetto Bugs that frequent parts of town are a state institution in their own right!

Right. Anything mixed-use that got cancelled, shelved, redesigned into a smaller concept. Pretty much anywhere in Houston. I'd like to also nominate the non-move to Spring Woods by Exxon as a potential. If only they had concentrated their $3 billion campus in or near Downtown! Oh well. Cheaper land prevailed, but CoHouston could (possibly could) of persuaded them to build east of Downtown? That's of course debatable.

Geez.... hard to remember which buildings where proposed from pre-2008. Bank of the Southwest (obviously). AIM Corporate HQ for the Greenway Plaza area. Always liked that design. Kinda liked the idea behind the Westin-Houston Bay Area. Living in the Clear Lake/League City area leaves me wishing at least 1 of those big mixed-use highrise included projects took off over on Clear Lake.

I'm simply saying that without Rice we would have a lot less. Rice Alliance is huge (clearly - they fund a lot of things)... Indeed some of the business incubators listed were... small and not of any real consequence, but Austin having more is a shame. I do hope we can continue to see a rise in the number of new business startups here. I'd love to see the Biomedical side really take off. Goodness knows other cities have a firmer grasp on that area than we do - unfortunately.

You think so? I think they put a damper on the area. Who would want to buy a home directly across from a jail? A few people wouldn't mind - clearly - but the majority would rather not. The point being was that the jails themselves are on prime, prime property. They're large, ugly, and not neighbors one would wish to find down the way.

Just found a list of Texas Business Incubators. Austin - 22 Houston - 18 Dallas/FW - 21 If you took away Rice's 4 incubators then we're sorely lacking. Particularly when you consider the number of people and the number of major coprorations that are located here. The big problem however, is that energy doesn't seem to have the desire to 'incubate" businesses the way tech firms do. When I think of the size of Houston + business capital + two major research universities + largest collection of medical facilities in one single place in the world - and I'm left with a sour taste in my mouth that we're way behind what/where we ought to be at this time in this arena. Hopefully we will continue to see additional investment in this area.

Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship is.... well.... kind of what I figured. Not bad mouthing it, its more of a competition between any one and everyone. At least that's the take I got from reading their "about" section on the webpage. If this continues to grow in scope and scale that would be great! I hope it does. I think you and I both agree that we need to be able to keep a lot of these types of companies here in town.

Again, the jail(s) locations REALLY put a damper on the Buffalo Bayou redo. Imagine if those were empty lots! A shame. Truly a shame. We are at the earliest 20 years away from seeing these terds being ground into dust and redeveloped into something worth a damn. See - this is where lack of a cohesive city plan back in 1990something really screwed not 1, but 2 neighborhoods (I don't personally consider the area north of the Bayou to be a part of Downtown). Maybe even three, since eventually these monstrosities will be demo'd and built anew some place else.

Yes, but *how* involved is Rice? Working "closely" with some one or some organization is often a misrepresentation. I mean - if Rice had a goal of driving the Houston tech scene, they could. HTC must have a few professors tied into their organization, but I truly wonder how important it is to the Rice heirarchy to support this more than just a little? What I'd like to see: HTC morphs into what the UH Energy Research Park is becoming. Something truly serving as a catalyst for the area. Yes, we have a lot more energy companies than tech firms, but why not see if Rice (and/or UH too) could push the HTC into a larger role? And while I agree we don't need another building for the HTC (there are two now if memory serves me right), I'd love to see a need for additional buildings nearby that feed off of and with the HTC to grow that sector. And the *new* Medical Center Accelerator is... well... new! How many years ago did we hear about Texas Biomedical Park? I realize a few of those buildings sorta happened south of TMC, but not to the level and size of what we should have given our clout and size in the medical world. Compared to Boston its really sad actually.

I think Swtsig wants to see more. Houston Technology Center is great and has spawned a lot of new companies over the years (many of which LEFT town for greener tech pastures). Keeping the majority of those tech companies would be great. I'd love to see the Houston Endowment (or other philantropic orgs) give some millions to the Houston Tech Center to build another building that focuses on bio-tech/nano-tech and draw Rice into its umbrella. Why not? Perhaps one of these new office buildings would better suit them for expanded growth - this one or the other? Could be the start of something big. Maybe the developers know something we don't? Hopefully so.

And how long will the Saudi's keep it at that level? Forever? A year? Three years? Five years? Doubtful. They have other OPEC members who want to raise the prices! Eventually they'll have to respond to those demands or risk whatever sanctions OPEC can give them. They could even lose their seat at OPEC, which would mean they'd be hard pressed to adjust prices. Besides, the current boom - from the "oil and gas" perspective is already drying up. We've seen a lot less big office projects being announced of late - or haven't you noticed? Like I mentioned before in a previous post, we will start to see more schools, hospitals, residential along with shopping developments crop up now. Very doubtful we will see economic problems similar to what happened during the 1980s, I would think oil prices would need to drop to below $70 a barrel for a LONG time - quite a bit longer than 24 months - to see mass layoffs. I'd say that its 100 times better to be in Houston right now than a Midland or anywhere in North Dakota! We all remember how high prices were in 2006-2008? Well... recession happened and Houston still grew, even added jobs despite the drop in demand and prices. We will be fine, although the alarmists should heed their own advice and run for the hills! Additionally even if the current boom in this town is mostly oil/gas related its brought enough new blood and ideas into town that the economy will eventually diversify more. Perhaps that's overly optimistic? I'd wager people from other places who may lose a job over lower prices might invest their $$$$$$ that they've been over paid by oil companies will do something else. Some will leave, some will start new jobs/companies etc. here in town with others like themselves.

Yeah. Memorial Hermann doesn't really spend a ton of money on architectural quality.