JR3985 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Does anyone know what is being built on Sage to the left of The Mens Club? There are large concrete pillars comming up from the ground. Just curious!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emil76 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I believe it's going to be a new Hilton hotel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 That would be a new Hilton Garden Inn, but I believe it's closer to Sage @ Hidalgo than Sage @ Richmond. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR3985 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 They should tear down those hideous looking apartments next to the new hotel and build a beautiful high rise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Yes, it will be the new Hilton Hotel. I wouldn't worry about those ugly appartments. It won't be before long that they will come down. I do aggree that another high rise or least a mid-rise would be perfect in this location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 that area cant handle a new high rise. The Mark and Mark 2 are utter failures, not to mention the Mark 2 is HIDEOUS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 How many floors will this Hilton be? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 In my travels, all the Hilton Gardens I have seen are max of 15 or so.I bet this one is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The Chronicle had an article a few months ago about this Hilton Garden Inn. If I remember correctly, it was to be 11 floors tall.There's also a Hilton Garden Inn going up in the new Chinatown area that is also supposed to be 11 floors I believe.Also, while the Mercer is horrendously ugly, sales have ended up being fairly good. There are just a few units left. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The floorplans in the Mercer are fantastic, but the building itself has issues.In most large cities, a building like the Mercer would have its empty south side right up against another building. It would be perfect in a downtown setting on a block with another building. The color might need to be different.I truly believe that high-rise developers should start lower some of the price points to equal the cost of many town homes. If its possible to build a tower with this price point, i can see many more of them built and filled quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yaga Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Does anybody know when or if they are going to build the 2nd Mercer tower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 No, but have you noticed the "M" on the Mercer is exactly the same as in Super Mario Sunshine?That's the game where Mario is in charge of cleaning all the graffiti off of buildings. All the letter M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 I don't think it's that bad. It's better than nothing. I would rather see an ugly building go up then no building at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Where is the "M" logo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danax Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Not exciting architecture but decent. The back side looks a bit stark though. There we see the roof structure motif again. It's about time roofs were used for something besides AC equipment.I used to live in a 6 story apartment building in '83 in Los Angeles right off of Wilshire Blvd. that was built in 1929 and it had a built-in pool on the roof. Very cool, although no one seemed to use it, but the view was great. It always made me wonder why roofs were not utilized more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssullivan Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 I don't mind the front of the building that much, but the sides and back are hideous. Unfortunately the way the building faces makes the front far less visible than the stark sides and back, which faces Richmond. It does look better in that rendering with the second tower that hasn't been built than it does in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 The Mercer (or Mark II) is horrendous. What were they thinking with the ass end of that building. I know they are still having problems moving units in the 1st Mark building. I don't think they can sustain ANOTHER building. They could have at least TRIED to make the back look like more than an elevator shaft wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VelvetJ Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 The Mercer is definitely a black eye to the Uptown Skyline. I could only wish it really looked like those renderings in the photo above. The windows on the back of the building look much smaller in real life. Until you are absolutely close to it, it looks like a 40 story solid slab of beige, which from a distance looks horrid. The profile view of it is just as bad due to the very small amount of windows. From what I understand, the back was left mostly solid to reflect sunlight which would help the residents keep their electric bills down. I don't know, but I wonder if this building would have been allowed to be built in Uptown Dallas or Buckhead in Atlanta. I hate to continue to compare Houston to other cities but it seems more architectural consideration has been at hand in buildings within the last 10 years in other cities than in Houston. I have really been impressed particularly by the designs that have been going up in Atlanta. Plus the one's that have broken ground recently and the one's on the drawing board are even better. IMO, some of our stuff appear to have been taken down the cheapest road possible and has come off as a little blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 The Mercer is definitely a black eye to the Uptown Skyline. I could only wish it really looked like those renderings in the photo above. The windows on the back of the building look much smaller in real life. Until you are absolutely close to it, it looks like a 40 story solid slab of beige, which from a distance looks horrid. The profile view of it is just as bad due to the very small amount of windows. From what I understand, the back was left mostly solid to reflect sunlight which would help the residents keep their electric bills down. I don't know, but I wonder if this building would have been allowed to be built in Uptown Dallas or Buckhead in Atlanta. I hate to continue to compare Houston to other cities but it seems more architectural consideration has been at hand in buildings within the last 10 years in other cities than in Houston. I have really been impressed particularly by the designs that have been going up in Atlanta. Plus the one's that have broken ground recently and the one's on the drawing board are even better. IMO, some of our stuff appear to have been taken down the cheapest road possible and has come off as a little blah.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Atlanta does have some great buildings but Houston has more buildings going up.So what do you want quality or quantity?Don't give up on Houston, there are a lot of great architecturaly designed buildings that are planned for the future. But for the Mercers mabe they could paint giant murals on the back sides of them.or when they build the 2nd one design the back side like the front side, and just fix the other building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111486 Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 But for the Mercers mabe they could paint giant murals on the back sides of them.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Don't ever run for mayor. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 It was a joke! Mabe a should have put LOL after it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 You're kidding about having more buildings under construction and recently built than Atlanta I hope.Since 2000, Atlanta has seen 39 go under construction. 23 of those have been over 20 stories tall. Additonally, not one of them is nearly as Fugly as the Mercer and there isn't a single new building in Houston currently under construction as nice as Atlanta's Symphony Center Tower. S.C.T. will stand 650 feet tall and it incorporates residential, a new symphony hall, and retail. I would DIE for Houston to have a project like that one!Currently UC in Atlanta41 Symphony Center28 The Spire26 Twelve22 Two Buckhead Plaza Residences20 Midtown Plaza North Tower20 Midtown Plaza South Tower15 The Reynolds12 Building 21 at the Center For Disease Control (Druid Hills suburb) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111486 Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 You're kidding about having more buildings under construction and recently built than Atlanta I hope.Since 2000, Atlanta has seen 39 go under construction. 23 of those have been over 20 stories tall. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Houston has had a lot of construction also. Since 2000, Houston has had 16 buildings built over 300 feet. That is not even including the ones that are 20 stories tall or under 300 feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danax Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 This tendency to compare ourselves with other cities just creates envy, competitiveness etc. If we are "behind" for our size that's ok. We can observe other projects and take what works and use those ideas for ourselves. I really feel great about the direction we're going, this stuff just takes time. Probably not having zoning spooks some developers but this proposed "back door zoning" that was mentioned in another post might help. Just think back to say, 1992 or so and look around town now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 You're kidding about having more buildings under construction and recently built than Atlanta I hope.Since 2000, Atlanta has seen 39 go under construction. 23 of those have been over 20 stories tall. Additonally, not one of them is nearly as Fugly as the Mercer and there isn't a single new building in Houston currently under construction as nice as Atlanta's Symphony Center Tower. S.C.T. will stand 650 feet tall and it incorporates residential, a new symphony hall, and retail. I would DIE for Houston to have a project like that one!Currently UC in Atlanta41 Symphony Center28 The Spire26 Twelve22 Two Buckhead Plaza Residences20 Midtown Plaza North Tower20 Midtown Plaza South Tower15 The Reynolds12 Building 21 at the Center For Disease Control (Druid Hills suburb)<{POST_SNAPBACK}>c'mon man, you can't make a post with a list like that without pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VelvetJ Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 If we are "behind" for our size that's ok. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Statements like this scare me to a degree because IMO Houston has a tendency to think being behind is ok to a fault. It's great not caring how the world views us.....to a point. I don't think it's a situation of Houston existing at the mercy of outside opinion or city comparison, but also I personally am not content with Houston being "behind" for a city it's size. I generally am also pleased with the direction the city is going in, but I am also on pins out of fear that something like another Mercer and a Walmart Supercenter is going to show up on the rail line in Midtown, simply because a single developer believes he can make money.Danax, I hope you are correct about the proposed "back door zoning" because I think we all know the "free for all" atmosphere in Houston for developers can retard the potential that a place like midtown has and set the city even further back in creating that lone traditional urban neighborhood type of environment that can make a city attractive to so many people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I generally am also pleased with the direction the city is going in, but I am also on pins out of fear that something like another Mercer and a Walmart Supercenter is going to show up on the rail line in Midtown, simply because a single developer believes he can make money.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Please don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I hope the guidelines don't cave into money hungry developers either. I think if a developer is stubborn about a development that helps noone but themselves than the project should be denied until it meets what the public wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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