infinite_jim

The parking lot that takes up a half block to the West of the Exxon Tower, north of the Exxon Garage, and south of the Wedge Tower is now being razed. The Chevron daycare (designed by Kirksey) that takes up the other half of the block is not part of this development.

FYI this was part of a simple re-tenanting of the bldg. The lot was just resurfaced, re-striped, and the fence between the two lots was taken down. The auto-drop off was slightly re-designed on the civil too.

^Could this be the writing on the wall for 411 Walker?

Post Modern Ruin would be the best way to describe what we are currently doing with the Astrodome as suburban blight. Not bad, but not good either for the long-term future.

Maybe METRO will contribute towards a memorial here too!

I'm gonna guess an approximate mirrored tower of 811 Main St., by Pickard Chilton again. The massing seems to work w/r/t the Chase tower and it's exactly a block away from 811 Main.

This will certainly be more exciting if it's taller than 811 Main but material choice is a no-brainer considering it's historic nab. Another glass skyscraper would look nice from the east side of town but as in other's assumptions the western flank of the grid is almost complete and Brookfield holds those cards atm.

^Brown Park is not a neighborhood scale park; it's a park for tourists/conventioneers and for the greater metro region.

This is ~1.5 - 3 acres, how much programming is feasibly possible and worth it?

I like the basic programmatic elements (like parking) but let's hope that they hire a different landscape firm than the designers of Market Square and Brown park. It just looks like the city is in the tank for certain firms (not naming names but w/r/t the rendering). Those are good parks, but what's the point of going here if it's just going to be another "consumer park?"

Why a restaurant?

Why a museum, library, or sculpture park?

Why any of these things?

Why not create a simple verdant green with dynamic topo?

No dog area?

Why are people so quick to judge Klyde Warren park? (I'm going there next week btw)

Now is the time to ask these questions.

It's a good hamburger lunch joint for attorneys (downtown location; I can't say about the other locations). Nothing to write home about, literally.

In the far right hand side of the image is the Post III and the City Centre III under construction.

Discovery Green 2.0?

^Not if the city closes the city jail like they eventually intend to..

I would assume the original name of the subdivision plat. Anyone wanna pull the legal description>?

The D&Q! once I threw a jello wrestling party and they let us use the walk in fridge to make the jello. Good times..

Discuss.

^What's to stop you from using Hermann Square, Sesquicentennial, Buffalo Bayou, Tinsely, Heritage, the Public Library Plaza, Antioch Park, the Fountain Park in front of the Crown Plaza, Market Square, Allen's Landing, Main Street Square, Quebedeaux, "Jury Assembly" park, James Bute, Root Memorial, Brown park, etc etc etc. ???

That's just in downtown, why not meet up in Montrose/Rice Military/Heights/East End/Midtown/Museum/3rd ward/Freedmen's town/Neartown/Near Northside/etc etc etc? I'm jus sayin' there's parks in those nabs too (although much more spread out and sucky).

Seriously, how many parks are just a waste of space in exactly the right place for nobody to ever use them? Does anybody not see the ridiculous redundancy! It's like the tunnel system's choice of eateries except as parks. Hey here's an idea, let's sell a park to get "a better positioned in the urban/social fabric" park (WATERWALL anybody?).

Heritage park also is a disgrace. That statue needs to be pushed into that pond.

It is not a 'glorified' parking garage. It IS a parking garage. As such, its value to private developers is rather low, given that the city owned garage beneath it will stay.

Demo the garage, sell the land, buy another parcel, and call it Tranquility Park.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Yeah, let's just sell it, since it has no meaning to this city.

My thought with Tranquility park is that it becomes a redundant park in probably the only part of town with too many parks, too closely located to one another, and without having an design relationship to the other parks or connectivity. It's really a glorified parking garage; cloistered, oblique, and it's aloofness comes off as selfishness. The land value and improvement alone is worth selling it off to a private developer with restrictions.

I think Tranquility is likely to stay much the same. I'm sure that the people running City Hall and the federal detention center across the street like the enhanced visibility a park provides.

Why not use the draconian sound ordinance while you still can?

Eh, they're quite a bit better than TJ's, with the exception of wine/beer. Have you seen their spice wall upstairs? It is amazing. All of their baked goods are infinitely better than anything you can buy at Trader Joe's.

I've never actually been to a TJ's.

But before they opened, we would go to Droubi's on HIllcroft to get a decent shawarma. Never again will I eat at Droubi Bro's for lunch, wanna talk about bland? For pantry goods, we'd go all the way to the SW side to Stafford/Sugar Land to Wel-Pham/99 Ranch.

I saw surveyors taking topo measurements of the northern 1/2 block today (of the former drive-thru Wells Fargo bank branch property).

Since I work in western downtown, it was never a lunch option for me, but in the evening it was typical for me and my wife to spend around $50-70 for the two of us. We only went twice in the year it was open. Never been to Azuma either thou..

Another park I was thinking was a slice of sadness is Peggy's Point Plaza. I have no immediate ideas what to do for that one..

All the other parks not previously mentioned are quite nice:

Sesquicentennial Park/Buffalo Bayou Park

Brown Park (aka Discovery Green)

Root Memorial Square

Market Square

Hermann Square

Main Street Square

Sisters of Charity

The private mini 1/4 block park at the Houston Club bldg(soon to be gone)

My thought with Tranquility park is that it becomes a redundant park in probably the only part of town with too many parks, too closely located to one another, and without having an design relationship to the other parks or connectivity. It's really a glorified parking garage; cloistered, oblique, and it's aloofness comes off as selfishness. The land value and improvement alone is worth selling it off to a private developer with restrictions.

I really get that it's a park for Houston's space legacy, but I think that that vision was lost in the design execution at the time of it's construction and now by time's patina. Hard to believe this was the most public place folks can legally protest stuff at in Houston.

I wouldn't mind if the city wanted to sell/demo 411 Walker either j/k

Another suggestion. Discovery Green and Market Square Park have both been updated with great success. What downtown public space should be next?

Downtown:

Tranquility Park - is a bit stale in design, could sell off half the parcel to a developer with planning restrictions

The park by Antioch Church, including the Smith Fountain - I'd suggest another public/private project, a lot of people walking around at lunch despite the weather.

Quebedeaux Park - most people don't even know this is a park, that's a problem IMO

Midtown:

Midtown Park - should be sold to developer with planning restrictions

Glover Park - anything would help this vacant lot at this point

Peggy Park - the triangulated portion of the park along Alameda could use a redesign.

Midtown Superblock - sell the land to a developer with restrictions, use money to develop linear park over future demo of Pierce Elevated

The rear entrance atrium build out.

I do like how you are not allowed to make a u-turn on the Richmond Strip between 10pm and 2am.

Many of the staples of that area are still there:

Ruth Chris'

Dave & Busters

Le Bares

Sam's Boat

Actually it kinda reminds me of my nab.