The Allen: Mixed-Use Development At Allen Parkway & Gillette St.

[CaptainJilliams]

Thank you! And there we go, new renderings, and honestly, it's different but it still looks pretty good in my opinion.

[Lectro]

I like it. Could of been a lot worse.

[TheSirDingle]

Doesn't really look value engineered at all, and overall it looks sleeker. Honestly I like it better than the previous rendering. I'm glad this is being built in the first place, and would of been content with the big tower by itself. The development as a whole is gonna be an anchor for this area, and will greatly expand the ever growing skyline. 

 

Looking at the jenga feature of the original render, it really wasn't that noticeable. Hard to tell that there was a jenga feature half the time anyway. Overall, I think the new render is a better choice. 

[MaxConcrete]

I count approx 40 floors in the jenga-style design and 33 floors in the sales office advertising board. In both cases I counted one floor for the penthouse, which appears to be as high as 3 regular floors in the jenga design and two regular floors in the sales office design.

 

So assuming the sales office depiction is correct, the height appears to be downsized. Even considering the penthouse and several floors with high ceilings, the sales office design appears to have a height around 400 feet.

Edited May 19, 2019 by MaxConcrete

[Triton]

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

 

 

 

Wow, I actually like this a lot more.

[Fortune]

I prefer the new design! Looks great 

[EllenOlenska]

49 minutes ago, Triton said:

 

Wow, I actually like this a lot more.

I agree. 

[Timoric]

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Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric

[Luminare]

This design looks a lot better. The current term my boss likes to use a lot is "too architecty" which I've come to roughly translate as "this building or design is trying to hard". I would say the previous design was way too "architecty". This seems better fleshed out and knows what it is, and what it wants to be. I also like how it seems to grow bigger as its getting taller instead of the multiple twists and shifts in the previous design which seemed less confident and insecure.

[wxman]

This building will be about half way up when Texas Tower and Preston Tower downtown are topping out. It’ll be pretty slick to see that many cranes in the downtown area at one time!

Maybe my math is fuzzy, but I’m only counting 33 floors. Where are you guys seeing the 40 story figure at?

[hindesky]

7 minutes ago, wxman said:

This building will be about half way up when Texas Tower and Preston Tower downtown are topping out. It’ll be pretty slick to see that many cranes in the downtown area at one time!

Maybe my math is fuzzy, but I’m only counting 33 floors. Where are you guys seeing the 40 story figure at?

Thats what I counted too. But still love it.

[thatguysly]

I still like it even though I really loved the offset look it had before. I count 33 stories as others have. 40 would have been amazing but glad this project is moving forward and will take up that massive empty plot.

[Houston19514]

12 hours ago, wxman said:

This building will be about half way up when Texas Tower and Preston Tower downtown are topping out. It’ll be pretty slick to see that many cranes in the downtown area at one time!

Maybe my math is fuzzy, but I’m only counting 33 floors. Where are you guys seeing the 40 story figure at?

 

The only 40 I see mentioned was a count of the floors in the prior "jenga-style" design.

[H-Town Man]

17 hours ago, Timoric said:

My first reaction was: Dallas

 

Feels kind of early-2000's, quasi-Enron. Some of the smaller buildings feel more contemporary but who knows if those are final designs.

 

[swtsig]

i count 33 as well but the top floor of the podium and the penthouse floors look to be double height so this should have the scale of a 35-story tower, give or take. although i still preferred the original jenga-style design, this turned out better than what i was expecting. fences are up so hopefully they break ground soon.

[Response]

Even the first floor will have a great view of downtown. 😀

[jmitch94]

Still looks very sleek especially the stuff closer to the ground. I really like that whole liquid metal bubble thing they have going on. Very different for Houston. 

[mollusk]

Can someone with sharper eyes pick out where the ground level access to the underground parking is?

[wxman]

Do we know anything about the office tower? Is all of it expected to go up at the same time?

[Triton]

Removed the side arguments. This is an architecture and development forum... no need for so much drama here. Leave that out of here. Thanks.

[Timoric]

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Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric

[wxman]

So they did shrink the main tower then—from 42 stories to 33. I was wondering where the previous 40-something story figure came from. 

[hindesky]

Couldn't find the article on their web site but the Houston Chronicle had an article about "The Allen" in Saturday's Business section. I don't get why they think this is a questionable site, to me it seems to be a great site next to the park and so close to downtown, Montrose and not far to other parts of the inner loop.

Edited May 27, 2019 by hindesky

[hindesky]

I looked at the Chron site and the Houston Chronicle site but I guess I didn't look hard enough, thanks Crockpotandgravel.

[Angostura]

8 hours ago, gclass said:

 

^^^ totally cool INDUCTION HEATING COUNTER TOP at the RESIDENCES AT THE ALLEN.  the state-of-the-art surface only heats the INDUCTION COOKWARE that is placed upon it.  what a cool amenity... wow!

 

 

 

 

Don't leave your keys on the kitchen island!

[shasta]

I wonder what is the agenda for this article....it seems very off for coming from someone respected, like Nancy Sarnoff.

 

“For a developer, it’s risky. It’s not Uptown. It’s not River Oaks,” Contreras said this week,

 

No, Contreras..it's a place called Near Town..nuzzled in between downtown, River Oaks, and Montrose. For its residents its a short drive, or uber ride, or private car to all of the cultural districts in the city.

His concerns are ridiculous...I'd rather live here than Uptown anyway.

 

Plus, you will have the Regent Square development, the Hanover development, and the Ismaili Landmark just down the street.

 

"While the location of the project is a short drive to Houston’s cultural and sports destinations, the medical center and upscale housing, it lacks the walkability of areas such as Uptown or inside the West Loop near San Felipe, where multiple towers have been built or are under construction."

 

Well, that's the first time I've ever heard Uptown described as "walkable".  Its one of the LEAST walkable "major" districts in the United States. Walk from Boulevard Place to the Galleria and tell me how pleasant of a walk that is.

 

Seriously, Nancy is better that that.

You know Houston is in trouble when we point to Uptown as a model for a pedestrian friendly, human scale district..lol

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by shasta

[Response]

I'd take the 'walkability' of Buffalo Bayou Park to the 'walkability' of uptown any day. If I could live anywhere in Houston that I wanted to, it would be along Allen Parkway and that beautiful stretch of park along Buffalo Bayou. Screw dodging cars. But, too bad about that cool pedestrian bridge not being built, I would think that would seal the deal with potential buyers. 

[dbigtex56]

36 minutes ago, shasta said:

I wonder what is the agenda for this article....it seems very off for coming from someone respected, like Nancy Sarnoff.

 

“For a developer, it’s risky. It’s not Uptown. It’s not River Oaks,” Contreras said this week,

 

No, Contreras..it's a place called Near Town..nuzzled in between downtown, River Oaks, and Montrose. For its residents its a short drive, or uber ride, or private car to all of the cultural districts in the city.

His concerns are ridiculous...I'd rather live here than Uptown anyway.

 

Plus, you will have the Regent Square development, the Hanover development, and the Ismaili Landmark just down the street.

 

"While the location of the project is a short drive to Houston’s cultural and sports destinations, the medical center and upscale housing, it lacks the walkability of areas such as Uptown or inside the West Loop near San Felipe, where multiple towers have been built or are under construction."

 

Well, that's the first time I've ever heard Uptown described as "walkable".  Its one of the LEAST walkable "major" districts in the United States. Walk from Boulevard Place to the Galleria and tell me how pleasant of a walk that is.

 

Seriously, Nancy is better that that.

You know Houston is in trouble when we point to Uptown as a model for a pedestrian friendly, human scale district..lol

 

My reaction was about the same, accompanied by incredulous laughter. Who IS this developer - Jerry Lundegaard?
"Oh, jeez, I don't know. It's way overpriced, and the neighborhood sucks. People are gonna hate it."

[shasta]

I hope both Nancy and the developer read this thread to realize how off base they are. Uptown is considered an urban nightmare to anyone with even close to a little knowledge of urban design. I'm thinking dodging cars along a giant thoroughfare is NOT what Jane Jacobs had in mind.

 

On this site, I'm pretty sure Hines current Market Square tower and the new one under construction will demand the highest rents in the city. True, this one isn't IN downtown but its close enough for those rich buyers who want the downtown proximity without being in the middle of it. The $600k asking price for a 1 bedroom and $1million plus for a two bedroom back that up.

Edited May 27, 2019 by shasta

[H-Town Man]

I think she was just going along with what the developer was saying and trying to have an angle for her article. I think it would have sounded stronger though to say, "Developer Builds on Emerging Bayou Residential Corridor" and not act like this could be a bad idea.

 

And yes, there is nothing at all walkable in Uptown.