Downtown Tunnel Retail News & Updates

[UtterlyUrban]

I love every bit of the tunnels and bridges. Some old, some new, some ugly as hell, some lovely. All good. Did I say I love the tunnels?

[adr]

@mkultra - they seem a lot more like folks that got priced out of Brooklyn rather than people who moved there to be an artisanal food star on their parents dime.

[Slick Vik]

They suck the people off the streets. And for the most part the food options are terrible.

[mollusk]

The tunnels are what they are.  I've been a Mole Person for so long that they just kind of blend into the landscape for me, but every once in a while we have a new hire who's not familiar with downtown.  Oh, the disorientation they experience of not being able to triangulate off of surface landmarks... 

 

I doubt that they pull all that much street life away.  They're pretty much locked tight by 6 PM, and about the only time that they're really crowded is lunch when the weather's crummy in some form or fashion.  Downtown Houston just doesn't HAVE a whole lot of street life except in certain areas at certain times.

[downtownian]

If the tunnels didn't exist, we would have a number of fast food restaurants, dry cleaners, doctor offices, etc. located at street level and the second floor of buildings. I think that would be good for street life both during the day and after. I imagine that some of the tunnel businesses would stay open after 3pm if they could (for example chipotle and the Thai place stay open for dinner). Having a number of businesses at street level, open or closed, creates a safer pedestrian feeling. Also, without the tunnels, I bet ground floor retail rates would increase and displace the dollar stores which are a nuisance on Main Street.

Finally, the tunnels are a "non-space" similar to an airport or walking through hospital corridors. They disorient the pedestrian and provide no context for space or time since they lack sunlight. The private control of the tunnels prevent them from being used as a location of exchange or protest like how public streets can be used.

[tigereye]

If the tunnels didn't exist, we would have a number of fast food restaurants, dry cleaners, doctor offices, etc. located at street level and the second floor of buildings. I think that would be good for street life both during the day and after. I imagine that some of the tunnel businesses would stay open after 3pm if they could (for example chipotle and the Thai place stay open for dinner). Having a number of businesses at street level, open or closed, creates a safer pedestrian feeling. Also, without the tunnels, I bet ground floor retail rates would increase and displace the dollar stores which are a nuisance on Main Street.

This. As an employee at 1000 Main, I'm very thankful for the tunnels because I have a ton of options close by. And because Im at the edge of the tunnel loop, I can quickly walk from here to Allen Center, Houston Center, Cullen Center, BOA Center, etc without having to encounter the summertime heat.

But if the tunnels didn't exist, our Downtown street scene would be vastly different. Many of the current buildings' lobbies would've likely been designed with ground floor retail & restaurant space. At least with recent developments, it feels like we're beginning to shift to a healthy balance of both tunnel-level & street-level retail/restaurant space.

[IronTiger]

If the tunnels didn't exist, we would have a number of fast food restaurants, dry cleaners, doctor offices, etc. located at street level and the second floor of buildings. I think that would be good for street life both during the day and after. I imagine that some of the tunnel businesses would stay open after 3pm if they could (for example chipotle and the Thai place stay open for dinner). Having a number of businesses at street level, open or closed, creates a safer pedestrian feeling. Also, without the tunnels, I bet ground floor retail rates would increase and displace the dollar stores which are a nuisance on Main Street.

Actually, more likely, businesses would have whole separate food courts located inside, which would probably be for business hours only. A lot of other cities (Chicago, Philadelphia) do have this set-up. It would also likely displace bars which actually keep the city going after hours.

I doubt that they pull all that much street life away.  They're pretty much locked tight by 6 PM, and about the only time that they're really crowded is lunch when the weather's crummy in some form or fashion.  Downtown Houston just doesn't HAVE a whole lot of street life except in certain areas at certain times.

Yup. Part of the problem is that Downtown hasn't really had much residential to speak of, which contributes to the whole "lack of street life" problem. As more residential starts cropping up in downtown, there will be a change in that aspect.

And for the most part the food options are terrible.

Well, that's fast food for you. And remember--these things would be on the surface if it wasn't for the tunnels.

Quotes like these below are common complaints I've found, but a lot of them act like the streets don't exist or they're forced to use the tunnels, or because they prefer the streets over the tunnels, the tunnels should be eliminated somehow.

The tunnel system is not needed. At all. Its superfluous. Completely unnecessary!

Finally, the tunnels are a "non-space" similar to an airport or walking through hospital corridors. They disorient the pedestrian and provide no context for space or time since they lack sunlight. The private control of the tunnels prevent them from being used as a location of exchange or protest like how public streets can be used.

[JLWM8609]

Finally, the tunnels are a "non-space" similar to an airport or walking through hospital corridors. They disorient the pedestrian and provide no context for space or time since they lack sunlight.

 

LED lighting in the ceiling that would slowly change hue depending on the time of day would help provide some context when there's no sunlight. There's similar lighting on aircraft that changes during the day on long haul flights.

[downtownian]

Quotes like these below are common complaints I've found, but a lot of them act like the streets don't exist or they're forced to use the tunnels, or because they prefer the streets over the tunnels, the tunnels should be eliminated somehow.

 

 

I actually appreciate the tunnels in a way - they are such a perfect example of a non-place, that it becomes a learning tool for people to understand the concept. Sometimes I like to stroll the tunnels just to feel nothingness and to be a fugitive and wanderer on Earth.

[mfastx]

Tunnels are fine from a practicality standpoint, people can pretty much go wherever they want without having to go outside, which is convenient.  Although I wish that there were some tunnels for trains as well downtown. 

 

They suck from an aesthetic point of view, making downtown Houston look dead and lifeless from the streets, but whatever.  

[UtterlyUrban]

...........And for the most part the food options are terrible.

If there were no tunnels, would not the food options be the same at the street level?

[Nate99]

If there were no tunnels, would not the food options be the same at the street level?

 

I tend to think they would. There are many similar places in other cities that shut down for dinner taking up street level retail where we seem have more spacious lobbies.  To me, a bunch of dark Au Bon Pains and Chinese Buffets with chairs upturned on the tables look "deader" than what we have.

 

The options are a reflection of what sells at the price that can pay the rent. The vast majority of folks are looking for quick, palatable and cheap and they are doing so for ~65% of the lunches they eat in a given year, so something that is interesting or novel or good for "once in a while" is hard to manage, especially when you can't pad your margins with beer/wine/booze sales. Folks will choose whatever is nearby that best fits that criteria whether they walk in off the street or out of the basement.

 

The options that break the mold seem to be on the fringes of the highest density office space, and they can serve that occasional "Friday splurge" need.

[Montrose1100]

It's funny, but one thing that I've always liked about the tunnels was that they are so random.  It just shows how the system developed organically over decades (kind of like IAH).  Whatever charm they have would have been lost if they had been developed according to a master plan with a consistent design.  It's like Houston's equivalent of a quirky village buried underground.  

 

I'm not sure if it has been updated, but my favorite part was always the "hamster tube" sections south of Houston Center with the carpeted walls.  It was like something out of 1970s science fiction.  

Really? I don't find narrow corridors with blank white walls and brass hand rails charming. I do find the different lobbies charming. I would like for the empty under the street tunnels to have a more uniform and updated feel. 

 

Many of the current buildings' lobbies would've likely been designed with ground floor retail & restaurant space. At least with recent developments, it feels like we're beginning to shift to a healthy balance of both tunnel-level & street-level retail/restaurant space.

I'm kind of glad we have these grandiose lobbies in the Chase and Wells Fargo buildings. We have nothing else close to the monument of man's ego in the form of a landmark (note the Astrodome is not "grand"), in this city. These huge spaces are of course nothing close to the Pantheon or anything like that so please don't get me wrong, but it's not like we have a huge neoclassical city hall with a giant public staircase, a grand central station... While the towers themselves are huge ego phallic symbols, they are not really that public.

 

Please also note I am aware of the San Jacinto Monument, but since it's not Downtown we'll exclude this.

 

I know it would probably be way too expensive to extend these marble entrances into the ugly small sections of the tunnels. Surely they would at least be updated.

[mkultra25]

@mkultra - they seem a lot more like folks that got priced out of Brooklyn rather than people who moved there to be an artisanal food star on their parents dime.

 

I generally read the articles in the NYT covering the changes wrought by gentrification and casting light on new frontiers for the displaced. Last I'd heard, people getting priced out of Brooklyn were starting to stake claims in Queens, and those priced out of Manhattan had started eying Hoboken. If Houston's a new destination for former Brooklynites, I guess NYC gentrification has really gotten out of hand. 

[mkultra25]

I'm not sure if it has been updated, but my favorite part was always the "hamster tube" sections south of Houston Center with the carpeted walls.  It was like something out of 1970s science fiction.  

 

A perfect description. When I last worked downtown, I used that section of the tunnels every day for a while when I had a parking contract at a garage several blocks away from the building my office was in. There's definitely a dystopian feel to it, amplified by the fact that one particular leg was usually almost deserted. When you'd find yourself alone in that leg, it was easy to imagine being suddenly transplanted into The Andromeda Strain or THX-1138. 

[JLWM8609]

A perfect description. When I last worked downtown, I used that section of the tunnels every day for a while when I had a parking contract at a garage several blocks away from the building my office was in. There's definitely a dystopian feel to it, amplified by the fact that one particular leg was usually almost deserted. When you'd find yourself alone in that leg, it was easy to imagine being suddenly transplanted into The Andromeda Strain or THX-1138. 

 

I think Futureworld may have been filmed in some of the tunnels downtown. I know it was filmed in Houston.

[jgriff]

I think Futureworld may have been filmed in some of the tunnels downtown. I know it was filmed in Houston.

 

I always felt like I was in Logan's Run around the Hyatt Regency. There was some filming for that movie done there but I think it was not used in the film. 

[Slick Vik]

Regarding Brooklyn meatball co the guys wife is from houston

Also the tunnels suck the street life out during lunch. It makes downtown seem dead

[citykid09]

Wish the tunnels had a subway system and the streets had life.

[mollusk]

Moving the sandwich shops out of the basement won't magically make downtown sidewalks look like midtown Manhattan or San Francisco's financial district.  What will give the streets more life will be more 24 hour warm bodies downtown, and some shopping options.  Both of which are in the pipeline.

 

I wouldn't mind subways instead of street level rail - but realistically, the streets are able to carry the traffic pretty well even without Main and even with FUBAR traffic light timing.

[mkultra25]

I think Futureworld may have been filmed in some of the tunnels downtown. I know it was filmed in Houston.

 

It's been a long time since I've seen that one, but the Houston locations usually listed for it are IAH, Jones Hall, and JSC. For what it's worth, Wikipedia says the tunnel shots were done underground at JSC. 

[mollusk]

Been a while for me, too, but I've got a pretty strong memory of something that looked a lot like the public areas of Two Houston.

[htownproud]

they kill street life.  compare downtown houston street life pre- and post-tunnels.  

 

i also think they kill decent lunch options.  if restaurants are on the street, they can be nicer b/c they don't exists for only 2 hours a day.  but because we have the tunnels, we pretty much are stuck with hundreds of fast food places and an occasional decent restaurant on the street (and no bars to speak of in most of downtown).  

[mollusk]

they kill street life.  compare downtown houston street life pre- and post-tunnels.  

 

i also think they kill decent lunch options.  if restaurants are on the street, they can be nicer b/c they don't exists for only 2 hours a day.  but because we have the tunnels, we pretty much are stuck with hundreds of fast food places and an occasional decent restaurant on the street (and no bars to speak of in most of downtown).  

 

Houston pre tunnels had big department stores, lots of specialty stores, and big movie theaters downtown.  Tunnels didn't kill them, malls and sprawl did.  

 

I first started working downtown in the mid 70s, when the tunnel system barely existed.  Most of the buildings that they connect hadn't even been built yet.  More so then than now, they pretty much rolled up the sidewalks at six pm.

 

The tunnels are what they are.  Aside from the lunch rush one could get up a pretty good head of steam up on roller skates in them if so inclined without bothering a soul other than the occasional security guard.

[(Otto Mation)]

elnina999 has added a photo to the pool:

The real action - 20-feet below, 7.5-mile-long tunnel system.
The series of subterranean passages, each owned and maintained by the building they sit beneath, allows the district’s 150,000-employee workforce to take on tasks—doctors appointments, banking, shopping, post office and salons, among other things—in air-conditioned bliss.

View the full article

[(Otto Mation)]

elnina999 has added a photo to the pool:

View the full article

[Highrise Tower]

I've been noticing this obsolete sign in the 600/601 Travis tunnel.  I wonder why Hines does not remove it?

Leaf & Grain

Hines Property Management office.

 

[Highrise Tower]

Has anyone else seen the new lunchdrop shelves? They're all over!