The Great Hizzy!

Well, that's good to know because I was starting to feel the same way. That place has been under construction for ages, it seems.

why not in downtown? what do you mean?

You see, there's a philosophy by some that virtually any and every highrise tower, be it residential or commercial, should be built in the "center" of the city. In Houston, this causes quite a bit of frustration for people who adhere to this philosophy. I imagine they're often ill-tempered as a result.

In either case, the Uptown/Post Oak/Galleria area is a no brainer for more upscale highrise construction. The location has established itself. The money is there. The amenities are there. I'd be an utter nut to not acknowledge the benefits that a developer would reap if he were to plan and construct a highrise residential tower in this area of the city.

Doesn't mean that DT does have the potential either, but the bottom line, repeated over and over again within the market, is that DT is more speculative, and with speculative projects, it's probably a better idea to make price an inticement rather than a potential obstacle for your potential customer.

The Cosmopolitan would be a high-risk development in the DT of today.

100%?

That's impressive if true. Hell, 85% would be impressive.

Don't forget the palms on Louisiana between Prairie and Preston.

Sh-weet!!

^^^ Good point. 'Course, the counter argument would be that you wouldn't have to clean up under palms as much because the rate of leaf/limb loss isn't as great, and birds tend to use palms at a lesser rate than other trees to build nest or congregate.

I'd like to see more palms downtown too but I actually like those trees in the image (not sure what type they are, though).

The website suggests that the place is awfully "froofy".

"Laidback Manor" does sound pretty weak. But I have to admit that at the very least, they're putting down some serious coin to upgrade the facilities. Looks like the Barcode section has been all but finished.

And, Tex, you clearly waited a good twenty minutes before you thought of that.

They've been working hard on this site for a few months now. Looks to be a fairly ambitous undertaking, too. It's the old location of Logan's Roadhouse and Barcode (the club). Barcode's best moment was during SB week when they had live dancers outside that stroked the ire of the guy holding the tall sign rebuking partiers. Too bad they decide to use the SB as their going away bash.

In any event, does our resident retail expert (Houston Retail or Houston Development) have any info on this?

The Morton's in Uptown isn't bad at all. The food's not as good as the DT Los Angeles location but the environment certainly is (the Morton's on Figueroa in LA was pretty freakin' dead when I visited). The Morton's in RiverNorth in Chicago was packed and lively, with pretty good service, but the steak was VERY disappointing.

I hope this new DT Houston location has steaks that rival the one I had in LA. One of the five best steaks I've ever had. Seriously.

The originally plan included a hotel. That's probably what that third tower was.

I believe you are right. And frankly, I'm glad they decided (at least at this point) to scrap it. I'd like the Houston DT hotel market to stand pat for a few more years to see if we can get area occupancy back up to a more healthy 67% (non-Katrina related).

I'm with 'Coog. I'm trying to picture where/how this place will be situated. Surprised that Morton's group decided to jump into the downtown restaurant fray, what with two pretty successful downtown steakhouses (V&A and Striphouse) in play.

Of course, I always thought Smith & Wollensky might have eventually tried to open a location DT. Still might in the future.

I have a friend coming in to town in a few weeks and I think I'm going to take her there. I've been dying to try it but wanted to wait for a more special occasion. Looks nice inside.

Speaking of Oak Forest, I hope that every main thoroughfare in that quadrant of the city is rehabilitated to mimick both 43rd between Ella and Oak Forest Blvd. as well as Shepherd from 610 to about Pinemont. Good concrete. Reliable even.

How old is the current Oak Forest shopping center? Looks like a 60s development.

Easy, Semipro,

People want the greatest for downtown Houston and sometimes when you're striving for the greatest, you underappreciate what's already there.

That said, I agree that there's only so much in the way of fitness centers you want to have at this point. Let it all develop over time and then you'll be able to drop retail locations off with a blindfold and feel good about your chances.

Ancient Rome, a city of less than 300,000 at its greatest, wasn't built in a day. Certainly you shouldn't expect a newer city with an even greater population to be all sorted out so soon, wouldya?

I think Wayne's talking about the Kroger's on Montrose just south of Westheimer. Then again, maybe not.

I agree, though, that the Krogers in ROSC is very nice. I just wish they did a better job of lumping items together. Of course, they're not the only location that has a bit of a problem with this.

Interesting firm.

Definitely a unique design, although it appears to have a bit of the Hobby Center going with the roof overhang and the support columns.

Old TC Mall demolition was finalized, the debris cleared and, from what I understand, they're sampling the soil to see what kind of shape it's in and if there are any lingering environmental concerns. Other than that, I've heard nothing else about it.

At least they cleaned the graffiti off the top floor windows and sweeped up all the debris and litter from inside those fences. Granted, it'll only be a matter of time before the trash is back but at least they've gotten around to picking up what was already there.

If there was ever any way for that building to be an even bigger black eye on the skyline, the persistence of that graffiti accomplished it.

at least in a concentrated area

Here's exactly where your point seems to develop credibility. It isn't that it's not available, it's that it is not concentrated. This, we agree on.

I've said this before, but I think one aspect of downtown Houston's lighting that doesn't get the credit it deserves (and what ultimately may be more important) is its street level lighting. They've done an excellent job of incorporating street lights with all the neon marquees that line Main, Milam, Fannin, Smith, Louisiana and others. Even the lighting at the base of some of the more prominent skyscrapers blend in well with the nearby streetlights.

As for the skyline itself, I think if a couple of highrise towers are built in the right area and are tastefully lighted by spotlight, that alone would do wonders for the overall appearance of the skyline.

I'm also in the camp of people who would rather not see building outlined in neon. I'd rather the spotlight affect, like the BOA Tower in Miami, for example.

Are you confusing Georgia State University with Georgia Tech? GT is located just north of Downtown Atlanta (in fact, it's more akin to Uptown Atlanta) while Georgia State is pretty much smack dab in the heart of old Downtown Atlanta, just east of the state capitol and other state gov't buildings.

Southbound buses on Fannin. Eastbound buses on Dallas and northbound buses on San Jacinto.